R.I.P. "Happy"

Well, it's been quite some time since I last posted on our blog. I thought I would update everyone on some sad news about a dog that I blogged about earlier on. If anyone remembers, the dog's name was "Happy." He was our school dog at a small elementary school in rural Mississippi.  I'm sad to announce that "Happy" passed away earlier this week. He was found in a ditch next to our school barely alive. A teacher and our principal rushed him to the vet, but unfortunately it was too late. "Happy" came to our school approximately 13 years ago as a stray and has been with us ever since. You could always find "Happy" at the front door step of the school, on the playground with the children during recess, and standing by the children in the afternoon as they were all lined up for bus and car lines. "Happy" was loved by many throughout the years and will be greatly missed!

"New" ~ Angela

Well, my sister has introduced me to Faith's Simplicity blog and the fun photography challenges that are offered on it. I thought I would have some fun with it and enter this week's challenge - "NEW". My first entry on this blog is of my son's best friend's horses. This baby had just been born the night before I took this picture. I think he was probably only 6 - 8 hours old. Mom's name is "Bella" and had the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen on a horse! Anyway, I'm excited about participating in the photography challenges and learning more about photography from Faith and all the participants!

"New" ~ Delores

Angela and I have decided to participate in Faith's Simplicity Photo Challenge (right click on the logo to the right or on the name of her challenge and open in a new window to see Faith's blog). This week's challenge is "NEW."

During this Spring season I think of new growth and new roses. I took this photograph at the Tulsa Garden Center. TGC spends countless hours planning and planting their rose gardens so visitors can enjoy a long season of beautiful roses.  As always, you can click on a photo to see a larger version.

Everyone is invited to participate in Faith's Weekly photography challenge. Click on the logo below to find out more.

To see other entries in this week's challenge, click here.

Here's to something NEW,

Delores

Week 15: Magenta ~ Delores

"Dad, Did You Bring the Camera?"

Spring is finally here so I set out for one of Tulsa's wonderful places for photography.  The Tulsa Garden Center has plants indoors and outdoors. Today's Project64: Out of The Box photograph was taken in a greenhouse at the Garden Center. While I was taking photographs with both my Olympus and my cell phone, I overheard a young man who was watching me take pictures ask "Dad, did you bring the camera?"  I had to chuckle inwardly when I heard the father reply, "No, that would have been a great idea!!"  

This is a Bird of Paradise. There were two or three of these beautiful plants in full regalia in the greenhouse I visited.  For this particular plant, my mobile phone camera gave me the truest color. 

The sun was really bright outside when I had a chance to visit the Garden Center so I stayed with indoor photographs. I also went to the Orchid Show in the main building and I will be posting some photograhs from the show soon.

To learn more about Project 64 and to see other submissions for Magenta , visit the official Project 64: Out of the Box blog (right click on the name to view their site). We would love for you to join the fun. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Another crayon "Out of the Box"

Delores

Saturday's Lunch Special

Catfish delivery! Strange though, when Hiram delivered this to the nest, Julia hid the catfish under the straw. I didn't see the babies or Julia eating on it at all. I guess she decided it would be saved for later! (Some may wonder how we know what's going on in the nest. Two of the photographers have a

wireless camera scanner that picks up on the frequency of the camera that is installed above the nest. This allows one to view exactly what is going on in the nest. I want a scanner so bad, but it's around $400. Guess I'll have to wait!)

Hiram bringing in a fish as Julia checks it out

Here's Hiram bringing in a catfish for dinner as Julia sits checking it out. Check out his wing span!

Sibling Rivalry!

Well, this was an interesting and rather lengthy fight between the two babies. And yes, the babies actually get into fights in the nest. Twice now, I've seen on the video two actual knock-outs in which the baby was hit so hard by his sibling, that he fell over knocked out cold and lifeless in the nest. With this particular fight, there were no knock-outs - just a lot of head butting and "beaking" going back and forth between the two babies. And what does Mom do during these fights? She just sits and watches. I've not seen her intervene not one time.

A baby peeking out. They're growing!

Fish guts - Yuck!

Yuck! You never know what nasty stuff you will see in their beak or talons!

Hiram hears about the puddle

After Julia was finished in the puddle, Hiram then flew over to the same puddle to perform for us. He splashed around in it, and at times he even looked like he was dancing! LOL

Julia taking wet leaves back to the nest

After Julia was done playing in the puddle, she left out of it with wet leaves in her talons and headed back to the nest. We weren't sure why, other than maybe that was her way of getting water back to the nest for the babies to drink.

Julia playing in a puddle

After a big rain earlier this week, we watched Julia drink from a puddle and then begin playing in it. I'm not sure if this was a way of taking a bath, but it looked more like she was playing and having fun to me.

Lunch has arrived!

Hiram frequented the "Lite" menu today from the looks of this small fish. Guess this was dessert since the main course was a pretty good sized turtle earlier today. And wouldn't you know, I wasn't there for that! I have been wanting a "turtle in the tallons" shot for a while now!

Here's Hiram surveying the land. Just leave your small dogs home if you come visit him! They may end up lunch! LOL

It's fishing time! Off Hiram goes back to the river!

