Project 365 - Day 287 - Guess what this is....

Cedar "leaf" on a black rock.  The cedar has started to turn and this is one of the cast off "leaves" (for lack of a better term).  I put it on this leaf for contrast - originally I had it on a white background but that was too much, then I put it on a brown-grey rock which took away from the cedar.  With the black, you see the texture of the leaf and also some of the rock itself.

Shot with my 60mm macro.

Project 365 - Day 286 - Yucky and Raining

Yucky and rainy day today.  BTW, those are official weather terms used by our weather network.  So when it is  raiing it is hard to get outside to shoot.  Everything looks grey and drab, so you look for colourful spots everywhere.  Look down, see what you can see in the gardens, the leftover colour from summer plants and early fall bloomers.

I deliberately undexposed  this one, the dark edges pull the viewer into the centre part where the colour is.

Project 365 - Day 285 - Rhino

Went to the Metro Zoo today.   I got this shot of a Rhino on his way to a mud hole to cool off.   They are pretty cool to see in person, their moves are slow and purposeful, almost like their whole day is planned.  If they start to get going, get out of their way ... :-)

Project 365 - Day 284 - Daffy Duck

I know, Daffy isn't a mallard, but this guy is a duck and he is kind of daffy.  Went down to this creek to take some shots this evening, but by the time I got to where I wanted to shoot the light was all but gone.  I was chasing these little kingfisher type birds around, and it was really hard to get them because they are skitterish.  There were, however, a group of male mallards just hanging around ...

This guy was standing watch, keeping a close eye on me as I moved around on the rocks.  I am about 30 feet away from him, so I have my 70-200mm lens on.  He isn't threatened - yet.  He's also probably young and foolish - you can almost see his pants hanging halfway down his butt ... :-)

Project 365 - Day 283 - Lakeshore Promenade

I had a location in mind tonight, but I ended up leaving work really late and the sun was already setting on my way home.  So I pulled off the highway and went to Lakeshore Promenade park in Mississauga.  I was shooting various sunset related pictures, and then I noticed this scene - that looked like an island but was really just the corner of the shoreline.  The shore rose in the middle, and then tapered off on either side - perfectly photogenic.

I used my flash set on 1/1 power and had my shutter at 30s in order to smooth out the water that had a slight chop.  My flash was in my hand and I popped it off 17 times during the 30s shutter to get this.

Darkened the sky a bit as it was a tad overexposed, and bumped up the colour a bit.

Project 365 - Day 282 - Sumac leaves

There's a park south of the Oakville GO station here in town.  The park is pretty cool, and I have shot there a number of times, more so in the winter and early spring.  It has a river that runs through it and there is lots of tree cover.  I chased a cardinal around for a while one day, never getting that perfect shot.

I drive by at least once a week and I have been watching the leaves turn.  They are getting close to peak, but some of the trees have turned already.  Today, I braved the GO station traffic and ventured into the park.

This is a Sumac branch with the leaves cascading off.  The Sumac has turned red, while a lot of the foliage around is still green. 

Project 365 - Day 281 - Green Bug on Yellow Flower

Well, the name says it all...

Was late at work today and when I saw that the light was failing, I had to get out and shoot.  Grabbed the station's D40 and took some shots.  I saw these flowers every morning coming in, so I was going to shoot them.  Then I saw the green bug.  Perfect... :-)