I was fortunate this morning to see six turkeys foraging about my yard. I snatched up my HP 850 and was able to capture a few dozen shots. Unfortunately, at 8X most were blurred beyond interest. I found two worthy.
Edge of the front field
Near the river

None of the group shots turned out nice enough. It's time to shop up a good telephoto lens for the XT.

I was watching football and doing some computer work a few hours ago when out of the corner of my eye I saw "my" resident  doe meandering about my yard. I grabbed my HP 850 and with all the stealth I could muster, made my way out the door and onto the porch. I was able to take 50 or so shots before she disappeared once more. I was sitting on the steps, holding my breath, not moving a muscle, save the finger on the shutter release, when she looked right at me. Click.

She didn't bolt when she saw me. Had she seen me so much as twitch though, she would have.

Tv 1/225
Av 3.7
ISO 100
Range: 30 to 35 yards
Zoom:  8X.

A view of Six Flags Magic Mountain. Synchronized to 4:00 PM GMT. Fogged Out

Flowers? We don't need no stinkin' flowers!!

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Three Four
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Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
 Fourteen
Fifteen Sixteen
Seventeen Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty One
Twenty Two
Twenty Three

A few shots from the archives.
Morro Rock
2
3
Sur

I'd like to share a picture of me giving my darlin' a  bath. For those of you with queasy stomachs, please be forewarned, this is graphic. Note the artistic integrity, the use of color, light, the 'personality' of my l'il sweetie. Is she hot or wut? Scrubadubdub

I took a drive up in the  hills a few days ago. I came across this pretty little lake.  2.

Just looking at a lake gives one cause for pause, so I walked across the road and lightened my load.

This  guy was passing by as I was saying bye.

On the way home I stopped to shoot a tree and look back at the hills when this sight called.

 

On my way back to SoCal from Stockton last month, I stopped off in San Francisco for a couple of days to visit with friends. A couple of us drove up to Twin Peaks to get a bird's eye view of the city. The  observation area was temporarily uncrowded as there was a lull in tour bus activity. Are there any bad vantages for shooting the Golden Gate?Or Alcatrazfor that matter?

I was hesitant to make the hike up to one of the actual peaks due to winds exceeding 40 knots, at the time. But my friend persisted in chiding me. I almost had him convinced the wind would blow us into the bay when a hundred pound Asian man walked by with his 5 year old daughter... heading up to the peak. My case was lost and up the spiraling path we went. Sure enough the winds were fierce. I kept my head down and my body as close to Mother Earth as possible.. to minimize the wind's effect on my person. No pictures going up or coming back down...I was focused on not being blown off the peak,lol. Once on top, I spied some rocks protruding some 8 inches above the center of the summit...I made my move and claimed them as my own. Sure, sure, an eight inch outcropping of rock on the top of  a hill doesn't afford much protection for a 6'4" 200 pounder, but dropping to my keester and catching my breath while clinging to the rock made me feel more secure anyway. So these two shots were my fruit for climbing.
 The City From Top Of A Twin..Peak A little bit of
Zoom is all I need...

As I told my friend "Had we not visited Haight Ashbury first...."

 

I have the dubious distinction of having spent a month in an Extended Stay America in Stockton CA. Early February may not be the best time to spend there, but it was probably as good as any.

One of the brighter spots was happening upon a bike/walk path along the Calaveras River, while walking the pooch one afternoon. After passing through a gate that transforms private property to a public path, during daylight hours, there's a nice levee, bisecting people's backyards from the river, to walk along.

There were all sorts of interesting and unigue water craft/homes to admire, as well as the tranquil beauty associated with the local nature.

The Elephant House was the most notable, I think. I got the history of this house from one of the longtime residents across the river from same. The short version is that he used to be a commercial sailor of sorts and didn't want to build his house on the land he inherited and he had a thing for elephants, so he designed and built this "boat"If you look closely you can see the tusks, eyes, ears, trunk, legs, etc. A few years back, his daughter convinced him it was time to build on land and he did... it's directly behind his Elephant House, just out of camera's reach.

There were quite a few similarly unigue  houseboats and floating houses 2 3 4 5

This dock looked like an ideal spot for coffee and reflections.

Passersby enhanced the ambience. Life on the river seemed ducky for all.

Stockton Yacht Club was near the end of my trek. They offered slips and more slips with older craft failing to avail themselves.

Overall, the walk had a very homey feel, neglected toys and all.

The walk back was met with the sun going down and the moon rising.

I had a few hours to kill yesterday, so I visited Santa Monica. While I've been there before I'd not been on the pier.  

There was an interesting building seen from the pier, constructed of what appeared to be containers.
Container Bldg

Walking along Ocean, The Georgian Hotel caught my eye.

Normally I would engage locals in conversation, but most seemed to be enjoying Siesta Time in the
warm sun or the
cooler shade

Some just seemed to be  
Dreamers while others just seemed
fetal
A few may have been
Camping Out and some just
Socializing

Don't let people tell you there are places the Sun Doesn't Shine ....simply taint true.

Another day at the beach... Morning Constitutional

Hello seasoned community and fellow noobs. In the last 24 hours I've managed to reclaim my original identity, upload a few shots, and read a great many helpful hints here. I'm exposing a small sample of my work for general consumption and criticism.

First I'll offer the obligatory sunset
sunset, just to get one out of the way. This was taken at Cayucos,CA a year or so ago.

Next, is a shot I took back home in bama while strolling the back forty, this past summer. chopper. The power company sent a crew out to replace high transmission lines with shielded wire... less EMF is way better and more energy efficient.  

And finally, a shot of the Golden Gate bridge taken awhile back, one of my first trips to San Francisco.bridge

Except for adjusting the sizes according to Cory's specifications, these shots are unaltered in any other way.

If this first attempt is successful I'll put together a more extensive rack of photos and rather than wing the story part, I'll think it further through.

Thank you in advance for any and all constructive critques and encouragement.