Kim and I had another busy but fun filled weekend. We had tickets to see Art Garfunkle perform at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. What a great show! At 74 he still has it. And not just his music but his wonderful story telling ability and his on point sense of humor.
As with any Summer time trip to AC we made a point to spend a little time on the beach. We lucked out too because there was the ever present chance of rain but we didn't get any until we got in our car to head to our hotel.
This being an overnight trip I didn't really get out to shoot much. In fact my DSLR never left it's case. I did grab some pics with my phone and will probably share some over the next few days. But for now I would like to share this one that I got just a little while ago at the Cafe.
These little guys sure are difficult to work with. But I was able to grab a few good pics out of the dozens of frames I shot. I also got some great shots of some of our other guests that you will see this week. Please stay tuned. Now, continuing with my new "I've seen some things" category I would like to show you this.
I saw this while waiting at a red light last week. Now I understand this is a real business but it still makes me laugh a little. Well okay maybe a lot. I blurred the number but if you are in need of their services I can forward you the whole thing. And to imagine that I scoop lots of it for free.
This morning while tending the Cafe I thought it would be nice to set up my camera and grab a few shots of our various patrons. And there sure was a lot of them. So after sifting through the nearly two hundred frames that I captured I came upon this little guy.
This was one of the rare moments that I was able to photograph just one bird at this feeder. Soon after this it was a packed house. I'll probably show you one of those pics in the near future. And now...
Going through a bunch of photos this afternoon I was trying to decide what to share with you today. It dawned on me that I haven't posted a squirrel lately. So here's one from the Cape May County Zoo.
Today has been a long one my friends and this is going to be another quick post. For a photo I would like to share this view of the lake behind Hershey Farm, Restaurant and Inn in Lancaster County Pennsylvania.
Kim and I were in Lancaster for dinner to celebrate my sister's birthday with family and friends. It was a very lovely time. And now...
For no particular reason I would like to share this rooster with you.
Well maybe the reason is because it is getting late and I need to be quick with today's post. But he's still a pretty cool rooster isn't he? I shot this at Smithville Village in Galloway New Jersey a few weeks ago.
Yesterday I shared yet another photo from the Cape May County Zoo taken during our recent trip. Today I would like to show you these from our visit to Lucy the Elephant in Margate New Jersey.
A classic view of the legendary pachyderm that has had a rough life but has rebounded nicely. You can read more about her here and here.
I wanted to do this shot for a while. It gives us a glimpse of what Lucy's eyes gaze upon every day. Not a bad view huh?
Well folks, I don't know about you but we had some really bad rain and wind this evening. More than I have seen in quite a while. In fact we lost power for almost two hours. That is something else that hasn't happened for a while. And as it happens I was shooting what turned out to be a very short video when it happened. I'll share it below but first I would like to show you yet another photo from the Cape May County Zoo.
This is one of the few zoos I have visited that truly has a great space for giraffes. There is plenty of room for them to run free. Have I mentioned that I love this place? We go there at least once a year and it never gets old. Okay here is the storm video I promised. Let me say first though that it does not even begin to show just how bad it was. And the last crack of lightening at the end is when everything shut down for a couple of hours.
Good evening friends! Hot enough for you? If I had a dime for every time I heard a heat related statement today I could probably retire. But I suppose it's just human nature. We are obsessed with the weather. Especially extreme weather. And to give you an idea of how hot it got around here today take a look at this.
Yep. 104°F (40°C) Not uncommon in the American Southwest but a tad high in Southeastern Pennsylvania. But it has since cooled down to a frigid 88°F (31°C) For today's photo I would like to share a closeup of one of our favorite Summertime flowers. The Vinca.
Vinca are not just pretty. They are also very hardy in direct hot sunlight. It is no wonder that many townships around here and also many commercial establishments use them in their landscaping. We were actually a little late in planting them this year but since we have they have taken off very well. I'm sure I will be sharing one or two more shots with you over the Summer.
How's the weather where you are? Here in the northeast it's been very hot and humid with temperatures reaching 95° and up. And it feels even hotter. Well with hot and humid weather also comes the chance of thunderstorms. And boy did we get some. None of them long lasting but damaging nonetheless.
Kim and I spent much of our day going about our routine shopping trips and such. But when driving home in the late afternoon we came across this.
This is about 3/4 of a mile from home. The only other ways home are about three mile out of the way. Which isn't bad I guess. But while trekking an alternative route we saw lots of damage. But at home we were fortunate not to have had any damage of our own. Now on a completely different note I would like to try something new.
Kim and I are often on the run. Sometimes it's close go home and many times somewhere a bit further away. We both feel that it is important to get out there and see as much as we can. After all life would be boring if all we did was work and then sit at home. We're going to do what we can while we can. And you know what? When there is that day when we can't get around as good as we once did I will sure have a lot of pictures to look at and reminisce. Now, when you are out and about a lot you will sometimes see a thing or two. If you know what I mean. So I thought it would be fun to share some of these moments with you. How's that sound? Okay, here we go. While shopping today we found ourselves at one of our local Walmart stores. I say "one of" because we have three within five miles from home. Anyhow, as we made our way down one of the store aisles I look over and see this.
I guess when you're hungry you're hungry. And at least whoever opened this can and ate it's contents was trying to watch their diet. The chicken is lower in fat than the pork. And thankfully Vienna Sausage is fully cooked right out of the can!
