Saskatoon High Water

I thought I should take a few pictures to remember the record high water levels in the river:

Spadina north of Ravine Drive

where did the weir go?

water under the bridge

geese taking over the flooded trail

Splashes of Color

Taken with my iPhone at Innovation Place. I'm a sucker for color!

At the Lake

We recently spent a few days at Anglin Lake and area with my sisters. We saw lots of wildlife and of couse I took a bunch of photos - deer, elk, bears, beetles, flowers, and more. Enjoy!

(click to view photos)


See also Shelley's blog post.

Photo Notes

I took about 700 photos in four days. I ended up sharing 64. Even excluding the few family ones, that's only slightly more selective than 1 in 10.

I spent about 6 hours selecting and adjusting. I didn't take my laptop with me, so I did all my editing when I got home. My process was to first go through them and put all the potential good ones into the Lightroom Quick Collection. Then I started inspecting, comparing, and adjusting.

This is the first big batch of photos I've done since recently upgrading to Lightroom 5. I'm still learning how to use the new tools like the radial filter and the healing brush. I think they'll prove useful.

As I've mentioned in other blog posts, I've been getting into the habit of pushing the ISO up to get a decent shutter speed and aperture. However, I ran into a few problems with this. Generally I'll push it to 800, but a few times I found that if I'd left it on Auto it would have used an even higher ISO - oops. What I really want is to raise the minimum to 800 but there's no quick way to do that. Maybe I should set up a User mode for that. I've also discovered, by comparing shots, that sometimes I'd get better results if I left the ISO lower. It's a learning process.

Another thing I was experimenting with was "shooting to the right", i.e. trying to get a histogram that is as far right as possible without clipping. I've been doing that by using an adjustment of + .5 or 1 stop. The idea is that there is more digital information on the right side of the histogram (brighter areas). But in practice, I'm not sure I got better results. One problem is that adjusting by +1 stop means losing 1 stop in shutter speed or aperture. The other problem is that it requires looking at the histogram for every shot which isn't always feasible. I don't argue with the theory, but for me the jury is still out.

Taking pictures of some of the birds, like the loons and especially the kingfisher, I was really wishing for a better telephoto lens. I hate the thought of the weight and size and having to change lenses, but I'd really like to capture them better.

I was playing with a few different techniques like panning with a slow shutter speed to get abstract shots. It's not my favorite technique but fun to experiment with. I also tried a few high key images with almost white backgrounds. I quite like the one of the grass in the water.

Why did the turtle cross the road?

Driving back from the Black Hills Shelley swerved to miss what she thought was a rock on the road. As she went by she realized it was a turtle. We were worried that it would get run over so we turned around and went back to "rescue" it.

By the time we got back to it, it had already made it to the shoulder. (These turtles can move quite quickly at times.)



Of course, I had to take photos!



From the top it looked quite similar to the red-eared sliders commonly kept as pets. But the underside is quite different and colorful and identifies it as a western painted turtle. These are semi-aquatic turtles that spend most of their time in the water or basking.



Hopefully picking it up didn't disturb it too much. I couldn't resist getting a better look.

In case you're waiting for an answer, I'm sorry but I don't know why she (guessing from the short claws) was crossing the road. The side she'd come from had a small pond, but I didn't see much water on the side she was heading for. It could have been to lay eggs.

First Kayak of the Summer

We got out on the river with our kayaks this morning for the first time this summer. There were the usual suspects in attendance - pelicans, mallards, canada geese with babies, and a lone grebe.

(click to view photos)


Photographing from the kayak has pros and cons. You can sneak up on the birds easier than on foot and you have a nice low angle. On the other hand, you're always moving. Getting shots of the birds taking off and flying is always a challenge trying to pan and hoping the camera will focus fast enough and on the right thing. As usual, bumping up the ISO (e.g. to 800) helps get a fast enough shutter speed and more depth of focus.

Northern Flicker

(click to view larger)

A loud chattering cry outside the washroom at our campground in Penticton made me search the trees for the caller. It turned out to be this bird. There were two of them but I only got photos of this male. I had a little trouble identifying it as a Northern Flicker (a type of woodpecker) because the photos in my guide (the iBird Pro app) were showing the eastern yellow-shafted form, and this was the western red-shafted. The call was their territorial one so perhaps they had a nest nearby.

