Knowing my morning would be consumed with getting ready for the Baby Meeting five of us are driving in to LA for today, I took some photos while on a packfree walk around my neighborhood last night.

I’m back to using the Canon Powershot A650 on walks until I read more about the Canon G11. I’m sure I just don’t know enough about the G11 to stop it from doing its own thing. I sat with the manual last night, but I was too tired too keep reading. The jury is still out on the G11. I will be taking the Canon Powershot A650 on my backpack. Knowing a camera makes a world of difference. Even though my head says I want to save up for a big girl DSLR (bigger than my Canon D40), I’m not looking forward to learning and becoming familiar with another camera right now.

I love my little Canon Powershot A650 (except for when I try to shoot macro). I know where everything is without much thought at all. I know all the camera’s idiosyncrasies. I just need to pay attention to seeing and shooting. No more gear!!!!!!!!! Trying to learn lighting (which I’m not learning really) has kept me from going out to shoot. Well, lighting and all the zillion other activities I have lined up all day.

[caption id="attachment_2874" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="It was the shadow that caught my eye."][/caption]

Yesterday was a long day. It was in fact a 24 hour long day.

I drove to Concord, California, a 5.5 hour drive with Milly who I’d picked up at 5:45am, to attend my sponsor Debbie’s 34th birthday brunch. There were about 36 of us in attendance, happy to be seeing each other again. As always the annual gathering was uniquely special, memorable and unifying.

I almost made it back home after leaving Concord at 6pm, and after dropping Milly off in Encino, but I was smart and instead pulled into a rest area at 1:30am, 36 miles short of Palm Springs. I was lucky to find an empty parking space where I became one of many, auto and truck drivers, reclined in our seats hoping to catch enough sleep to continue our journey. Two hours of fitfully napping, I pulled out of the rest area and headed home, still slapping my face to stay awake.

Just another light show over the San Jacinto Range tonight.

Good news: I got up out of my computer chair and shots the very active early morning egret antics.
Bad news: One more time my panning didn’t render an in-focus shot.
Solution: A black and white filter!

I shot about 100 photos before I retreated back inside the condo. I was wearing my jammies and the golfers had started to play the 2nd hole where they could see me.

Here are some shots of what I was watching from inside, that called me outside this morning.

You gotta know there is something interesting going on outside for me to pick up my camera before I pick up my coffee.

It was a beautiful morning. I’ve noticed how many egrets and other white birds are regularly around lately. It must be breeding season. I watch them from my office and have tried shooting white birds before. It’s hard not overexposing the birds. (Today I stopped down the exposure by -1 EV and -1 1/3.) It’s also hard to stop the birds’ in-flight motion, as I’m usually out shooting them in lower light situations, after the sun has set or before the morning light is very bright.

The longest lens I have is the Canon Zoom EF 70 – 200mm 1:2.8 L IS USM so getting close-up shots is difficult since the birds fly off when I get within 80 yards or so. But I liked these photos better than any others I’ve taken. The sun was bright enough that I could set the shutter speed faster, above 250, without having to bump the ISO up above 100. I put the spot meter in the center and seemed to have more success than when I put it in the upper right or left corners.

I’m having trouble getting it together today. I’m all over the place, still in my sweaty hiking clothes from this morning’s Bump & Grind hike. My attention has gone from trying to figure out some older light stand and reflector holders (I have a call into Photoflex) to shooting the back of my hand as a subject metering device for some manual practice with the 580EX II, to thinking about making lunch for Ray and me before his NEW golf cart arrives this afternoon.

This shot got me up out of the computer chair:

We do live in a beautiful place.

Each week for 3 months, we who have signed up for Carol’ Leigh’s online Photomotivation Class, receive a new subject to shoot for the week. This week our shooting assignment is Faces in Unlikely Places. I had no luck seeing anything late this afternoon on a walk in the neighborhood.

I went into the bathroom to get ready for the evening meeting. Leaving the bathroom, I was blinded by this sky that had probably reached peak color a minute before. I only broke one nail racing to get out the glass slider with my tripod.

I did get out today with my big girl camera, but I was lazy and only walked outside my door to shoot in the last 45 minutes of sun. Because I’m bored with the lack of variety here in this sterile community, I changed to the 50mm lens and extension tube hoping I’d see something fun when I got in close.

At first I tried shooting some close ups of cactus but getting as low as I needed to get was killing my back. I lengthened the tripod to eye level, hence the following shots.

Shooting Bougainvillea is always problematic. The white flowers are usually blown out. Because I shoot these flowers up real close, the depth of field plays havoc with not enough of the flower being in focus. This afternoon I only shot subjects that were flat, where all points were about the same distance from my lens. I found out what appears flat isn’t always flat.

Here’s what the settings were for the Bougainvillea shot: 1/320 sec at f5.0, -1 EV, ISO 200.

I shot the Eucalyptus leaf at 1/500 sec at f 5.0, -1 EV at ISO 200. (I think I forgot to change the -1 adjusted exposure compensation back after shooting the Bougainvillea.)

Photo from two days ago: