Friday, June 22, 2007

June 22, 2007-A new beginning



Hello fathfull reader.

Well last week was a very special week at the horse farm. The owners have had a breeding pair of Trumpeter Swans on the property for about 7-8 years now and all but one of those years have produced a large quantity of young swans. In 2003 or 2004, only one baby survived. In most years, including 2007, 5-6 will survive.

The picture shows some of the newly hatched birds about 5-6 hours after hatching on June 12, 2007. Afew minutes to gather their collective thoughts, then into the pond for a float with MOM.
I snapped this shot, when Mom was trying to get them to climb into her wing for safe keeping. They are VERY territorial, and i have seen them kill Canadian Geese and ducks aswell.

As you can see, they are already fighting for seniority.

I sent this to the local paper, and they ran it on the front cover.

I, to say the very least, am very happy they did that.

So to spoil an otherwize good week i had a stone hurled at me on a photo drive this afternoon and cracked my windshield good.

Siggggghhhhhh, whats $300 bucks to someone retired eh.lol

Well that it. Meeting up with my buddy Knarf Saturday. Should be interesting.

Thanks for listening

DJB

Thursday, June 21, 2007

June 21, 2007. Why did i keep the sky light



Afternoon all.

Well its been a hectic week or so. I never knew being semi retired, required so much work. I think i'll go back to work just for a rest.
No i'm only kidding. Just trying to get a few things done around the house that i have neglected since i bought it, and a few interviews. I spend a day after leaving MMM to process some photos taken at GFM during June's Nature Photography Weekend. The one you see here, made it to what is known as" The dishonerable mention" category. Thats sounds horrible you say, but not so. These are photos that, for some small mishap on the photographers part, would have most likely finished in the top three of what ever category it was entered in. For my photo, a Dslr Infrared conversion shot, the judges felt the sky needed to be darker. Point taken, and duly noted for the 2008 contest.

Going out Friday and shoot some MF B&W. Have not done that for a while. Im excited.

Thats it for today. I have a cutsy pic and story for you Friday

Thanks for listening

DJB

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

June 12, 2007-Time to catch up, or, How i survived the Doug and Mark Show.


Morning all.

Sorry i have been a bit tardy on the blog lately. I had a pretty hectic, for me anyway, couple of weeks. Hectic used to mean, a month of working late, partying late and sleeping litte. Now its down to camping on a mountain for 3-4 days, then spending a week or so, unstiffing up.

As i mentioned, pretty busy lately. I spent May 31 to June 4 in a lovely spot in North Carolina, called Grandfather Mountain, near Linville. This was my third year attending the Nature Photography weekend and had a blast. Meet up with some old friends and met some new ones. All great folk. This year we had in the PDML compound(told ya you'd hear more from us in the blog:))folks from Australia and England, as well as my self from Canada. Speakers were all good, and i think i absorbed a few things. Mark Cassinos macro lecture was the best. Gona give that a try this summer if i can.

A lot of great photos entered in the contest. My IR shot made dishonerable mention, which actually is a good thing. One of the hilites of the weekend is Doug and Mark's(the judges) comments on the photos. If they were Canadian, there names would be Doug and Bob. They work great together and humour styles are the same, Monty Phython or bust.

A few of the regulars had to back out at the last minute, and were missed, but we had surragate Knarf with us anyway(see photo)

After lack of sleep and two long drive days, i only had a short time to catch up on sleep and attend two horse shows on the weekend. First one was to watch my daughter and PAEC Dressage team in Orangville Ontario. Every on did great and E had two excellent scores and was Champion in her class for the day.
Next day was spent at a farm north of us, shooting a Hunter Jumper schooling show. Nice place and i love to shoot there. Great backgrounds and colourful jumps, and a great owner.

As i am now officially "between assignments" as they say, i can now do my equine work during the day, and get out orders a lot faster. To bad its not quite enough to make a living, so i'll have to look for a "real job" in a while. I have my first interview to day, first in 34 years. I'm a bit nervous over this one. I thing things have changed from 1973.

Anyway, wish me luck and talk to you soon.
Thnaks for listening

DJB