Skaha, Snakes, and Skinks

Today was our last day climbing at Skaha Bluffs. As we hiked in, Shelley stopped in front of me and said she could hear something moving in the grass in front of her, maybe a bird. I couldn't see anything at first. Then a snake appeared, and then a second one. They weren't rattle snakes so we moved in for a closer look. I pulled out my camera, but they were hiding in the vegetation. Shelley tried to get them to come out but they were in "freeze" mode. She got a stick and started moving it towards them. Eventually they did move but, of course, not into the open. They disappeared into cracks in the rock. We waited and they reappeared and one of them cooperated enough to get a few shots. I think they were Western Yellow-bellied Racers.

Later in the day, I was belaying Shelley on a climb and I heard something moving in the grass at the base of the cliff. Again, at first I couldn't see anything. But I caught a slight movement and picked out a tail. I thought it was another snake, but when I looked closer (while still paying attention to belaying Shelley!) I saw it was a skink (a kind of lizard). I was a little surprised - up till now I hadn't seen any skinks at Skaha Bluffs. Once Shelley was off belay I ran down to our packs and got my camera. (When Shelley saw me running to get my camera, at first she thought I was getting it to take pictures of her, but she soon realized it must be some creature.) When I got back with the camera the skink was gone. But I figured it probably hadn't gone far. Sure enough, when I got closer I spotted it. But again, like the snakes, it was buried in the vegetation. I took a couple of shots but couldn't get a clear angle. I tried to use a stick to get it to move, but I was a little too successful - it shot out like a rocket and went straight under a rock. But I was patient and like the snakes eventually it emerged and I got a few good shots of it. I think it's a Western Skink which is a common species found all the way from BC to Baja (where I've also seen them).

I'm glad to be able to balance all the recent flower shots with something more interesting!

(click to view photos)

Another Rainy Day

Another day of no climbing due to rain. If it doesn't improve soon, we'll bail. We visited a couple more wineries, a couple of coffee shops, and I managed to take a few photos between rain showers ...

(click to view photos)

Rain Day

It rained off and on all day today so we didn't try to climb and headed to the Nk'mip Desert Cultural Center instead. It's a fancy facility, along with the winery, golf course, resort, etc. but I think I liked the low key Osoyoos Desert Center better. The nature trail was nice though, and I got some good shots of the resident osprey. We also stopped at La Stella, the sister winery to Le Vieux Pin that we visited the other day.

The locals keep telling us it hardly ever rains in the Okanagan. Hopefully this will be more true in the next few days!

(click to view photos)

Rain

Not looking good for climbing this morning!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Laying Low for the Long Weekend

(click to view photos)

The May long weekend is crazy crowded at Skaha Bluffs and we were ready for a break anyway.

Friday afternoon we drove down to Osoyoos heading for the Nk'mip Desert Cultural Center but came across the Osoyoos Desert Center first. It's run by the Osoyoos Desert Society and much less commercial. There's not a lot to see - mostly sagebrush and antelope bush. But our friendly young lady tour guide gave us lots of information about all the things we couldn't see, like the snakes, mice, badgers, spadefoot toads, coyotes, etc. The most activity was in the little garden next to the visitor center. There were several kinds of hummingbirds at the feeders, a rabbit browsing, and a killdeer nesting.

On the way we stopped in Oliver at Medici's Gelateria for delicious gelato. If you're in the area it's a nice spot to for coffee or ice cream.

We ran out of time to go to the Nk'mip center, but we did find time to stop at another of Penny's winery suggestions - Le Vieux Pin near Oliver. It's a smaller winery that makes wine in French styles. We enjoyed our tasting there - great wine.

Our friend Ellen in Summerland generously offered us a place to stay for the weekend. Her house has a great view over the lake and we had some nice rainbows from the torrential rainstorm that evening.

On Saturday we went for a hike with a group of Ellen's friends up to Divide Lake in Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park. The day started out cloudy with slight drizzle, but it cleared up later. The hike went through the area that burned ten years ago and it was interesting to see the regeneration.

