Birding

I love birds. They're just so amazing to me. I think they're the most unique animal on this earth... but that might just be my opinion. :) I mean, if you think about all the different animal groups. There's mammals, reptiles, amphibians, aquatic life... and then there's birds! They have their own separate group! I don't know about you, but that group seems to stand out from all the other groups to me. :) but anywho... end rant!
I went out with my new camera yesterday morning to test it out and see if I could get any decent shots of my feathered friends. This was my first time ever going out with the mindset of taking pictures of specifically birds. I was quickly surprised at how elusive these guys were. I could hear them all around me making a considerable raucous, but I couldn't seem to catch a glimpse of who was making the noise. I mean, I knew bird photography wasn't a walk-in-the-park by any means. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance, but I still wasn't expecting it to be that "bad".

That's when about 30 minutes into my adventure, a cardinal flew into view and perched on a branch about 30 yards away and started to sing its heart out. It definitely gave me some renewed hope! Coincidentally, about 60 seconds later, a blue jay popped into view only about 10 yards away. It seemed as if it was almost posing for me! It was awesome. :) Although I did see some other birds briefly, the rest of my time was mainly uneventful.
Overall, I was satisfied with the outing and I definitely plan to do it again sometime! The following pics are the two best shots that I managed to get.
(FYI - If you click on the pictures, they'll get a lot bigger!)

The Cardinal.

The Blue Jay.

New Camera!

Yesterday was a good day. A very good day. I went out with my dad to Sam's Club to look at some cameras, with a potential to buy one if I saw just the right one. Obviously, the $800 top-notch cameras would've been really sweet to get, and I really enjoyed messing around with the displays they had, but those were definitely out of my price range. Truthfully, I don't think I would be able to utilize all the bells and whistles on those high-tech machines in order to maximize its hefty price tag, negating its usefulness really. So those were out of the question. As I tore myself away from them, I found a 10MP Nikon with 15x optical zoom for a good price. It seemed like the perfect one, and I wanted to buy it, but they were all out. The person at the info desk said that there were 7 left at the Sam's Club in White Bear Lake, though, so me and my dad drove up to White Bear to get it. When we got there, I decided to look and see if they had any different cameras, just in case... even though I was almost positive I wanted the Nikon. That's when I clapped eyes on the Olympus! I picked it up and saw that it was 12MP and had 26x optical zoom for the exact same price! (well, technically it was 4 cents more expensive, but... =P) What a DEAL!! I totally bought it instead. I'm soo glad that we decided to drive all the way up to White Bear, because it ended up turning out to be waaaaaay better than I had thought! God is so good. :)

This is what it looks like!

It's Spring!

Early this morning (yes, VERY early!), I was awakened by an obstreperous thunderstorm! It had dime-sized hail, lightning, thunder, heavy rain... the whole nine-yards! Minus a tornado, though, which I wouldn't have been able to see anyways because the sun wasn't even up. But it was amazing nonetheless, because it was our first REAL thunderstorm of the year! and I absolutely love thunderstorms.

But anywho, that's just one sign that Spring is finally here. Another sign are these pictures I took this evening as the sun was setting. Enjoy. :)

A Dandelion!

Another one!


A leaf amidst voluptuous spring grass.


And this picture really has nothing to do with Spring. I just liked it. It's our deck. :)

Sad day!

I suppose it goes without saying that it's been awhile since I last posted. I just haven't been in a very "photo-happy" mood recently. Maybe it's because of school. Maybe it's because I just haven't realized that winter is actually over now so I can get outside more and take pictures. Either way, I plan to be taking more pictures soon, although something tragic happened to my camera the other day.
I was coming home from a homework marathon at Dunn Bros one night and as I was going through the entry way on my way to my room, I bent my shoulder down to slide my backpack off my back, but I narrowly missed it with my hand and it crashed onto the floor. Luckily, my computer was okay, but my camera (which was in the front pocket) wasn't. I unpacked my bag and inspected my camera and found that the little viewing screen on the back had been cracked! :( Fortunately, the lens was unharmed, so I can still take pictures with it; but, I was (and sill am) really disappointed.
And to add salt to my wound, my dad totally rebuilt my computer over this past weekend and I forgot to tell him to backup my "picture" file because it contained all of my pictures that I have ever taken on it. So, now ALL of my pictures are completely gone! Well, at least the ones that aren't on this blog. Oh, what a sad day! *sobs* ah, well... Nothing lasts forever, but God does! And this has been an awesome reminder to me of that... Although it has been a big disappointment, I don't intend to dwell on it. However, I do intend to let God to continue to remind me not get too attached to earthly-material things because they will never bring me everlasting satisfaction! They're only gifts that He has graciously given me and I am extremely thankful for them, and I will enjoy them while they last.
Anywho, that's whats been going on! Enjoy the weather, and I'll try and take some more pictures soon. :)

Forlorn Referee

The other day, I was leafing through my photos, both old and new, when I stumbled on this one. I thought it was interesting, so I decided I would post it. =D

A Dynamic Night

Last night was an amazing night. I spent the whole night with friends going ice skating, watching a basketball game, eating free pancakes at iHop on National Pancake Day, and then coming back to our house to watch the Olympics. I took pictures pretty much the whole time, but I only got a few good shots. Overall, a very dynamic night with a myriad of happenings.

This the only good shot that I got at the basketball game after about 50 tries. It's really super hard to catch these lightning quick guys at just the right time, especially from the bleachers. I had to zoom in quite a bit.

This one is a bit grainy and has a bit of an orange hue to it, but I like the placement of the main subject, Ryan, and his surreptitious look. =P

A candid shot of Ryan!

The place that we ate our free pancakes at. We got a grand total of 3 free.

I think saying that Seth looks "eccentric" here would be an understatement. :P

Ice Skating

Photographing people usually isn't my greatest asset. I guess that might be because I haven't really pursued that avenue of photography that much. Regardless, I find it difficult to capture a photo of a person that's dynamic, shows expression, and has good composition. Anyhow, we went ice skating the other day and I snapped this shot of Bethany while I was skating... A fortuitous shot, to say the least. ;) It's a little grainy, but I like the overall atmosphere that it captured.