The Waiting Game

Typically, I don't have the patience to wait for

a photo opportunity to present

itself to me.

So, last week, I decided to test out my patience

and see if I could obtain a photo with the birds that

have been using my Mustang as target practice

I saw outside.

I swapped out the 50mm lens for the 70-300mm Canon lens

and pulled up a patio chair and waited.

And waited.

And swatted a mosquito or two

and...waited.

After about 3 minutes, I took a few test shots

of the trees and their new spring leaves.

But those shots were boring.

So I waited some more.

Finally this bird lands on the fence.

Now, I'm still close enough to where he

can see me, so I move

s l o w l y

and take two photos before he

decides that he'd rather be hidden in a tree elsewhere.

I posted this photo, 'cause I like

how the 'bird march' was captured.

I really have to give the wildlife / bird photographers

credit for the patience they have....'cause after those

two photos, I headed inside.

I was done waiting.

Is That Sunlight?

Earlier this afternoon, I was out in the backyard,

looking at all the signs of spring.

As you've seen in previous posts, there

are roses blooming along the fence-line,

as well as the beginning sprouts of pears in a near-by tree.

Walking by this flower, I noticed that the sunlight 

seemed to be shining through it, since it was evening

and the sun was settling behind the fence.

Too quickly, I snapped a couple of photos...

then realized that the shutter speed was incorrect,

resulting in over-exposed photos.
There was also some lens flare, which
I didn't want to include, so I made sure
to shield the lens with
my hand (since I don't own a lens hood, yet).

After a few adjustments, I took some more photos,

which seemed OK in the camera's display.

Once downloaded into Picasa, I adjusted the Shadow

 just a bit to remove any evidence of the grassy, cluttered background.

The resulting photo makes it seem like there

was a dark background with special lighting in place.