More Skaha

(click to view photos)

We woke up this morning and looked out the tent door to find a family of Canada geese camped right in front of our tent. Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera in the tent. Predictably, when we got out they moved away, but I pulled on my pants and grabbed my camera and managed to get a few shots of them before they swam away.

Last night we had a great dinner at the Vanilla Pod restaurant at the Poplar Grove winery. We had been to Vanilla Pod a couple of times when they were in Summerland and really enjoyed it, but this was definitely a more scenic location looking down on Penticton and the lake. The sunset was lovely and we watched the colors develop and then fade. I didn't have my camera but Shelley took a few shots with her iPhone.

After two days of solid climbing we were a little stiff this morning. Nevertheless, we did some harder climbs that left our fingertips sore from the small edges. We climbed till noon and took the afternoon off to relax and visit a couple of wineries (Blue Mountain and Noble Ridge). Both were excellent. We decided to sit and enjoy a glass of wine and a cheese platter on Noble Ridge's deck with a wonderful view of the mountains and lake.

A Near Death Experience

Thankfully not my death, and also thankfully in the end no one was hurt. Here's the story.

Shelley and I were climbing a route called Dryathlon, a trad route up a corner crack. A couple of girls asked if it was ok if they climbed the bolted sport route beside us. We said sure.

I reached the top and was belaying Shelley up. The girl reached the top and clipped into the anchors. She was young and fit and full of life. And also a bit distracted and in a bit of a hurry. I could hear someone down below yelling "off belay" (meaning they were no longer securing the rope). But the girl up at the top with me wasn't paying any attention so I assumed it must be another group. (There were about four groups climbing, all yelling to each other.)

She barely stopped to catch her breath and she began to back over the edge, expecting her partner to lower her. But it turned out it had been her partner yelling "off belay". She stepped back over the edge and dropped like a stone.

Her rope beside me flew through the anchors. She didn't make a sound. No last shriek from this girl.

For a fraction of a second I waited for the most sickening sound of my life, as her body hit the rocks a hundred feet below

And then the rope stopped. She'd fallen 30 or 40 feet, but luckily the cliff was vertical and relatively smooth and she hadn't hit anything. Shelley was shocked to see her plummet past her. And down below a guy in their group said "what the f*** just happened?"

After a few minutes her partner lowered her the rest of the way to the ground. Shelley finished our climb and we rapped off (carefully!)

When I got down she was belaying her partner on the same route. She was trying to act as if nothing had happened but she had to have been shaken. I asked her if she was ok. She said, "yes, thank you". I said "that was scary" and she answered simply "yes". Her earlier exuberance was definitely muted.

Honestly, we can't figure out how she survived. If her partner had really taken her off belay, she should have fallen all the way. And if she was still on belay, then she shouldn't have fallen at all. Maybe the rope snagged. Or maybe the rope was still through the belay device but hands off, and she managed to catch it, or it snagged. Whatever happened, she was extremely lucky.

It was a good reminder, to them, and to us, and to everyone, that climbing is a sport where you have to pay attention. Not because the teacher tells you so, but because if you don't, it can kill you. Every year there are fatal accidents just like this one.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Skaha Details

First day of climbing at Skaha Bluffs. We got to the bottom of the climbs and discovered Shelley forgot her climbing shoes in the car. That was partly my fault since I'd organized all the climbing gear, but I wasn't sure which of her shoes she wanted so I hadn't pulled out any. While Shelley jogged back to the car I pulled out my camera to take a few random shots in the morning light.

(click to view photos)


We had a great day climbing. Climbed 9 routes, from 5.7 to 5.10a. It always takes a few climbs to get used to the rock again. The temperature didn't get that high - only about 18c - but the sun was plenty hot. It sprinkled a little rain later in the afternoon but it didn't amount to anything.

Had a good supper at the Sage and Vines Bistro. And through the wonders of Facebook, we had a quick visit with an old friend (Jesse) that we hadn't known was in Penticton.

Head for the Hills

It's hard to believe it's been two years since we've been to Banff. But the date on our park pass doesn't lie. In the old days it would have been unusual to go two months without a trip to the mountains. Of course, for several decades every single holiday we took was centered around climbing. Now, we've branched out a little. We haven't even been to the Banff Mountain Film Festival for the last couple of years because we've been off traveling in other directions.

