Animals
At Least He Cleaned Up His Mess
It’s not every day that an opportunity lands in your front yard and says “photograph me while I rid Old Town Winchester of a black squirrel.” This is what makes me envious of those people who have fields and forests in their back yards. But it was cool and weird when it happened on a main street in town. At least he cleaned up his mess.
Unfortunately I had to shoot these images through double-paned glass so they’re not as sharp as they could be.
Hum
I have a bird goal. Can you guess what it is?
Meanie
We put a birdhouse right outside our kitchen window and it’s been fascinating to watch the action and interactions. Turns out that the woodpecker is a big ole meanie!
I know it may not look like it here, but that woodpecker started it. I saw it.
Wildlife
Enjoying some quality time at the beach. I figured I’d shoot the sunrise a little differently this morning.
It’s been a while since I did a video here so enjoy.
Snow Days
I think more than just the students enjoy a snow day here and there!
Snow day fun at Handley
Revisit
Along with continuing to shoot both photos and videos and teaching a photography course at SU for the Spring semester, I’m going to look back at some of the images I created before I really knew what I was doing. I might revisit the edit or I might just post as-is because I’m satisfied with what I already accomplished. I’ll start with an easy one (best way, right?). I’m pretty happy how this turned out – not just in the design, but because I can now say I shot Africa’s Big 5!
I’m no hunter so my African safari consisted of a 2-week long photo shoot. Our guides were probably more excited than we were that we got to see Africa’s Big 5. | Order a print of this image.
Mothra
Each time we visit my in-laws, there’s some sort of ridiculously huge insect indigenous to Florida waiting for us. Crazy thing is, it usually sticks around the entire time we’re there. This time we named it.
Yep, this is what you get when I accidentally delete my intended one-a-day…
Stink Eye
[stingk ahy] noun
1. a facial expression of distrust, disdain, or disapproval; also called skunk eye, hairy eyeball
Example
“That cow knows I had a burger for dinner. Why else would he be giving me the stink eye?!“
Word Origin – 1962
I stumbled onto this herd of cattle while I was out surveying the Fall foliage. That’s a stink eye if I’ve ever seen one!
Cross Season
Who thought I would ever be looking forward to cross season as much as I am this year? Cyclocross season, that is. I’ve shot cycling now for several years and am always looking for new ways to differentiate myself from other shooters. A definite difference, IMO, is the fact that I shoot both still and video. I’m leaning more toward the still side these days, but I produce both and I have a great time doing it. I certainly created a buzz when I shot an aerial video in Page County earlier this year and plan to do more like it. But what’s crazy to me is that when I look at a new piece of gear these days I find myself thinking “wow, that would be awesome for cross season.” So, I may never race during cross season, but at least I’m out there supporting it. That’s a start, right? Can’t wait to put the new iPhone 6 through it’s paces this Sunday at the annual Winchester Applecross race.
Granted, this is a video of my dog, but think of all the amazing race footage I can get with it!
Rescue
He was a stray with his two brothers. Huh. I always wonder what he was like before we rescued him from the shelter. We got him at six months old (roughly) so he lived on the street before then. Where did he come from? Did someone just let him go? Or worse? I’m glad we found him. He was a guest on the most recent weekly show with Barry Lee – “Talk of the Town.” He was rescued before that show even aired.
Adventure
Problem solved! So there’s a lot of ideas out there to solve the whole squirrel-on-the-bird-feeder issue and apparently the bb/pellet gun is frowned upon. Anyway, my son proposed that we address the tree and not the feeder by wrapping a piece of sheet metal around the tree so the squirrels couldn’t launch themselves. Nice, but we didn’t go that route. And then there’s the Yankee Flipper (Whipper, Flipper and Tipper also available). To costly and is kinda mean. We went with a cleverly designed bird feeder that closes with the weight of a squirrel, but allows the much-lighter birds to feed. And I put the old feeder in a different location for the squirrels. Win-win-win! However, now the squirrels are apparently ticked and have begun chewing through the hanging wire which is simply old landline telephone cable. The adventure continues…
Not sure I’m going to refill the “squirrel feeder” as much. It’s kind of entertaining to watch them try to get the feed from the other one.
Dug
Hey I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says “I forgot to store acorns for winter and now I am dead.” Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead.
– Dug from “Up”
Target Practice
Alright, so the consensus is that it would NOT, in fact, be a good thing to use a pellet/BB gun to shoot the squirrels off the bird feeder in the back yard. I think I’d be a good shot, though, considering I’m a halfway-decent photo shooter. I’m considering this my target practice…
Shark!
Yeah, it wasn’t that impressive, but I wonder if its big brother is still lurking…
In no way did we harm this shark. It had washed up on the shore. Just FYI.
Peacock Road
AKA Valley Mill Road in Winchester. My wife actually drives this road every day and suggested we stop on the way back from a shoot today. Glad we did. Gonna make a point of going back to see if I can get a fully fanned out peacock image. BTW, Have you ever heard a peacock’s call? I thought it was a cat in some major distress. It caught me completely off guard. But now I know. My wife says it sounds like they’re screaming “help!”
One of the many peacocks roaming free just past the one-lane bridge on Valley Mill Road near Winchester. | See a larger version here.
Cardinal
“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”
– Willie Nelson
Jay
I’m kinda getting into this whole bird-watching thing. I get why people do it.
This is really not a great photo. But it’s still fun to get new visitors. Still no squirrels, btw.
Cedarmeade Studios 