Adventures of a Quantum Cowboy

Spring poppies bloom in the Antelope Valley.

No wicked witch here to add a bit of danger, but the colors at the poppy reserve a couple of weeks ago were fantastic. The Antelope Valley California State Poppy Reserve blooms every spring in an explosion of wildflowers, mainly in the yellow, orange, and purple range. The orange ones are, of course, the state flower and Dorothy’s bane, the poppy.

There’s a fair amount of wind out there during the day, so unless you get out there real early, plan on using fast shutter speeds and Image Stabilization if you’ve got it. During the blooming season, there is a fair amount of traffic out there, and you’ll find it impossible to get shots without any people in them (again, unless you get out there early morning). However, in a lot of the ones I took, the people added a great sense of perspective and scale, so it really isn’t all a bad thing.

The flowers attract plenty of interesting insects and beautiful butterflies on the leeward sides of the hills, which means the birds that eat them are around too. Bring both a long and a short lens because of this. Landscapes traditionally call for wide angle, but this and every other shot on the roll are with my 70-300… its a matter of framing, and if course Image Stabilization is a bonus. The circular polarizer really makes those clouds pop against a darkened blue sky.

Only three uploaded for now, more on the way as I get them through the scanner and PSPXI for cropping, straightening, and some sharpening to compensate for my crappy scanner…. no saturation boost necessary for these colors! Superia is great at getting true warm colors anyway, so I hardly ever need any at all, unlike the XTi, which needs some fiddling in post-process.

Get out there fast, the blooms won’t last long!

Camera: Canon EOS Elan 7ne
Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Film: Fujicolor Superia 200
(circular polarizer)

Antelope Valley California State Poppy Reserve
Lancaster, CA

Snapped these with the XTi on the way home from Bakersfield. Why was I in the lovely teeming metropolis of Bakersfield you might ask? Federal court. Yay for speeding tickets on a government installation. (Talked a $291 fine and 3-day base driving suspension down to $90 and traffic school by the way).

This stretch of CA-58 connects Bakersfield to Mojave, and crosses the Tehachapi Pass through the mountains. Look for some snowy winter shots from there these next few months.

Taken with “Shade” white balance, cropped to square in PSPXI.
ISO 200 - 1/320 - f/9.0 - 70mm.

Taken in monochrome mode. UV filter only.
ISO 200 - 1/400 - f/8.0 - 105mm.

Couldn’t resist, they all turned out so well… here are a few more from the collection. Camera: Canon EOS Elan 7ne. Lens: Canon 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM.

While I was in Boston, Emily took me to the science museum (boy does she know me). Much to my photographic delight, there was a butterfly garden that we could walk around in. Check out these shots with the Elan + Kodak Gold 200.

On the decent from Mt Waterman, we passed through several little valleys and canyons, most with some kind of yellow wildflower. I caught this bee up close. I really need a macro lens…

Elan + Fujicolor Superia 200

My parents recently moved to El Dorado Hills, a small community outside of Sacramento. Here are some photos collected over multiple visits during the last several months.

My mom likes roses… could you tell?

You may recognize this birdhouse from previous bird shots in NorCal.

Backyard Effects.

A path fit for an emperor.

Roses inside against the light.

Dragonfly.

A hot summer afternoon sitting on the backyard porch in Carmel, Indiana. All of these with the Pentax ME Super and Kodal Professional BW400CN film.

Mmmm ice cold juice.

A bird soars above.

Aspen and Roxie wrestling.

I didn’t do anything, I promise!

Met this lovely lady while in Amish Country for a wedding.

Exposed for the whole scene, focused on the gate. (XTi)

Exposed for the horse exclusively in this one, so the rest seems dark… brings out the animal though, I think. (XTi)

(Pentax, Kodak Ultra Color)

(Pentax, Kodak Ultra Color, channel filtered in PSPXI)

(Pentax, Kodak Ultra Color)

Some shots from El Dorado Hills and Placerville, CA.

Unidentified Butterfly.

Flowers.

Unidentified Butterfly.

Female House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus).

Best friends.

Female Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

My first thought was Bullock’s Oriole, but the shape of the beak and the pattern on the wings make me lean towards a male Black-Headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)

Dude… where’s the Bud Light?

A young American Robin (Turdus migratoris) (??).

male California Quail (Callipepla californica).

I decided to celebrate my recent Audubon Society membership with a trip up to one of their wildlife reserves in California. The Kern River Preserve is located on CA-173, which branches off of CA-14 just south of the junction with US-395. Part of a system of Kern River Valley wildlife refuges that span several hundred thousand acres, the KRP itself is a 1200-acre sanctuary for hundreds of species of birds and other wildlife. Overall I was able to photograph 3 species of butterfly, 7-12 species of birds (not quite sure on some of them… they may be the same), as well as some deer.

These are my first real bird identifications, and I’m still getting use to my field guide. If I have mis-identified any, please let me know.

Red Winged Blackbird (Aegelaius phoeniceus). This is one of the most populous birds in California.

I’m not sure on this, but I’m going to ID it as a young Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna). Anna’s Hummingbird is very populous in Southern California, so that is one sign, and also the young look like the female and often are missing the chin spots, which this one is. Not 100% positive though.

Oof, hummingbirds are tough. Ok, from the females of Anna’s Hummingbird, the Black-Chinned Hummingbird, and the Calliope Hummingbird… I eliminate Calliope based on the shape of the body, and the fact that the wings while perched do not extend beyond the tail. Between the remaining two, I’m going to call female Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) based on the shape of the head and a close call on the wingtip comparison.

This bird I believe is the male Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria). I almost went with American Goldfinch, but note the green-gray back. The American Goldfinch has the same yellow body, black forehead, and black wings, but is solid yellow behind the forehead.

Hard to say with only the head showing, but I would guess a female Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor. I base this on the bluish head, white belly area, and affinity for the next box.

It’s a bit far away, but I say this is a House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus). Birding more than anything has pushed me more and more towards getting a new telephoto! This 200mm works, but a 300 or 400 would be better.

Unidentified butterfly.