We make our usual stops - Subway in Hanna for lunch. Starbucks in Airdrie. The houses and cars around Calgary continue to multiply. I take the old 1A highway from Cochrane to Canmore. It's slow and windy but seriously, do you come to the mountains to drive on the TransCanada freeway, or to see the scenery?

It's raining in the mountains, a change after the +28c heat on the drive. But it stops so we get the tent up without getting wet.

We get to Banff in time for Shelley to restock at the Banff Tea Company. Then we wander around for a bit to stretch our legs after the drive. Too bad the bookstore is gone, but we visit the Patagonia store that took over the same location. We finger all the expensive high tech gear, especially the new M10 goretex jackets at only 8 oz. But it's not like we need any more gear and we don't buy anything. Mountain Magic is gone after being around for so many years, but Monods is still here.

We have supper at the Bison, one of our favorites. For a change from wine we have a bottle of Sea Cider Pippins. We visited their tasting room on Vancouver Island last time we were out there.

The Evelyns by the theatre is gone, but we stop at their new location on Banff Avenue to read our books over a cup of tea.

In the tent for the night I finish the last few pages of my book before turning off my headlamp. The tall dark trees stand all around us like silent sentinels. I smile as I'm serenaded to sleep by chattering squirrels and croaking ravens.

We stop at Wild Flour for breakfast before hitting the road again. The clouds are gray and it's raining off and on, but there are breaks and rays of sun on snowy peaks. The low clouds swirl around the valleys. Like coffee and wine, the infinite subtleties of the mountains are an acquired taste.

Print of the Week

Leafy seadragon at the Monterey Bay Aquarium


(click to view larger)

I figured it was time to print one of my underwater creature photos. I'd love to see these diving but this is at an aquarium. They're probably hard to spot though - amazing camouflage!

I could have used a little more depth of focus, but at least the head is reasonably sharp. And considering it's through a thick pane of glass, it came out pretty well.

I know prints usually come out too dark, so I deliberately lighten them up (and turn down my monitor brightness). But I think I made it slightly too light this time. I did do a couple of small test prints, but you don't get a totally accurate idea from a small print.

See also: other print posts

An Evening Walk

Last night, after supper, for some reason I just didn't want to sit and stare at a screen, regardless of whether it was a Kindle or an iPad or a MacBook. So I took my camera and headed out for a walk. Typically, I set out thinking I probably wouldn't find anything to photograph, and ended up taking lots. I didn't see much wildlife. There were a few loons and western grebes on the river. I liked the evening light on the water rushing out of the storm drain. And a sunset shot through the grass turned out alright.

(click to view photos)

Print of the Week

Sunrise over Carmen Island, from Loreto, Baja, Mexico.


(Click to view larger)

When Shelley would get up early to go for a run before it got too hot, I would head for the beach with my camera. The island made the shots a little more interesting than just sky and water. I like the reflections in the water as much as the clouds.

I took the plunge and printed on 17x22" paper for the first time (Epson Exhibition Fiber again). I was happy with how it turned out. I used Perfect Resize to resize it to 360dpi before printing, although that probably didn't make a big difference in this case. (4700x3100 => 7900x5200). I tried tweaking it with the Nik software that I recently bought (the price has been reduced by 70%), but I decided I was happy enough with it just from Lightroom.

I always struggle with how to adjust the color on these kinds of shots. You want rich colors, but not to look too gaudy. To complicate it, actual prints are not as brightly colored as backlit screens.

See also: other print posts

Rabbits Revisited

I saw the rabbits again the next day I walked to work after my previous post. So today I took my big camera (the Pentax K5 II) in hopes of seeing them again. Sure enough, I did.

(click to view photos)

At first, I just saw one, hidden in the bushes. I circled around to try and get a better view of him from the other side but it's noisy crunching through the snow and by the time I'd made it around, he'd disappeared. Trying to think like a rabbit, I went around to the other side of the fence and there he was, running across a small parking lot. He stopped to nibble on some bushes on the far side. I got fairly close, but still couldn't get a clear shot through the bushes. As I maneuvered for a better view, all of a sudden he was running towards me across the pavement. I did my best to follow him in the viewfinder and snap some shots. When I looked up I realized there were now two rabbits. I'm not sure where the second one came from, or whether that's what made the first one run past me.

