Curious Swan

If you ever happen to be in Cary, NC, you should take a visit to Koka Booth Amphitheater. It is a great venue and will afford you an opportunity to take some pictures of different wildlife inhabiting the lake there (Symphony Lake, I believe). I was there this weekend and was able to take a few shots of geese and this one beautiful swan. These birds were not scared of people whatsoever, as I imagine they are fed quite often. Here is one of the pictures of the swan I was able to capture. I think in this shot, he (or she) was actually posing for me. He was very intrigued by me and was actually swimming after me any time that I moved around.

I’ll post some of the others after I get more of a chance to work with the pictures a bit more. Enjoy!

Tags: Bird, Cary, Koka Booth Amphitheater, lake, Memorial Day, NC, Swan, Symphony Lake, water

Bubbles

Bubbles are awesome. They’re fun to make, fun to watch and fun to pop! But they are very hard to photograph. I don’t know how many of you have tried to actually get close up photos of bubbles, but they can certainly be quite tricky to catch before they pop. I tried several takes before I got this one, and I don’t think it is the greatest. You have to be patient, ideally with little to no wind (it was slightly breezy yesterday, which made catching these even more of a challenge), and you have to be fast and accurate with your focus. Anyway, here is the same bubble picture, post processed in different fashions. Comments and tips always welcome!

 

 

 

Tags: arts, breezy, bubbles, photography, pop, style, windy

The Red Door

I was visiting downtown Raleigh recently and found this red door. Not sure what is actually in the building, but I liked the color and thought it had some character to it. Here are 3 different post processes of the same door. Not sure about what others may think, but I’m partial to the one in color and then the sepia. What do you think?

Color Process

Black and white process

Sepia Process

Tags: black and white, door, downtown, NC, raleigh, sepia

Easter Pictures at Duke Gardens

Spring time is here! Easter is fast approaching, so my wife and I thought we’d try to get some pictures of our daughter at Duke Gardens in Durham. This is a great time of year to visit the gardens. Many, many flowers are in bloom and it is very picturesque. Below are some of the shots I took while there.

Tags: child, Duke Gardens, Durham, Easter, flowers, girl, nature, NC, spring, spring flowers, spring time

Flower for Today

I had the opportunity to wander out and about after a rain shower the other day and came across some early spring flowers. Here is one of those shots. Enjoy!

Tags: early spring, flower, nature, plants, purple, rain, rainy day, spring flowers, water

Capturing that Elusive Child Image

Looking through the pebbles.

I am always trying to capture my daughter in the act of being herself and doing the things she does when no one is looking. If she knows you have a camera, she does one of two things… either she hams it up and you get goofy pictures or now, more commonly, she tries to hide her face and all you see is her backside. I was able to capture a few pictures this time around that were candid. As with many 3 year old’s, she is forever curious about everything and always trying to figure things out.

Picking up pebbles.

Starting to "pose" for the camera.

Tags: capture, child, elusive, photography, portrait

Squirrel!

This little guy came to visit when I was down in Orlando visiting my inlaws. The busy little guy gave me the stare down while eating the blade of grass and then quickly scampered away. For at least a short while, he did pose for a couple of shots.

 

Tags: Florida, nature, Orlando, photography, Squirrel

Reflection

It was a rainy morning, and the sun was just beginning to appear from behind the clouds. I happened to be next to a lake when this happened and I caught this in the reflection. You can see the circle of the sun in the slight break in the cloud cover. I caught it just in time, because 5 minutes later most of the clouds were gone and it was nothing but bright sunshine for the rest of the day.

F/5.6, 55mm, 1/800 s. Shot using my 18-55mm lens on Manual

Reflection

Tags: 55mm lens, circle of the sun, clouds, Florida, Orlando, peaking, rain, rainy day, reflection, Sun, water

Waterfall

Water features. There are a lot of them throughout Florida. Personal, private, public, commercial, you name it, Florida has them all. This is a photo taken at my mother-in-law’s house of the pond in her back yard. We were visiting for a week, and of course, brought the camera. I thought this would be a good opportunity to try out a long exposure and see what I came out with. I always love how water looks in long exposure pictures. Just looking at this picture makes me feel a bit calmer and more at peace. I wish I had my own water feature in my back yard. Until then, I’ll have my pictures…

Tags: calm, Florida, flowing water, long exposure, Orlando, photography, Pond, water, waterfall

A Cute Four Legged Friend

Oh my! It seems it has been a couple of weeks since my last post. I was out on vacation for a bit, but now I’m back. I spent the last week down in Orlando, Florida. There was an abundance of critters, birds, and other things to take in and photograph. Over the next couple of posts, I will share some of those pictures with you, and as always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome.

Of the many critters and such to be found in Florida, these cute little guys are quite common. Some places you can find more of them than in others. They are quite hard to sneak up on and photograph though. You have to be quick (oh, and a longer lens helps too)!

Quick four-legged friend.

Tags: brown, chameleon, critters, four legged friend, lizard, orlando florida, photograph