Photographed TODAY (or Processed today) con't

[Kraellin]

this was shot last year during the ice storm which knocked our power out for two weeks. so, it's not current, but with our current termperatures running steadily above 90 degrees F for weeks now, with some above 100 and a heat index running 110 to 115, i swear looking at this pic makes me feel 10 degrees cooler

[Flotsam]

Originally Posted by CJ Swartz

Interesting variations of the color green and the line/textures on the doors. Is that why you chose to make this photo, or were you seeing something else?

Not really.
Just a nice restful scene.

[Kraellin]

it's definitely an interesting play on green, intended or not, flotsam

[CJ Swartz]

Craig - thanks for the refreshing cool-down with the ice laden leaves.

Here's some tiny black ants feasting on a mini-chunk of a canned peach. I wanted them to stay full and busy since they're near the baby dove that is still not ready to fledge. Baby birds and ants are not a good mix - for the birds.

[orandz]

some flowers

cheers
m.

[Kraellin]

nice ants, CJ. fascinating little critters, arent they?

orandz, i'd suggest focusing on the center of those flowers more or increase your depth of field a tiny bit. with just the tips of the petals in focus it's a bit odd.

[Algarve Images]

The first shot Orandz is really cool, i love the angle and the blend of bokeh..
This is from this yesterday - not been very productive of late, may be i need motivating lol
Gary..

[Kraellin]

wow, gary. very cool

[Algarve Images]

Thanx Craig, - one from yesterday, i came across a rat hiding in a tree from our dogs..
Mr. Ratty eventually leaped to a neighboring Willow tree, managed to avoid being eaten and made good his escape..

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by Algarve Images

...
Mr. Ratty eventually leaped to a neighboring Willow tree, managed to avoid being eaten and made good his escape..

Always like to hear a happy ending to a story...the dogs probably disagree about the "happy" part.

I like the backlighting on his ears.

[palms]

Originally Posted by Algarve Images

Thanx Craig, - one from yesterday, i came across a rat hiding in a tree from our dogs..
Mr. Ratty eventually leaped to a neighboring Willow tree, managed to avoid being eaten and made good his escape..

Maybe a rat but he is cute ! ! !

[Kraellin]

he's also a fat little bugger. nice pic, gary

[Flotsam]

Had an earthquake centred about 50kms from my place at 4.35am on Saturday.
This is the scene that greeted me in one of my rooms.
Quite frightening.
Was intending to get stuff off shelves and do a bit of a spring clean that weekend.
Didn't have to.

[palms]

Originally Posted by Flotsam

Had an earthquake centred about 50kms from my place at 4.35am on Saturday.
This is the scene that greeted me in one of my rooms.
Quite frightening.
Was intending to get stuff off shelves and do a bit of a spring clean that weekend.
Didn't have to.

When i saw the news real i did think about you and wondered if it was anywhere near, Thankfully all you have is extra housework to do

Palms

[Algarve Images]

Oh my Flotsam!
Sky news was just mentioning that the earthquake was responsible for inducing the births of a record number of babies in your maternity units..

Anyway - back to the serious business of mouse photography - we seem to be having a minor epidemic of mice and i rescued this one from the jaws of our fluffy carnivore cat Yoda this morning - remembering trees make good backdrops i placed it in our Willow out of harms way and snapped away with the 24-70mm, this one's a rather leaner specimen than 'fatso' the other day and i must say i'm very pleased with the result - just wished it was a chameleon or some other exotic creature lol

[amica999]

Great pic, Gary!
@ Flotsam, sorry to hear!

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by Flotsam

Had an earthquake ...
... Was intending to get stuff off shelves and do a bit of a spring clean that weekend.
Didn't have to.

Thought of you and the few other NZer's on here - glad you weren't home in that chair when the quake knocked your bookcase over. I've never been in one - would find it frightening also. Also don't like housework...

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by Algarve Images

... i rescued this one from the jaws of our fluffy carnivore cat Yoda this morning - remembering trees make good backdrops i placed it in our Willow... this one's a rather leaner specimen than 'fatso' the other day...

I know that Yoda disapproves of your choice to turn the mouse into a model instead of his meal. Cute mouse. Hope he got out of the tree before the rat came.

[palms]

Originally Posted by Algarve Images

Oh my Flotsam!
Sky news was just mentioning that the earthquake was responsible for inducing the births of a record number of babies in your maternity units..

