Time Out at the Beach!

Hubby and I took a break this past weekend.  We packed up the truck and headed to the Eastern shores of Maryland.  When we arrived on Thursday the air temperature was in the 70s.  The sun was hiding behind the rain clouds and it made for a chilly day.  Still...it beats a 100+ degree humidity and heat wave we experienced only a week ago.

Apparently, others thought it would be a great weekend to head to the beach.  Here's a picture from Friday afternoon taken from the pier near the beginning of the boardwalk/beach area:

This next picture was taken early Sunday morning before the clouds rolled in.  This was taken further north near 80th Street.  It was a calm and peaceful stroll along the beach.

Couldn't ask for better beach weather.  More pictures to come....

Outside with My Full Frame Camera

Early this week, I jumped at the chance to take a quick field trip to test out my new camera in bright daylight.  I headed over to a local nursery as they have more interesting and colorful props to help with my test.  

Colorful gourds

Reminders of Fall:  mums, gourds and pumkins

Mums on a bench

A small fountain in the garden

Colorful pansies

Wood carving

Orchids with watercolor-like background

Striking flowers

At first, I wasn't sure how my D600 would handle the daylight.  Compared to my D7000 which has the tendency to overexpose in bright sunlight, my D600 handled it well.  I left my exposure compensation at 0.0. 

All pictures taken with 85mm f1.8 lens and in Aperture mode.  

Edge of Town...Anchorage

In my previous posts, I have headed either south or slightly northeast of Anchorage to take pictures.  Early this evening I headed west along Northern Lights Boulevard.  I stopped at Earthquake park: 

Earthquake Park along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

I headed east on the Tony Knowles coastal trail.  I saw a few joggers and folks on bikes heading in that direction.  So, I followed on foot.  About 1/2 mile into my walk, I found a clearing and a great photo opportunity. 

Downtown Anchorage with Chugach mountains in the background

Pt Woronzof

Chugach mountains

I've managed to take ~500 pictures on this wonderful trip.  It was an awesome experience!

Another Day in Alaska

I headed out to the Arctic Valley, northeast of Anchorage, as the clouds were coming in and the sun was going down.  As I drove up the mountain, I captured these shots: 

Here at the top, I found the Arctic Valley Ski Lodge...closed until the beginning of November:

Taking My Breath Away...Alaska

I'm in Alaska taking lots of pictures when I can.  I have my D7000 and 18-200mm lens with me.  Today was the first time I saw the sun come out (after 1-1/2 days of rain and thick clouds) and I took a drive on Seward Highway heading south.

I didn't get very far as I kept stopping at every parking area along the way.  I stopped at the entrance to the Turnagain Arm hiking trail and saw this beautiful surprise: 

 

As I was watching the sun starting to set further in the sky, I decided to head back and stop at Potter Marsh (bird sanctuary) for some picture opportunities.  There were plenty.  The white snow capped Chugach mountains are majestic.  The scenery just took my breath my away:

Boardwalk along the marsh

Beautiful!

About Potter Marsh

About the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge

Sunshine!

Early this afternoon, the dark gray clouds parted and the sun decided to come out.  It seemed like for days  we were living in cycles of of drenching rain, thunder, and dark gray skies.  You couldn't even see a break in the clouds.  I can't remember the last time I saw the blue sky.  It's been a bit depressing around my neck of the woods.  Today, the county schools were closed due to flooded roads.  A rare event especially when school started on Tuesday.  

There have been pictures of the area where water was everywhere.  A picture that caught my eye was a parking lot flooded with water.  Some cars were under water...I could see only the flat roofs of the cars.

The last remnants of tropical storm Lee had vanished.  Now, we have this:

26mm, f11, 1/500, ISO 100

The 12+ inches of rain was much needed here.  It feels good to be outdoors and in the sunshine.  It feels good to get some vitamin D.

Blueberry

That's the color I see when I look at my hubby's truck.  After taking several shots at different angles, I saw variations of the blueberry color.  Is that possible?  Yes, of course!  I tend to see different shades/hues within a single color.

200mm, f3.5, 1/125, ISO 110

Speaking of blueberries, that's what I currently have in my oatmeal for breakfast.

The Sky...Remnants of Irene

Last night and into the early morning, the wind and rain pelted against the house.  Every now and then I would wake up for a few seconds and then fall back asleep.  We were fortunate that Hurricane Irene gave us a good dousing of the much needed rain.

This morning, I looked up into the sky and saw some beautiful cloud formations.  They were low clouds that were still swirling in a counter-clockwise rotation.  Remnants of Irene.  It was 9am when I took these pictures and the wind was still blowing a nice cool breeze around me.

32mm, f16, 1/640, ISO 100

29mm, f18, 1/800, ISO 100

27mm, f18, 1/800, ISO 100

The sun is out and warming up a new day.

Bees a Buzzin'

I was looking for an opportunity to take some pictures and I stumbled upon these bees out in our garden.  Though not as hard as taking pictures of hummingbirds, bees still are a challenge.  They like to move around and fast.  Just when I think I've got the perfect picture, they move on to another flower.  A challenging task is trying to take picture while they are in flight.

200mm, f5.6, 1/1000 ISO 100

200mm, f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 100

200mm, f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 100

200mm, f5.6, 1/800, ISO 100

200mm, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 100

200, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 100

The phlox and daylilies are the last reminders that summer is coming to a close and the next season is right around the corner.

Who Did I See?

Over three of the four days during the commemoration, I kept going back to the Manassas Museum camp site.  It just seemed really interesting there.  A comfortable place to visit.  

Here are a few that I found:

Maj Charles Pickett

General Grant

Abe Lincoln

Root Beer Anyone?

Before I left Camp Manassas, I decided to stop at this refreshment stand.

Very colorful stand

One of the signage at the stand

There were several kegs holding homemade cold refreshments.  Immediately, I was drawn to the bottles:

Keg of wonderful refreshment

You pick the bottle and then your pick your refreshment (root beer, cherry fizz, or lemonade):

Cool looking bottles and great colors!

I took home a blue bottle filled with some fantastic root beer for my hubby.