I Am Way Scarrier Than You Are!!

 

A friend pointed out this poor injured Canada Goose sitting in the spring storm outside work today so I decided to pay it a visit. After a few photos it decided I had taken enough and thought to show me just how big and scary it is. LOL.

I kept shooting. Unless you are the size of a moose or bear, I'm not that easily scared off.

You can see it's left leg pushed out a bit. That's the sore one. I sure hope it heals up and this bird carries on. I will keep an eye on it.

Chris. 

Dad And His 38 Ford

 

Cab Over 2 Ton Custom Build Project.

My Dad has been working on this truck for at least 5 years now. He's rebuilt it from the rubber up doing most of the work himself and only getting help with the really crazy stuff. I can't wait to see this truck rolling down the road.

Chris. 

Silhouetted Palms

I love silhouettes. They just have such a great look to them. I must remember to do more of them in the future.

 

Chris. 

Sand Dunes

We took the time to visit the sand dunes in the south east corner of California again while we were down there. I love all that sand. Everywhere you look you see sand. It's like the worlds largest beach.

 

Chris. 

Got Milk?

 

My daughter always seems to have a milk mustache. So many of the photos I take of her have it. Maybe I should hire her out to the Milk Producers PR board if such a thing exists. LOL.

Chris. 

Date Palms.

If you've never seen how dates are grown and harvested this could be a shock! They grow and are harvested at the tops of these date palms. It's a labor intensive process but the resulting fruit is like nothing else on this planet! So delicious. The palms are as high as a telephone pole. Huge.

 

Chris. 

A Kid, A Wall and Foot Pegs!

There is just something about a climbing wall that kids just cannot resist!

Chris.

New Piece Of Gear - SD to CF Card Adapter

 

I'm sure you've seen these before. This is an SD to CF card adapter. Basically you put an SD card in from the right there and then put this whole thing into your CF card slot in your camera.

CF cards are getting harder to find and getting more expensive. The 16GB CF cards the I like are $65.00 from my local photography shop where as the 32GB equivalent speed in an SD card is $32.00 at my local Best Buy! I did some testing with the 32GB card from my video camera and found that it's just as fast as the CF card I normally use. When it comes to these cards, I'm more than happy to buy the cheaper smaller sized ones and use them in my camera. Now I don't have to carry around that card reader either. I can plug the SD card right into the card reader in my laptop.

Isn't technology an amazing thing these days.

Chris.

At The Mexico Border

We took a drive down to San Luis, Arizona to touch the Mexico border fence with our bare hands. Unlike the crossing, your really not supposed to hang out at this fence. LOL.

You can see the border patrol truck on the other side of the fence as they drove by to check us out. They gave us no hassle but they were watching.

Chris.

Moon Rise

 

This was the other reason I wanted to head out to the mountains when we did. Full moon. The sunset and moonrise were less than 30 minutes apart so I was sure there would be great photo opps. These were hard to get without my tripod but  I'm happy with the result.

Chris. 

 

Desert Sunset

There is something so awe inspiring about a sunset in the desert. I can't describe it. Just the way the sun dipped behind the mountains in the west. It just made me stare in awe.

I love the orange glow in this photo. So warm and inviting. I wish I was close enough to the highway to have gotten on the other side of the power lines but I still love this photo.

 

When the sun was almost completely under the horizon I spotted this. The colors were quickly moving from orange to purple and then to black. Such an amazing sight.

Chris. 

Something Is Wrong With My Dog

I think my dog may have been hit on the head before we adopted her from the SPCA. No seriously, quit laughing, I'm sure of it.

Every time I take photos of her, she sticks her tongue out at me.

 

She's worse than my kids. 

Made you smile. Please share this with others that may need a smile today.

Chris. 

Is It Good Enough?

I always seem to worry about what people think about my photos. Are they good enough, will they like it? I've come to the conclusion that it just doesn't matter and I just don't care. Photography is an art and I know I've said this before but it's just so subjective. There are so many opinions on what is art that you just cannot please everyone.

So, please yourself. If you are happy with it then it's good enough. Stop trying to measure up to anyone. Sure, try to make the best photo you can using the techniques you have learned but realize there is a point where it's good enough.

Take this photo of my daughter for example.

 

I love this photo. It makes me smile and melts my heart. I like how I've placed here off to the side. I like how I've used a wide open aperture to blur out the background. I don't even care that the eye closest to the camera is slightly out of focus. The other one is tack sharp. I'm not going to bore you with what lens I used or what my settings were, it just doesn't matter. What matters is the feeling, the emotion in this photo. Such a warm genuine smile and love that touches her eyes. I'm not even worried about how many people like this. I like it. 

To me this shows great growth in me as an artist. You will never please everyone. Sometimes you won't please anyone. I aim to first and foremost make sure I like the photo. I have so many photos that I thought everyone would just love and you know what, they didn't. Not even close. Some even went so far as to tell me the photo was not taken properly. Funny how we all have our own ideas.

So, you just go out take photos and practice, practice, practice.

Chris.

 

Cacti and Rock

I definitely need to go back to the deserts of Arizona and capture some more images like these. On our next trip down there I'm planning a whole day in the Kofa National Wildlife Reserve. I could easily have spent an entire day here.

Our next trip down won't be for several years now I think so the kids will be older and will be able to handle a day with Dad in the desert....or not. LOL.