Anyway - back to the serious business of mouse photography - we seem to be having a minor epidemic of mice and i rescued this one from the jaws of our fluffy carnivore cat Yoda this morning - remembering trees make good backdrops i placed it in our Willow out of harms way and snapped away with the 24-70mm, this one's a rather leaner specimen than 'fatso' the other day and i must say i'm very pleased with the result - just wished it was a chameleon or some other exotic creature lol

Another cutie, much cuter than a chameleon

[Flotsam]

Originally Posted by CJ Swartz

Thought of you and the few other NZer's on here - glad you weren't home in that chair when the quake knocked your bookcase over. I've never been in one - would find it frightening also. Also don't like housework...

Thanks for your thoughts.
We are known as "The Shaky Isles" but this area has never been thought of as an earthquake risk. Lots of damage in Christchurch City where I work and many people will lose their homes. No loss of life though. I'm staying with friends as I still have no power supply.

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by Flotsam

We are known as "The Shaky Isles" but this area has never been thought of as an earthquake risk. Lots of damage in Christchurch City where I work and many people will lose their homes. No loss of life though. I'm staying with friends as I still have no power supply.

I googled "Shaky Isles" and found that you're part of the Ring of Fire - hadn't realized that. Loss of home is huge, even if they're insured. Glad you have friends you can stay with till power is restored. When I was a kid, I looked in an encyclopedia at the main weather or situational threats - earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and was relieved that I lived in Arizona where there was little danger from any of them. Decades, later, I'm still relieved.

[Algarve Images]

Continuing on the mouse/rat theme - 2 more from the same shoot,
Gary..

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by Algarve Images

Continuing on the mouse/rat theme - 2 more from the same shoot,
Gary..

Great focus and fur detail ! I'm with Palms - "much cuter than a chameleon" although chameleons are cute also. My parents never thought the field mice were "cute" when we opened up the "summer cabin", but I thought they were one of the best parts of going to the cabin.

Do you have chameleons running around loose there? We only see them at fairs and zoos.

[Kraellin]

flotsam, what did the quake measure on the richter scale? and why, is richter spelled 'richter' and not 'rikter' when it's pronounced 'rikter'?

i like those, gary

[Flotsam]

Originally Posted by Kraellin

flotsam, what did the quake measure on the richter scale? and why, is richter spelled 'richter' and not 'rikter' when it's pronounced 'rikter'?

i like those, gary

The initial quake was 7.1 I think. We've had over 100 after shocks of varying degrees.
All the info here:
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/...nt_quakes.html

[Kraellin]

wow. a big one then. i've been in a few 4's but never one that big. the really scary part to me is, we take the ground NOT MOVING for granted. thus, when it does start to move....holy crap! that is disconcerting!

took this one the other day. i believe this is a great blue heron. we get a couple fairly regularly on our lake but hadnt ever seen one on the overflow pipe before. they usually just wade around the edge of the lake. and, notice how much of the pipe is sticking out, too. been VERY hot and VERY dry this summer!

oh, and because the temperature is changing now, there is a bit of steam coming off the lake there. also, i had to sharpen this a bit in psp because these birds are extremely skittish of people, so i had to take this at full magnification of the lens, 26x optical... hard to get a totally great focus at that range and hand held.

[bokcheelo]

1st post! =)

had a shoot today for a makeup/skin care company (im not allowed to post up the final ad yet).. went through lightroom for slight WB, sharpening, fill, exposure corrections.. then to photoshop for slight skin fixes (clone, surface blur) made the lips more vibrant

[palms]

Originally Posted by Algarve Images

Continuing on the mouse/rat theme - 2 more from the same shoot,
Gary..

That first one is superb really love it

Palms

[palms]

Originally Posted by bokcheelo

1st post! =)

had a shoot today for a makeup/skin care company (im not allowed to post up the final ad yet).. went through lightroom for slight WB, sharpening, fill, exposure corrections.. then to photoshop for slight skin fixes (clone, surface blur) made the lips more vibrant

Hello and welcome

super work and look forward to seeing more ( when you are allowed of course )

Palms

[Algarve Images]

Nice work Bokcheelo and good 1st post,
Craig i think the origin of Richter is either German or Czech and stems from his mother's side..