outdoor photography

Zebra Swallowtail Yesterday I went with a friend to Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge--an Island just north of the Bay Bridge in Chesapeake Bay.  We went to find bird species, and we found many, but we were more surprised and delighted by all the butterflies, moths and other insects we saw on the refuge. Zebra Swallowtail Hummingbird Moth Silver Spotted Skipper Wasp That's not to say that we didn't see some fine birds as well.  In particular, I enjoyed photographing the Least Terns that were on the island. Least Tern Least Tern Other highlights were seeing many Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings and Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers. Blue Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Canon EOS 40D Today I would like to pay tribute to a wonderful camera--my Canon EOS 40D.  It's been good to me for 4 years, and I've taken in the neighborhood of 200,000 photographs with this camera.  It's been my trusted companion, whether photographing nature, birds, wildlife, or my kids' birthday parties. But sadly, on June 21, 2012, the mirror mechanism failed, so it no longer moves to expose the shutter when I take a picture. There was a green screen set up in the studio of my office this morning, so I decided to take a studio portrait. Perhaps one day I'll have some fun and put interesting photographs behind the camera in this shot. Here are a couple photographs from the last day I took pictures with this camera. Zebra Longwing Silver Spotted Skipper I thought it may also be good to take this moment to share a little bit about how a camera "ages." We're familiar with how cars age more by miles than by years. Cameras age more by ...