[ddk632]

Brothers of Red by ddk632, on Flickr

[panicos81]

Originally Posted by M_Six

They're swimming. It ain't that chilly.

Love the low angle POV.


Panicos, that's a very cool looking dog. Is life getting back to normal on Cyprus?

thanks Mark. life is pretty weird now.. i resigned from the bank and currently unemployed. they came with a plan offering us some money us "early retirement" and i took it. of course unfortunately i cannot retire early at 32 so i'm looking around now.
i want to get into photography, did a couple of events but i'm bit reluctant on that as well, i don't know, we'll see.. its been a month now i'm full time raising the pup

as far as the general population, everybody is worse than before but hey, numbers show we are on the good track!!!!! thats what the news are saying every night!

[ddk632]

Damn Panicos, I hope it gets better over there to you.

--


A Scene to Match its Subjects by ddk632, on Flickr

[IRide]

[Itsed65]

High Voltage Kestrel by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Kestrels are my favorite raptor.

[Itsed65]

They are certainly the most challenging bird that I try to shoot. Small, fast and incredibly skittish, but really fascinating little killers!

[Itsed65]

From 2010, in the spirit of the season. (I'm looking at old holiday season pics at work today) Carl watching a Christmas themed episode of The Simpsons

IMG_3386 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[M_Six]

I like the map on the wall. Maps are cool.

[Itsed65]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I like the map on the wall. Maps are cool.

I agree. That giant cloth map has migrated to my guest room since that pic was taken, but I still enjoy looking at it. I got it at Ikea

[Itsed65]

I haven't taken a picture in a week! I'm going out with a buddy to a park today though, so hopefully I will get something.

Another Christmas photo from last year:

20121125-IMG_3993 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[ddk632]

This is an 11 year old kid, his first time on a big bike - he's already a 12 time mini bike champion! He will be racing the big bike next year.


Practice Practice Practice by ddk632, on Flickr

[Itsed65]

Took my scooter out today. Hardly looks like Christmas weather here. The park uses cattle to keep the grass in check.


Cattle on the trail; Briones Regional Park by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Big Buck in Pre-Dawn Light by dcstep, on Flickr

[Itsed65]

Nice one Dave. I saw a fawn today, but no bucks. I did however see my very first bald eagle in the wild, standing in a tree at the Colusa NWR (about 60 miles north of Sacramento). Another instance of needing more reach than I have, but I will see how the pics came out once I get them all downloaded. We used 3 different cameras and about 5 different lens combos, so it will be interesting. The bird just sat in the tree for the whole half hour we were there and didn't budge.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Nice one Dave. I saw a fawn today, but no bucks. I did however see my very first bald eagle in the wild, standing in a tree at the Colusa NWR (about 60 miles north of Sacramento). Another instance of needing more reach than I have, but I will see how the pics came out once I get them all downloaded. We used 3 different cameras and about 5 different lens combos, so it will be interesting. The bird just sat in the tree for the whole half hour we were there and didn't budge.

Congrats on a first wild sighting.

Eagles perch, eat, screw and sleep in random order throughout the day. When there's just one, your odds of catching it doing something interesting are really tough since the perching takes up about 90% of the day most days. If you can figure out where it fishes, then you might can be on the flight path as it move from its perch to its hunting ground of vice versa. The movement is most likely to occur at dawn and dusk.

I luck out getting five bucks hanging together and jumping the fence close enough to sun up to get decent light.

Dave

[Itsed65]

So yeah, I was too excited and forgot to adjust exposure for a white bird and blew out some of the head, but dang, I was so surprised to actually see a bald eagle in these parts I just started shooting.

BE at Colusa by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[Weebl]

The curse of full blown sunlight but a damn fine shot.

[Itsed65]

Thanks! Going over a few more of the shots, as much as I hate to admit it, my buddy got the better shot, using my 5d3 and 100-400L. It was of course on his side of the car


BE at Colusa 5 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[M_Six]

Nice shots, Ed. Closer than I've ever been able to get.

[Itsed65]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Nice shots, Ed. Closer than I've ever been able to get.

Thanks Mark. After talking to one of the docents today, it seems this eagle is very accommodating and has been perching in the trees just off the auto tour routes of both the Colusa NWR, as well as the Sacramento NWR, which is about 20 miles north (and were I also was today) and doesn't seem the least bit bothered by cars driving by it (albeit slowly) all day long. It was really cool so see, I just wish it picked a less dense tree. It was tough shooting around all those twigs!

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Thanks! Going over a few more of the shots, as much as I hate to admit it, my buddy got the better shot, using my 5d3 and 100-400L. It was of course on his side of the car

Your buddy's shot is about -1EV, which is what you need for the white head in full sun. It's a fine line between getting details in the body feathers and blowing out the head and tail.

Dave