Airtime take 2

And now, for a totally different kind of airtime!

They set up their jump and I did my best to set up the shot - without getting in the way of the guy with the controller or of the car. Wouldn't tickle to get hit by that! It was very bright out, so I darkened up the picture just slightly to keep the brightest parts from blowing out. I think it worked well!

1/250 (0.004sec) exposure, aperture f/5.0, 27.6mm focal length, -2/3 exposure bias, ISO 80

Airtime!

A lot of the pictures I took of the parade are mediocre at best, because there are street lights and power lines in the way. (The joys of shooting through an office window!) But there are some shots that are improved by the height:

I saw the Edmonton Eskimoes Cheer Team setting up, and I just pointed at them and hit continuous shot - which resulted in this great shot. I'm very pleased!

1/250 exposure (0.004 sec), focal length 45.6mm, aperture f/5.0, ISO 80. Nothing else fancy!

Parade Day!

I love parades. I think they are a ridiculous amount of fun and silliness. Consider yourself forewarned for a few days of parade-ness!

Before a parade, you often find different costumed people, clowns, etc. wandering around entertaining the waiting crowds. Here we had someone in an awesome snail costume! Note the brilliant skateboard under the snail shell, to keep it from dragging on the ground.

Taken from an office window, a block away, and then cropped to reduce the busy-ness.

Wordless Wednesday: Chalk art

Artist Ulla Taylor

Roses are pink, in Alberta

This was taken on the same day as Just buzzzzing along.

Our provincial flower is one of my favourites. There's just something about it that hits a chord with me. In this shot, I love how it's peeking between two fuzzy, out of focus leaves. It looks kind of shy. I also really like the way the pink pops out from among the greens and browns. It really stands out!

0.01 sec exposure, 5.7 aperture, 100mm focal length, 200 ISO

Rainy day

Cue sequence of events: Dog starts to bark like crazy. Woman gets up to look outside and see what's going on. Woman sees nothing of note for the dog, but a lovely photo opportunity. Woman gets camera, and does her best to get the shot without having to go outside in the rain!

As I've said before, I love my SX10, but every once in a while, the lack of true manual focus drives me to distraction. Today, I could NOT get the autofocus to do what I wanted, so here we are - this is what I could eck out with the limited manual focus the camera offers. Overall, I'm quite pleased with it. The focus may not be razor sharp, but it is very good. the background is beautifully blurry, to make a muted and not-distracting canvas for this pretty iris leaf.

And did I mention I shot this through the window? (which is a little smudgey, and that might contribute slightly to the sharpness issue.)

0.02 sec exposure, f/5.7 aperture, ISO 200, 100mm focal length

Random Saturday: Meet Cleo!

This is Cleo!

She is 7 months old and a ball of energy and fun. In this shot she decided to visit me (with a little human help in behind) to see what I was up to - I was looking at pictures of her! You can just see her two tiny paws sitting on top of the monitor.

I'm sure you will be subjected to much more Cleo in the months to come - assuming I can ever get my little girl to sit still long enough to pose! I have a lot of very blurry pictures of her.

Just buzzzzing along

I am thrilled with how this picture turned out! I stopped to take some pictures of these beautiful Alberta Wildroses at the same time as a couple of bees were visiting. Normally I hate bees, but I decided to gather my courage and take this fabulous opportunity. And my efforts were rewarded! The bee is perfectly in focus, you can even see the detail in her wings. The flowers are sharp, but the background quickly drops away to a soft, fuzzy green. I'm thrilled!

Bird Stalker Pt 3

This guy came to visit us at work. Getting a good shot was hard, given the time of day and that it was through a dirty window.But I think it still turned out alright!

Wordless Wednesday: Muttart

Raindrops on Flower buds

Macro shot that I think turned out beautifully.

Bird Stalker Pt 2

Another little guy sitting above me. He kindly stayed still long enough that I could get a good shot!