I begin a new series that ends when the photos are all used: The Cats of University Heights. The number of feline sightings in my San Diego neighborhood is quite surprising, and I shoot them […]
Tag: nature photography
Bubba’s Buddy
Four days after I buried poor little Bubba baby bunny in our backyard, another appeared. The rabbit would be the second sighted and photographed in June 2006—this one on the 8th and the other the 25th; perhaps they were one and the same.
There was something poignant about the bunny’s appearance, and, coincidentally or not, he cross the grass across Bubba’s grave. Last month, I discovered the portrait, one of a half-dozen, stored on a decade-old DVD backup. I captured the moment using Nikon D200. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 400, 1/40 sec, 200mm.
Backyard Bunny, Too
This past week I made a discovery while checking decade-old back-up DVDs: Not all the 2005-06 wild bunny photos shot in my Kensington, Md. backyard are lost. It’s an incomplete set, and the best images are still missing; presumed gone forever.
On the afternoon of June 10, 2005, I stepped out onto the deck overlooking the backyard and spotted a young rabbit in the grass. I fetched the Nikon D70 mounted with Nikkor 70mm-300mm lens and started shooting. I worked my way down the stairs onto the grass and slowly approached the rabbit, closing quite the distance before it cautiously moved away.
Bubba’s Gallery
Ten weeks ago I revisted the sad story of Bubba—baby bunny who died less than 24 hours in our care. He came to us on June 3, 2006, quite unexpectedly. A cat brought the furball home to his owners, who sought someone to take over responsibility. My daughter, wife, and I did but too briefly. Infection from bite or scratch doomed the little duffer. For years, I had but the two photos of Bubba that accompanied the original post. Today I discovered the others.
Earlier this month, I bought a LaCie Rugged Mini 4TB external drive. While I often store valuables in the cloud, I have nearly 20 years of photos and other files spread out on smaller discs and dozens of DVDs going back to 2000; all will consolidate on the large-capacity drive. I spent today searching the old discs, where I found some gems, including the Bubba NEF RAW originals shot with the Nikon D200.
If They Aren’t Twins, They Should Be
The tortoise theme continues for a second day, but with an oldie. I don’t recall shooting the photo (but surely did) on June 27, 1999. I have absolutely no idea what early digital compact I […]
The Lawn Mower
A few blocks down the street from the “Butterfly House” is a University Heights resident whose origins I know nothing about. But she is a fixture for anyone riding, running, or walking by. The tortoise makes old-timer Fess the cat look like a kitten. A dino-era relic doesn’t get this big without a whole lot of years behind it.
Unsurprisingly, the big fellow follows the sun throughout the day and keeps the owner’s lawn nice and trim. I am surprised by the creature’s speed—not stereotypically slow but surprisingly spry. Hehe, which is why I shot a short video of tortoise eating grass in slow motion. It makes me laugh. And you?
Monarch Caterpillar
Down the backstreet (Maryland Ave.) in our neighborhood is a mini-wildlife refuge that I call the Butterfly House. Few front yards offer as much foliage, and variety of it, for bugs and birds. But mainstay […]
Flickr a Day 365: ‘Cat Scratch Fever’
My favorite photo of the 365 is Day 38 “Master of Venice” by Alexis Bross. Cats are such an Internet stereotype how could I not conclude the series with another—conceding that Flickr a Day has too many. Additional Days: 51, 143, 201, 220, and 302.
In choosing the feline that would end the series, I favored habitat shots and ignored facial closeups or handsome subjects. None of the finalists is ugly, per se, but only the last two do I find to be attractive. I never imagined seeing more cat photos than I could possible tolerate, until selecting our winner.
Flickr a Day 362: ‘Flying for Food’
Third black & white in a row, unplanned, brings back film. Leonidas Konstantinidis shot self-titled “Flying for food” on July 16, 2008, using Minolta Dynax 9, and he scanned to digital. Vitals are not available. I picked […]
Flickr a Day 357: ‘Endless Winter Nights’
The series seriously could feature more landscapes. I picked self-titled “Endless Winter Nights’, which Carlos Andrés Reyes shot on Jan. 1, 2015, for composition with the moon. He captured the moment using Canon EOS 70D and EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS […]
Flickr a Day 356: ‘Bank Vole Transporting Hazelnut’
The series should feature more nature shots, and what an animal candid capture is self-titled “Bank Vole Transporting Hazelnut”.”I bought my first camera in the middle of 2014, and my first dSLR a few months later”, Hanna Knutsson says. “Now I take every opportunity to visit the nearby forest and take pictures of the local wildlife, preferably small mammals”.
She shot the rodent (sounds grim, doesn’t it?) on Nov. 18, 2015, using Canon EOS 70D and EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens. Vitals: f/8, ISO 400, 1/250 sec, 250mm.
Flickr a Day 351: ‘Venus and the Moon’
The eclectic photostream of Bill Dickinson is nothing short of charming. You don’t know what to expect next—and wouldn’t want to. He shot self-titled “Venus and the Moon” on Dec. 7, 2015, using Nikon D810 and 150-600mm […]