A Hiking We Will Go!

This shot only took many, many attempts with a camera timer and my speedy leaping through the trees.

Summer brings back our hiking trips! Our first hiking trip brought us out to Skinners Bluff. This 16km hiking trek (8 km to the above spot and back to our car) was blessed by a beautifully clear and cool day. We couldn't have asked for nicer hiking conditions.

We were way high up on the bluffs escarpment. 

Gorgeous view from Skinner's Bluff. I just can't get over how blue the water is in Colpoy's Bay (off Georgian Bay)

So many trees growing up and bent out from the rock edges. 

I'm hoping that this is just one of many, many hikes out and about the Bruce Peninsula this summer. I hope we get to explore so much more, and enjoy this beautiful area that we live :)

Buzzing Among The Flowers

Later in the evening the other day, while I had my camera out looking for something to photograph, I heard the tell-tale sound of a bumble bee buzz. Now, I'm not sure if it's just me - or if something is up with nature this year, but the bumble bee's I've seen so far have been massive! Anyways, this little (big) guy was buzzing around a cluster of my purple flowers of some Lamium plants that popped up. How perfect! This bumble choose flowers complimentary to it's own colouring....it cannot get more perfect than this!

So I sat myself down, used my telephoto zoom lens to give me distance from him as to not disturb him, and then shot away as he buzzed along from blossom to blossom. These are some of my better ones, some I'm holding back for potential reference photos for paintings, and many were not great at all - Yea for digital!

He was not slow moving by any means and was completely unpredictable, so capturing him from here to there and in action meant just trying to focus quick and then shoot a bunch of pictures knowing that maybe one will turn out right. Some picture he even flew out of before the exposure was done.

I'm quite happy now that it's warm out, and I'm bringing my camera out a lot more. It definitely helps that there is more to photography than just ice and snow now! :)

My First Attempt At Stars

Last night was a super clear night, so I thought I would try photographing the night sky. I live in a small town, so I have some 'light pollution' - but not nearly as much as a large city. Still, next time, I think I will to get away from some of that so that I can really see the stars, and really get the milky way.

The top picture was my best out of them all. It really just looks like white dots on black - but I know what it is. For my first 'night shoot', I'm very happy with it. It was shot with F/5.6, 5 seconds exposure at 3200 ISO. Below is one with a longer exposure time - see how it looks like the stars are falling? That's just from 30 seconds of exposure - those stars travel pretty fast! 

Don't Blink

Just having some fun with my camera during the last "thaw" a couple weeks ago.... catching raindrops on my camera. 

American Goldfinches

We have had many visitors to our bird feeder this winter. One of them has been these lovely Goldfinches. I was able to snap a bunch of photos of him as he filled up on seeds and nuts. I believe their official name is the American Goldfinch, but definitely correct me if I'm wrong. They just match up best to that colouring and description in our bird book :)

Using my telephoto zoom lens has been perfect for capturing these guys so nicely! I am able to stay way back in my kitchen, where I am no bother to them, and just shoot away. Although, I feel that in the picture below, this little bird is starring right at me!

I love this last picture as it show their delicate little feet for well! I cannot wait until spring when all these birds show their beautiful, bright colours! We are already talking of adding some more feeders (there are always birds fighting over this one), and I'll be ready with my camera!

The Lovely Moon

The sky was nice and clear the other night - opposed to being clouded over and snow-storming...or raining (yes, we have had both). It was the perfect opportunity to try taking some photos of the moon. I took some before it was dark, while the moon was starting to hang out in the sky, and then came back to it later when it was nice and dark. 

This shot below was just pure luck: of a plane flying in front of the moon as I was taking the photos. I didn't even see it coming until it was in my frame.

I must say, I am truly loving this new camera. It is just so much fun, and just so much more creative control over my photos. All of these were taken from right inside my kitchen through the window...it was pretty cold and damp outside - and I'm not quite ready to venture with my camera in the winter elements. :)

Weekly Photography Check-in

Seeing the world through a whole new lens!

Oh, yes I did. I finally caved - thanks to Boxing Day goodness - and purchased a new, fancy DSLR camera. I went with the Canon Rebel T3i. It came in a kit with a bag and an extra lens; and luckily James got me a huge SD memory card for Christmas! Did he foresee this or what?! It just came in the mail last night, so of course I took a million photos of nothing, a million times. Just playing with the settings and such. I am used to setting manual techniques on my little point-and-shoot camera - which I know is nothing compared to this; but it has given me experience scrolling through, and there are some general settings that I already know that I like more than others. I also purchased a tripod with it. This will allow me to do so much more in terms of creative photography, and it will also allow me to film!

I hope to check in with my photography on a weekly basis. Things will look a little worse before they look awesome. But being a painting artist, who uses photographic references most times for inspiration, this seemed a natural progression. The better I can capture a moment, the better I can carry that moment with me into my studio :)