How's that for a start? I will try to post my sightings once a week on the weekend but I am not promising anything. We'll see how it works out.
I was going over several days worth of RAW images today trying to decide what I would like to share with you and came across a lot from the Cape May County Zoo from our July 4th visit. I really did shoot a lot that day. So after a bit of back and forth I chose this.
That is one sleepy owl! Over the next week I'll probably have more from the zoo but I hope to have some new stuff too. And I am still working on that project I recently mentioned. Stay tuned!
Today I would like to share one more shot from our weekend trip to Jenkins Arboretum. This time I thought you would enjoy a bit of scenery. This was my view from the edge of the lake.
Yes, it is as quiet and peaceful as it looks. One can do a lot of relaxing there. Or photographing :) And now...
While out photographing the other day I had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of natures most feared yet also most interesting insects. There was a time when you couldn't get me near one of these little guys but I have grown to be fascinated by them. And I have found that when treated properly there is very little risk of upsetting them. I am of course talking about the all important bee.
As far as I know I am not allergic to bee stings. But the last time I was stung was as a child. Probably about 40 years ago. And I know we can develop allergies as we age. So I will be very careful as I capture them on film (or virtual film).
When Kim and I were at Jenkins Arboretum the other day I saw lots of wildlife. But I saw a lot of plants and flowers too. Today I would like to share this one with you.
And how about another video? This is a few more minutes of my walk along one of the several paths that take you through the grounds.
It seems that wherever I go I find a squirrel. Or maybe they find me? This is another shot from our trip to Jenkins Arboretum yesterday afternoon.
For a wild squirrel I have never seen before this guy was pretty friendly. He's probably used to being around people. I also have another short video to share.
Like I told you in yesterday's post Kim and I had a very busy weekend. But it was mostly "fun" busy so that is a good thing. Today as we were out and about we did make time to stop at one of my favorite photographing locations. Jenkins Arboretum in Devon Pennsylvania. Jenkins is very close to our home but for whatever reason we have not been there for quite some time. But we made up for it today because I got lots of good stuff to share with you and I even got to work on my current project. I mentioned about a week or so ago that I was working on a special project but it is going to take a bit of time. But I think it will be pretty cool and possibly a bit enlightening in the end. I hope you think so too when it is done. But enough of that for now. How about today's photo? I believe today's photo is a first for me. It's one of those subjects that is not really rare but kind of hard to capture. Please have a look.
It's a chipmunk! Jenkins has lots and lots of chipmunks but as you may know they are very fast and very skittish. On top of that I didn't have my long lens and had to make do with my regular walk around lens. But I did my best and think it came out pretty good. I also shot a few videos today and would like to share a couple with you.
It's been a busy day for Kim and I so this is going to be a quick post. Today I would like to share two more shots I got last week of one of our hummingbirds.
I was out in the Garden Cafe this evening cleaning and filling up the feeders and I noticed a bee hanging around one of the hummingbird feeders. I thought it was a long shot but I went inside and grabbed my camera to see if I could get a good shot. And for today's photo I would like to share this with you.
I was kind of nervous shooting this but he was much more interested in the nectar than me. Sometimes the hummingbirds have to work around or chase the bees away. And here is a video I meant to show you last week. It's a small glimpse of one of our mornings at the beach in Atlantic City during our trip for the Independence Day holiday.
Where does a 150 lb mouse sit? Wherever he wants of course! But though today's photo subject is a rodent it certainly is no mouse.
This is of course a capybara. The worlds largest rodent. Shot at the Cape May County Zoo this is the most active I have ever seem one of these guys. Especially on a rather hot and humid day.
Continuing with our trip to the zoo last week I would like to share this awesome egret with you today.
The bird exhibit at the Cape May County Zoo is yet another reason to visit. It houses many species and is one of my favorite places to photograph. And if you want to learn a little about egrets click this link. And now...
For the past couple of days I have shared a little bit of our Garden Cafe. Mostly it's guests. Today I would like to take you back down the shore and to the Cape May County Zoo. Take a look at this beautiful girl.
This is one of the zoo's female lions doing what cats do on a warm Summer day. If you look very closely you may be able to see that I shot this through a chain link fence. Luckily I was able to adjust my camera to make it mostly "invisible". And now...
As you may know I spent a lot of my time yesterday capturing images of our hummingbirds. But we have a lot more than hummingbirds here at the Cafe. We get a large variety of visitors. And speaking of large here is a pretty large groundhog.
Like much of the wildlife around here the groundhogs are getting a little braver when we are around. They are still cautious and will run if we get too close but they don't take off just because we are in the yard.
Hi and welcome to the Daily View! When I got up this morning I did what I often do early on a weekend morning. I spent some time in our front garden enjoying the wildlife that visits the Cafe. As always I filled the feeders and made sure there was clean water in the fountain. I also checked on the hummingbird nectar to make sure it wasn't cloudy. I just put fresh nectar out yesterday so it was all good.
I wasn't going to photograph because I still have so much to review from our trip to the shore last week but when I saw a hummingbird stop by I just had to grab my camera, tripod and remote and get to work! I am happy to say that it was all worth it. I shot dozens of frames and am very pleased to have come up with three or four good ones. There are a lot of variables in photographing hummingbirds and capturing a good image is not always easy. Today though it all fell into place. And I would now like to share these two with you. Enjoy!
I have some more that I will share soon. Please stay tuned!