I followed them back through the fence and then as they wandered around nibbling on the bushes. Occasionally someone would walk by, probably wondering what I was taking photos of. As long as I moved slowly and didn't get too close they let me do my thing.

With the longer lens and the better camera, and a longer session, I was able to get some better shots than last time.

I also saw (heard first!) a flock of blue jays. They were too high up in a tall tree to get great shots, but at least I could id them from the photos. I've only seen single ones in the past so it was interesting to watch them interacting.

Print of the Week

(click to view larger)

This photo was taken on our recent train trip around the United States, at Rockfish Creek just south of Charlottesville, Virginia. It was a pretty little creek with a few miniature waterfalls like this one. I love flowing water and reflections - I took a bunch of photographs here, but this is one of my favorites.

I've been posting some of my favorite photos on 500px and this one got the best response I've had so far. That surprised me a little since it's not particularly colorful and somewhat abstract.

I like the dark blues at the top, with the patch of warmer orange colors, balanced by the white foam at the bottom. I also liked the way the sun glinted off the falling water and made bright lines.

I slowed down the shutter as much as I could (by setting the ISO to the minimum of 80, and the aperture to f/32) which gave me a shutter speed of 1/15 of a second. It was a bright day so I would have needed a neutral density filter to go any slower, or to come back closer to sunrise or sunset. But 1/15 is about as slow as I can handhold anyway (no tripod as usual!) even with the camera's image stabilization. To be as stable as possible I was sitting with my elbows braced on my knees. The other trick is that I didn't include any static objects like rocks or trees since they would have shown up any shake more than the flowing water.

This was my first print on Epson Exhibition Fiber paper. I really like the results. It has nice deep blacks and good contrast. It's expensive paper, but no more so than buying lattes! I chopped up a 13x19 sheet into nine 4x6's to use for test prints. I use cheap glossy 4x6 paper at first, but to really judge the final result you need to use the same paper. I used a color profile I'd made myself with the ColorMunki and it seemed to match pretty well between screen and printer. I also used the soft proofing in Lightroom. Since I'm still getting used to the new printer and paper I just printed on 13x19. (I haven't used the 17x22 paper yet.)

See also: other print posts

What's Up Doc?

Another sighting on the way to work. I almost didn't get my camera out because I thought she'd run away, but as long as I didn't get too close she didn't seem concerned. This was between buildings at Innovation Place so she's probably used to people.

Her fur was already turning brown - a little premature this year! And instead of fresh spring greens she was resorting to eating bark and pine needles.

As usual, click on the images for larger versions.









And just because I had my camera out:



Technical Notes

These were taken with my always-in-my-pack G12. I pushed the ISO to 800 to get a higher shutter speed forgetting this camera isn't as good at high ISO as my K5II. They're still ok, especially at small sizes on the web, and Lightroom can fix most of the noise, but I would probably have been better at 400.

I also added +1/3 stop of exposure compensation (to expose for the rabbit instead of the snow). I should have done more since I ended up adding another 1/2 stop or more in Lightroom. (It's nice that the G12 has a dedicated dial for exposure compensation so you don't have to go hunting through menus. I just have to remember not to leave it set!)

For wildlife I often wish the G12 had a longer telephoto - it's 28 to 140 equivalent. The Nikon P7700 would be better with 28 - 200 and otherwise quite similar.

Encounter

Walking to work this morning, I turned onto the path into Innovation Place and noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and there was a coyote trotting across the field. I'm sure he* saw me, but he maintained his steady pace. When he reached the path he paused and turned to look at me. We gazed at each other for a brief moment and then he continued on, across the ditch and up onto the railroad embankment.

I assumed he was gone across the tracks and I continued walking. But then I realized he had stopped on the tracks, partly hidden from me by some trees. He was using the higher vantage point to look around (and keep an eye on me). I kept walking slowly until I was parallel with him, maybe 50 feet away. He didn't move. Again we looked at each other. I could see him quite clearly. He looked healthy and confident.

