North Creek Lake

f/22, 1/40 sec., 35 mm, ISO-400


f/22, 1/50 sec., 35 mm, ISO-400


f/8, 1/100 sec., 135 mm, ISO-800


f/8, 1/100 sec., 135 mm, ISO-800


f/22, 1/30 sec., 35 mm, ISO-640

Date: 01.07.2008
Time: 9:30 AM (And I just got so lucky with the light.)

Local Wildlife 3 Livestock

The day after I visited all the geese at Lake Whetstone, I ventured out, down a new a different road, to find some more woods and creeks -- as I am wont to do.

Not more than a couple of miles down the road, I spotted a couple of sheep and a pony in a field. I passed it and then turned back, parking on the shoulder of the road, along the guardrail.

Feeling a bit tentative, wondering if I would get in trouble, like Billie did, I hurtled the guard rail put one leg tentatively over the guardrail and teetered down the slope to the fenced in field. As I approached, the pony watched me carefully and then began to walk toward me. (I wish I had a good shot of him approaching where I did not cut off his poor legs! But his expression was so cute that I had to post this one.)



When he (I think he, with the blue halter) got to the fence, he had his ears up and looked friendly so I extended my hand, palm up. He spooked a little and then kept some distance, all the while keeping a careful eye on me.



In the meantime, I went back to taking pictures of the sheep. (The gray shadow is from the wire fence.)



They grazed, apparently oblivious to me, until all of a sudden, the little one in the back picked up his head, spied me, ran straight for me, and stuck his head through the fence.



He wandered up and down the fence, peering through at me. He was so cute! And oh how I wanted to pet him, but I thought better of it.





I left, reluctant to say goodbye to my new friends, and the pony followed me all along the fence, to the corner, where we had to part ways.



I climbed back in in the car, and drove down the road, a better person for having made those new friends. And yes, I did find a cool creek and some more woods. :)

Local Wildlife 2

More shots from my morning at Lake Whetstone. The overcast sky and lingering fog was nice light to shoot in.

(No post-processing on any of these, except for some cropping of the geese and squirrel shots and levels on the green pier shot.)



















Date: 12.29.2007
Location: Lake Whetstone
Time: 9 AM

Local Wildlife 1

The morning of my playground fun, I went to check out Lake Whetstone, at the center of Montgomery Village, our community. My intent was to scope it out, where to park, and see what I might want to shoot.

Well, from the moment I got out of the car and saw the geese on the hill, I began shooting. No self control!

I'll be going back to this lake more, because there is much more to explore than all these shots that I got from the pier. There is a path that goes around the lake. Cruelly, though, it does not go all the way around, you have to retrace your steps to get back to the pier and the parking lot. It will be good exercise when I go back.

The Geese of Geeseville:





The Pier and Lake, with the remaining population of Geeseville











A gull, having a happy meal







He, or she, was so funny. Each time I took a step closer, he tried to get the whole fish in his mouth -- as if I wanted that fish!

Date: 12.29.2007
Location : Lake Whetstone
Time: 9 AM

Gracie, through the fence

All of these were taken at f/1.4 in Aperture Priority mode, with no post-processing.

Squirrel Chase

Thanks to my new speedy lens, I didn't even have to run!

All of these were taken at f/1.4 in Aperture Priority mode, with no post-processing except for cropping.