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.

My Favorite Backpack

It's only fitting that I'm a bag collector. Afterall, I'm a female. I have a tendency to look at function first and then cuteness. Sometimes, it's the other way around. Sometimes, a bag will not work for me at all. Usually, I can tell at first glance or within 5 minutes of wearing. Since I'm petite, I prefer to use small bags. There are times, I have to go bigger. That's when functionality is key. Color plays a role as well. My preference is black. A lot of you know that black makes things look smaller. It's true. Also, black doesn't stand out like bright/bold colors do.

I finally found the right camera backpack for traveling and for local trips. I stumbled upon it while at my local camera shop. There is a reason to go to a store and "try before you buy". It's the Tamrac Evolution 6. Perfect size and perfect for my smaller DSLR camera, like the Nikon D5000 with the 18-200mm lens and some accessories.

This backpack comes in two colors. Black and brown. If I could afford it, I would have bought both colors. That's how good the brown version looked.

While in the shop, the salesperson proceeded to pull out all the velcro sections from inside the bag. I was a bit miffed as I wanted to keep the default configuration/sections in place. As it turned out, I uncovered that going with the default configuration prevents one from looking outside the box. The velcro is STRONG in this bag. Rip, rip, rip and more ripping...as the salesperson was trying to show me different ways to configure the bag. You could rip out all the velcro pieces and come up with an empty backpack shell. That was pretty cool to see.


Here's my review of my favorite backpack (pictures taken without flash):

There are a lot of zippered pockets/areas of this backpack. The front contains a buckled strap in the mid-section along with a small pocket at the bottom. This is where a tripod can be attached





Here the backpack straps are configured to be worn as a real backpack. Notice that I folded and tucked in the long straps into the elastic straps.





It comes with waist straps that can be buckled in the front for added balance. If you prefer not to use, you can tuck them away in this built-in pocket.





This backpack can be worn also as a sling bag. Here, you can see where I've crossed over one strap and partially tucked in the unused strap into the built-in pocket. Cool, huh?





Here is the right side of the backpack with the closed pockets





Here is the right side opened. The top pocket can hold small accessories. The bottom zipper area is where the camera is placed.




Here is the left side with the pockets closed.



The top pocket contains the rain cover that can be pulled out and cover the whole backpack. I've used this type of cover on another Tamrac bag and it really works! The bottom section contains an opening where you can store camera accessories (e.g. flash, blower, etc). I can fit my SB-600 flash and diffuser in here.




In this top zippered area, I have my 35mm, a case for my AA batteries, my spare Nikon batteries and pens.




One can also carry extra small lens, P&S camera, and even an small flash can fit inside here or a lightweight jacket can be folded and tucked into this pocket.



The lower front zippered area gives access to the main camera compartment. The velcro strap keeps the camera in place when this compartment is zipped open. There is also a zippered compartment in the flap to hold additional accessories.




Here is the bottom of the bag. Appears that you can hook or attach some straps to carry other things that you may need.




Overall, this is a very functional bag for me. When I place my D5000 w/18-200mm lens, extra 35mm lens, SB600 flash, diffuser, S90 P&S, spare batteries, air blower, extra SD cards, business cards, pens, etc...the total weight of the bag comes to 8 lbs. It's a comfortable bag to wear as a backpack and I do not notice the weight.

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!

A Trip to Chicago and The Global Leadership Summit

Last week, my hubby and I headed to Chicago for The Global Leadership Summit at Willow Creek. We attended the Summit last year and enjoyed it immensely. We knew we were in for a treat this year. We heard from Bill Hybels, Jim Collins, Christine Caine, Tony Dungy, Adam Hamilton, Dr Peter Zhao Xiao, Andy Stanley, Jeff Manion, Terri Kelly, Daniel Pink, Blake Mycoskie, Jack Welch, and TD Jakes. It was an awesome experience to hear from both Christian and Business leaders.


Opening the sessions with Nancy (S90)

There were over 7000 attendees (S90)


Bill Hybels (D5000)


Blake Mycoskie, owner of TOMS Shoes (D5000)


After the conference was over, we headed to downtown Chicago to do some exploring.


Downtown Chicago Riverfront - taken from car (D5000 w/18-200mm lens set to Active mode)


Downtown Chicago - taken from the car (D5000 w/18-200mm lens set to Active mode


On the Lake (D5000)


A feathered friend on the Lake (D5000)



We ate some wonderful food at Bahama Breeze (Schaumburg) and the Lucky Monk (Hoffman Estates):


Margherita pizza @ Lucky Monk (S90)


Portabello mushroom sandwich with Cuban bread @ Bahama Breeze (S90)


Tilapia with mango sauce @ Bahama Breeze (S90)

We had a wonderful time in Chicago and looking forward to another visit soon.

Note: All pictures were taken without flash.

Busy Photog Week

Last week was a busy week for me. Photography-wise. From Monday through Friday, in the evenings, I headed over to my church to take pictures of our VBS (Vacation Bible School) activities.

Monday started out hot and humid and we had to deal with the rain towards the end of VBS.







Tuesday brought the winds and we had to deal with holding on to the tents. We gave up and dismantled them for safety reasons. We all headed over to the church for indoor activities, but not before the rain drenched some of us.








My DH ran the brick making shop. The kids had a ball mixing the soil, straw and water and placed the mixture in their molds:








Here are additional pictures from the remainder of the week:













All in all, I had a good photography week. Took over 300 pictures between my D5000 and S90 and a few from my iPhone.

Through My Lens...Fiber Arts

** UPDATED to include additional pictures **

I've been asked several times...What do I take pictures of? For me, it's a hard question to answer. I've been known to take pictures of anything that captures my attention. I don't have a particular subject or object that I'm really good at. I'm always in practice mode with flowers, people, buildings, motion, nature, etc. I guess I'm a fearless photographer. Just take the picture. I don't mess with the dials of my camera too much as I'm afraid I'll miss the photog moment and mood. I shoot mostly in P-mode and A-mode and know how many clicks I need to adjust my settings on the fly. I'm an all around photographer.


I use my camera mostly to capture the progress of my many hobbies. I'm a knitter and I'm a sewist. I've also dabbled in beading, baking, sketching, and painting watercolors. Mostly, I'm into Fiber Arts...yarns and fabrics. I photograph my work, my finished products. Handmade products by me. I also post reviews of garments and accessories I have made. I photograph my handmade creations for everyone to see. A picture is worth a thousand words.


I thought I would share some images of the creations I've made. I will continue to update this post as more pics become available. Enjoy!