Checking things out

While I waited on Hiram to fly back in with fish, this bubble bee decided he would fly up to my camera and check things out. Whew! Check out the wing span on this little guy! LOL

A juvenile

So, this is what they call a juvenile. Just what is a juvenile? I like to think of it as an American bald eagle that is in the teenage years. As you can see, the markings are very different than what we know as the American bald eagle. It takes approximately 5 years for the juvenile to get the white head and white tail feathers.

Everything was a little "squirrely" today!

Well, I got to the eagles' nest late today and missed Hiram flying in with food. So, to make the best of it, I decided to "focus" (no pun intended) on photographing the squirrels today. It must have been dinner time, because there were probably around 20 - 30 squirrels scampering around and eating acorns at the Shiloh Park's visitor center. They were so close to me that I could actually hear them crunching as they ate on the acorns.

1...2..3... Fire!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this little guy cracked me up because he was at the base of the Shiloh National Park cannon with his paws on the handle. It looked like he was ready to fire off a cannon!

Look who I found in the meadow!

The Catch of the Day

Off Hiram goes back to nest with the catch of the day!

A Good Day Fishing!

I went to the river just to see if I could see Hiram fishing. Much to my surprise, here he came right at me with a fish! I was also surprised to see a dear friend and her children down at the river looking for Hiram too. Her children were so excited over how big the fish was! What a treat for us all that day!

Back with fish for Julia and the babies

Hiram caught a fish and is now flying back to the nest to feed his family.

Off to the River!

Flying in for a Landing!

Here's Hiram coming back to check on Julia and the babies.

Isaiah 40:31

Did you know that eagles are mentioned in the Bible 26 times?

Shiloh National Park Eagles

So here's my latest obsession - photographing two American bald eagles at the Shiloh National Park. Meet Hiram and Julia - I apologize Julia is not showing you her best side. She's tending to their newly hatched baby eaglets. Here's a link to a website that will show you Julia feeding her little ones. http://www.shiloheagles.com/ (Thanks to Ken Crawford for the video and Jay Turner for putting together such an awesome website that will give you more info on the eagles.)

Angela's Week 9 ~ White

Thanks to my beautiful model, Brittany!

Angela's Week 8 ~ Lavender

I have no idea what kind of flower this is, but I have a lot of them growing wild in my back yard.

Angela's Week 7 ~ Indigo

I'm a week late with the color, Indigo. It's been hectic lately. I found this when I went in the Shiloh National Park gift shop.

Angela's Week 6 ~ Apricot

I realize this is not the most photographic image, but as the saying goes, "Never judge a book by it's cover." This dog may look like an ole' yard dog lucky to find a home, but this is a special dog that has been loved by hundreds of children over the past 13 years. I would like to introduce you to "Happy," our school mascot. "Happy" came to our school 13 years ago as a stray dog, and has been with us ever since. If you ever come to visit our school, you would see "Happy" on the front steps greeting the children before they enter the building. Later in the day, when the bell rings for recess, you can find "Happy" on the playground hanging out with kids as they run and play. Then, at the end of the school day, you can see "Happy" standing with the children as they are in line to be picked up from school. Over the years "Happy" has made a big imprint on all of our hearts - children, teachers, parents, and even our state auditors.

For this week's color, I thought and thought on where I was going to find the color Apricot. Funny thing is, she was right under my nose the entire time!

Week 6: Apricot ~ Delores

"Hurry! I'm losing dark!"

Now that is something I never expected to hear myself say! Wanting to capture the most dark around my candle, I took this photo before sunrise this morning. Naturally my two dogs were eager to go in and out often while I was taking pictures. While standing at the back door waiting for one of our dogs to come inside I caught myself telling her "Hurry, I'm losing dark" because my lighting was going to change the closer to sunrise we got. I knew once the light started coming in through the windows I would not have the look I wanted. I had to chuckle when I realized what I had said. Usually we comment "I'm losing light" when we are outside taking photographs or working on something and we want every last second of precious light we can get. 

I had a lot of fun with my week 6 submission. This candle is called "Apricot Tea" and has a light apricot-y smell to it. (Don't you wish your computer had smell-i-vision? Emeril fans will recognize that phrase.) This was taken with my Olympus SP590UZ. My ISO was 125, Aperture ~ f/3.5, Shutter Speed ~ 1/20, metering was Pattern and focal length was 9.22mm. It was a toss up between the above photo and another photograph with a straight wick. I felt the curve in the wick was more appealing.

The candle appears a deeper shade of Apricot because there were no lights on in the room and I used a black backdrop behind the candle.

Want to see what was underneath the candle? Just for fun I took a photo with a light on behind me. If you look very closely you will see a piece of felt with zebra stripes {grin!} underneath the candle.

My ISO changed to 64 and my shutter speed changed to 1/15 for the photo taken from above the candle.

To learn more about Project 64 and to see other submissions for Apricot, visit the official Project 64: Out of the Box blog (right click on the name to view their site). We would love for you to join the fun. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Another crayon "Out of the Box"

Delores