And finally an assortment of other shots from the aquarium...

The only problem with our visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium... I was on the wrong side of the glass all day long.

- Bill

The aquarium had a very nice jellyfish exhibit...

Still more to come...

- Bill

OK - I need a break from those mega-assortment posts, and this photo is my hands-down favorite from the aquarium, so it fully deserves to be shared on its own...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 52mm, 1/60 sec at f/5.6. ISO 6400. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw, and additional adjustments in Photoshop CS5.

This little pygmy cuttlefish sure put on quite the display for us. I'm not quite sure what caught his attention, but he was in full show.

Due to the low lighting, the shot required a fairly wide aperture (best this lens can do at that focal length) and a high ISO, so there was quite a bit of noise reduction done to make the image presentable. Unfortunately, as I'm learning, this causes the image to lose some sharpness, so I had to run a thin line between removing the noise and keeping the image from getting too soft.

All in all (especially considering I haven't delved into this too much) I'm pretty happy with the results. Now if only I could get to see something like that on a dive!

- Bill

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/20 sec at f/5. Image Stabilization on. ISO 800. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw. Toronto Zoo, Toronto, ON.

- Bill

Alright - I know that post title is a bit much... First off, I'm not sure if sesquicentennial is the proper word since it seems to apply to anniversary which would imply years, but I think the definition of anniversary gets stretched to mean more than simply just years. And then there's blogiversary... I generally don't like to use the term blog, but I'm sure that's how many people would refer to what I have here.

Any way you want to look at it, this post marks both my 150th post to the site as well as one year since I started the site. I managed to run past my 100th post without any fanfare, so when I noticed that I was closing in on 150 for my one year anniversary since starting the site, I figured I might as well make the most of the convergence.

Technical Data:Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 55mm, 1/50th sec at f/5.6. ISO 400. No post production. Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, GA.

Why This Photo: I've always liked this photo. It was taken back in 2007 during our first trip to the Georgia Aquarium. This was right before we bought the pet store we owned for a couple years, and was well before I really started learning more about actual photography. So while this might not be the most technically correct photograph (heck - I was almost certainly in Auto or one of the program modes), I think it shows a bit of a creative sense to my photography.

I selected this photo as a nice simple photo to mark this occasion. I've long since thought about printing this photo as well as a mirror flipped version of it to use a set of photos on either side of a room feature - I think it would look very nice on either side of a nice wall mounted TV, or bordering a mirror. Perhaps someday I will finally decide I want to start selling prints, and I thought that would make a nice set.

What Works: I like the simplicity of this shot and the strong color with the silhouette. The delicate features of the jellyfish are maintained nicely in the silhouette. I like the fact that the jellyfish is intentionally split in half by the edge of the frame - I can't explain exactly, why... I just do.

What Doesn't Work: The photo doesn't necessarily have the best sense of balance, but possibly some cropping could solve that before printing? For some purposes, the photo might be considered flat, boring, and uninteresting (but I obviously disagree).

So what do you think? Drop me a comment and let me know. I'll also take pre-orders for the print set of this photo... ;)

I want to thank you for visiting today. So far, it has been a fun ride, and I feel I've learned a lot over the past year. Hopefully, I've passed along something new to you as well. I really appreciate having readers and commenters on the site - it really makes the whole project worth so much more to me.

Here's to another year and another 150 posts... (and many more after that!)

- Bill

We got some news this week - I can't really say if it is good news or bad news or maybe even false alarm news. Basically, we were told that it looked like our Wakatobi trip might have just disintegrated. At first, you might think that is terrible news, but not necessarily.

I also received my copy of Scuba Diving magazine, and it had an article about locations for good whale shark diving.

Sorry - again, I'm using a photo that was not taken while diving, but rather from the dry side of an aquarium. This particular one is from the Geogia Aquarium where Anya and I have indeed dived.

So this got me thinking - I'd really love to see a whale shark in the wild. Fortunately, the article pointed out a place where whale shark diving is good in the January/February time frame - Mozambique. And some quick searching came up with some packages with Scuba Mozambique that look absolutely awesome.

The one package includes plenty of diving, but also a visit to Kruger National Park - which for someone like me who loves wildlife photography would be a vacation combination of lifetime!

So what seemed like bad new might end being transformed into good news. Then again, we went out to dinner with our dive instructor and learned that the Indonesia trip might re-materialize, which means it might be false alarm news. So we're just taking it in stride and know that one way or another we'll get to go on an incredible dive trip.

In the meantime, I'm taking the opportunity to browse through these old aquarium photos...

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 37mm, 1/30 sec at f/5, ISO 400. No post production. Geogia Aquarium, Atlanta, GA.

What Works: The vertical format works perfect here with this orientation of the whale shark, and the diagonal placement is very pleasing. The shark's head rests right on one of those hot-spots where the thirds rest in the shot, and the shape of the shark easily draws your eye along its body to its head. And though the shark's belly is pretty well featureless, this shot from below does place the shark in a position where you would encounter it in the wild as they are surface-swimming filter feeders, and so the placement of the shark in the upper two-thirds of the shot works nicely.

