shots worth sharing

Thanks for the detailed and very helpful commentary, Jack.   I'll go back and take another look at the original and full scale processed versions.  I think I may be able to refine it in the direction you suggest but it was taken in late, late afternoon so the grain may not be so much an artifact of processing but but noise. 

Regards,

Dave

to find your comment on a photo buried deep in my portfolio.  As a fan of your style, I can see how you might like this and I'm honored by your comment.  

Thanks, Ruud!  It's a bit darker here than I intended I'm afraid.

Thanks, Shawn. I have no idea who she is but she really is a cutie.  I wish she was a bit sharper but the equipment helps to deflect attention from that.

"...a resolute sense of ambiguity". Wonderful! 

Thanks Ruud!  I think I see McRitchie's influence in this one. ;~)

Thanks, Alberta.  It was a surprise opportunity when I spotted this guy on my porch.  It was kind of an awkward perch, photographically speaking, and the wings were really a challenge--one side or the other was just invisible at most angles.  The saving grace was that he let me get close enough with a 50mm Macro to get a good shot.      

Ironic, Shawn--the name of the stream is Dead Run (nobody knows why, exactly.)  I was actually walking the stream in search of herons but, finding none, was glad I had a short lens along.      

Thank, Ruud--I really appreciate that!   I'm a bit intimidated by landscapes (so many variables!)  but I do like this one.  Thanks for the confirmation ;~) 

Thanks, again!  I find the Redbud interesting even when it's not in bloom.  It's hard to photograph though.  It volunteers prolifically in my yard but seems susceptible to some sort of pathology which does strange things to the leaves.   

Thanks, Jack--good to hear from you.  This is Thomas Winan's waterwheel along the stream in a  nearby Park, part of which is Winan's former estate. The scion of a shipbuilding family, he was an engineer who directed the construction of the railroad from Moscow to St. Petersburg in the 19th century . There seems to have been no mill or other structure associated with the wheel so it's purpose is the subject of head-scratching speculation among the locals (myself included.)

This s worthy of extended contemplation and not only for the serenity--though there is that.  Beautifully conceived and executed!

Just super, David! Did I mention that I hate spiders? ;~)

Oh, wow David, this is beautiful!

I'm glad you like this one, David. The truth is that I've always noticed stuff like this (rather than what I was supposed to be paying attention to ;~)  Being retired and having a digital camera lets me enjoy it rather than fight it.  

Thanks, Les, this was a fleeting moment of pensiveness in a otherwise ebullient mood.

Thanks, Alberta--it kind of looks like matzoh to me ;~)

This is another one of those technically disastrous photos I can't resist posting.

Thanks so much, Ruud! 

I'm hoping to do better down the road but I'm just pleased to get a fairly decent shot of this Jay.  I assumed Blue Jays would be easy.  I was wrong: they're neither as plentiful nor as bold as I seem to remember.

Thanks, Ruud!  It was a spur of the moment whim but I thought it turned out pretty well.

I did not ;~)  For one thing I was locked out (I took this through chain link): for another, I have more nails than I need (tools and I have a tenuous relationship.)  Your point is well taken though.    

Thanks, Shawn.  Kkilling time while Clara was at the orthodontist. I found a pile of discarded line tape at a local tennis club (leastways, that's what I think this is.)