Day 151 Parakeet

Parakeet

This bird was rescued by Lise in the cities. She brought it home and it is staying with us until we find a permanent home for it. The Parakeet took some time to get used to the place but is now making more noise. I decided that the new member of the home should be photographed and was amazed by how well shooting through the cage wires worked. I had read about the technique of photography in zoos where you shoot through mesh or wires putting the camera as close to it as possible and using a very wide apature. It really works. This was made looking through vertical bars and you can't tell. The only time I could tell there were bars was when they made shadows from the flash. All in all I like this portrait of our temporary guest and got to practice a new technique.

Day 150 Alpaca

Alpaca

My aunt is starting an alpaca farm. Her first three alpacas lived at my families farm for a while and now they and a few more are living at my grandparents. I got to visit them and say hi. This one was very curious about me and my camera and I got a few really neat shots of it. I liked this one best because of the way its nose is sticking out at the camera and the eyes are staring out from behind the bangs.

Day 149 Happy Romance

Happy Romance

Again I had to pass the camera off this time to Joey so that he could photograph the graduation ceremony since I was in it and otherwise occupied. He struggled with using my camera, which I have fully customized to my liking, but he managed. Joey managed to get some nice photographs of the farewells including this one which I like because of the beautiful happy interaction between Sophie and Aaron. I am saddened that I was not able to photograph much durring all these events but am glade that I still got pictures even though I didn't make them.

Day 148 Father and Baby

Father and Baby

A new baby was born into the Scattergood community this spring. This is a portrait of it with her father. We were all out enjoying the graduation festivities and the baby decided to come visit. She was looking so cute and I just had to photograph her. I was extremely happy with this one. I like how the baby is in the foreground but the father is peaking around it and looking directly at the camera.

Day 147 Me!

Me!

I have been very occupied with the activities of my senior week and have had to pass along the photography to others at times. This photograph was made by Laura while we were cleaning and rearranging the meeting house for the graduation ceremony. I really like the nice coloring and the crisp feel.

Day 146 Signing the Yearbook

Signing the Yearbook

Every year we each create our own yearbook page, then we get to sign it in everyone else's yearbook leaving memories for the summer. I like how sharp and colorful this photograph is even with such harsh midday light. I also like the intensity with which Helen is writing.

Day 145 Walking the Path

Walking the Path

Today I was wondering around trying to find new things to photograph. I wanted to try and capture the zen garden that the senior class built. I ended up liking this photograph best. I like the way the path leeds into the distance and you can see where Laura has been but not where she is going. I like the metaphor and the composition.

Day 144 I'm Old

I'm Old

Today was class olympics day at Scattergood Friends School. The senior class decided to dress up as seniors, old people, lol. It was fun and we got some great reactions. I like Sophia's pose in this photograph and I think her costume was great.

Day 143 Baby Lamb

Baby Lamb

There were three boodle lambs this year. Helen has been taking care of them and brings them to the circle to hang out regularly. They are all very cute and photogenic if you don't count how much they move. I like the way the lamb is looking over its shoulder and the way the ears are perked forward.

Day 142 Taking Shelter

Taking Shelter

There was a tornado warning so we all had to hide away in the basement. We all settled in corners and on the floor but took comfort with having all our friends around us and computers to keep us entertained.
I like the angle looking down on their embrace and movie watching.

Day 141 Prairie Deer

Prairie Deer

I made so many photographs of deer on my trip and then made one of my favorites the day after I got back to Scattergood Friends School from my trip. I was walking in the attached prairie and this deer was peaking out of the brush. I like the rich green color and the spotty light which provided nice texture. All in all one of my favorite deer photographs.

Day 140 Welcome Home

Welcome Home

I spent all day driving today, literally all day and much of the night at both ends. For much of the day I was thinking of how I was going to get my photograph for the day. I ended up deciding that I would make only one photograph and then spent many hours of driving trying to decide what I wanted it to be of. I ended up going for something to represent my return home. I didn't want it to be of the car since that could also be leaving and decided to have it of my room welcoming me home. The photograph turned out okay but the funny thing is that it was actually made after midnight so doesn't technically count.

Day 139 Baby Birds

Baby Birds

I slept in the car after driving all day and late into the night. I was at a random rest stop somewhere between nowhere and more nowhere in the middle of a desert. In the morning I thought I would try to make some photographs since I would be driving all day again. I wandered around the rest stop photographing the birds and... well that was about it. I then noticed a raven nest and searched around for a good vantage point to photograph it. I didn't find anything real good but did like it when the mother raven got off the chicks and the father brought some treats.

Day 138 Spring...Well Almost Spring

Spring...Well Almost Spring

I was woken very early this morning, like 2am, by my tent collapsing from all the snow that was falling. I eventually packed up and spent the last few hours of night sleeping in the car. I was planning on leaving Yosemite Valley today so started driving early. It was so beautiful that I had to make a few stops and loop around a bit. I eventually made it out of the valley after having to wait for the road to open, chains where required at first. I like the contrast in this photo and all the details. Like how you can see the rocks under the water up close and the grass sticking up from the snow.

