American Kestrel

American Kestrel, originally uploaded by WhereRu.

Saw this little woman on the way home today. Had to go get my camera and fortunately she was still in area when I returned. Tough conditions. This is an adult female Kestrel. In this picture she is fanning out her tail feathers to stabilize herself on the branch as the wind was blowing pretty good. A friend of mine asked me why I called the bird a little woman, and referred to her as a she. This is a female. As with many bird species (and other animals as well) the males are much more colorful or ornate than the female. Were this a male it would have had noticeable blue-gray on the wings.

Spin Me

Spin Me, originally uploaded by WhereRu.

One of my best mistake pictures ever. I was headed down hill, with snow shoes. Does not work well... fell on my butt and slid down the hill. When I got home I found this picture in the bunch. Somehow I triggered the shutter as i was falling. Too much fun!

Fireworks Composite

Fireworks Composite, originally uploaded by WhereRu.

Individually these were all great pictures and some of my favorite fireworks photos I have ever taken. I learned a new technique of layering which allows the layers below to show through, but removes the black background. The result is pretty amazing. This is a composite of 6 different shots, all taken on July 4th, 2008.

Washcup

Washcup, originally uploaded by WhereRu.

I shot this picture in November of 2005 in Japan.  It was located at a temple in Kanagawa prefecture.  This is very near the site of the famous Giant Buddha.  I shot it with my Nikon D200 using a Lensbaby 2.0.  I shot a lot of pictures with the Lensbaby on that trip.  I love the Lensbaby, but like any other "technique" it is really easy to use too much and too often.  All too often people produce a blurry image and think they have produced something beautiful.  I am hoping this one is one of the good ones.  Nikon D200, 17-35mm.

Lake Michigan Sunrise

Lake Michigan Sunrise, originally uploaded by WhereRu.

This is another one taken on the same day as Ice Shelf below. The large round ice chunk was originally behind me. While waiting for the sun to poke through a slight breeze came up. The round ice every so gradually moved into my field of view enabling me to capture it and the sun. By including a little of the foreground I thought helped to give the whole picture some scale. Nikon D300, 18-200 lens at 18mm.

Serpent's Breath

Serpent's Breath, originally uploaded by WhereRu.

Smoke Photography is the latest alternative photography I am trying. The results are stunning. With a little practice you can create unimaginable images. The setup is a black background with an external slaved flash to camera right. Shutter of 1/250 stops the smoke and an f/stop of f8-f16 gives you the depth of field you need to get the smoke in focus. Pretty great. Check out my other smoke photos on Flickr.  Nikon D300, 17-35mm.

Ice Shelf

Ice Shelf, originally uploaded by WhereRu.

The ice shelf extends several hundred feet from the shoreline. As the shelf is built up by waves, it is covered by sand dredged up from the bottom. This makes it easy to walk on. Getting out here to the edge took some nerve. It was still dark this morning and I had to cross a section that had open water on my left and right.  Nikon D300, 18-200mm.

Winter Fog

Winter Fog, originally uploaded by WhereRu.

Took this picture near Petrifying Springs entrance. The fog created ice crystals and covered everything. Very beautiful and other-worldly.  The problem I ran into was that this area is relatively low-lying and was not nearly as affected by the freezing fog.  I had to trek around a while with my snowshoes to find a good spot.  Nikon D300, 17-35mm lens at 17mm.