Wednesday, February 2, 2011

A Day With the Camera

.
Hey, I can see!

Well, lets put it this way. I can see really well with my right eye, not so great with my left. When I'm looking in the distance, or even a short distance, like watching television, my right eye dominates and I'm fine. And when I want to read a book, that's ok too. It's that distance between the the book and my computer screen that gives me a bit of trouble. I got some readers for when I'm on the computer, and they’re fine for text.

Today, a gloriously gorgeous day, we went out shooting, and I found when I got home to process my pictures that my vision isn't quite right for editing pictures.

At least that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to to it!

We started out visiting a couple of local RV parks. We have friends coming in tomorrow, so we thought we'd do a bit of scouting, searching for the best spots and rates. Both the parks we visited are under huge redwood trees, so I was somewhat surprised to find a huge fantail (I think) palm right in the middle of the trees. The sun was just right so I took a couple of shots.


The light seemed perfect.


Next, we took off for
Natural Bridges State Park,
thought we'd do a little bird watching.
But we're not sure who's watching who.


I always try to catch birds in flight,
but don't always succeed.
Not a great shot,
but he's pretty much in focus,


This is a crop from a photo like the first one.
They were pretty far away,
so it's not really sharp
but I love the pelicans.


Another far off crop.
I know it's not too sharp
but I love the family dynamic.
Is that little guy a strutter
or what?


I'm fascinated with seagull's eyes.


Another not too sharp pictures,
but look at the layers.
It looked like a stacked salad.


Natural Bridges also has a
Monarch butterfly grove.
We hiked down, saw a few butterflies,
but didn't get any special shots.
Again though, I love the play of light.
(As always, you can click any image
to see a larger version).

When we were done at Natural Bridges, we decided a day in Santa Cruz wouldn't be complete without a visit to the seals and sea lions on the wharf.

This pod was playing
a few hundred yards out to sea.


I zoomed in as close as I could.


These guys were having a great time!


Here's on final shot.


So it looks like I can take pictures, but working on them in the computer will be a bit of a stretch for the next month or so. After I get my other eye done, if it still isn't right, I'll get prescription glasses for working on the computer. Not ideal, but a small price to pay for the the overall improvement in my vision.

Tomorrow night is another auction, wish us luck!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Your pictures were fun to look at. I especially enjoy the Pelicans. What are you using for camera equipment?

John
relaxedrush.blogspot.com

Jerry and Suzy said...

No need to apologize for any of those pictures! They were beautiful. Thanks for joining us at Our Life on Wheels, where we are looking for new folks to follow for a while. You keep on showing pictures like these, and you'll have a new fan!

meowmomma said...

The photo queen is back!

Barb said...

The photos are great, I love the seal shots. Good luck with the next surgery. :)

Kate said...

John,

I shoot with a Canon 7D, with a stock 28-135mm lens, but I also have a Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM Lens for closeups. I was using both yesterday, the stock with the first 3 photos and the 300 on all the rest. I really like the 300 because it's much smaller than similar lenses.

Kate
http://cholulared.blogspot.com

Donna K said...

Great photos as always. It can be frustrating when your eyes don't want to focus on the computer screen. Hang in there and in a few months it will be much better for you. You still take better pictures than most of us and I do enjoy seeing things through your lense. Take care.

Unknown said...

Thank you Kate for the nice e-mail response. I am currently in the market for a new DSLR so I have been asking/talking to people who are already taking great pictures to see what they are using for equipment.

John
relaxedrush.blogspot.com