Day 137 Feeding Mule Deer

Feeding Mule Deer

I have an outrageous amount of photographs of the Mule Deer because they are so abundant and used to humans. I like this one because it shows the deer doing its natural behavior. I also like that this deer has antlers growing which most that I have photographed don't. It also makes me smile a little as it stretches its neck to reach the branch.

Day 136 Cold, Cloudy, Snowy, Early, Rising Mist = Great Photography!

Cold, Cloudy, Snowy, Early, Rising Mist = Great Photography!

This morning I started out on a hike through the valley just before sunrise. I noticed that a lot of mist was rising and decided that now was the time to go up to the famous Tunnel Overlook. I got there but with the higher vantage point and the traveling time the sun was already above the horizon. It caused blown out skies but I was still very happy with many of the photographs. I have been trying to not use photos in this blog/project that I am also using in my trip blog so I chose a different composition that I made that morning. I like how this photograph puts more focus on the foreground and you can notice snow in the trees. I also like the mist scattered through the valley and that notable features like El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls. I do not like how boring the sky is though.

Day 135 Moving Mist

Moving Mist

I had finished my days activities and was waiting for the bus to take me back to my campground. I had not done as much photography as I wanted to do, it rained all day, so I was keeping my eyes open. I waited and waited for the bus and finally decided to photograph the cars moving through the intersection. I made many photographs with a slow exposure to get motion blur but I liked this one best because of how the car lights up the rising mist.

Day 134 Deer End

Deer End

I have photographed so many deer on my Redwoods Trip and was now looking for new ways to capture the endless tame deer. I was enjoying working with the angles of it feeding on a bush but then had the idea to do something outside the box. I made this photo which I like very much mostly because it is such a different way to look at these Mule Deer.

Day 133 Falling Water

Falling Water

This is a picture of part of the over 2000 feet drop of Yosemite Falls in Yosemite Valley in Yosemite Park. I like the the shapes and interkit detail of the water falling. I like the blurry bush in the photograph because it adds a berst of color in what would other-whys be a very dull picture.

Day 132 Golden Sunset On Half Dome

Golden Sunset On Half Dome

I hiked around a bunch this evening in the area of Mirror Lake. It is not actually a lake but a wide part of the river. It is know for its beautiful reflections of the surrounding cliffs. I got some photographs of the reflections but what I really liked was the colors and drama as the sun set. I actually got to see the almost full moon rise over the cliffs connected to Half Dome but I liked this photo better. I like the curving diagonal line splitting the frame with the blue and orange/yellow cliff. This is actually the top left corner of Half Dome a very famous feature of Yosemite Valley.

Day 131 Hungry Raven

Hungry Raven

I got to watch this raven gather leftovers from all the people who parked here durring the day. What really caught my attention was that he didn't eat this cracker he dug a hole in the snow and hid it being very watchful of anyone watching him the whole time. I liked the way he(?) posed in this picture better than any of the ones showing him digging.

Day 130 Duo Deer

Duo Deer

I spent a good amount of time with this group of deer and loved trying to capture there interactions with each-other. I really like the symmetry of how they are both looking at the camera with the same pose but just slightly offset.

Day 129 Clearing Storm

Clearing Storm

It rained and snowed and now finally the storm is clearing. I really wanted to get closer to the snowy trees at higher elevations but was still awed by the beauty from below. I really like the contrast of totally green and fresh foreground and then snowy cloudy mountains. Not something that can be witnessed many places.

Day 128 Morning Mist

Morning Mist

The weather being what it has, recently I have often woken up to a tent covered with snow or water. This time I actually got out of the tent while it was still dark and was so blown away with the beauty of all the tiny water droplets that I got out my camera and did some flash photography. I like how you can tell exactly the plane of focus and depth of field in this photo.

Day 127 Peaking Chip Monk

Peaking Chip Monk

I photographed many more squirrels then chip monks but did run across a few cute ones that stuck around long enough to photograph. I like this photograph because of how the squirrel is peaking over a log and looking right at the camera.

Day 126 Brown BlackBear

Brown BlackBear

I found it very interesting that in the sierra mountains all the grizzly bears have been killed off but many of their black bears are actually brown or some non-black shade. I got to hike for over a mile with this particular bear and was able to make many nice photographs. I like this one because of the movement implied in the composition and the lifted leg. I also like the neutral and not distracting bolder filling the background.

Day 125 Trees and Stones

Trees and Stones

I took a nice long hike today in which I went through many different elevation climates. Many included lizards and all included trees and stones. I liked the drama on this tree squeezing past this huge bolder.

Day 124 Roaring Water

Roaring Water

I love how this waterfall makes a sharp turn in its decent. It made for a wonderful S curve and composition that made this photograph my favorite for the day.

Day 123 Spraying Falls

Spraying Falls

I enjoyed photographing many streams, rivers, and falls on my redwoods trip and this photograph is one of my favorites. I like the smooth arch created by the water getting shot off the twig.

Day 122 Moro Rock

Moro Rock

I enjoyed how I photographed this dome from the hills 4000 feet below and then got to climb it and see my campsite far beneath me.

Day 121 Tall Redwoods

Tall Redwoods

I worked hard to try and capture the immensity of the giant sequoias and I think I managed to express the extreme height in this photograph.