A Tweeting Bird!

We came home a few days after the snow storm (navigating through the snowdrifts...) to find a HUGE flock of robins right in front of the garage. I eventually figured out that the fifty or so birds were systematically stripping the nearby holly bushes of berries. Even though it was nearing dusk and an overcast day, I ran upstairs to grab my camera. I was a little challenged by the light and my gear (cheap glass...). In such situations, you have to shoot to the strengths of the gear rather than whining about not getting the shot you want. Lens not fast enough to catch sharp images of teeny tiny birds winging through the air? Wait for them to land and walk up to you to see what you're up to! Ok... enough ranting, any more and I'll start sounding like Mr. Rockwell. This little dude took a minute out of gorging himself to try and figure out what the freak in the bright orange jacket and camera was doing.

After the rise

A few minutes after sunrise, but before the light got too harsh. This was one of the last pictures I took that morning (with that much reflective material around, once the sun comes up it is UP). I like the shadows radiating away from the sign, and the symmetry of the wires mirrored by the shadow of the snow. Given a choice, I would have prefered to have the sign be a little more face-on, so you could more easily recognize what kind of sign it was (bonus points if the meaning of the sign ties in to the scene of the photo). Being unable to move the sun, the sign, or the alignment therein, I made do with what I had. If I'd REALLY been on the ball, I might have known where the sun was going to come up, and scouted the location more carefully beforehand. As it was, I wanted the shadows and picked the first thing I could find to hide the sun behind. (I was going to say I saw the sign... but that just creates bad flashbacks to the 90's...) I have another picture where I tried the same thing with a tree trunk, but since I didn't get the entire tree in the frame, I wasn't very happy with it.

After I took this picture I walked across the street to try to get a (bitter) Mocha from StarSmucks. They were closed, but the grocery store had chocolate-chip muffins!

How much snow?

This doesn't really have any photographic merit, but gives a pretty good idea of just how much snow we got. This is the morning after it stopped snowing (if i remember correctly). That line with a little bulge of snow diagonally across the top third (just for you, mom) of the frame?

Yea... that's a guard rail. Ever stood next to a guard rail? They aren't little...

Snomageddon, the aftermath

For once I managed to lever myself out of bed before sunrise to go out and take some pictures. Boy, did I pick a great day to do it. Fresh, clear skies, and nearly perfect unblemished snow. This picture was the highpoint of the expedition. This was probably the first picture I've ever taken that I was 100% sure I wanted to keep right after I took it. Normally, I tend to keep taking pictures of something well past the time I've utilized every meaningful vantage point. I took a few pictures before this to experiment with the composition, metering, and white balance, but as soon as I took this picture I looked at the camera, decided that it was what I wanted, and moved on. Photographer's nirvana.

A little snow?

Or not... this post awaiting technical difficulties... once I can get a .gif to work, maybe you'll have something to look at.

Time lapse, here we go. This was my first semi-successful attempt at time lapse photography. The DC area got hammered with snow (they named the storm Snomageddon) and I had the foresight to set my camera up in the spare bedroom on a tripod. In retrospect, I should have taken the screen out of the window, and in a few shots you can see a reflection of the computer screen in the background, but it still gets the affect of the storm across. For some reference, watch the trash can on the left of the image, and the mini-van near the center. All told, this storm dumped over two feet of snow on the area.