Sunsets are back :)

Ok, so this isn't much of a photo but it was so nice to see the pink sky as I came home from work tonight that I had to take a picture of it. I wish the scenery were a little more picturesque though...

Hazy Moon

If you look outside now, you'll realize I didn't take these tonight. I took them last week and didn't like them enough to post. However, in the absence of anything interesting to post, this is what you get.
I don't have a tripod so taking pictures at night - even of something bright enough to light up the sky - is a challenge (and a half!). I balanced my camera on the roof of my car for these....it was the best I could do! The reason for 3 of these is simply because I was playing with the settings, trying to find something that really *worked*. I'm not really sure it ever did but the photos did come out looking a bit different and it was settings-dependent. Do not ask what they were though, lol! These are totally unedited, except for the frames; this is not to say that I think they're great, just that this is what it actually looked like!

Rain drops keep falling......

....thankfully!
We really needed to cool off a bit after the temps we've been experiencing here for the last 4-5 days. It down-poured this afternoon for about 20 minutes and then it was all over. Here are a few shots from right after it stopped. The first two I shot in manual mode; I don't use it much because it never really occurs to me but I actually found I took some better shots with that today than I did with the auto-focus. Maybe it's something I should play with more often!

This one I posted because it's so strange looking! It's a dark purple flower and in B&W the drops look...well...white. It's just the reflection of the lighter sky on the darker petals...kinda neat even if it does look rather mutant....

And because I just can't seem to help myself, this is what I woke up to this morning (5 am!); the second one was taken a few minutes after the first and it was through a screened window so the quality is garbage but the colour is spectacular! I don't know what it is about the skies over the past few days...maybe it's because of all the humidity in the air??? Oh! And these are totally unedited except for some cropping (and the frames, siggies).

When in doubt, shoot the sky....

It's over 40 degrees today with the humidity; Brannon is out buying ice cream so we can make milkshakes; I had little to take pictures of because there's no way I'm going outside......so, here's what the sky looks like right now in my back yard.....not too shabby!

Mooney's Bay

I spent the day in my office and took a quick stroll through Mooney's Bay park on my way home. People were everywhere, enjoying the sun. I wasn't dressed for the sunny outdoors today so I didn't last long but I did manage to take a few photos. It would have been a perfect opportunity to sneak some people shots but I only had my kit lens with me so I would have had to have been sitting on top of them to get a shot....hence, no people :)

I like this first shot because you can faintly see the rays of the sun over the beach! I couldn't get much closer to the water's edge because just last week the area was flooded so the beach remains quite muddy.

They haven't cleaned all the plant debris off the sand yet...

Trees that are just sprouting leaves...

Flying High

I was out this morning *trying* to capture a bird collecting various debris for her nest.....you'll notice that's not what I'm posting :)
She wouldn't sit still long enough for me to shoot anything useful but just when I was about to give up a plane flew by....

Sunday afternoon

I went to see several homes today (I loved one!!) and my agent was a bit late so I took a few minutes to look around the neighbourhood and I found a child's kite caught in a tree. I didn't have my zoom lens though so it's pretty far away.

I couldn't help but snap a photo of the pretty sky on the way home!

First one of the season

My parents have a spectacular view (in fact, when people see it in our wedding photos, they don't even think it's real!), with beautiful pink/red sunsets all summer that, unfortunately, disappear during the winter months. I was at home yesterday for Easter dinner and witnessed my first pretty sunset of the season. Apparently it was nothing compared to the one on Sunday but I was still pleased to see it. It seems strange to see a pink sunset over a snowy horizon :)

Lunar Eclipse

I'm a day late getting these posted but the eclipse was much later for us than it was out west and I just didn't have the energy to do anything last night. I went to my parent's house with my new - and soon to be returned to the store - tripod to make my best attempt at photographing the eclipse. I have learned that good equipment is absolutely crucial...let's just say that the tripod I bought (the last in the store, I should add) was garbage and not much better than holding the camera myself.
Anyway, I arrived just as the first blip in the gorgeous full moon could be seen so I had to work fast if I wanted to capture the whole thing. I struggled with the settings for a long time and eventually I just set the ISO to 400 and chose the shutter-priority auto setting in which the camera would choose the correct aperture for the shutter speed I set (1/25). That seemed to work all right although I think I would make some changes next time. Lastly, it occurred to me that using the self-timer would be a good idea and that proved to be my best choice of the night given the cheapness of my tripod!! :)
So, without further ado, here is what I shot last night. I wasn't able to capture much following the eclipse as the moon became visible again because by that point my camera had been in super-cold temperatures for over 2 hours and it drained my battery. I had a spare but my urge to be warm and in bed overpowered my willingess to spend another second outside in the dark.
I would welcome tips and advice for next time from anyone who knows what they're talking about :) :) :)

5-minute Sunrise

I had decided that I wasn't going to post any more photos of the sky for a while since I've been doing a lot of that lately but I couldn't help myself this time. Like much of Ontario and the rest of Canada, we had miserable weather yesterday; we experienced rain, freezing rain, snow...you name it we saw it! But before all that started I woke up to this; it only lasted for about 5 minutes and I'm so thankful the dogs (I'm also dog-sitting this week) dragged my sleepy butt out of bed to see it. This is straight out of my camera with absolutely no editing at all....Mother Nature really does provide the best inspiration :)

Rush-Hour Sky

Brannon drove me to the lab today so I was able to photograph this morning's magnificent sky. It was such a welcome sight after yesterday's snow!

Subject: sky (again)

I'm very much looking forward to getting my camera back.....

Getting caught up....

We were feeling a little bit rough yesterday so I didn't get any photos posted...we had a great time on New Year's Eve and despite taking lots of pics, I've decided not to post them in the interest of privacy :)

Earlier in the day though, I took this shot of the sun. This is straight out of my camera with no enhancements; the trick was taking it through the visor-portion of my car windshield (hence the blue tinge).

The rest of my photos for today I took this morning; I was so excited to see the sun!

A chickadee in the lilac tree in the front yard. I like how the sun shines on his back.

One of the Madden twins playing in the gigantic snow banks from yesterday's snowstorm.

The wind continues to swirl the newly-fallen snow around. Here is Canada's version of the crop circle :)

Beckwith randoms

I went to Henry's today to check out the camera equipment sales (I bought a new lens!); I took a couple of backroads in and around Carleton Place and stopped a few times on the side of the road to take some photos.

A break in the clouds

I have no explanation for this but I think it's rather interesting (I SO wish I had photoshop to get rid of those power lines). A local man here asked me which newspaper I was reporting for :)

Old meets new...

It *is* Sens country....

I found this beauty in Franktown. There is another one really close to where I grew up that I have been wanting to photograph but I can't get near it for all the snow!