Birds in Flight

I went out earlier this week to take some pictures after being inspired Scott Bourne's post Five Things You Can Do To Improve Your Photography In A Week. Specifically, tip number 3, photographing birds. I thought, you know, I can do this during lunch. The lake is a few miles from the office. Typically there are gulls flying around. I should be able to get SOMETHING.

So I went and had my 55-200mm lens on and was ready to go. Well, the gulls had another idea. Anywhere I was, they weren't. Until I started to leave. Honestly, I think they were messing with me. I'd sit quite and still for a while and wait (10-15 minutes. Yes I know this isn't a HUGE amount of time. However, it was my lunch break, so time was limited). No birds. So I'd start walking back towards the parking lot. As soon as I'd do that, the gulls would fly low and close to the shoreline, fully knowing that they didn't have a camera pointed at them.  Well, finally, I was able to get a few pics, though not as close as I'd like. I must say though, that this was really good practice for trying to aim, focus and shoot a fast moving target. Some of these came out better than others, but I think overall they weren't too bad.

I found that I needed to get a preliminary focus somewhat near where the birds were before I was able to get a better focus lock in a reasonable time. Some of this may be due to the camera and lens (I have a Nikon D3000 and was using the Nikon 55-200mm lens) so they are not the fastest, but they do the job. Next time I go, I want to also work on getting the exposure a bit better. I may stop it down a notch, as I think some of the bird is a little over exposed.

Below are a few shots I got. What do you think?

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The Lonely Boat

I took a little walk today during lunch, not too far from the office. This picture was taken at Lake Crabtree County Park in Raleigh, NC. During the spring and summer, they have boat rentals available. Usually there are many boats on the beach and at the docks. Today, that wasn't the case. The only boat on the lake today was this one lonely boat.

Thanks for visiting!

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What are these?

I thought it was time to share a few pictures that I took a little while back. One of the photography techniques I enjoy doing is macro photography. I think these would also fit in the category of abstract, as they are more about the shapes and forms than what the actual object is.

One of these pictures was taken during a walk at Umstead Park, the other was taken at a local park. Let me know what you think.