After a moment he turned and continued along the train tracks. I continued walking as well and for a brief time we kept pace with each other. Then he turned away from me and dropped out of sight down the far side of the embankment.

I crossed over to the train tracks to see where he was headed. He had only been out of sight for seconds, and I could see a long way across the snowy fields, but there was no trace of him. Either he'd sprinted out of sight, or had somewhere nearby to hide.

I continued on to work, my spirits lifted by this brief encounter with something outside of human affairs.

* I'm using "he" because I don't like using "it", I have no idea whether he was male or female.

** The photo is mine but not from today.

Print of the Week

Recently I've been making a point of making a print of one of my photographs each week. Partly for practice, and partly to hang up the prints and enjoy them.

This week I chose a photo of a wood duck that I took at the New Orleans Zoo on our last trip. I've seen these ducks before and I love how colorful they are, but I've never managed to get a decent photograph until now.

(click to view larger)


I would have liked to have a lower view point rather than shooting from above. But I was happy with the very plain background. It almost looks like he's suspended in the air. (As with most birds, it's the male that's colorful.)

I also would have liked a little better depth of focus, so that the whole bird was sharp, but at least the head and eye are good, which is the most important thing. One of the tricks I learned on this trip with the new Pentax K5 II is to push the ISO higher. The camera by itself (on automatic) is quite conservative with ISO. Most of the time I'm happy to trade slightly more noise from a higher ISO for a faster shutter speed and greater depth of focus (from a smaller aperture i.e. higher F-stop).

I printed this 13" x 19" on the last of my Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl. I've bought some new Epson Exhibition Fiber paper to try next. My first test small prints were too dark as usual, even though I have the brightness turned down on my monitor. Part of the learning process.

This was the first large print on my new Epson 3880 printer, an upgrade from my previous Epson R1800. The 3880 will print up to 17" wide as compared to 13" for the 1800. I'm looking forward to doing some 17" x 22" prints on it.

Along with the new printer, I also got an Xrite ColorMunki Photo device to calibrate my monitor and printer. So far, it's been easy to use and I had no problem calibrating my iMac display and creating color profiles for the printer. It's hard for me to tell how much difference it made, but in theory it will help ensure that colors match between the display and prints.

If anyone is interested in a print of one of my photographs I'd be happy to practice my printing skills.

See more of my photos on Flickr. This particular photo came from the New Orleans Zoo set in the 2012 Train Trip collection.

See also: other print posts

Ice and Geese

An early Sunday morning walk along the river. I loved the icicles in the sun. A pair of geese were quite cooperative subjects, letting me get close without leaving. One of the pair (the male?) was very vocal. You could see his breath in the cold morning air.

(click to view photos)

Signs of Spring

It's good to see the geese returning - a sign of spring even if we are still surrounded by snow!

I can't resist the water going over the weir, even if I have photographed it numerous times.


Not my usual kind of subject - someone hung this christmas ornament on a tree by the river.

Still Winter

I wish I was posting more spring-like photographs, but the fact is, it's still winter in Saskatoon. Hopefully that will change soon.

The sun on the frost and mist was too pretty not to try to capture yesterday on my way to work. I'd deliberately underdressed since it's been getting warm later in the day, but that turned out to be a mistake when I dawdled taking pictures. Despite officially being spring, it was -20c first thing, which makes for cold hands!

(click to view photos)


Shooting into the sun with the G12, it's hard to know what you're getting. I just shoot a variety of subjects and angles and hope something turns out and has the feel I'm after. I think a few of these came out ok. I continue to try to follow the advice that if color isn't adding anything, then make it black and white. The problem is I really like color! So the shots I convert to black and white are usually ones that are close to monochrome to start with.

Springtime for Solar Power

Saturday I finally cleared the snow and ice off the solar panels on the roof. We've been away travelling for seven weeks so there was quite an accumulation. Thankfully, it's late enough in the spring that the sun is getting higher and warmer, and once I started uncovering the black panels, the snow and ice on them started to melt.

