My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
So, what’s the perfect job for a dog? Well, I came across these to two guys in Casa Grande, Arizona. The city was having a street fair/market and the owner of these dogs was selling hats for dogs. So, as you can tell from the image the models are hard at work. Yeah, I know, I cropped poorly. 🙁
I parked my rump on a bench along the foot path in Inniswood Gardens to watch the half dozen squirrels in front of me as they scampered along the forest floor in search of food. This time of year you will find them busy searching for and storing nuts and acorns near their dens for the coming winter months. The carpet of leaves has hidden some of their much needed food so their search for food has the feeling of a game. You can hear the rustling of leaves as they stick their noses under the carpet of leaves in search of their treasure then quickly lift their heads and move to the next location as if to say, “Nope, nothing there. Maybe it’s over here.”
Every so often they seem to be playing a game of tag with one another but I soon realize they are being territorial as they chase one another around. Their work at this time of the year is a necessity and feels hurried, yet they seemed to also be having fun and no one gets hurt. I enjoyed watching.
Catch light or catchlight is a photography term used to describe either the specular highlight in a subject’s eye from a light source, or the light source itself. A catch light may be an artifact of the lighting method, or have been purposely engineered to add a glint or “spark” to a subject’s eye during photography. It is one of the first things I look for in photo, whether it’s a portrait or a small inquisitive squirrel. It adds life to the image and helps us to focus on the eyes. It can be subtle as in the image above or it can be brilliant where there’s even an image inside of the catch light itself. I will admit there are times when I’m disappointed in my shoot for the day because I do not have those catch light and, to me, something is missing.
When I arrived home last night around 10:00 p.m. it was raining cats and dogs, BIG cats and dogs. This morning has presented another gray sky with rain continuing to fall. Rain tapping on my window seems to help me sleep, so I had a good nights sleep. In contrast to the amount of rain I do not seem to have many words this morning. As for an image to post I grabbed this one. I encountered this little one last week at Inniswood Gardens.
Thanks for the comments to yesterday’s post. I loved Steve’s answer! Not sure about any of you but even half the $2000 would be wonderful. I hope everyone has a super day!!
I’ve never seen an albino squirrel before moving out here to the Ohio Valley. I encountered this one while taking a walk through Inniswood Gardens. Despite periodic complaints about the animal as a pest, general public opinion towards the animal is favorable, thanks to its agreeable appearance, intelligence and its eating styles and habits. They grace our parks and bring smiles to children and me.
Wikipedia search found the following information about the albino squirrel. Olney, Illinois, known as the “White Squirrel Capital of the World,” is home of the world’s largest known albino-squirrel colony. Kenton, Tennessee is home to about 200 albino squirrels. There are also albino squirrels on the main campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Brevard, North Carolina and Marionville, Missouri have a substantial population of white (not albino) squirrels. Western Kentucky University has a locally famous population of white squirrels.
Two of my roommates made a day trip to the zoo this past weekend and as you would expect for a weekend, children were everywhere. And, why not, aren’t zoos for children? NO! they are for all of us to enjoy. Anyway, Jamie was showing me images this morning and it triggered my mind to the images I took this past summer. I looked back through them and found some I really like. I added a few images to my gallery that you can find here. I enjoyed the above image depicting the enjoyment of a child meeting nature up close and personal and I chose the the following image as it shows and adult enjoying the nature.
After a delicious salmon Christmas dinner and it was such a beautiful day I took a walk in Blendon Woods Park. I came across this white-tail deer on the path leading to Thoreau Lake. He was quite a ways off and the longest focal length I had was 200mm, I gave it a try. It is surprising how long they will stand and watch you.