My Nikon...Another Milestone!

I did it again.  I rolled over my Nikon D7000 DSLR for the second time.  This year.  Another 10,000 pictures taken.  I've taken over 20,000 pictures.

The 20,000 picture...blooming hybrid tea rose

Our Anemones are still blooming like crazy

I found a bee in our daylily patch

I have a lot more pictures to take this month.  I get to do a photo shoot at a local private school.  They want me to take pictures of individuals as well as group shots.   I am so looking forward to this.

The Eastern Shore...Chincoteague Island

Hubby and I had the opportunity to head to the Eastern Shore for a few days last week.  Before heading to our final beach destination in Maryland, we took a side trip and ended up at Chincoteague Island.  It was kind of weird that we started in Virginia, drove a few hours in Maryland, and then ended up in Virginia again.

We slowly drove around the Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge on the island and parked at their beach.  It was a beautiful day with no humidity and we enjoyed the lovely scenery:

Chincoteague Beach Bunny!

The beach at Chincoteague...peaceful and plenty of room on the beach

Boardwalk through the refuge.  The cloud formation reminds me of eyelashes!

Wanted to stay and watch her paint....

The wild Chincoteague ponies!

More wild ponies!

This was one of those times...I wished I had a bigger zoom lens.  Sigh!

I will be back with more pictures from the Eastern Shore!

Using My 50mm Lens: A Picture for Photo Challenge #3

When I came home from work I noticed a Swallow Tail butterfly was flittering around in our front garden.  I grabbed my camera and whatever lens was attached and ran out the door.  This was one of a dozen pictures I snapped.

Check out the lovely bokeh this lens produces:

50mm, f2.8, 1/500, ISO 100

Here are a few more shots of the Swallow Tail:

50mm, f2.8, 1/800, ISO 100

50mm, f2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100

Up Close and Personal

I am surprised the spider didn't jump onto my lens!  I was that close!

An Unusual Turkey

I came across a most unusual variety of turkey.  Look at the white feathers!

Here's a thirsty chicken:

More Hummingbird Pictures

Being Chased by Bees

Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do...to get a picture or two or three.

Yesterday, I camped out on the front porch enjoying the cool 80 degree (no humidity) weather we were having. I brought my knitting project with me along with bug spray and camera. The essentials. I could hear the birds singing, the hummingbirds chirping, and the bees buzzing all around me. The Swallowtail butterflies fluttering by. A perfect day to be outside!

The hummingbirds were hungry yesterday and camped out a few times in our dogwood tree close to our feeders. A few times, I caught them playing chase from our yard into our neighbor's yard.

Here's the result of my wait:









The honey bees have also found our hummingbird feeders. They share the feeder with the cute hummingbirds. I noticed they were starting to swarm around the corner of the porch where I was perched with my camera. It didn't take me long to figure out that I needed to get my rear in gear. Yeah, some of them started to chase me or so I thought. I could hear the buzzing around my head loud and clear. After waiting a few minutes inside the house, I poked my head out the front door and noticed they were buzzing around my knitting bag. Great! Didn't know that bees liked wool.

I'm wondering...do the bees like the bug spray I was wearing???? Must tell DH to move the feeders away from the porch.

The Wait...

Earlier this evening, my DH mentioned that the hummingbirds were playing near the feeder. I grabbed my camera and headed outside...to wait on the front porch. I waited along with the biting mosquitoes. After a few minutes, I noticed something was fluttering around very quickly. I was able to capture a few shots as the sun was setting:



There were two of them playing around and chasing each other. I was able to capture one of them. Thirsty little buggers, aren't they?



This was worth getting mosquito bitten. Tomorrow, I will be ready along with some sunshine, tripod, and mosquito repellent.

Happy Shooting!