SmugMug > popular today > Day 157 - Do you see what I see

Today was a busy bird day - 4 Blue Jays buzzing and screeching about, 3 Crows, 2 Gold Finches (yesterday there were 6), and a few Junco's.  Oh almost forgot the one red squirrel that booked across the lawn like a squirrel out of hell. 

I just got done taking a few shots of a Blue Jay that was showing off his plumage, when this crow swooped in and landed vertically on the tree.  Amazing stuff - the tree swayed from side to side after he landed. I was lucky to grab a few shots before he was off too.

Lots of mating going on... I thought that was strange.  I heard a loud ruckus and noticed some crows having a moment on top of the pines.  That was a little daring I guess. :) Thrill seekers.. hehe

Thanks for all the comments on my guitar.  I'll have to figure out a way to present it. :)

I only cropped this shot - it came out of the camera as is. :)
SmugMug > popular today > Hummingbird...07/24/08

This isn't a great hummingbird (HB) shot (not even a good one) but my last hummingbird shot was done in high school. Lady Kate wanted me to get this shot and a word of warning: DO NOT wear a shirt that has a giant (albeit faded) hibiscus flower on it when photographing these guys. I ducked and swatted more 'hornets' today only to realize they were TINY HBs. (I bought my T-shirt in Malaysia...I guess it's realistic!)

To attract the many different HBs today I put the flower of a large fake hibiscus in a shallow bowl of homemade 'nectar.' I had a male and female (pictured here) ruby throated hummingbird show up and a teeny-weeny calliope hummingbird. I honestly thought it was a hummingbird moth (or a hornet). The little guy was a bit pesky! 

Today was overcast and all-around yucky! I was using my 300mm ED lens. This lens renders my camera as manual mostly. For this shot I chose f 4.0, 800 ASA (er...ISO), and 1/320th of a second.
SmugMug > popular today > Positively, absolutely, definitely annoyed

(July 23) For dedmanshootn, who prefers annoyed to bugged. I think this was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk, and he was calling and calling for somebody. Also at the Rancho Jurupa Park in Rubidoux.
SmugMug > popular today > July 25, 2008 This sunflower has grown from the seeds which have fallen out of the bird feeders. Comments
SmugMug > popular today > July 23, 2008 - Mom and baby Robins
SmugMug > popular today > Another shot from last weeks visit to the family house in the country
SmugMug > popular today > Thursday, July 24, 2008   (Day 55)

Ah, the joy of eating grass and munching on sticks!  Heaven!
SmugMug > popular today > 7-23-08-- wednesday



"think of bicycles as rideable art
 that can just about save the world."  

-- grant petersen
SmugMug > popular today > "My Purple Heart & Wounded in Combat Awards"
-click image to see larger-
Today's POD is something special I wanted to share with all my friends here at the dailies. On 7/22/97 (11 years ago) while on duty myself and 2 other police officers almost paid the ultimate price with our lives when 2 felons lead us on a 3 town high speed chase, running us off the road several times and then attempting to kill us with the vehicle when we attempted to apprehend them. One of my friends was dragged down the street clinging to the car breaking his knee cap, my partner was hit & dragged under the car suffering several injuries and I was hit & thrown through the air causing a severe shoulder injury requiring surgery to remove part of my collar bone,shoulder blade and AC joint. It was the first time I was forced to use deadly force in the line of duty as a civilian cop when I was forced to open fire on the driver. Even after being run down I was still able to chase the driver on foot for 2 blocks and take him into custody before collapsing from my injuries & being rushed to the hospital in a police car.

I was awarded the above citations for this incident so let me describe what you see. The handcuffs are the pair I used on the suspect, the Green & Yellow bar is the 'WOUNDED IN COMBAT' Award, The Black bar with Stars is the State PBA Class "A" Meritorious Service award (the highest they give out, for life threatening situations only) 'for saving the life of my partner' and the Blue Bar & Purple Medal are the National Purple Heart award given to me by the United States American Police Hall of Fame award located in Florida which I am now a life time member & honoree. This is one of the incidents that caused me to retire but not the one that caused my spinal injury that occured in 2001.

