Eco Walk

Early this afternoon, I took a walk through the Eco Preserve in Cape Coral, Florida. I brought along my new film camera and my point-and-shoot digital camera, as well as a tripod. It was a slightly overcast day, but the sun did peek through the clouds quite a bit while I was at the preserve. I was hoping to see a lot of wildlife, but didn't get too lucky. I was mainly trying to find shots for the film camera, so I only took a few with the digital. The first creature that I saw that I got a picture of was a skink (lizard). A few minutes later, I found a brown anole (another lizard). I managed to get a few shots of a raccoon later on, but I'm not sure how they will turn out. At one point, I was able to get within about 2 feet of it. The raccoon looked right at the camera as I was trying to get the focus. Just as I got the focus, it looked away. I'll have to try again some other time.

Anyway, here are a few shots with the digital camera:
These reminded me of the buckeyes found in Ohio.
It kind of looks like these might be berries inside.
Something had a bad day!

New Canon

As I had mentioned in Gloomy Beach Morning earlier today, I have recently purchased a new camera. It is a Canon EOS Rebel T2 film SLR. I bought it on Monday and have been slowly learning about it since. This is my first SLR camera. I dropped off my first roll of test film today to get developed. I'll find out tomorrow how I have done.

The camera came with a Quantaray 28-90mm lens. I then ordered a 50mm macro lens and also purchased some filters, as shown in the picture. Next I would like to order a telephoto lens and a wide angle lens.

I have been wanting to get back into film photography for a little while now, so I finally bit the bullet and bought this camera. Now I need to start saving for the digital SLR I have my eye on - Canon EOS 5D. Some of the features of that model are: 12.8MP, 3FPS up to 60 full -res JPEG or 17 RAW, 2.5" TFT LCD screen with adjustable brightness, and weighs only 28.6 ounces. By the time I can afford this particular camera, there will probably be something better that I'd rather have. I don't see me owning this camera anytime soon.

Be sure to check out these other bloggers that have nice cameras and post their pictures:

Wildshotz
Photo of the Day
Kansas City in Focus
K's Clover Mountain
Looking Through My Lens
As Eye See It

Enjoy!

Thursday Challenge: PINK

The topic for this week's Thursday Challenge is: PINK.

This picture was taken at Fort Myers Beach on Thanksgiving Day 2005.

Gloomy Beach Morning

I set the alarm for 6:00am after going to bed at about 3:30am so that I could go out to Fort Myers Beach to get some pictures with my new camera during the sunrise. I have attempted a few days ago to go to the island around 10:30am, but the traffic was backed up to a mile away from the bridge to the island. This morning, before 7:00am, it was no problem getting onto the island. Unfortunately, it was overcast, so it was pretty much a wasted trip. Plus, I loaded the film into the camera wrong twice, so I ruined two rolls of film, one of which was black and white. I am still learning this camera. (I will write about it soon, maybe later today.) I also took my digital camera with me and took a few shots with it. Five of those pictures are below.
I can't remember the name of this shell, but it was the first time I've seen one in this good of shape. That is probably because there was still a living mussel inside. I found two of these, and the other one had a living mussel in it also.
A jellyfish in the shallow water near the shore.
A shot of the pier. You can see how gloomy it was in this image.
One of the spots on Fort Myers Beach where there are a lot of souvenir shops and places to eat.
Before I left the island, I took one picture looking up at a palm tree.

Photo Friday: Baby

The topic for this week's Photo Friday is: BABY.

This picture of my nephew, Aidyn, was taken in August of 2005.

Captiva Sunset

These images were taken last Friday when I took my mother and her husband to the island of Captiva. I was standing in front of the Mucky Duck restaurant to get these shots. This image was just minutes before the sun disappeared.
After the sun had vanished, I was walking off the beach when I looked back and saw this view. So I had to get a picture of it and share it with you.

Thursday Challenge: OLD

The topic for this week's Thursday Challenge is: OLD.

This is a chain that was part of a huge crane used to transfer coal from the ships off of Lake Erie to the docks along the between Cleveland, Ohio, and Erie, Pennsylvania. This particular piece is on display in Ashtabula, Ohio.

This image was also selected as a label picture for Jones Soda. It is used on the flavor of Green Apple Soda. I have a copy of the label, but I have yet to see it on a bottle in any of the stores I visit. If you see it anywhere, please let me know. Thanks!

Sanibel Lighthouse

My mother and her husband were in town for a short time, so we took them to the islands of Sanibel and Captiva, Florida. These pictures are of the lighthouse on Sanibel on Friday.

Paint Time

Some of you may not know that I am an artist also. I have recently begun to put paint on a canvas that was sketched out several months ago. I am taking pictures of the progress and they are being posted at one of my other blogs, Paintings By Troy. If you are interested in the arts, you might like to take a gander at what I am currently working on. It is an abstract geometric design on a 36" x 48" gallery wrap canvas.

Photo Friday: Disguise

I am a couple days late, but this is my submission for Photo Friday. This week's topic is: DISGUISE.

This shot was taken on Valentine's Day last year inside Noir Leather in the Detroit Area. This image was originally submitted to Mirror Project. The driect link to this image at that site is here.

Thursday Challenge: Group

The theme for this week's Thursday Challenge is 'Group'.

This picture was taken at a miniature golf course at Fort Myers Beach, Florida.

I couldn't settle on just one this week, so I have posted three more pictures below:
This shot was taken at a wildlife adventure park in Bonita Springs, Florida.
This picture was taken in Cape Coral, Florida.
And this last picture was taken at Geneva-On-The-Lake, Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie.