Birds in Flight

Many people tend to take the wildlife in their areas for granted. I seldom see people looking at the birds flying overhead. I try to photograph every bird in flight, especially the large birds in Florida.

While a red-shouldered hawk soared directly above me, I made 25 photos before it moved away. The great egret (white heron) flew over rather quickly and I was able to capture 14 images before it was out of range. The white ibis in the third photo flew so quickly that I was only able to take 3 photos. I liked the way the light illuminated the feathers of the outstretched wings against the deep blue sky in each of the images.

Photographing birds in flight is a challenge because the birds and camera are moving. My camera allows me to shoot 3 photos per second and I can shoot 27 images before the camera begins to slow down. This enables me to take enough photos to ensure I get a few that are in focus. I used my 70-300 mm lens to capture today's images.

Sunrise

My apologies for not informing you that I was taking a break from Photo of the Day for a couple of weeks.

In Florida the sun shines nearly every day and photographing sunrises is enjoyable every morning. Today I am sharing three photographs of the same sunrise that were taken with a 70-300 mm lens, allowing me to crop out parts of the scene I didn't want included in the images. For example, the trees in the second photo are visible in the background of the third. These show the range of the lens I used.

You may have noticed that I have settled into a routine of sharing 5 photos per day, 3 in my mail out and 2 additional images on my Blog. I will continue this practice when I have enough images of the same subject. Feel free to explore my Blog which contains nearly 1 000 entries since 2006. I will usually add statement with a link to my Blog at the end of my daily emails.

Barbour Premises

As promised, today I am sharing photos of the Barbour Premises in Newtown, Bonavista Bay. I did not have time to take a tour of the premises so I have no closer photos or photos of the inside. If I get back that way, I plan to make time to take a tour.

The two photos show wide views of the premises from across the water. The third image shows a closer view of one of the houses.

Houses

This morning I am sharing three photos of houses taken in New-Wes-Valley which incorporates several small towns in this area. Note the lack of trees and shrubs in the photos.

The first image shows a yellow house with matching store near the water's edge. The sun shone through a break in the clouds for a couple of minutes and provided really nice lighting for this image.

The second house is part of the Barbour Premises, a living museum in Newtown. I'll share more views of this interesting tourist attraction tomorrow.

The third photo shows an older home in Brookfield that has been well maintained. It is quite a large home that may have been modernized recently. It looks like there was a front door that has been boarded over.

The red building is Norton's Cove Studio Gallery and Gift Shop. Since it is directly in front of the large yellow house in the previous photo, I assume they were owned by the ame person - possibly J. Kean.

The white and green house was taken in Wesleyville. Note that it was built on solid bedrock.

Pool's Island Church

This morning I am sharing three photos taken in a church on Pool's Island. I believe this is St. James Anglican Church which was built in 1862. When I photograph communities, I photograph the interior of churches if they are unlocked. In recent years most churches tend to be locked.

The first photo shows the door with its interesting hinges. The second is looking towards the front of the church and shows the interesting style of architecture. The stairs lead to the extra seating in the balcony. This church is relatively big for a small community. I assume it served people from surrounding communities and in the early days most people from outside the community came by boat from nearby towns and islands in Bonavista Bay. Candles are common in all churches that I visit and I usually photograph them.

Abstracts - Greenspond

This morning I am returning to the series of photos I took in Greenspond in July 2006. A while back someone requested more windows and/or doors photos so I am sharing a few photos that may be of interest. When I walk through a community I see things that may have been missed while driving. The photos today show a few of these things.

The colours in the first photo are striking; the yellow house, green door with white trim, green railings and red deck. As well the horizontal and vertical lines are interesting. Note the one diagonal line that looks like a mop or broom handle that is painted the same colour as the house.
The second photo shows a home-made recycling bin which was over half full of empty beverage containers. I assume the owner waits until it is full, then makes a trip to a recycling depot. The shed and recycling bin are built on solid rock.

The third photo shows a classic car that is parked in a yard. I am certain there are people on this list that can identify the year and model of the car. But there are other elements in the photo that provide information: children's playground equipment such as a slide and trampoline indicate that children live in the house. The red house is interesting and stands out against the white houses all around.

Note that the ladder is painted to match the colours of the house. The last photo shows a door with blue circles painted on them. The door needs a bit of white paint. Also note that the building appears to have shifted because the doors are out of alignment.

Sea Ice 2

The ice that was in Holyrood Harbour earlier this week had many interesting shapes. I spent a few minutes photographing them, but there was an unlimited number that I could have taken. I was on my way to my doctor (I have been off sick all week with the worst cold/cough that I have ever had) so I was limited in the time I had to make photos. I haven't been out of the house since Monday so I didn't get as many as I would have liked. Based on the extent of the ice in yesterday's photos, you can imagine the number of photos of shapes and textures that I could have made!