Tiger Tiger

So I went to a private zoo today and they had a white tiger cub on brief display. Here he is with his owner (I blew the focus on the shot of just the cub himself as they passed by) over his shoulder.

Cute little guy, will get much larger very quickly.

Nikon D2x, 80-200mm f/2.8 @2.8, ISO400

Simple Seagull

This is what you get when you nail the focus on the reflex lens. The distracting bokeh is minimized because of the textured sand, and the sky behind the gull is uniform. 

The D2x has a focus confirmation setting when using manual focus lenses and it was spot on here (using a tripod helps as well, as reflex lenses are really susceptible to camera shake because the lens is so light.)

More Horses

Again, not a great shot as the horses were partially obscured by the trees, but it reminds me of the three stooges.

All shots on Wallops Island were taken with the 500mm reflex lens as I wanted to put it through its paces and see just how good it can be. When I nail the focus (and that's darned difficult with a reflex lens) the results are quite good, bokeh notwithstanding.

This is not a great shot

It is, however, a funny one. Even better with the caption:

"Idiots, we all know one."

What is your quote for this image?

Ancient Life

Since it's so rare I see a live horseshoe crab, I wanted to post another shot of one crawling towards the ocean. 

You'll notice the ocean is *behind* him and the direction he is crawling, but that's okay because I turned him in the direction of the ocean and he (it? she? they? I dunno) happily crawling into it.

A Horse of Course

Nestled alongside the NASA flight facility on Wallops Island is a National Wildlife Refuge where wild horses (and/or ponies) roam. I got very lucky on my day trip to see some up close and personal.

Well, as up close as they will get, which was about 200 feet away, but no matter, here you go. The odd looking eye is because the horse has one blue eye (pictured) and one brown eye (other side) and not an artifact of the reflex lens.

The bokeh is odd on a reflex lens because of the way it's made, the light folds back in on itself before hitting the camera's sensor, which gives the out of focus areas their unusual look. It can be very distracting if it's not controlled well, but it's not too distracting here.

Wallops Island Critters

After the Antares rocket launch at M.A.R.S. (Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport) I went wandering around the rest of the area. The beach in particular was especially beautiful with many interesting creatures around, including a still living Horseshoe Crab. I have not seen a live one up close an personal since I was in Denmark as a child.

This was taken with my 500mm reflex lens, on a tripod, from about 10 feet away.

Background Noise

Even with the f/2.8 there was only so much I could do to isolate the busy background. I feel the shot could be better with more light to make the bucking bronco stand out more, but I worked with what I had.

Midair

Naturally, the light fell behind the venue, giving me enough to shoot by to capture action, but not enough to really make the images stand out.

Here is a prime example, cowboy in air, horse going wild. The histogram is as flat as a board even though there was enough light for 1/800sec shutter speed at 400ISO.

Hacker In Training

Meet Argo the Hacker In Training. I was working on a laptop for a friend and Argo came wandering over to see what I was doing.

Actually I suspect he just came over for the sunny spot. Since he was kind enough to sit still, I grabbed my Nikon D2x with my landscape lens still on it (17-35mm) and snapped a few shots. He sat still long enough for this one shot, then moved on.

So, if you get any funny e.mails from me, blame it on Argo!

Album Names

Didn't Styx have an album named "The Grand Illumination"? Never was into Styx so feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Taken with my 17-35mm on my Nikon d2x.

The Grand Illumination

Every year around this time, several buildings in the downtown area set up lighted animals and adorn the local trees with lights as well.

Being an Indian Summer style now (we have 75 degrees) it wasn't such a big deal to walk there after work and see if I could take some better pictures than the ones I took of the area last year.

Sunset was at 4.51pm so you will see different colours here, as the sun went down and the artificial lights came into play.

Look At Me!

My Nikon D2x is not a quiet camera. When it goes "click" you know it, and in more than one instance, the horses seemed to know it as well, as evidenced from pictures like this where they were looking at me.

As cheap as it is to visit the races, as long as you don't place any wagers, I suspect I'll be back a few more times this year. 

Fancy Getup

In the harness races, there were two speeds, trotting and pacing. In an attempt to keep the horses from running amok, they wear, what looks like to me, handcuff harnesses. Not sure why they don't want runaway horses careening their riders into the audience, but for that I have to wait for the normal races in the Spring.

Expressions

I love this shot, the horse on the left is grinning, the rider is terrified ad the guy in the middle looks to be falling off his harness.

The weather was perfect for this, sunny with blue skies and white fluffy clouds.

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

So while Saturday was a wash, Sunday was fun. The local(ish) horse track had a open house day along with a county fair. It was 5 dollars a carload and you could get right down to the track to watch. Not too many people there so I had an unfettered view of the harness races.

Here are some of the fun shots from the day.

Lazy Llama

There was a Scottish Fest yesterday that promised, among other things, 55 exotic animals to see. Yeah, right. They had a pig, some rabbits, a sheep, a donkey, and a very fat llama. Hardly exotic, and hardly 55. The whole fest was gone through in about 5 minutes, and the llama was so lazy, it refused to get up to eat, instead laying down and stretching out for grass nearby.

In any event, here is Mr. Lazy Llama.

Bats In The Attic

I pierce her tender skin
I’m dragging her in sin.
She’s still alive
But she is now in my control
And I know our souls will stay together,
This feeling lives forever
Just like a curse

Three bat pictures, one for each verse of a favourite song of mine, obviously entitled "Bats in the Attic" by Interitus Dei.
Nikon D2x, 800 ISO and my Nifty Fifty opened wide.

Bats In The Attic

Flying so low around me
One hundred eyes glow inside me
Draining my blood
Like the bats in my attic.
Like darkness they show around me
One hundred eyes glow inside me!
Bats in the attic

Bats in the Attic

The flapping of my wings,
Alone in bed she sings.
Like the king of the night
I fly off reality
And I know
Our souls will stay together
This feeling lives forever
Just like a curse