Slow Down People!

How fast do people have to come down this street? On a Sunday Morning at 7:30am, going for a morning jog, I discovered a broken telephone pole, a power tower cut in half, and a tire strewn in the middle of the street, slow down people!
This is a street that's frequently crossed by children on their way to school! Thank god it was Sunday!
See tha album for more photos, all with the Sony Alpha a 300 and Kit Lens.

The 50th Photo Album, has it Gotten any Better?

In honor of my 50th Photo album, I give you, a LION! But really, it's been a long while since I started this blog, and presented to you my fascination with photography. I've taken photos of all sorts of local places, shown you many birds, and given you my opinions on a numerous quantity of subjects.

I think the last two albums, have shown a slight improvement in maturity regarding my photography skills, but ultimately I'll let you decide. And what does it matter anyway? I'm having fun not taking this too seriously, and not drowning out this hobby by trying to learn all its techniques from some tenured professor whose experience includes taking 1599 portraits of cans of Mayonnaise for the Kraft Company.

Anyway, the Wild Animal park in San Diego is always fun, and the beauty of the still image is that you don't have to hear all the Octo-Moms screaming two feet from your ear like I did.

Finally, A New Photo Album

Well, I picked up the ol'Sony Alpha a300 for this month's Birdwalk at the El Dorado Nature Center, and I came away with quite a few keepers. Take a look for yourself...

I only used Minolta lenses, and was quite happy with the results they produced. My advice remains, if you're thinking of buying into the Sony DSLR system, only buy used Minolta gear (as far as lenses go), the average consumer stuff being built by Sony is complete rubbish.

Obligatory Cat Photos...

Sometimes your best subjects are at home. I mean, whom else to test your photography skills other than finicky cats, that are known to not sit still for more than 5 minutes.

This photo has Charm laying on the front, and her boyfriend Woodpecker in the background.

Sony Alpha a300 with a Minolta lens.

Stay Up Tonight & Listen...

Chances are that you've heard this bird at night, you just haven't paid much attention to it. But if you listen carefully, you can hear this bird singing all sorts of local bird tunes.

The Northern Mockingbird mimics birds around it's area, so in my area you'll hear it's perfect impressions of Red Tail Hawk's, Northern Flicker's, and Downy Woodpecker's.

I took this recording with a stereo digital audio recorder from Edirol, the file was recorded in wav format, but has been post processed to eliminate hiss, and converted to mp3 using Audacity. The end result sounds a little too processed, but being that I'm new to this I'm still experimenting with many options.

Give it a listen...

Rainbow Over Long Beach

It's not the best picture, ok, not even a good picture. It does however capture a really nice moment in front of my house in February. Looking back, maybe I should have lengthened my exposure, and shot with a tripod. After all, every image stabilizing technology has it's limits.
I used an old Minolta Lens for this photo. It's one of those old style, made out of metal lenses, not the plastic garbage that's on sale at Best Buy these days.
Enjoy the photo, I surely enjoyed taking it...

Eastern Phoebe ? What?

What in the world is an Eastern Phoebe doing in Long Beach? I wish I knew. Locally were used to the Black Phoebe, that tuxedo clad bird we see evrywhere in parks, and in our backyards. But here is an Eastern Phoebe, a bird that usually resides, well; in the East!

I guess it's kind of funny how our typical park bird, is their rarity, and their typical backyard bird is our oddity!

If you wish to learn ore about the Eastern Phoebe, here is a link:
Eastern Phoebe info...