A FEW MORE WITH THE ZOOM LENS

Here are a few more images taken with the 70-300 lens at Buffalo Lake Wildlife Refuge.

A NEW LENS: CANON 70-300mm IS USM

Well, after taking photographs a few days ago of the Discovery shuttle with my wimpy 17-85 lens, I knew I needed a zoom lens. I forked over some money today and got one at Best Buy. I've read reviews on this lens, and they were pretty good. No, it's not L series glass, but I'm not made of money and I'm not a pro. Anyway, I tested it today, and I really like it. I'm going to have fun taking wildlife photos and other distant subjects with this thing. Now, to a few photos:

FIRST MAJOR COLD FRONT

Well, one day before the official start to fall, a major cold front came in. Temps dropped about 18 degrees in about 30 minutes! Winds gusted as high as 40-45 mph with this cold front and clouds blew in pretty quick on the backside of the front. I guess this is an open invitation for fall to come on in. Goodbye summer! I'm ready for the fall season.


Old Glory starched due to the gusty winds associated with the cold front. Also, note the cloudiness to the west and northwest. It was actually pretty chilly when I took this photograph.

DISCOVERY 747 FERRY FLIGHT

The Discovery ferry flight made a stop in Amarillo today. It's headed to Florida, but it's making a few stops in between. I have to give great thanks to my friend Robert Ruley for giving me the heads up on this. Myself and Steve Miller (TX) made the trip to see it. Also, I have to give thanks to Steve Miller for pulling some strings and getting me close to see it come in and land. Here are some pics that I took.

Close up shot of the shuttle

747 Ferry and Discovery sitting on the tarmac

747 Ferry and Discovery getting ready to take off

Another shot of the aircraft getting ready to take off

The Pathfinder taking off. This aircraft takes off first to analyze wind shear and other details.

Security and police officers were everywhere.

And she takes off!

OUTING AT WILDCAT BLUFF

Took a little time today to hike around and take a few photos at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center. Hope you like them.

A FEW MORE "PAINTING WITH LIGHT" IMAGES

Here are a few more photographs that I did tonight. This is becoming quite fun because I have no idea what the image will look like until I see it in the viewfinder. ENJOY...

I GOT BORED, SO WHAT DID I DO?...

I did a little painting with light. These images were done with a flashlight that had a red, green and the normal white light function on it. I was reading some photography websites tonight and got a little inspiration from an article that dealt with long exposures and abstract photography. Most of these images were done at f11 with about a 15-25 second exposure.