Everyday nature amazes me.  I drove through Glendale Cemetery to see if I could spot some birds.  I drove down by the lake and I was greeted by Canada Geese and Mallards.  I know they get handed food by a lot of people but I have never had waterfowl follow my car before.  I had to take the opportunity to take pictures of them. It was so wonderful that they let me get so close.

Saturday morning I went to Saylorville Lake to photograph Canada Geese near the spillway.  When I got there,  the river was full of geese.  I estimated the total to be around 2000.  It was very cold and I did not want to spend to much time out there, for fear of damaging my camera, so I waited in the car for groups of the geese to take flight.  I did not have to wait long.  I was able to get a photo that I am really proud of and I am using it as my wallpaper on my computer right now.

Click image to enlarge.

This weekend was a wonderful experience and a real eye opener with my photography. On Saturday I spent most of the day photographing birds in the area. I was at Dale Maffitt Reservoir and Park for about 2 hours. There were around 3000 Canada Geese, 50 Trumpeter Swan, and a large number of Common Goldeneye and Mallards. I set my camera on manual and started taking photos. I wanted to get photos of the Swans in flight so I waited, and I waited, and I waited. Finally they started to leave in pairs. The good thing about Swans is that it takes them a long time to get in the air so it gave me time to get in position to get good photos. I changed the settings on the camera for every group that took off to see how it changed the picture. I was very pleased with the results. Below are some of the photos I manage to get of the Swans in flight.

I am beginning to feel a little limited with my current gear.  I know I have not used them to their full potential but I feel like I could get much sharper pictures with better lenses. I also need to buy a bigger memory card because I filled up my 16GB in no time.

Click the images to enlarge.

Over the weekend I participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count.  It is a worldwide effort by avid birders to count as many birds as possible.  I enjoyed every minute of it.  I also took the opportunity to experiment with my photography.  Most DSLRs have automatic shooting modes. These modes give most of the control to the camera.  I decided to shot entirely in manual mode.  The results speak for themselves.

Click the images to enlarge.

White-breasted Nuthatch

House Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

They say life is a journey.  We travel down a road, making choices on which way to go and the choices we make determine the course of our life.  Throughout my life I have had a fascination with photography but never really pursued it.  Last September I purchased my first digital SLR camera.  As I began to take picture and look at what I had captured thought the lens, I was struck by how much pleasure I got out of the experience. I spent hours learning all I could about the camera I own. This camera allows me to be creative in a way I never thought I could be.  Every time I pick up my camera I wonder what incredible image I will capture through the lens.

Through this blog I hope to better understand my experiences I have with this new passion of mine.  My hope is that I can learn to take better photos and in turn pass on my knowledge to anyone who wants to learn.

Let the fun begin!