February --The Photo Sabbatical, Part 2

"Frozen Tundra"
Some of our high areas are prone to very hard winds that are freezing cold, creating a climate like the tundra of the Arctic.  Here I took some neat patches of windcarved snow where it made this sand dune effect.  Snow dunes?

Okay so where was I...

The reason I was going out every day was, I was actually looking for animals. Like birds and foxes.  I trudged for miles and miles and saw nothing.  And it turns out every bird within a 10 mile radius was at Mom's birdfeeders when I woke up about 3 days ago.  So I got plenty of practice.  Here I was experimenting with "sports mode" on the camera which has a shutter speed of up to 1/2000 of a second.  I actually stopped time!

Practicing bird pics with my Dad's 400mm wildlife lens.

This is my favorite. A female cardinal and a nuthatch went on a little lunch date.

Some cardinals having a powwow.

I don't know what it is but our yard has been attracting a crapload of cardinals lately. The most I ever saw at once was 7.  It's no secret that my Mom puts out an all-you-can-eat buffet for these things.  It's been said we have the fattest squirrels and birds in Wilmington.

Some Canada Geese fly off into the sunset.

Another awesome sundown at the Hawk Watch. 

I have been going to the same spot every day after work for about a month to watch the sun go down. I love doing it, it's so relaxing and it helps me clear my brain after a long and tedious day. If you live near a good scenic overlook I recommend you also do this as often as you can.

Last day: Friday, February 28

I'm starting to get quite good at this! I found a trick with these old lenses.  The lack of aperture to adjust means you need lots and lots of light, fiuxed lenses don't seem to do very well in low light conditions. And the trick with the DSLR is turn the shutter speed up really high and use the sensor to compensate for the aperture accordingly. It also helps to have a tripod and a shutter remote.

Nailed it.

I'd tell you how many cardinals there are in this photo but I almost can't count that high.  My neighbor calls these things "Redbirds"

I take the coolest shots in the most unlikely places.  This one looks like a beach, but it's actually a frozen fountain pool at Brandywine Town Center in front of the Red Robin and Target.

Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.

Takin' a shower.





This concludes my winter photo odyssey. I hope you'll join me again for spring and summer, when the world comes back to life and all the furry critters crawl out of their holes. It will be awesome!

Until next time...I'd like to end with a quote, and share with you the soundscape my mind explored while I was exploring many of these secret and less obvious places. Close your eyes and think about where this takes you. Into your past? Your subconscious? Your future? Or another plane of reality altogether?

"...To be confronted by solitude and beauty without decadence, or a single material thing to prostitute, it elevates you to a spiritual plane where you feel the presence of God...now there's the God they taught me about in school, and then there is the God that's...hidden...by what surrounds us in this civilization. And that's the God I met." -Fernando "Nando" Parrado, survivor of the 1972 Andes plane crash