p.1 #1 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
So I have to start up by Thanking Dave for sending me a surprise. And what a nice one at that.
Sunday morning I met up with two of the guys in my photography group & we went to a local garden for basically the first time. I'd been there once before about 12 years ago & did not know what to expect. Well - - I expected a Japanese Garden. I was set up for "landscape" photography so to speak & was not really ready for what I ended up shooting this day.
But to my surprise I found that Dave had sent me a present. So Dave - - he arrived safe & sound & in good humor.
I need to point out that all these were shot hand held. They do not allow for tripods & none of us had our monopods with us....
So these are shot with either my 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor or 300mm AF-S f/4 (on occasion with the Kenko 14x TC) on my D300. On some I used either my Singh Ray Warming Polarizer or my Singh Ray Graduated ND filter...
Early in the morning I found Dave's surprise for me, but I only had the 24-70mm at the time so later on I ran to the car & got the 300mm AF-S & went hunting for Dave's surprise. I found him again.....
p.1 #4 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
Way to go Lil, you got the Nello bird and the Dave bird in one outing So, your landscapes look nice, lotus flower is very cool, nice work on the BCNH playing on the water slide Welcome to the world of Greenie entertainment! You have a nice specimen, they feel comfy in the shadows of the tree branches, nice pursuance Lil, aren't they fun to watch OK, you won't need to practice any on dragons, you got them good girl! Wow what fun you had, good for you
p.1 #5 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
Bmetcan wrote:
Nice shots Lil. I really like the color and texture of that last Lotus.
Steve
Thank you Steve,
glad you enjoyed. My husband loves that shot.
Lil
surfnron wrote:
Very nice Lil. Love the sharp detail on the last one ~ Ron
Thanks Ron,
I love how that one turned out. My husband's favorite.
Glad you liked.
Lil
Karl Witt wrote:
Way to go Lil, you got the Nello bird and the Dave bird in one outing So, your landscapes look nice, lotus flower is very cool, nice work on the BCNH playing on the water slide Welcome to the world of Greenie entertainment! You have a nice specimen, they feel comfy in the shadows of the tree branches, nice pursuance Lil, aren't they fun to watch OK, you won't need to practice any on dragons, you got them good girl! Wow what fun you had, good for you
Karl
Hi my friend,
Glad you like Karl. I'm not good at landscapes. Will have to work on those. Glad you like my little BCNH - - talk about detail - - I just forget how sharp that lens is. Greenie - - Karl... I spotted him first in the morning. Then I spotted him in the afternoon. My buddies could not find him once - - I had to find him each time. I had no idea how much smaller they are than the BCNH. Huge difference in size. Talk about camouflage on that bird. I would look away & then have to search for him to find him over & over again. Have to get him more out in the open. Boy was he a lot of fun. Like the Reddish Egret. The BCNH just stands there -- forever......
OK, Dragons down - - good to know.
This place was a huge surprise to us. The guys who did not make it are all in chock over what we found.
p.1 #6 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
Killer dragon Lil! Wow.
Lovely lotus, my favorite of the series, very well done.
Love the greenie in 13 too funny, congrats on you first. You and I have been living mirrored lives! Grebe babies, greenies, what next.
Tim
Aug 06, 2008 at 04:15 PM
Martin Good Offline • • • • • • • [X]
p.1 #7 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
Beautiful set Lil.
Looks like you had a lovely day and a lovely setting. Thanks for posting a photo of the gardens, it helps in visualising the close ups in their location. I really like the last lotus one.
Martin
p.1 #8 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
Nice set, Lil. The first image is very pretty, your floral images are lovely, I the Night Heron, and good job with the dragonflies. Too bad your Greenie was perched on an unnatural surface, then hidden in a tree. Gives you an excuse to go back, though.
p.1 #10 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
Lil, Glad your out shooting I find this set very interesting to view, its very nice that you started out with the location shot I'm going to pick a couple favs that I feel stand out above the already well done and fabulous others. Ok, my favs are 3, 7 and 8 Hey wait a minute I almost pick the same ones Jenna did
p.1 #11 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
Tim Kuhn wrote:
Killer dragon Lil! Wow.
Lovely lotus, my favorite of the series, very well done.
Love the greenie in 13 too funny, congrats on you first. You and I have been living mirrored lives! Grebe babies, greenies, what next.
