Daffodil Hill Photography

Best Worse Picture So Far

As the storms approach I decided to take advantage of the cloud cover proceeding in to get a few shots in. I once again stubbornly grabbed my extension tubes and camera and went out to give it another try. Well I still am not getting it but in the process I may have taken my best-worse picture so far. This picture is of a Bumblebee face first in a Spotted Jewelweed. You can see it’s front legs holding onto the Jewelweed as one of it back legs seem to be searching for something to grip. Pretty cool stuff even if the shot was way under-exposed and grainy as all get out. I like it!

One On The Fly

I was out and about on our place this morning testing out one of the new-to-me lenses. Here is one of the fly and now to go watch a friend of The Bride and I perform with his band. When I recover from the heat exhaustion I am about to walk into I will post more!

Something New And A Little Dew Too

As a budget- restrained individual I try to buy the best I can afford but still not break the bank. I try always to buy local first but sometimes the cost difference does not allow it and I have to order stuff online. An exception is lenses for my camera. I have to try it out first and that dictates it must be local. Well after many attempts using craigslist , most have not been less than positive, I had my faith in youth, humanity and the ability to buy local on craigslist restored this evening in one fell swoop! The young man I contacted actually responded to my inquiry and followed through with what he said he would do. He was one time, that is something new, and was polite and the lenses were as advertised, something new as well. Since I did not get home in time to take a few pics tonight I had to look in the-way-back-files and find something to share. Here is one from last August, I think, taken with my Olympus SP-350 and that much I do actually know. So here is to something new and a little dew too!

Oh My, What A Fly

I was trying out my new extension tubes on my Sony A300 with a Minolta lens this evening. The Minolta lenses are very difficult to focus using the extension tubes. I also have to “guess” on the shutter-speed as the light meter is not accurate with the tubes on. Here is one I got right of a fly I have never seen before so I looked it up. It is I believe a Tiger Bee Fly and oh my, what a fly!

A Random Butterfly

I have several things going on at one time right now so my posts will be a little erratic and kind of random like. So in that spirit I present a random Butterfly.

Keepin’ It Simple

I love live music and the more intimate and simple the space and set up is the better. Saturday night we attended a house concert and BBQ that fit the bill for that. The rain is every present in our area right now, it’s a good thing not a bad thing, so the musicians had to set up in a small portable gazebo. Here is to keepin’ it simple.

Seeking Shelter From The Rain

I took a little walkabout of our place after the latest rain shower paused till the next wave arrives. I am glad we are getting what I hope will turn be a couple of days of gentle, consistent rain. As I walked along the side field I saw this Bumblebee hanging under the blooms of a plant as if seeking shelter from the rain.

Something Extraordinary

After mowing the lawn today I got to use the new manual extension tubes on my Sony A300 I purchased from Amazon. Since I have 35mm film lenses that I use on the A300 I felt comfortable shooting in full manual mode with the extension tubes. What I wasn’t expecting is how soft and wide the edges are with my first choice of lens ( Minolta 50mm f 1:1.7 ). I think it will be a little sharper when I shot with just one extension ring on not all tree at once. I did not get to try that today as we had plans for early this evening. As I downloaded the pics tonight I found a picture I took but thought it would not come out at all. The light was wrong, the angle I had to shot it was wrong and most of the subject was not in an advantageous position for my to get a proper shot. I took it anyway. Now I am glad I did. Below is that shot and it all started when I rescued this little fellow from path of the blades of my mower earlier. I remembered I had moved this little one out-of-the-way of my mowing and really thought it would be gone but it was not. So I took this shot and did not have any idea what to expect but what I found was something extraordinary. Can anyone guess what it is? No prizes awarded I am afraid but this should be fun.

Inbound Bumblebee

I was having a bit of a time taking photos of the Spotted Jewelweed on our place due a wonderful, yet aggravating-to-my-attempts, breeze. The way they hang under the broad, protective leafs of the plant they do not have to have large stems for them to survive. So at a brief break in the breeze I snapped away and it was not till I downloaded this picture did I find out I was photo-bombed by and inbound Bumblebee!

Custer Came To Visit

I was carrying my Powershot SX260HS with me tonight at a gathering of the towns folks @ a tavern in a garden. We were enjoying some live music, feel good food and a very pleasant and tempered August evening when the atmosphere turned temporal. There strolling through the garden was none other the General Custer. It seems the stories are true about his fondness towards this place and this town. Though his wife thought those of us who live here were backwards, Gen. Custer did seem to enjoy his walks about the place when was here. In that light I am pleased to have been able capture the time and place when Custer came to visit.