More from the Nikon P7700

Sunrise on Moloka'i

 

I've been going through some of the photos Cheryl took with the P7700 to see what they look like, mainly because I haven't taken any photos of mine own for the last couple of weeks. These are from two different mornings looking at the island of Moloka'i from the lanai of our condo on Maui.

 

These were taken with the camera set to automatic, letting the camera choose all of the settings to get the best photo.

 

The life of a photographer, an automatic camera in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. I think I could live like that, for a few days anyway. Then I would have to start playing with the camera!

 

 

"seen" American Persimmons

If it be not ripe, it will draw a man's mouth awry, with much torment,

but when it is ripe, it is as delicious as an apricot.

Captain John Smith

General History of Virginia 1624

Bitter or Sweet

Walking along Turtle Creek on one of the back trails in the Park, the fruit of the persimmon tree began to catch my eye.

Waiting On a Freeze

Although some appear to be ripe, they deceive. The berries are still hard and full of tannin! As my dear old Daddy says; "they will sharpen your teeth if you take a bite." A hard autumn freeze is needed to ripen the fruit to heavenly sweetness!

Bark Like an Alligator

The old trees develop a bark that reminds me of an alligator hide. Tough as nails with a distinctive pattern.

Possumwood

Have heard some of the real old timers over the years refer to the tree as possumwood. Sounds good to me! The only thing that I can imagine making it to the top fruit would be the birds, raccoons, and the marsupial 'opossum.'

   

Sweet Jam in the Making

Patience is the key word while waiting on the berry to ripen. Picked when mushy or pudding like assures the most sweetest pulp one ever tasted! Made into jam like 'Mother used to make', is a special treat at the breakfast table. Makes everyday seem like Sunday!

 

 

"SEENS"

twelve

My good side

I figured since Paul was sharing a photo of himself I would do the same. This is my best kind of self portrait, my back to the camera and slightly dark so I don't blind anybody with my white legs.

 

Cheryl took this (when I wasn't looking of course) with the Nikon P7700. I really miss that camera. LOL

Captivated audience

This is a picture of yours truly with Buster, Maggie and Sunny. We went for a weenie roast last weekend, as usual the dogs were out of control, running helter-skelter, pell-mell all over the place which is normal for these three. But the moment the food came out...

Having a whale of a time

These are from 2012 taken with the Sigma 150-500mm lens from the lanai of our condo on Maui.

 

I received an e-mail last week telling me the first whale has already been spotted in the Au'au Channel between Maui and Lana'i this year. They usually are there between mid December to mid March so I guess they are getting an early start this year. Keep your eyes open Val and keep that water proof camera with you when you're out paddle boarding!

"SEEN" On the Loop de Loop

Making The Loop

I believe the Dragonfly must have been lost or at least missed it's turn. It seemed to slow down, land, and walk the loop, before flying off in the direction it came from!

I suppose the walking trails in our City Park could be called loop de loops? They do go from one end to the other of the grounds before circling back to where one started. About two miles worth, not including a few side trails with figure eights! Wooded areas along with pond side trails and open ground keep the walk from being boring!  

"SEENS"

eleven

Hula on my mind

 

 

Hula girls, Hula pie (which gets me in less trouble), Hula, Hula, Hula

 

Fall has arrived in Kansas this week and October (several years back) was the month my wife and I took our first trip to Hawaii so I always start thinking about the Land of Aloha around now. OK, so I think about it all the time but I  especially think about it around October.

 

More Mushrooms and a Fungus

Here is the other half of the pictures I posted yesterday. 

Mushrooms!

Went for a walk in the woods and started noticing mushrooms, so I took some pictures. 

A couple of quick facts from the internet... Mushrooms a type of fungus. Unlike most plants that use the sunlight and chlorophyll to make food for growth, mushrooms take their food directly from their environment. Another unique property of mushrooms is that they are one of the only plants that produce vitamin D. 

Spun Webs "seens"

A Watched Web

All in a nights work! Sun was just coming up when I raised the blinds on the window by my chair. The sun room is where I have my morning coffee.

 I was surprised to see this intricate web that was built overnight by an orb weaving spider. It was a shy thing. When I stepped out the door with camera in hand, it quickly scurried up out of sight. There were witnesses. The camera captured the web and the face in the sunburst on the outside wall saw it all!

Web of the Writing Spider

Tex down at the Run Around Ranch south of us calls this a Zipper Spider Web. Up here in Oklahoma I like the name of "Writing Spider!"

Folklore has it if you looked too closely at this web weaver, and it looked back at you, it would spell your name in it's web and your demise would be soon! Same goes if you mention your name or someone else. No problem here. The spider was no where in sight! Whew! We are all safe!

"SEENS"

ten

A Passing Disturbance

A small storm passed to the south of town last night. It was producing quite a bit of lightning, so I grabbed my photo equipment and headed out. The first photo has a silhouette of a old brick making company in the foreground. It has not been in operation since I have lived here. As the storm changed and moved away from town, I was forced to move a few of times to catch up. The two bottom photos are from my last set up. The storm was moving away to reveal a star lit sky while still producing lightning.

Just plants

 

I'm digging into the old files again. Hopefully I can get out some next week and get some photos of the changing colors.

These are from this morning in the park near my house.  Since, I'm starting going back to work on my new job next week, hopefully I can photographing birds more often.  Have a nice weekend everyone!

Good Morning From Hanalei Bay, Kauai.

Lee Big Stopper Filter.

Small "seens"

Grass Seeds

Grasshoppers!

Present and Past

Bottom to Top Bloomer

"Seens"
nine

Who left the water on?

These were taken back in April of this year at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge after it had received a substantial amount of rain. On the top photo, the dam was blocked when we got there to take pictures. Ron and I unblocked it to be able to get the pictures we were wanting. I had to climb down a very steep rock face to get below the dam. On the bottom two photos I used every ND filter I have, but even with those I was only able to get a half second shutter speed. These were shot mid day and the sun was very bright. 

Unsettled skies

A view of the unsettled skies over Queen Charlotte Strait from several days ago.

In order to capture the clouds in this picture without them being blown out I had to set the exposure down to -1.3 then when I got home I went to work in Photoshop and brought the beach back up to an acceptable brightness, saturated the colors a bit, a bit of sharpening and it's finished.

Another failed attempt

Well I went out yesterday evening hoping to catch a meteor on camera. The Draconid meteor shower isn't as spectacular as the Perseid shower but none the less I thought I would give it a shot. So, after sitting for a hour and seeing 10-15 of them, sure that I had captured at least one, the buffer on my camera filled up. After looking at all of the images, I didn't even get one. I was also hoping to make another short video clip with all of the images, but a couple of passing by trucks messed that up. I didn't walk away empty handed. The first image is where I set up to try and capture the meteors. The second and third images I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the barns silhouette while driving home. I used a very bright surefire flashlight to "paint" the barn into the picture. These were all shot using a Sigma 10-20 lens at f/4, 30 second exposures ISO 2000. 

Fall Colors

I took both of these pictures of Newcastle Island Marine Provincial Park from the Ferry as it came in to dock at Departure Bay in  Nanaimo.