I had to drive out to the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge while we were so close. I was hoping to see some wildlife and get some great landscape photos. We saw one small snake and were warned off by a rattle snake but other than that all I got were some great landscape photos. I forgot my tripod back at the park, still kicking myself over that one, but still managed some pretty nice photos.

This is the point at which I decided to return to the rental van. I had lost the trail and didn't want to get too far from the van and have to cut right across country to get back to it.

As we were making our way back to the van, I spotted a line of cacti growing up and along this ridge line. I really liked how they formed an arc in the image. There are more further up the mountain but they would not fit into the composition.

This small cactus was just loaded with spines! I can't even imagine falling onto that one. Oh, just after this image, we were warned by a rattle snake. Startled us but it was a few yards to our south and only rattled at us twice then left us alone. I couldn't see it and decided not to search for it even though I really wanted that photo!

This was the largest cactus in the area. It was just standing out by itself keeping watch on the area like a silent guard.

You can't visit the desert mountains without looking for this classic desert scene! I had timed our trip so we would be leaving around sunset and I knew the setting sun would shine some fantastic light on the area. All I needed to do was pick my spot and wait for the light. I saw this scene on our way into the area and made note of it for the drive out.

Chris.

Mountain Scape

 

I had to drive out to the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge while we were so close. I was hoping to see some wildlife and get some great landscape photos. We saw one small snake and were warned off by a rattle snake but other than that all I got were some great landscape photos. I forgot my tripod back at the park, still kicking myself over that one, but still managed some pretty nice photos.

Don't you just want to climb this?

Chris. 

Signal Peak.

 

I had to drive out to the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge while we were so close. I was hoping to see some wildlife and get some great landscape photos. We saw one small snake and were warned off by a rattle snake but other than that all I got were some great landscape photos. I forgot my tripod back at the park, still kicking myself over that one, but still managed some pretty nice photos.

This is looking east into Palm Canyon at signal peak. I lost the trail and never did make it to the palms but we still had a great time walking around the area.

Chris. 

Kofa National Wildlife Refuge

 

I had to drive out to the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge while we were so close. I was hoping to see some wildlife and get some great landscape photos. We saw one small snake and were warned off by a rattle snake but other than that all I got were some great landscape photos. I forgot my tripod back at the park, still kicking myself over that one, but still managed some pretty nice photos.

Chris. 

More From The Camel Farm

I have been trying to post just one image from our vacation per day. I've made it over a week and it's killing me to do this. So, in order to get to the stuff I really want to share, I'm pushing things along a bit. Here are 4 images from the Camel Farm we visited.

 

Check out the eyes on this goat! They are just amazing. None of the others had these blue eyes.

This water buffalo's hair was very coarse. Like a scrub brush. It was very friendly though. Really liked the attention.

I'm pretty sure this goat was watching the kids with the treats but I think he just wanted me to get his best side. :)

Every where the kids walked, the goats followed. It was pretty cute.

Chris.

New Born!!

 

We went to the Camel Farm by Yuma to check out the exotic animals. Most of what they have are run of the mill goats and donkeys but it was fun none the less.

This goat was born only a couple of minutes before we got to the pen. The mother was still licking him clean. The kids were fascinated that it could stand and walk already.

Chris. 

My Friends The Canada Geese Are Back!

I love these birds. They are just so majestic in my eyes. The way the prance around so sure of themselves and not really caring what you do, until you get too close that is. They just swoop in and take over any wetland area in town that they want. The wander the parks and the outlying fields in search of a meal. Then they set up home, raise a few goslings and leave you wondering what happened in the fall.

They are so much fun to watch. I love to watch them raise their young and I look forward to their return every year.

Chris.

Waiting For More.

 

We went to the Camel Farm by Yuma to check out the exotic animals. Most of what they have are run of the mill goats and donkeys but it was fun none the less.

This great donkey was just begging for me to keep scratching his neck. He was my best friend the whole time I was beside him.

Chris. 

Hi There!

 

We went to the Camel Farm by Yuma to check out the exotic animals. Most of what they have are run of the mill goats and donkeys but it was fun none the less.

The donkeys all just wanted some petting and attention.

Chris. 

Do I Smell Treats?!

 

We went to the Camel Farm by Yuma to check out the exotic animals. Most of what they have are run of the mill goats and donkeys but it was fun none the less.

This guy was very interested in the treats we bought to feed them.

Chris. 

Run Off Ditch

 

One of the many walking paths that doubles as a rain runoff ditch in the RV Resort we stay at in Yuma. It rarely rains but when it does, I guess it fills these ditches up most of the way.

Chris. 

Palm And Mountains

 

Looking out the back of the hotel we stayed at there is this great palm tree that juts up over the buildings behind it. The mountains cut across the mid section of the palm and gave a nice line through the scene.

Chris. 

Palm To The Sky

 

Looking up the truck of a palm tree in the court yard of our hotel in Palm Springs.

I love the textures of the bark. I noticed this tree across the court yard when the rising sun peaked over the mountains and lit this tree up. I was struck by the color of the light and how it made this tree seem to glow.

Chris.

Day One In The Pool

 

The kids on the first day of our spring break vacation. We hit Palm Springs at 10:30 am local time and were in the pool later that day.

I'm not sure but they look like they were having a good time. ;) Such a drastic change of scenery from the snow and cold of Edmonton.

Chris.