Needless to say I'm very proud of these awards and of my 30+ citations I was blessed with over 13 years as a civilian police officer these hold a special place in my heart. I was going to try and incorporate the Unit Citation Plaque I received for this as well but I couldn't figure out how to shot it and look good.

This image was SUPPOSED to be done yesterday but it wound up being one of the toughest still life images I have taken to date for several reasons. No matter how I shot it, the shiny finishes on the medals and handcuffs posed a special problem and it took me over a day to figure out how to do it so that everything was readable with good contrast and colors. I finally figured it out (and learned a LOT in the process). I used a single SB-600 flash off camera with a Lumiquest Mini-Soft Box attached and placed it BEHIND the box and bounced it off 2 walls @ 90' to fill in the medals to prevent any reflections. I also used the on camera flash set at -1.0 EV and Rear Curtain for fill so the colors were vivid and to bring out the detail in the medals. I used a really cool cigar box that 'SOPRANOS' cigars came in for the silk texture base placing the awards on top of it. Shot with Nikkor 18-200 @ f/14 for 1/160 at ISO 800 hand held.

Thanks for looking & sharing in my anniversary of one of the most devistating days of my life. I'm just happy to still be here to be able to share this with you and to maybe give you an idea of what police officers all over this country go through every day of their lives. So next time you get pulled over for that speeding ticket instead of cursing them, try and say Thank You to them for what they do to protect you on a daily basis!

PS: How do you all like my NEW Site Banner up top ?
* Also Thanks to all who placed votes for my contest entries, I appreciate your time ;)

Officer Bill Pador (Retired/Disabled)
Day 157 - Do you see what I see

Today was a busy bird day - 4 Blue Jays buzzing and screeching about, 3 Crows, 2 Gold Finches (yesterday there were 6), and a few Junco's. Oh almost forgot the one red squirrel that booked across the lawn like a squirrel out of hell.

I just got done taking a few shots of a Blue Jay that was showing off his plumage, when this crow swooped in and landed vertically on the tree. Amazing stuff - the tree swayed from side to side after he landed. I was lucky to grab a few shots before he was off too.

Lots of mating going on... I thought that was strange. I heard a loud ruckus and noticed some crows having a moment on top of the pines. That was a little daring I guess. :) Thrill seekers.. hehe

Thanks for all the comments on my guitar. I'll have to figure out a way to present it. :)

I only cropped this shot - it came out of the camera as is. :)
 > Day 157 - Do you see what I see

Today was a busy bird day - 4 Blue Jays buzzing and screeching about, 3 Crows, 2 Gold Finches (yesterday there were 6), and a few Junco's.  Oh almost forgot the one red squirrel that booked across the lawn like a squirrel out of hell. 

I just got done taking a few shots of a Blue Jay that was showing off his plumage, when this crow swooped in and landed vertically on the tree.  Amazing stuff - the tree swayed from side to side after he landed. I was lucky to grab a few shots before he was off too.

Lots of mating going on... I thought that was strange.  I heard a loud ruckus and noticed some crows having a moment on top of the pines.  That was a little daring I guess. :) Thrill seekers.. hehe

Thanks for all the comments on my guitar.  I'll have to figure out a way to present it. :)

I only cropped this shot - it came out of the camera as is. :)
Day 157 - Do you see what I see

Today was a busy bird day - 4 Blue Jays buzzing and screeching about, 3 Crows, 2 Gold Finches (yesterday there were 6), and a few Junco's. Oh almost forgot the one red squirrel that booked across the lawn like a squirrel out of hell.

I just got done taking a few shots of a Blue Jay that was showing off his plumage, when this crow swooped in and landed vertically on the tree. Amazing stuff - the tree swayed from side to side after he landed. I was lucky to grab a few shots before he was off too.

Lots of mating going on... I thought that was strange. I heard a loud ruckus and noticed some crows having a moment on top of the pines. That was a little daring I guess. :) Thrill seekers.. hehe

Thanks for all the comments on my guitar. I'll have to figure out a way to present it. :)

I only cropped this shot - it came out of the camera as is. :)
Photo by: banjon · see photo in gallery

Comments

|

New comment:

Name:
To foil spammers, enter this code: copy this text in this box: Code unreadable?