Alright, while not technically in my backyard, it was close enough... we came across this girl at the park that we take the dogs to for their daily walk. After we finished our walk, I went home and grabbed the camera and managed to get a few shots and couple minutes of video before it started raining...

Stills will be coming soon after I have a chance to process the rest of them.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Bill

Well, our little screech owl has been coming and going with somewhat regularity (some days he stays with us, and other days he does not). This evening, I decided to try and get some more photos and perhaps some video...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at approx 300mm, 1/30 sec at f/5.6. OS Mode Off. ISO 12800.

Because it was getting dark, I had to bump up the ISO which makes the video a bit noisy, but it is still a fun little video.

- Bill

Ok - let me preface today's post with a warning... Don't this this on your own. Sharks are definitely still wild animals, and while nurse sharks seem docile, they are responsible for many diver accidents every year - mainly because dives pester them and do not respect their space. These nurse sharks had been swimming near us for several days, and we were able to observe their behavior and had several members of our group who have experience working with the sharks. We let the sharks come and go as they pleased and never prevented them from doing what they wanted to do. We just gave them light scratches and petting, never grabbing a hold of the shark or touching near their face/mouth. Again - do not try this on your own.

This was a pretty awesome experience. These sharks were fairly small - in the range of 3 - 4 feet. Though we did have larger ones swimming in, they didn't really have any interest in being petted - they were hunting.

The little one really liked my camera and kept swimming closer and closer, I got a couple shots of her so close that her face in underneath the lens! But I did get one shot that I absolutely love and I'll share that tomorrow.

- Bill

What up, fishes?

Ok! We're home from yet another fantastic scuba trip. This was quite the trip - lots of sharks, coral fluorescence, macro and wide-angle photography, our 100th dives, and.... video!

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II. Ikelite Housing and Port with dual Ikelite 161 Strobes in Video Light mode.

It is going to take me a little while to get through all the photos, so I figured I'd share a video to start things off. This friendly little (about 4 foot) nurse shark is lovingly named Abigale or Abby by the crew of our boat - the Turks and Caicos Explorer II. She visited us on many dives towards the end of the week while we were in French Cay, so I took this opportunity to follow her for a short swim.

Stay tuned as I have tons of photos and more videos to share!

- Bill

Sorry, I still don't have any timelapse photography of my own, but I just couldn't pass up on sharing this one...

As I've mentioned before, I check the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) daily and very much enjoy the night photography.

Aurora Borealis timelapse HD - Tromsø 2010 from Tor Even Mathisen on Vimeo.

I'm really hoping to be able to buy the necessary pieces to take my EOS 7D on our upcoming diving trip to Indonesia, and if I do, I fully intend on trying to get some timelapse astro-photography there. Though I know I won't get any Aurora australis there, so that will still be on my list.

- Bill

"That was a-MAZ-ing!" - Nick Frost, Hot Fuzz.

First, if you have never seen Hot Fuzz, do yourself a favor and go watch it. Then you'll understand where the quote above comes from, and you'll be able to use it after watching the clip below.

Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom Lowe @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

That clip comes from Timescapes.org which is apparently the site for an upcoming feature film that appears to be chock full of incredible time-lapse photography.

Time-lapse photography has always been something I've been very interested in but never tried. I do have a Satechi Timer Remote Control for my Canon 7D, so I have the means - I just need to actually try it out.

I was also extremely impressed with the time-lapse photography done in the BBC Series - Life (which is another place I like to get photography inspiration).

Enjoy the video, I am sure it will be a while before I have some time-lapse of my own to share, but for now that stuff is incredibly amazing, and despite really wanting to go on a dive trip, I wouldn't mind the chance to spend a night or two out in the south-west.

- Bill

Here's the second video from our kayaking trip to Moraine.

This video is a bit rougher - I think the camera housing fogged up a bit with the quick temperature change, and repeated dramatic shifts in lighting causing the white balance to get a little confused.

Enjoy.

- Bill

So remember when I mentioned that Anya and I recently bought kayaks.

This past Friday, Anya and I took a half day from work, and headed up to Moraine State Park and spent about four and a half hours on the water just cruising around, bird watching, and getting some exercise.

Eventually, while exploring one of the many fingers along the perimeter of the lake, we found this very interesting area. The entrance to it was a ravine walled on either side by sheer rock cliffs about twenty feet high. There were dead trees strewn about, and almost had an eerie feeling to it. Even the air was cooler - probably a good ten degrees cooler than out on the main part of the lake. After a bit, it came to a wooden bridge that allowed a walking trail above to cross the water - Anya and I decided to push on and glided under the bridge.

On the other side, the scenery changed again, this time to a meandering wetland that snaked along. I honestly felt like we were transported back in time. The banks were over-grown with large ferns, and I seriously expected to come around a bend in the stream to find a dinosaur munching on some of the tall grasses.

Well, something I haven't mentioned yet is that we also bought an underwater camera (I'll get more into details at a later date). So with that safely encased in its diving enclosure, and mounted to the front of my kayak using my Joby Gorillapod, I decided that it might be fun to take some videos on our way back out. So enough blabbering... enjoy. Oh - don't worry about audio, It isn't all that useful but I couldn't figure out how to mute it.

This is basically my first attempt at taking videos (and with uploading to YouTube), so there's obviously stuff to learn there, but for a first try, I think these came out pretty well.

What do you think? Tune in tomorrow when I'll be sharing the second video (which is the first section as we headed in from the main section of the lake).

- Bill