Color images from nature

A few snowy snapshots from my favorite nature preserve on this coooold morning. I never do anything terribly creative there - just snaps. But its pretty enough to generally stand on its own. These are with the new Nex. I'm pretty impressed with it - the first one is shot straight into the sun and the sky is naturally pretty well shot, but I'm impressed with what it caught given the light.

-Ray

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There's a dirt road that's nominally plowed (although there's a solid 3-4 inch snow pack on most of it, so you can walk - I was walking. But there are thousands of acres of open land (with crops in summer, but pretty open in the winter) and there were a couple of skiers out this morning. Here's another. It's amazing how much snow we've gotten the past couple of winters. Seems like we'd barely gotten any for the past 7-8 years or so, but last year we had three record setting storms and this year we've just had a succession of small to medium storms every few days. And then about a foot and a half a few days ago on top of what was already a good base of snow. There's a LOT of snow out there right now. Here's another of the other skier, who was out with his dog - it was dog heaven there this morning! He was off the road, but the tracks had already been set by other skiers before him...

-Ray

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There's a dirt road that's nominally plowed (although there's a solid 3-4 inch snow pack on most of it, so you can walk - I was walking. But there are thousands of acres of open land (with crops in summer, but pretty open in the winter) and there were a couple of skiers out this morning. Here's another. It's amazing how much snow we've gotten the past couple of winters. Seems like we'd barely gotten any for the past 7-8 years or so, but last year we had three record setting storms and this year we've just had a succession of small to medium storms every few days. And then about a foot and a half a few days ago on top of what was already a good base of snow. There's a LOT of snow out there right now. Here's another of the other skier, who was out with his dog - it was dog heaven there this morning! He was off the road, but the tracks had already been set by other skiers before him...

They're really nice photos. If there was a snow storm outside, I give you my word I'd be out there frolicking in the wind and snow, for a short while at least.


Today the weather was very unfriendly, it was cold and I returned from my walk very early. I cannot put into words how much I am looking forward to spring.

Do you mean you're not enjoying this whole winter or do you mean it was a particularly bad wintery day?

Today it was a very hot 38c day in Melbourne, Australia. Too hot. I remember a summer or two ago, the temperatures reached 43c, that was unbearable.
 
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Canon S90
 
With a little bit of recovery work, that first one isn't as totally blown as I thought. One other thing I forgot to mention is that the Nex screen was absolutely no problem to use in the VERY bright light I was dealing with this morning, even with it flipped up and pointing right into the bright sky.

-Ray

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Ray, you are so lucky to live near that "park"! What a glorious day those photos show! Great reflections on the river.

Christian, I feel your sadness and frustration with the harsh coldness. Your picture looks cold - there's a bit of blue sky, but I can see it was overcast. For myself, sunlight has a great impact on my mood - cold and snow is much more appetizing if the sun is out and no commuting to work is involved.;) I do not do well in overcast cold weather, myself. I hate it.

Armanius - thanks for the bright flower macros! We need to be reminded that seasons change... Soon we northern hemisphere types will be complaining about the heat.:D
 
A sunny day amidst the wet and grey days, out with my A33 and the Minolta 70-210mm lens known as the "beercan". These shots are at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver - there were quite a few photographers out taking advantage of the good weather. I am discovering photographers are an outgoing friendly bunch ... except if you try to take a picture of them :)
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A sunny day amidst the wet and grey days, out with my A33 and the Minolta 70-210mm lens known as the "beercan". These shots are at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver - there were quite a few photographers out taking advantage of the good weather. I am discovering photographers are an outgoing friendly bunch ... except if you try to take a picture of them :)
When I was researching and reading about the A33/55, I kept seeing references to the "beercan" but never figured out which lens it was - thanks for clearing that up! I particularly like that first shot - interesting composition. Man I miss Vancouver. We lived for many years in Seattle and used to drive up to Vancouver for long weekends from time to time. That was mostly in the '80s, before we had kids, the exchange rate was quite favorable, and we'd drive up the morning after Thanksgiving, stay the weekend, and get all of our Christmas shopping done at the lower prices - I doubt that approach would work these days! Beautiful city. Then again, I haven't been there in nearly 20 years now so I probably wouldn't recognize it.

-Ray
 
It's where I grew up, and I travel back up there every few weeks or so. More to come from this weekend, but my hosting site is fritzy, so I have to wait.
 
When I was researching and reading about the A33/55, I kept seeing references to the "beercan" but never figured out which lens it was - thanks for clearing that up! I particularly like that first shot - interesting composition. Man I miss Vancouver. We lived for many years in Seattle and used to drive up to Vancouver for long weekends from time to time. That was mostly in the '80s, before we had kids, the exchange rate was quite favorable, and we'd drive up the morning after Thanksgiving, stay the weekend, and get all of our Christmas shopping done at the lower prices - I doubt that approach would work these days! Beautiful city. Then again, I haven't been there in nearly 20 years now so I probably wouldn't recognize it.

-Ray

I am thinking the Minolta crowd loved their alcohol - in addition to the Beercan (70-210 constant f4), there is the little beercan (35-70mm) and the big beercan (75-300mm). The Sony crowd do not have a cult yet but they can claim to have outrageously priced Zeiss lenses.

I have lived in Vancouver my whole life and as beautiful as it is, I envy the American mindset/ability to move around the country.
 
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