Tim
Hi Tim,
glad you like my dragons. I'm presuming the last lotus - glad you like. I do love the feel of that shot. Glad you like the Greenie. You know, the first thought that came to my mind when I saw your Greenie was - - Here we go again - Tim & I finding at the same time.
Thanks Tim
Lil
Martin Good wrote:
Beautiful set Lil.
Looks like you had a lovely day and a lovely setting. Thanks for posting a photo of the gardens, it helps in visualising the close ups in their location. I really like the last lotus one.
Martin
Yes Martin - a great day & nice people to shoot with. Thought I'd add the location shot as that seems to be the new trend of the forum. Glad you like the lotus.
Glad you enjoyed
Lil
MaggieBee wrote:
Nice set, Lil. The first image is very pretty, your floral images are lovely, I the Night Heron, and good job with the dragonflies. Too bad your Greenie was perched on an unnatural surface, then hidden in a tree. Gives you an excuse to go back, though.
Glad you enjoyed Maggie,
glad the florals were liked. I like how those turned out. Yes, I am miffed about the setting of the Greenie, but after 8 months of looking for one I finally found one - so for now I'll take it. At least I now have a confirmed location for one with an ample food supply. Still I like the shots for the camouflage-effect. But I will be going back to try again. I have a shot with the Greenie on a rock, but I'm not happy with it. So I will try again.
Thanks Maggie
Lil
Raindrop_333 wrote:
Really great shots, Lil! I enjoyed them. My top picks are 3, 7, and 9. Thanks for sharing!
p.1 #17 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
Looks like you had fun, Lil. Aren't unexpected photo opportunities great?
I wouldn't crop too close in 10 & 11; I think displaying how well he (she?) is camouflaged is a key part of the shot. My suggestion would be another 10% or so - all of it coming from the empty space below the branch.
p.1 #18 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
Anti Matter wrote:
Wow, absolutely fantastic, Lil!! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 & 14 are gorgeous. The other's are merely splendid!!
Frank
Thank you Frank,
that's just too kind. But I'll take it.
Glad you like.
Lil
Bill James wrote:
A beautiful diverse set, well composed and exposed. Favorites are 9 and 14. Where is this magical garden?
Bill
Thank you Bill,
would you believe in the middle of San Fernando Valley in between two fwys. It's called The Japanese Garden. They have a lousy web site & really need better photos. So, right in the middle of Los Angeles.
Glad you like
Lil
Dave In La wrote:
oh.....I was getting worried Lil.
He has such an awesome habitat to explore/hunt in, but I think he's
a bit hesitant....it's so darn clean. WOW!!
that last floral is a sweet image
No need to worry any more - He's arrived & is safe & sound. Yes, he seemed a little hesitant, but eager to explore.
Clean, well we did find some trash in the lake & the guard told me he'd let the gardners know so they could clean the next day. Also, this is actually part of a water cleaning plant. They are using a biological filter to filter water which supplies Los Angeles with water. Some kind of algae does it. I kind of remember from the guided tour 12 years ago. The whole lake is filled with fish of all sizes.
p.1 #19 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
hhski wrote:
Outstanding especially the dragons!
Thank you - most kind
Lil
thehotel wrote:
Mighty nice job on these. You done did gooood.
Wacky roger
Thank you Roger,
very kind. Glad you enjoyed.
Lil
Elessar wrote:
Looks like you had fun, Lil. Aren't unexpected photo opportunities great?
I wouldn't crop too close in 10 & 11; I think displaying how well he (she?) is camouflaged is a key part of the shot. My suggestion would be another 10% or so - all of it coming from the empty space below the branch.
Thanks for taking a look Jay,
I had a great day & all I know is that next time I walk in with the 300mm in my backpack. Would love to drag the Sigmonster in there, but no tripod allowed.... So it'll have to be the 300mm with a TC or so...
As for the crops. Well, in some ways I agree. It's an ongoing discussion in between my husband & I. He pushes me to crop tighter & tighter & at times I give in.
I took probably 30 shots to get the one when the water reflected & bounced light into the Greenie's eye - - this one looks like & had bounce light right aimed for his eye.
p.1 #20 · A New First - -Thank You Dave - You Sent me a Surprise
Beauties, Lil, both the landscapes and the birds I love those two BCNH shots, especially the waterfall one, and the GH was icing on the cake, so to speak
)
I'm going to pick a couple favs that I feel stand out above the already well done and fabulous others. 
Thank you Frank,