I quote others only in order the better to express myself.
~ Michel de Montaigne (French – Philosopher/ February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592)
Daily Quote: February 28, 2020
Daily Quote: February 27, 2020
Into each life some rain must fall.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(American – Poet / February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882)
International Toast Day
National Chili Day
Combine the two celebrations and have my favorite: Chili with toast.
Today is the Park Party day for Emerald Grove Travel Park in Texas. Catered BBQ, live music, door prizes, costumes. Looking forward to attending.
Daily Quote: February 26, 2020
Forty is the old age of youth;
fifty the youth of old age.
~ Victor Hugo (French – Author / February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885)
Ash Wednesday
Daily Quote: February 25, 2020
The world is a beautiful book,
but of little use to him who cannot read it.
~ Carlo Goldoni (Italian – Playwright / February 25, 1707 – February 6, 1793)
Pancake Day
Shrove Tuesday
My season in Texas is rapidly coming to a close and my Nikon D750 still hasn’t returned yet from the “Service Advisory”. Unlike many of the online praises for Nikon’s quick service and resolution of this issue, I’m very disappointed with the length time and lack of communication by Nikon USA.
I went to the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas. The normal admission fee is $10, but if you are a local resident or Winter Texan the fee is only $5. So remember to bring some ID with your Texas address. It is the first time I’ve ever seen an Eastern Fox Squirrel. They are slightly larger than most of the squirrels I’m familiar with and have a wonderful fluffy tail (foxtail). Their color is almost golden reddish and they loved to pose for the camera.
Daily Quote: February 24, 2020
Come live in my heart, and pay no rent.
~ Samuel Lover (Irish – Artist / February 24, 1797 – July 6, 1868)
Forget Me Not Day
Dance Day
Daily Quote: February 23, 2020
I want to die in the saddle.
I love writing, producing, acting, directing.
~ Peter Fonda (American – Actor / February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019)
Curling is Cool Day
Single Tasking Day
Transfiguration Sunday
Daily Quote: February 22, 2020
All of my work comes out of a deep concern for human expansion into the landscape.
~ Edward Burtynsky (Canadian – Photographer / Born: February 22, 1955)
Margarita Day
World Thinking Day
Wildlife Day
Combining thoughts of Wildlife Day and Edwards Burtynsky’s concern for human expansion into the landscape:
Many nature reserves are located adjacent to power plants, airports or flood plains…areas less desirable for residential or commercial building.
Power lines, highways, windmills, new condos, high rise apartments and hotels all changing the landscape. Then people wonder why black bears, coyotes, opossums, armadillos, raccoons, snakes, lizzards and insects are wandering through their yards
Building “The Wall” could have a significant impact on wildlife migration/movement across the Rio Grande changing how wildlife eats/mates/moves from Canada to Mexico. But, the construction continues to mar the landscape and limit the natural movement of butterflies, deer and birds.
Daily Quote: February 21, 2020
Grief is a process, not a state.
~Anne Grant (Scottish – Poet February 21, 1755 – November 7, 1838)
Caregivers Day
Cormorant’s don’t have oils on their wings, so they swim beneath the surface of the water. Their shape is perfect for diving for their dinners. However, they need to invest time drying their wings in the sunshine so that they can swim again without drowning.
Grief demands that you take time to mend your heart before you can dive into affairs of the heart and prepare to dive in again. Or so that you can begin to live again without crying or remembering the pain of lose. So that you can start to remember the good times and start to feel the pain again.
Daily Quote: February 20, 2020
A true photograph need not be explained,
nor can it be contained in words.
~ Ansel Adams (American – Photographer / February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984)
Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
Love Your Pet Day
Still mourning the fact that my Nikon D750 isn’t repaired yet. I’m trying to do my best with the used, obsolete Nikon CoolPix L340, With only 1 frame per second I really need to watch, wait and anticipate a good shot (and be lucky enough). Since I can’t take pictures in RAW, I also need to make sure the settings are close. I used the “pet” preset and underexposed for the light pink bird.
I’m really glad for the advise to underexpose light coloured birds and overexpose dark coloured birds (from the birding photography workshop at Estero Llano Grande.) Underexposing light coloured birds gives more definition to the feathers. The small camera moves around too easily, so I’ve been using a mono-pod to help steady the camera. Sometimes it’s not a bad idea to slowdown and wait for the right shot.
Using the screen instead of a view finder is also a bit difficult. Glare on the screen in the field on a sunny day doesn’t let you know what the shot will actually look like when you’re taking a picture.
This photograph of a bathing Roseate Spoonbill, was edited using Black and white choices in Fotor (free editing software package) . Fotor is my favorite editing software to add text and save my large format photographs in a smaller size suitable for posting on my blog site.
Ansel Adams was an environmentalist and photographer, best known for his Black and White Landscape Photographs of the American West.
Daily Quote: February 19, 2020
Wonders will never cease.
~ David Garrick (English – Actor / February 19, 1717 – January 20, 1779)
