I took this image after a rain the other day. This little fellow was stopping for a quick breather on his way through the yard with ten or fifteen friends. I believe it is a female Rose Breasted Grosbeak, but if I am wrong and find the correct identification I will put a footnote on the post later. The brick/ sky contrast works well with the black foreground.
I really have come to like shooting in black & white on rainy, or really overcast days. the wet brings out contours and aspects of things that just aren't around on sunny days. The added plus is that a grey day lends to noon time and afternoon pictures instead of waiting or rushing for sunrise/ sunset light.
This little plant is the most stubborn beast I have ever come across. I know I have ripped it out of the ground at least twice. But, year after year it returns in exactly the same spot. I guess I have come to gain a certain respect for its tenacity and will let it live out it's life in style as long as it doesn't get big enough to overrun the patio stones at the bottom of the stairs.
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I've gotten in the habit of setting up the camera for the conditions outside on my front stoop, so that if I see something on the dog walk, it just takes 10 seconds to pull the camera from the bag and click it on.
I love interesting cloud formations. After my Black Lab passed away in 2006, I spent a great deal of time in the back yard with our remaining dog, Murray. I would sit and get shots of cloud formations while he ran laps and patrolled his territory. After his exercise he would sit and watch the clouds too. Here is a picture of him scouting the horizon taken with the Kodak.
Murray passed in 2009, and the backyard at my current apartment doesn't have a real sky view, except straight up. So when I see some clouds that Murr and I would have found interesting I like to take a shot for him. This was a dog walk quick pic that I couldn't resist taking.
This guy and others like him are really starting to annoy me. They have torn up my flower boxes, chewed through the lid of my garbage bin, and ripped up my lawn. The roof of my neighbors garage overlooks my yard. They like to toss all their bread scraps out on the roof for the birds. What ends up happening is two or three of the bravest squirrels make their way up my tree and onto the roof and then shoot the pieces of bread down onto the lawn. Doesn't take long for them to make a mess. Here are a couple of shots of a repeat offender on the fire escape.
Once he was onto me he dropped his bread into a half full wading pool underneath the stairs and it became my fault that he lost his breakfast. The sweet cuddly Bambi gang member facade crumbled and out comes Mr. Rabid Tree Rat.
This another shot from the storm on Monday. I did some editing on this one to give it some feel. I love the glow from the clear spot around the Auditorium. And the clouds are pretty ominous.
I like going for walks and doing some street shots. You can think stuff through while strolling and get some OK pictures depending on the light and time of day. This guy is lit up most of the day with good light, so he is always a tempting subject.
Sometimes you grab your camera and fix the settings real quick because you want to document something that is going on. Today we got some crazy, crazy, crazy thunder and lightning with heavy winds and rain. Lots of rain. I went out on the front veranda to get a couple of shots of how deep the water is in front of my place when it rains like that. The best way to do that was showing cars plowing through said water. The shots aren't great, but I have proof that the city's drain obviously isn't working there.
