Maximum crop

Just playing around to see how small of crop I could take out of a 12 mp picture and still have presentable results. The above 1.5 mp picture was about the maximum crop before it started looking grainy on my computer monitor, though it would still be perfectly fine for publishing on the internet. 

Thinking ahead, with a 24 mp image I could can take a crop half this size and end up with the same quality results and with Ron's new 36 mp D800e I could take a crop one third the size with the same results.

Took this picture this morning handheld with the Sigma 120-400. Definitely addicted to VR and OS! 

Winter's Cardnials

Steller's Jay

Found this fellow and a few of his blue feathered friends making quite a fuss about all the recent Robin interlopers who've suddenly reappeared now that the days are getting longer and the weather getting warmer.

Normally pictures of these Jays come out quite dark, but the lighting was low and bright this morning and the bird's feathers reflected it quite nicely.

I'm "Board"

 

Really, I am! Work has been never ending the last few weeks and all work and no play makes me a dull boy. Actually, according to Cheryl, it makes me grumpy.

 

It's cold and rainy here today and after working all day I just decided it was time for a cocktail (it is five o-clock here) and a little down time so I started playing in photoshop. This last trip to Maui we ran into four different places on the island that used old surf boards for a fence.

 

I posted a picture of this fence from 2005 a few years ago but I stopped and took a new photo of it this last trip and then I got into the NIK software in CS5 and started flipping through their preset "recipes". Aaron and I had talked about infra-red photos some yesterday and when I saw this recipe it kind of reminded me of the infra-red look so I thought; what the hell, let's try this and see what it looks like.

Dragon's Teeth

This is part of the coast line near Kapalua on Maui. It's actually known as "Dragon's Teeth" because of the way the ocean has eroded the volcanic rock into a jagged edge along the coast.

 

You have to walk through a golf course to get to the Dragon's Teeth and just before you enter the golf course there is a sign stating that it is dangerous to walk to the coast line and you do so at your own risk. The puzzling thing about that is about ten feet later there are signs posted by the resort who owns the golf course saying here is the trail to Dragon's Teeth, please stay on the trail. Are they trying to warn people of the danger or have them tempt their fate?

 

The walk is an easy one until you get to the coast and then the rocks are rough and jagged and you stand a good chance of getting sprayed by the ocean on a rough day. I made the mistake of getting too close once and me and the camera got drenched. I was frantic to get the camera back to a spot where I could get it dry and clean off the saltwater but I figured while I was there I would take a few more photos.

 

The D700 did just fine in the wet and although I wouldn't recommend it, I'm not worried as much any more about the elements getting to the camera. Nikon does a good job of sealing their cameras and I was very impressed with how the D700 did in these conditions. 

A few large trees

In the same area my wife and I found our "Missing Link" rock we came across a half dozen large trees several hundred years old. Everything all around had been logged 50 or 60 years earlier but for whatever reason these few trees had been left behind. What a rare treat to find this little 2 acre patch of "virgin timber". 

Difficult to imagine now but the entire West Coast of North America from Northern California to South East Alaska was once an uninterrupted forest of large trees this size and larger!

Maximilian Sunflower

Roadside Prince

Named for Prince Maximilian who was an early day visitor to America from Prussia. Interested in natural history and botanical observations he even spent some time with the Mandan Indians in North Dakota during 1832-1834.

Reaching for the Sun

A tall and leggy growing plant that produces an abundance of flowers. Amazing the slender stalk can support them all!

Fall Yellow

Blooming begins in late August or early September. A sure signal that fall has arrived or will be here shortly!

Maximilian Sunflower

The Prince of Sunflowers

Remembering Fall

part 4

It's five o'clock somewhere

A beach in Honokowai in HDR at sunset.

 

I was playing around one evening and took my tripod out into the water to get a few sunset shots. I took a couple of series of bracketed shots just to see what Hawaii would look like in HDR.

 

People sure look at you funny when you walk around with a tripod, especially when you start strolling out into the ocean. I guess I should have been carrying a beer and then no one would have thought anything about it. I've got to get me one of those beer holders for my tripod!

Missing Link?

While out hiking along a local river my wife and I stumbled across this most interesting rock, or could it possibly be the elusive missing link between ape and man... Early riverbed man, ha ha!

Plum Crazy Purple !

Leavenworth's Eryngo

A member of the Parsley family and a late summer and fall bloomer. The colorful leaves and pod always draws me in for a better look!

Pineapple Thistle

Some think the top leaves look like a crown and others believe the pod resembles a pineapple. I would have to agree with both camps!

Remembering Fall

part 3

One week till Spring

 

Reflecting on CP filters

Finally got a chance to play with the new CP filter. I've included a rather boring mud puddle picture that does a good job of showing what the filter can do.

What I didn't know was that besides getting rid of reflections they can also increase reflections! This would work real good for enhancing a reflected sunset or making a rainbow more pronounced. As a side note a CP filter also acts like a 2 stop ND filter, two birds with one stone!

Looking forward to when the Salmon are running in the local rivers, should make for some interesting pictures!

Prairie Dweller

Tasting the Honey

The Pocket Naturalist guide to Oklahoma Trees&Wildflowers tells me this yellow specimen is a Partridge Pea Bloom. Hopefully I identified it correctly. One of it's qualities was being a source of  honey! Full sun and growing in dryer areas were others.

Butter Yellow

This was my first time of sighting this wildflower and was happy to have the opportunity to add this to my collection of photos. Collecting a photo of every wildflower growing in the Wichita Mtns. makes for a fun goal and a reason to get out and shoot pictures!

Remembering Fall

part 2

I'll see your sage....

 

... and raise you a papaya!

 

I thought as long as we are talking about warm plants I might as well throw some tropics into the mix.

FALLING BACK !

Blue Sage in the Foothills

"Remembering Fall"

While most folks are Springing Forward today, I am Falling Back to past September when Autumn Wildflowers were producing their blooms. Enough different varieties were photographed so a short series will start with the Blue Sage.

   

Prairie Beauty

August through October is the months when one can find this plant with flowers. Growing in full sunlight and dry soil is it's preference. It must be a hardy plant to stand up to the high temps of Oklahoma in August!

Remembering Fall

part 1

Won't be long now...

Only 10 more days until Spring thank goodness, daylight savings starts tomorrow and I saw the first Robin of the year this morning! All in all I'd say things are looking up.

Took this picture a few hundred feet from the driftwood sculptures I posted yesterday. Still a little snow on the higher parts of Vancouver Island, but not for much longer! 

Swimming with the Fishes

More from under the sea along the Ka'anapali coast of Maui.

The snow has finally melted and we can see the ground but now we are getting rain so getting out to take any new photos hasn't happened much.

Driftwood sculptures

Found these interesting driftwood sculptures at the Filberg Heritage Lodge and Park | Comox, BC, Town of Comox ... which is in the central part of Vancouver Island. Had an afternoon to kill while in the area on other business. 

While there I went ahead and got myself a 77mm CP filter now that my three main lenses are all the same 77mm, but the weather didn't co-operate and I didn't get much of a chance to use it.

Winter's Sunset Reflection

Three shot Panorama stitched together using CS5 Photomerge.

Three shot HDR put together using CS5 HDR Pro.

A Little Black & White

 

I was going for a different feel with this one. I tried to purposely underexpose the trees for a silhouette type effect. I decided it looked better in B&W instead of color.