Birds of Prey!

I made it out to the Raptor Centre this past weekend!  *Insert happy dance here*  I love it there, so many beautiful birds!  Every time I go they have more, they even had two Kookaburras there!  The shots I got, however, I was less than impressed with.  (No fault of the camera, it was all operator error.)  I got quite a few good Eagle images, but the Hawks and Owls were hit and miss.  I guess I still need more quality time with my new camera.

Here are the Bald Eagle shots.  He had a feather stuck to his beak which I found distracting, so I edited it out of most of the pictures.  But, I did leave a few "au natural" for those that might prefer that :)

Peregrine Falcon:

Spectacled Owl (isn't he the cutest thang?):

Turkey Vulture:

I also tried taking a video for the first time too.  (I keep forgetting my camera does that!)  I came across this Hawk having a bath, so I thought that deserved to be seen in video.  Note to self: use a tripod when shooting vid and leave excitable toddler at home haha!

Guess Who...

got a new camera?  That's right, I did!!  I got the Nikon D7000 and I LOVE it!!  A nice step up from the D80 that's for sure.  I haven't had the chance to take it through its paces yet, but what stands out so far is how sharp the images look at a high ISO.  I can't get over it!  With my old camera I was hesitant to shoot above 400, but with the D7000 I've shot over 1000 indoors and been happy with the results.

Here's an example of ISO 1600:

It's been easy to switch between bodies.  The majority of the buttons are in the same places and the menu is very user friendly.  There are a ton more settings on this camera though, and it will probably take me a while to get everything how I'd like it.  I'm itching to get out to the Raptor Centre so hopefully I will get out there this weekend and give the D700 a good test run.
 
In the mean time, here are some images from my Mom's garden :)  I only did very minor adjustments on them, they are pretty much as shot.  Have I mentioned how much I love this camera?!

(This image was cropped only.)

(Only cropped, no other edits.)

(Contrast bumped up slightly.)

Oh, and I have to share a shot of my sweetie-pie! 

Arab Show

I went to the VIAHA show on the weekend.  It was warm and dusty but I had a great time and saw some beautiful horses!  I took lots of pictures, so if you were in the show and would like copies of any images just send me an email.  (I also have many more that I won't be posting here, so just send me a message with a description of your horse:)  I'm hoping to make it to the next show in August and I can't wait!

Paula and Carlos are Engaged!

My friends Paula and Carlos are getting married this summer, so I just had to do their engagement shoot!  We went out to Fort Rodd Hill and had so much fun.  I dragged them all over the place and they were such good sports!  Great models too, I had a blast taking their photos! 

Congrats you two!  You make the cutest couple ever and I can't wait to shoot your wedding!!

Rodeo Storyboards

I thought that some of these needed to be seen in sequence so I made up some panos :)

Rodeo!!

I went to the rodeo last month (for the first time shhh!) and had an awesome time!  I had so much fun the first day that I went back for the finals on the third day.  I shot about 300 frames in total!  And, I even got to see my favourite bull rider, Ty Elliott, in person!  (I was super excited about that!  Unfortunately the light turned to poop right before he rode so my shots of him aren't that great.)  Now I'm totally hooked and I want to go to the Calgary Stampede...too bad that's not feasible right now:( 

I hope you like these, there are lots!  I would love some feedback since this was my first time doing this kind of event.