At the last minute, we found our solar filter which fit perfectly on my Tamron 150-600mm lens, and shot it with my Nikon D850 until 3:45 PM when it was obscured by clouds. I had difficulty tracking the motion of the Sun across the sky and Jim had to do some difficult adjusting in Photoshop. It's not perfect, and too few shots, but it's interesting anyway.
I'm also adding some composites I made, with clouds.
Here are more cherry blossoms to enjoy. I get a second chance at photographing them because the weeping cherry trees in my own yard bloom a lot later than the trees in Lexington Park and elsewhere. The first photo is a stacked photo to improve the sharpness of the image, taken in a Lexington Park parking lot. Notice how much more impact the photo with just a blue sky makes than the others with blurred backgrounds.
Just for fun, I entered an International photo contest with the Photographic Society of America. I am a member and decided Just for fun, I entered an International photo contest with the Photographic Society of America. I am a member and decided to try photojournalism, a category I practice when I photograph the River Concert Series. I rarely sell any of them, because it would be hard to get written permission, even though the photos are technically at a public event. I entered 4 photos and most of them were accepted, but one actually won 2 prizes. The photos were sent to 4 different regional PSA organizations. This one won in a multiple tie for third place in the Mid-Atlantic region and honorable mention in the Florida Chapters. Three out of 4 of my photos were accepted into the competition. They claimed about 30% of the entries would be accepted into the competition, so I figured the odds were fairly good to at least be in the competition. I liked the photo because it implied a sweet story. The dancers were from Ballet Caliente.
I wish I could grow camelias in my yard. Unfortunately, our land was a garbage dump for Native Americans a long time ago and is high pH (lime soil). I couldn't grow azaleas here, even with extra stuff added to the soil.
Fortunately, there are some camelias not to far away that I love to photograph.
I like using contrasting colors to add to an image, so I found something green to give contrast to the red rose. Old books sometimes come in handy. Do you think it adds interest?
A variety of birds hang around the local creek in the Winter when the osprey aren't visiting. We enjoy watching them and their variety of behaviors. There has been a huge flock of geese. I was surprised to see a pair of swans two days ago since I haven't seen any on the creek for several years.
Happy President's Day! I was thinking about the times I have visited places to do with the U.S. Presidents. As a child, we visited Mount Rushmore in South Dakota while camping. It was so huge!
I just love watching the bufflehead ducks in the nearby water in the Winter. They bob up and down looking for food. They are very quick and very cute to watch. I am sure they are just trying to stay alive by constantly feeding. They eat water insects, snails, crustaceans (crabs in this case) and water plants. They are pretty powerful swimmers and known as the smallest North American duck breed. From a distance they look black and white, but closer up there are more greens and purples visible in their plumage.
Here are some older favorites of the little birds.
I visited Annmarie Gardens to pick up my "Romantic Couple" photo from the Warm and Cozy exhibit on Friday January 26th, the day it was about 80 degrees briefly. I had a spare hour unexpectedly, so I took a walk and photographed some of the fun art on the path. I was there last month for the Christmas display, but it looks a lot different in the daytime.
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