The solar electrical panels made it to 4 kW - 80% of their theoretical 5 kW output. Sunday was a full sunny day of generation and accumulated about 23 kWh. Considering the best days last summer were around 25 kWh, that's pretty good. One of the advantages of this time of year is that there are no leaves on the trees to shade the panels.

The solar hot water panels were especially iced up and partly in the shade so I wasn't expecting too much from them, but soon after clearing the snow I heard the pump kick in and they reached 60c - impressive considering it was still -7c outside.

It's been a bad winter for solar power - either it was cloudy, or the panels were covered in snow! Hopefully things are looking up now.

[Photos thanks to Shelley]

Photo Notes

Osprey launching from a tree (click to view larger)

It was quite frustrating trying to take photographs of birds during our kayak trip on the Suwannee river. The forest was quite thick so it was hard to get a good view. And if a bird was in sight, then as soon as I would pull my camera out and go to take a picture, it would fly away. The worst were the Great Blue Herons - instead of just flying away, they would just move ahead a few hundred yards so you could repeat the frustrating process multiple times! (Eventually I did manage to get a few shots of them, like this and this.) There were kingfishers and northern cardinals around that I would have loved to capture but they were too elusive.

On top of that, the kayak is always moving, and if there is a strong current, you can drift past before you have a chance to take a picture.

When I took this I was actually trying to get a picture of the osprey sitting on a branch.  But just as I went to press the shutter it launched into the air.

In this case, by pure luck, it worked out really well - the spread wings reaching for the air make a much better shot than a static bird on a branch.

It was also fairly early in the morning so the light was quite nice and warm, and the sky wasn't overpoweringly bright, but there was still enough light for a reasonably fast shutter speed.

You can tell in this shot from a few seconds later that it was keeping an eye on me.

As usual, it isn't as sharp as I'd like but given the circumstances I was lucky to get the shot at all. Often when I try to catch a bird in motion the camera can't focus fast enough and refuses to fire at all. And it was good enough (for me) to print at a reasonable size.

See also: other print posts

Train Trip - Food & Stats

Shelley wrote a couple of good summary posts on places we ate and the stats on our train trip.

Eating and Drinking Our Way Around the U.S.

By the Numbers

See also: all the posts from this trip and all the photos from this trip

Kudos to the Prius

Would our Prius start? That was the big question when we returned after six weeks to the long term parking at the Minot airport. At this point, the last thing we wanted was car trouble.

I got into the frozen car, pressed the power button, and it started instantly, with no more trouble than if it had just been left overnight.

That's pretty good considering it was -30c when we left it, and -20c when we got back, with likely similar temperatures in between. Six weeks is a long time to sit in those kinds of temperatures. It's also not a new car anymore, it's seven years old, with 125,000 km on it.

Thanks Toyota!

Chicago

We hadn't planned ahead to go to the Chicago aquarium, but I couldn't resist. And I was glad we went - it was one of the better aquariums we visited. I can believe it's one of the most visited aquariums in the U.S. - it was very busy. (This trip was probably a bit of an aquarium overdose for Shelley but she was a good sport about it.)

Other than the aquarium, we enjoyed wandering around Chicago and gawking at all the skyscrapers. The parks along the lake are nice and contain quite a lot of public art in addition to the "bean" (Cloud Gate) and the Gehry band shell (Pritzker Pavilion). We also visited REI (the U.S. equivalent to MEC) partly because we know someone who works there. Just by chance we went to the Starbucks at Rush and Oak, which turned out to be one of their flagship stores, with an upper level where they even serve wine! However the coffee was better at Intelligentsia. We enjoyed suppers at Mercat a la Planxa Tapas Restaurant and Trattoria No. 10. With all the big office towers, restaurants are very busy downtown at lunch, but we managed to find a nice quiet lunch at Terzo Piano in the Art Institute of Chicago. There are lots of museums, but that's not really our thing and the only one we went to was the Museum of Contemporary Photography, which is quite small but the current exhibit (Victoria Sambunaris) had some nice photos.

Although there wasn't any snow on the ground, temperatures were below freezing and we had to begin our acclimatization back to winter :-(

(click to view photos)

Inside the Starbucks at Rush & Oak

See also: all the posts from this trip and all the photos from this trip