Persistence | Sarnia/Lambton County Photographers

Remember I said, one of these days. Well, persistence paid off much sooner than I expected. This is more what I was thinking of:

There's even a wee fly buzzing above him. Next up, attempting a butterfly in flight. Yikes!

Remembering moments, not days...

One. of. These. Days. | Sarnia Lambton County Nature Photographers

I was washing dishes yesterday evening (not that that's anything new), and noticed a bumble bee getting drunk on columbine.

One of the days I will get the perfect shot because these aren't them :o).

Remembering moments, not days...

Walk to the Canola Field | Sarnia/ Lambton County Nature Photographers

On Monday evening I decided to take a walk to our neighbors canola field. The canola was almost done flowering, but I thought I would try to get a few last pictures of the field as the sun was going down.

I took our old Sony alpha 100 with a 75-300mm lens. I hadn't done much shooting with this lens so this was a good opportunity to experiment with it.

On may hike there I passed by a wheat field. I was surprised the the heads of wheat were already coming out! It's only May! This first picture is of the wheat field. The sun was close to the horizon, so I had to hurry to get to the canola field before it set.

But I had time for a few more pictures before I got there. I don't know what this is. All I know is that it is old and for some reason they moved it just into the wheat field. I think Deborah wants the big old steel wheels somewhere around the yard at home.

The sun was just above the tree line when I reached the field, and so the experimenting began. First a little depth of field with a really long lens.

Then some exposure adjustments. I think this was my favorite of the shoot. I like how the light from the sunset is carried into the tree line.

The sun was almost gone. One last shot to get the canola focused and some light background bokeh.

Now I had to get back home before it was completely dark, and the mosquitoes ate me for their evening snack.

When I got home there was just one more shot I had to try to get. The moon was up, but not quit full. Spinning the lens out to 300mm and hand holding the camera I took a few portraits of the man in the moon. I think I caught him a little by surprise!

Okay, now the mosquitoes were really bad, so I had to go in. The experimenting was done for an evening.

Beach Day | Sarnia/ Lambton County Photographers

We enjoyed our first beach day of the soon to be summer today.

Some of us just dove right in.

 Some of us would rather finish creating icecream mustaches before going in and freezing our limbs off.

Some of are just plain silly.

And some of us are just too cool to notice the cold.

While Murray and I enjoyed the water from the heat of the shore, the kids played in the water. Murray had them hunting skipping stones in the water. It really felt like we should have a family dog in the following photos too, but alas, we are still dogless.

I am still amazed that they could stand the icy water. Of course back when I was their age, I did the same thing.

Because we remember moments, not days...

Grand Rapids | Sarnia/ Lambton County Photographers

I had the privilege of attending a Christian women's conference in Grand Rapids, MI. I knew that if I didn't bring a camera, I would regret it, so I took the alpha 350 with the 70-200mm lens. We were in a hotel a short walk from Van Andel Arena. The architecture around there was very pretty and impressive. If I'd had more time, I would have gone for a long walk. I think I could have filled a card.

Because we remember moments not days...

Dandelion Fuzz | Sarnia/ Lambton County Nature Photographers

Remembering moments, not days...

A Canola Shoot | Sarnia/ Lambton County Children's Portrait Photographers

The first summer we moved out here was the same summer I saw my first canola field and fell in love with the idea of photos in the canola. The only problem is, the season, as with anything that flowers is short, and fields of canola are really not too common around here yet. The field that is in this series of photos is growing canola for its second time. The first time being about seven years prior. The best part? We can see this field from our second story windows. There's nothing like a bright patch of sunshine amidst a May downpour!

The field is at its height of blooms this week, so despite the mud in the field, the girls donned white dresses and white socks and shoes, and obliged us with some photos. After fourteen years of living out here, I finally got my canola shoot.

Ever the little stinker!

Can you imagine a family shoot in this field? GOR-GEOUS!! If the weather behaves this week and the canola doesn't go past its peak too quickly, perhaps we'll go back and do another shoot with a whole different look.

Because we remember moments, not days...

Lilac Love | Sarnia/ Lambton County Nature Photographers

The lilacs are at their height. They were damaged by frost a week ago, so they weren't in the finest condition to begin with, and then we had rain, rain, and more rain. I think they're very happy to be seeing some sunshine and drying off.

I am happy to see the sun again too.

Because we remember moments, not days...