Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

A good friend and fellow photographer, Michael Elenko and I met at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge this morning to walk around, visit with each other and shoot [ok, photograph] birds in the Refuge.

We caught up with a group of volunteers and visitors who count birds each Wednesday morning. They are experts and point out birds that I never would have seen otherwise. We saw a tufted owl, yellow warblers, other birds whose names I do not recall, lots of geese, ducks, terns, blue herons and bald eagles throughout the day. Oh yeah, and two painted box turtles sunning on a large rock later in the day.

Michael brought his Canon 7D with a Canon 100-400mm lens f/4.5-5.6 IS L . I had my Canon 5D with two lenses: Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L and Canon 70-200 f/4 L. His camera was fast on multiple shot using auto-focus mode! His lens at full extension really did the job on picking out the birds in the brush and when they were flying low along the water.

Here are a few examples from each of our lenses. Michael was very gracious when I asked to borrow his big lens.

Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L [set at 70mm]

 Canon 100-400 lens f/4.5-5.6 IS L [set at 400mm]

Canon 70-200 f/4 L [set at 200mm]

The clouds hung around most of the morning and around 1:00 they dissipated offering a warm and very bright yellow ball of light. Oh yeah, that's the sun. Haven't seen that for a while this summer!

The bridge system is excellent because it allows visitors to walk over the tide flats and out towards the sounds. Anderson Island, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and points north were quite visible.

There are two old barns which I found to be very photogenic. This was taken with the Canon 24-70 lens set at 24mm with a polarizing filter attached.

  Love the wide angle aspect!

All in all it was a great day to hang at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge with Michael. Will be returning this summer with my wife Ashara, and again this autumn for a different palette of color and birds!

It's late and I'm off to sleep.

Marieh is Set Free!

Marieh tastes the sweetness of freedom since surgery! 

Marieh is the black horse

For those who don't know Marieh required two rounds of surgery in April due to a complication during the birth of her foal. We made a very tough and heart-wrenching decision to sacrifice the foal in order to save Marieh.

During the past 3.5 months Marieh stayed in a stall 24x7 while she was healing. Today Dr. Tricia Arnold from Tacoma Equine Hospital came out for Marieh's recheck and gave her approval to release Marieh to the herd. YEE-HAAA!

Marieh, Ashara, the herd and I want to sincerely thank the wonderful staff at Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital, specifically Dr. Wendy Mallot and Dr. Joanne Fehr when Marieh was in their care during the surgeries and subsequent recovery in April.

Also our heartfelt thanks to Dr. Meg deGravelles of Tacoma Equine Hospital

for taking care of our Marieh during the pregnancy, her quick response when Marieh was in labor, and of course post-surgery care when Marieh was at home.

A Happy Marieh

We are blessed to have our herd back to health.

CORVETTES EVERYWHERE!

Several months ago Ashara and I joined the Tacoma Corvette Club since we own a 2009 Corvette Coupe. 

This is Cydian, short for obsidian since she is black and beautiful. Yes, we name our cars...don't ask. 

Ashara's Volvo is Edward. Guess who he is named after? Hint: think vampires.

For the past 13 years the Tacoma Corvette Club holds their annual "Shadow" event at the Enzian Inn, Leavenworth, WA. This event is fondly named "The Shadow" 'cuz the Enzian is very close to the mountains and when the sun dips below the mountains, well you get the idea. 

This past weekend was the fourteenth annual event, and it was the first time we attended with the club. We visited with and got to know some of the club members better during the weekend since this is a close-knit bunch of Corvette enthusiasts. We really enjoyed the time around so many good people. There were attendees from other clubs including the British Columbia Corvette Club and a couple who drove their 'Vette from St. George, UT. They won the Long Distance award!



I think there were close to 85 Corvettes in the parking lot. Every model generation [C1 - C6] was represented at the event. The cars on display ranged from 1959 - 2011. 

The 1959 Coupe

I volunteered to be the official event photographer and man, I was working it Friday afternoon and all day Saturday! Ashara helped me keep track of all the cars that were in the various classes being judged. We put two slideshows together for the Saturday night dinner and awards presentation. Well over 200 photos were displayed and we heard lots of positive feedback!

A 2004 Custom Corvette

As you can see this car won 5 awards, including: Best Paint, Best Engine, Best Interior, People's Choice and Best of Show. Clearly the favorite this year!



To see more award winning cars, please visit my new and improved website.

Thanks for the read!

Where Have I Been?

OK, so my last post was 5 months ago. Not exactly staying current with this, eh?

All the news to bring you up to speed:

I am currently on sabbatical from work, which is nice. I am getting caught up on many home-based projects over the summer.

My wife Ashara and I visited family in Boulder, CO and Cheyenne, WY in June. This is our granddaughter Jayden enjoying a day at Frontier Park in WY.

We also visited a Wildlife Sanctuary in Keensberg, CO where their mission is to prevent and alleviate cruelty to animals which have been abandoned or subjected to deprivation or neglect. They provide care and boarding for such animals. These are beautiful animals whose lives are so much better since being cared for at the sanctuary.

It's a destination that is well worth the drive NE of Denver.

Still much to do around the homestead, so till next time, enjoy the summer!