What Doesn't Work: The focus is a tad soft, which isn't exactly surprising with a constantly moving subject in dim lighting through water and acrylic.

That desire to go diving just keeps increasing every minute!

- Bill

No - sorry, today's shot was not taken during a dive trip. I sure wish I could come back with something this nice from a dive, but as you can see to the right, my most recent encounter got a little too close...

This particular green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) makes its home at one of the North Carolina Aquariums. Which means that this shot was taken through several inches of acrylic - which is always a challenge.

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 37mm, 1/60 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400. No post production. North Carolina Aquariums, Manteo, NC.

Why This Photo: I have always liked aquariums, and sea turtles are favorites of mine, need I say more?

What Works: The close-up of this turtles face is very pleasant with the eye of the turtle resting right on the intersection of one of the thirds, with the rest of the turtle taking up the remaining thirds. The colors are vibrant and true to life, while I managed to reduce reflections in the acrylic (though there are still a few) and the blurred background eliminates distractions.

What Doesn't Work: The focus is just a tad soft, and it might have been nice to get some sort of catchlight in the eye of the turtle. And the flipper in the background is a minorly distracting convergence (though not terrible) - perhaps a slightly different angle could have resolved that.

I do have to be honest and say that this photo was taken way back when I had no clue what I was doing (so to speak). I was using pre-programmed modes, and hadn't learned much in the way of technical or artistic ways to take photos. So this was just a combination of luck and the experience I had learned from photo books.

Either way - it is still a very nice shot that has earned a place on our wall and is one of my favorite photos. I often wonder if I could duplicate or improve upon it now with the experience I have gained - hopefully someday I will be able to find out.

- Bill

So today's shot is a different perspective.

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/25 sec at f/3.5. ISO 400. No post production.

What Works: I really like the composition of this shot. It is a different view from most frog photos. Also, the background with the green gradient to black is very pleasing (much more so than the blue to purple that yesterday's shot has).

What Doesn't Work: The focus is a bit off, and the catch-light again is a bit annoying with how obvious it is about it being the fluorescent lights from the tank. And also like yesterday's photo, the depth of field could have been a bit deeper to get more of the frog in focus. Perhaps I should have focused on the foot and those cool sticky finger pads instead?

- Bill

So I don't know if I've mentioned it here before or not, but for a couple years, I owned my own pet store. I previously had been an avid aquarium hobbyist, keeping multiple fish tanks and terrariums with different species of lizards, newts, and my particular favorite - frogs. While owning the store, I had access to a lot more species of frogs, and I managed to secure some Vietnamese Mossy Frogs (Theloderma corticale).

Unfortunately, I've recently lost one of these frogs. After growing the frogs out from very young froglets (yes, that's a term!), I figured out I only had males. Each night, they call and call to no avail. And every once in a while, they decide to try mating anyway, and quite often result in drowning one of the frogs. It really is extremely unfortunate, and I wish I could get my hands on some female frogs, but after discussing it repeatedly with probably the top breeder - Patrick Nabors - it seems captive breeding produces more males than females, and thus females are pretty hard to come by.

Anyway - they're quite good photo subjects:

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/20 sec at f/3.5. ISO 400. No post production.

Why This Photo: I don't remember exactly why I took this photo, I was either messing around with the macro lens, or just taking photos for the sake of taking photos.

What Works: The focus is tack sharp right on the frog's eyes - revealing a good look at the beautiful irises. It also does a good job of capturing the texture of the skin on these masters of camouflage.

What Doesn't Work: The depth of field is a bit too shallow. The fact that the background is blurred is nice, but it probably would be better if the nose of the frog was in focus as well. The catch-light in the eyes of the frog are nice, but the fact that you can plainly see that they are two fluorescent lights is kind of distracting.

What do you think? These are cool frogs, and recently, I purchased another photo book to add to my collection. This one is called Frogs: And Other Amphibians (though I got mine much cheaper at Half Price Books) by Paul Starosta (apparently his whole site is in French, so good luck).

The new book has me thinking about getting more frogs, but for now, I figured I'd share some photos of the ones I have.

- Bill

PS: I made another kayaking video this weekend too. Enjoy...

This photo recently received honorable mention in one of the Photographic Section's digital competition and qualified for year-end judging.

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/2 sec at f/3.5. ISO 400. Sharpened in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Columbus, OH.

Why This Photo: I've always liked emerald boas and other arboreal snakes. The posture of these snakes as they bask on their coils on three branches is always interesting to me. Finally, I intentially focused on the heat sensory pits instead of on the eyes for a different look at things.

What Works: The sharp focus on the heat pits gives a new look at things, and the softened eyes still keep your attention. The catch-lights on the eyes and scales are a nice touch too.

What Doesn't Work: The section of the body in the bottom right that is out of focus is somewhat distracting, but the framing of the shot prevents it from being cropped out. Also, there appears to be a tiny bit of a double image on the eye - probably from the long exposure.

What do you think? Leave me a comment and let me know...

- Bill

PS: I continue to slowly make progress on those site improvements I talked about. Hopefully I'll have something to demo soon.