My camera goes everywhere I go.  Any weather, I take photos and I get a lot of duds but I learn as I get them.  Any subject matter is fair game.  I have been known to stand on the running board, hang out the car window, lie on the ground and climb on things.  I do all of the things photographers do, correct?  I have fallen, slipped, missed shots, been aggravated and fussed when I can’t get that shot I want.  I change settings and filters and lenses and keep on taking and usually something comes out I’m pretty happy with in spite of my lack of camera savvy. 

Some oldies from various outtings. 

Rainy, dark and dreary but I hate being bored.  My camara is out and ready.  This lacework crossing is on our way to a funeral in Louisiana.  You can barely see the barge moving in the waters below.  The car window is covered with rain drops but, I’m happy playing with my camera.  This bridge looked like lacework and I caught a little of the look in the shot.

I have a thing for crossings and overpasses.  Maybe because there are so many of them but I find them to be, scenic.  This is a local scene.  The Little Miami river at Kings Island. 

No crossing but plenty of road and rock.  West Virginia, Mountain Mama, take me home.  It is truly beautiful.  Traveling a good 65 or 70 MPH and trying to hold the cam still is a trick.  I force myself still enough to catch them. 

I have no idea what this Obelisks is for.  John thinks it may be a cell phone tower.  It appeared out of no-where on our Louisiana trip.  Notice the telephone pole to the right and get an idea how tall the trees and the structure are. 

Bales of hay always catch my eye.  Why???  This photo was taken close enough to the tower in such a way that when you size this up you will get the feel of just how big that tower is.  The photo gives me a funny feeling it captured the size so well.  This is Indiana, near Friendship. 

I like elongated photos and take a lot of them.  Here in the cold snow of last year the tracks are doing what they do best.  Lie there and listen for the hum of the oncoming train.  Taken at the entrance to Lake Isabella, a local county park we carry picnic lunch from any fast food place.

Lots of little feet leaving their tracks in the same snow.  There are still leftovers to be found if you search long and hard. 

One for the road you might say.  A perfect day, cool but the sun was shining and this train was going nowhere.  It was just sitting there waiting for me and my digital cam.

That’s it.  Have a super week.

 

Squirrels
Not as Tasty as Turkeys
but More Entertaining

Well, no turkeys again this time around.  It just didn’t happen.  There will be other days.

A few photos of something that was very entertaining.  I have eaten a few of these and in fact I used to be a pretty good shot bringing home enough for a meal.  Very tasty and these are nice and fat. 

We always carry  snacks.  John set the bag down so we could relax while taking photos of Penquins at the zoo and this guy came from out of no where. 

It took him only seconds to make a decision.  He went for the chips.  He had no idea they were bar-b-q but am sure he found out later when he needed that big drink of water.  He liked them, he came back to raid the bag, a lot, before we moved on. 

He had no problems with aggression.  See those ears laid back, I’ve seen horses, dogs, cats, a lot of differant animals do that and it means ”I wouldn’t think of doing whatever it is you are thinking of doing if I were you”.

Here you see him safe in a tree with his booty.  I had to chase back and forth to get photos.  I missed some shots, he was fast.

 

That’s it till the next time,

 

Animals

Some outings require a picnic and Sunday was no exception because we went to the Cincinnati CLICK HERE Zoo.  I love the zoo and when we were younger, we enjoyed a few over nights in sleeping bags, waking in the early morning to the sounds of monkeys and gibbons making their almost forgotten calls for African and South American homes.   I would have loved to have been an Osa Johnson and I have put in my order as I could be very happy as a  Marty Stouffer, CLICK HERE, if I get to experience a comeback.  I love animals and in my mind all of them have purpose and in the right habitat they are all interesting.  The zoo is not what some would call the right habitat but if you are familiar with what is happening in the world of nature you know zoo’s may be the last stand for saving much of the wildlife possibly familiar to you.

The Cincinnati zoo is a leader in the world of propagation of the species of different animals.  I t has been responsible in zoo science for Gorilla births, white tiger births, Impala births, and a lot of others.  I know we have had things happen to make the news more than once including feeding a bear an arm or so but what can you say if someone doesn’t stay alert and does something foolish in a job setting.  Out of job setting, there are those who think they should preach the gospel to lions to save their souls.  I must say there is a strange mentality  in the world and not only in the lower animal kingdom and though it has nothing to do with the Cincy zoo, I couldn’t help but make a note of it in my blog. 

We renewed our family membership to the zoo.  It’s the only way to afford going and the really nice thing, the pass is good for zoos all over the U.S. 

A few photos from the Cincinnati Zoo. 

All animals at the zoo aren’t endangered or in fact caged.  I think these may be overfed and they are not in any way afraid of people.  If you really want to, you can probably feed them out of your hands.  The movie Christmas Vacation makes mention that they are high in cholesterol and I would bet these at the zoo are in fact, exactly that.

 

The peacocks are as cocky and unafraid and they are not caged.  I wonder if they are watchdogs at the zoo.  I have no idea how many roam loose but there are many walking the park.  My photos of them are not the best but this one was kind of fun to get.  As you can see, he can’t read as he has every intent of doing just what the sign says not to do.  If you can’t read it, the words are “do not walk on the tracks” and have to do with the regularly run train that travels the park. 

 

The Elephants in my photos from the Cincy zoo are Asian Elephants.  That is the baby on the right and mom standing beside her.  We got the tail end view as it is feeding time and in the zoo, everybody knows when it’s feeding time. 

 

Another view, you can see all 3 of the Elephants in this photo but I am hoping for some better shots.  You have to be patient and ignore crowds.  A chair and a spot and a wait will get you something, eventually.  As I said, it’s feeding time and the keepers are doing some preliminary clean up and a little bit of petting before handing out the hay.  The baby by the way looks pretty big but is not perfectly adept at feeding itself but does pretty well.  It looks fat enough so I am guessing it gets its share.

 

Everyone is fed and content for the minute and the baby in the foreground has separated itself out some of the hay.  It has a mouthful but it took a couple of tries to do it.  All babies take a while to develop proficiency and it seems that way with animals as well.  Notice the city buildings in the right background.  Maybe a zoo isn’t the perfect place but it beats dead in the wild because of poachers.  I always wonder how they do when it’s so cold out but they do have indoor housing for all the animals.  A zoo is an expensive piece of property and it takes a little from all of us to keep them operating.

More about Elephants, this CLICK HERE, is a super internet site about an Elephant rescue acreage in Tennessee and I hope I can visit it someday.  If you have a thing for animals, you will read something to warm your heart and if you are like me, you will cry a little.  Don’t miss visiting it. Another and a different site for you if you want to find out even more of what all is happening in the world of Elephants, CLICK HERE. 

 

One of my favorite animals for beauty is this one.  The Okapi has always taken my breath away.  I don’t really know why but I think the pattern united with that beautiful brown area in their coat is just breath taking.  It’s too bad you can’t get this close up for photos outside. 

 

Here he is outside waiting for you guessed it, food.  CLICK HERE for more information about the Okapi.

 

One last photo for the road.  I really didn’t mean to make this photo session so long but I enjoyed myself taking them and maybe you can enjoy looking at them.  In any case, here is probably the last of the fall color I will see until this time next year.  If you look closely, you can see some of the Christmas lights among the leaves.  Preparations are in full swing for the Zoo’s Holiday in Lights and we will take photos of it for display here in my blog.  I wish I could get excited about the holidays.  I had much prefer nice weather and normalcy but it is that time of year.

 

Regards till the next time,