Day 84 - Planters

I was waiting for the rains to revive the flowers a little bit and found this one looking really fresh and perked up.  It had been a pretty gloomy day, but patches of sunshine peeked through towards the late evening.  These photos are from another exploration of the riverside, but this was in a different section of the island, and also unfrequented by people.  Very beautiful and very peaceful - I can see myself going back there again soon.

This last one was flashed at -2 stops to freeze the branch swaying vigourously in the wind, as well as to lighten up the really dark part of the tree I found this sprig in.  

Day 83 - Dusk descends by the St. Lawrence River

I finally got to see the Baltimore Oriole that had been eluding me of late.  And not only did I see the male, but the female as well.  I didn't get very good shots since I had to use a very high ISO to get a half-quick shutter speed and also, these birds generally sit high up on trees.  So, a 250 mm lens is definitely inadequate.

The female Baltimore Oriole is more subdued in colour than her male counterpart

The male has much brighter plumage.  I'm just so grateful to him for sitting in one spot long enough for me to adjust, aim and shoot.  These birds are extremely hyperactive and don't stop for more than a couple of seconds on a branch.  I think their level of activity comes down a couple of notches in the evening. 

;-)

I also spent a considerable amount of time near the birdhouse where some Purple Martins and house sparrows are nesting and peacefully coexisting.  Here are a few shots from yesterday and today.

Day 82 - Curved lines

Quick shots in the park.

Day 81 - Portraits

These are portraits I did a few days ago, but I finally remembered to ask for permission to post them.  Many thanks to you, Jim, for the guidance and excellent tips.

This is my second time trying portraits, but admittedly the first time that I did them with any amount of seriousness as far as lighting was concerned. But it was mostly some random clicking done only to see the light we could get by using ambient light and a reflector.

I have applied very minimal PP to the first frame, and tried my hand at removing a few blemishes on the second one.  I hope they still look natural.  I'd love to know which one you liked.

Day 80 - Snap-a-snack

I came back from work feeling all upbeat about another gorgeous day and wanted to go look for the ducklings I know I'd find on the pond.  But all of a sudden I felt exhausted and completely pooped!  So, I decided to give myself a sugary break with my fave home-made strawberry jam and a piece of toast.  And what better subject for a photo than my snack plate?

The light was extremely low in my dining room.  I used AV and that picked really slow shutters, ranging between 3.2 to 6s!  I played with the WB a little bit on the 3rd & last frames.  The 3rd one seems to have turned out a little bit better.

Day 79 - Panning

I have to admit these photos were taken yesterday, but I took so many of them, I figured I could cheat for a day.

Practising this for my flying bird shots - I clearly need to spend a lot more time on this.  Ambient light was very low, since these photos were taken in the lengthening shadows after 7:30 pm in cloudy conditions, so I had to use a very high ISO to be able to crank up the shutter speed.

I hadn't realized then, but now I see the reflections of this group of people standing and watching the birds.  Would have been nicer if my bird had been in sharp focus.

Day 78 - Looking down from Mont Royal