Experimenting with a Nikon

I have the opportunity of borrowing a Nikon DSLR.  Below are a couple of samples of pictures that I have taken so far on the automatic setting. The camera is a little heavier than my bridge type camera.  Taking pictures in lower light works well without a tripod.  Also the shutter speed is faster, not so much of a delay. 

 

 

November

I didn't take many pictures this month, but I did like this vista on one of my drives on route 25.

October

Star Island

These are some pictures that I took on Star Island in September.   Here is the link to Star Island:  http://starisland.org/  It is part of the Isle of Shoals and you can take a ferry from Portsmouth to get there.  It is used as a retreat and it is a wonderful place to take a retreat.  No TV, no electronics (other than your camera).  Plain simple living, family style meals, loved it. 

This is taken from the ferry that I am on looking over to this freight ship called the Baltic Pearl.  I liked the combo of the worker opposite the round wheel like metal part and the ropes.

 

September - shots while kayaking

Sunset in late August

Opeche lake

Beauty in the storm; Irene

Taken from inside my car , as the rain is falling on the front windshield.  It captured my interest.

Taken through a side windshield during the storm.

Also taken through the front windshield during the storm, while it was raining.

The flowers at the mill are beautiful and you can see the rain streaking down.

A different view of the flowers and mill with the rain coming down fairly hard.

Loved the curve of the path, the low stonewall... with the flowers in the background.

Still August

I took some pictures at a small garden at our church. 

The garden had these bird houses with vines climbing up them. 

Sunrise one morning in August

Beautiful half moon with blue sky in the morning.

Turkey Vulture on the Dam, surveying his territory.

My garden in August

Below is the perennial flower called Helenium.  I like the yellow with a little bit of orangy red coloring.  It is a very tall plant.

Love this perennial geranium.  It seems to thrive anywhere.

The part of this garden to the right of the clematis vine winding its way around the metal trellis is new.. just added this month.  It has bugbane and impatience flowers in this bed.  You can barely see a dry rock bed with black old fashion pump in the middle of the picture.  This is the beginning of the new bed.  This garden is primarily a shade garden.

Great Blue Heron

I was driving by the dam in Lakeport when I saw this great blue heron.  It was beautiful.  Such a stately bird.

August 15th in a Manchester parking lot.

I saw this bird in the parking lot just walking around.  I tried to get a shot of the white seagul dive bombing this bird.  Below are some other pictures of the same bird.

Before I started taking pictures I observed a woman walking up to it and it didn't fly away.  That caught my interest.

Unfortunately this picture is not as clear as it could be, but loved the little steppin out move.

Also not a clear shot but I liked the red reflection and the rain drops on the right. 

August 15th

One of the camera club scavanger hunt pictures was TOES.  I decided to use my cats TOES.  I copied the picture and edited it on Roxie. Take a look a let me know which you like the best.

This is the cartoonized version of the above picture.

This is the splatter version of the above picture.

Kayaking on Paugus Bay

The other day, I kayaked from my place to South Down Farms.  A friend and her son, met me halfway as they kayayed from South Down Farms.  The water was a little choppier than I like, but it was fun.  This is something we had talked about doing and finally accomplished.

Kayaking on Squam Lake on August 14th. Saw some loons.

Kayaking this morning was beautiful on this quiet, flat, surface.  The morning was cloudy with periods of sun shining through.  These pictures were taken while I was sitting in my kayak on Squam Lake.

I love looking at the loons and listening to their unusual calls.  This adult loon was taking a little bath.

The following shots and this one, are of an adolescent loon that I saw while kayaking back towards where I put my kayak in the water.

It is amazing how close some of these Loons will let you get to them.

After awhile, this loon dove down into the water looking for lunch.

If you are having difficulty, enlargening this picture, I think it is because I cropped it before I posted it.

August

I was taking pictures of some morning scenes this morning over looking Paugus Bay.  I liked the tree branch overhanging the water combined with the reflection of the early morning clouds.

This dragon fly stopped to rest on my clematis trellis.  I took pictures like those below and enlarged and lightened the color on this one.

While trying to take a picture of a busy bumble bee this morning, this dragon fly stopped by and became a very willing subject... not moving while taking a few pictures at different settings. 

I usually plant these salvia every year.  They were my mother's favorite plants.  This picture is a little dark, but liked it anyways.  There are 6 plants, in a row, and in tis picture, looks like a mass planting of salvia.  The hummingbirds love this flower.

These pansies grew back from last year.  They just looked so cheerful.

This is a combination of some pansies that came back from last year and some impatience that I planted this year. 

Here are some impatience and hosta, with the blue pot and birdhouse mixed in.