Look at this site....The birds look like they are 3D....There is a hummeringbird festival in Ft. Davis, Tx and his link was there...I'd love to be able to do photography this way...It's very interesting!http://www.birdsinflight.net/intro.html

I put this in Articles but not sure where it will go so if it didn't end up the right place ....could an editor please move it for me? Thanks!

On Your mark... Get Ready...Get Set... WAIT! We're hungry!! WAIT!  WAit!!...go...Ok! Ok! Don't  push me... Finally! Finally! The nest is all mine and I am alone...

 This all happened yesterday and the last one was still in the nest this afternoon....I'm not sure that I saw the new pilot yesterday but there were several at the feeder  and I couldn't pick the little feller out! I guess he was ready...Now just waiting for the #2 one to leave so I can have empty nest syndrome!

I hope I haven't taken my last pictures of the hummingbird babies...They have grown so fast in the last day or two. There are stilltwo. Mama now gives us buzz jobs! She isn't happy at the picture taking! So not the best quality...Taken with the Sony F707. It is just easier with it!.
The babies just look at us and say...Does this nest make us look fat??

Every morning that I go out to see them, I am afraid that they will be gone. I have really enjoyed them...
ClassyShot..you asked what kind they were?? I don't know, They are kinda bland with a little green on their back but not much....What kind are they?   Enjoy!

The babies are growing up. It has rained all day and I was worried about them...I sent husband out to see about them and mama was on the nest..She left but came back to feed them..Hubby got to watch with a spotting scope..but didn't bother to tell me. I went out to check on all of them but mama left. I got a picture anyway. Not the best quality but in order for you to see, I had to enlarge it and crop...They are growing too fast...In a few days!.....

Anupdate  on the story of the baby hummingbirds  in one of my trees...
My husband has taken over the Sony F707 since I got the new Canon30D, so these are his pictures. I can see I am going to need more lenses!
The hummers are so tiny and sure are naked!  There are still two. They look like caterpillars with a few feathers sticking straight up right down the center of their backs.... I don't know if you can see it or not but there is poop from MaMa on the leaf and the side of the nest where she sits and guards them. Notice the beak is getting longer on the one you can see. Looks like they are growing and doing well. We are feeding mom and dad up by the house so maybe I can get a good pic. of them...until next time...

We have a hummer who comes every year but this year we've found her nest. It's a tiny thing and had  .2eggs in it. The nest is interesting on it's own. In a couple of days I checked it and 1 egg had hatched...You can barely see him or her! You can see the beak. Then in a couple of days we checked and there are2 babies ...You can hardly make out the two little babies... I'll do an update in a few days of them growing...The nest would fit in a tea cup! It has spider webs woven in! Nature is great!
I took the 2 eggs with the Sony F707 and the other 2 with my new Canon 30D...which I am still learning how to use! The last picture isn't very good so will work on that!  later!

I had decided it was time to upgrade to a better camera! I contacted Mike at ClassyShots by PM. He was more than happy to help and really did a great job. I usually get the "wants" and don't do my research on the product or the company...  Mike slowed me down and asked just the right questions and made me do some research! I did and found a really good deal on a Canon EOS 30D and two lenses.... A really great buy, it was several hundred dollars cheaper than I had found any place else! I called the company and yes it was in stock and they answered all my questions about the 2 lenses....I thought about it and looked everywhere else for prices and some came close....really close, but I figured that if I could save even 50.00 that would buy another CF card!!! Right?....Well I called to order and bought the bargain extended warranty from 699.00 to a great buy of only 199.00 for 3 yrs. So I gave my Debit Card #'s ...Then they tell me it is a 6 week wait...it's not in stock!  I cancelled the order! But they have all my #'s! I called the bank and they can't stop the  debit card but my withdrawal limit is 1000.00 and I ended up spending way over that so the card wouldn't go through anyway, even if they tried it! And to make a long story short!!!...I researched the companies and found one that really has good feedbacks....Ordered the 30D with the standard lens for more than the other dealand got the extended warranty for 3 yr for 89.00, but I can feel really good  because it wasn't a scam!  17th street Photo told me they hear stories just like mine everyday. It's a bait and switch scam.

So the moral of my story is go to this site and check out the company you want to use for your photographic needs.  This place is excellent.... http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1895.html  This is just one of the companies I looked up. I looked up 12 different camera companies and got the same results as above !  Lots of them are all one company and just work under different names. Mike told me to buy from a reputable company and I am a very trusting person so I just assumed that they all were trustworthy, if they had good feedback on their internet page.... Ok so now I am older and wiser!! And still have most of my money!
Thank You Mike for guiding me along, I won't forget your kindness!
Carla

This is a creek reflection in the desert. The creek is usually dry but it had rained so much that it washed another part of the creek out and over the road. This part made a pool and stayed for a while. It's so dry in my part of Texas, it's unusual to find water!

I have been asked to please start signing my photos. I am unsure what to use to sign with.  Someone told me there is a gold paper and you lay it down and sign and pull it off and it leaves the signature. Can you wonderful guys help me and let me know what you do to sign your photos. Also how do you copyright them or do you??
Thanks in advance for all your help!
westex49
Carla

During Gallery Night in Alpine one of our friends brought his estate jewelry.
While he packed up the next morning I used the time to take pictures of his treasures. I piled his turquoise  jewelry up in a copper pot and tried to get some shots. Next came the beadwork.

This is my Thirds entry, these are orange potterybeads. I knew if I didn't get these shots now I would never have this much jewelry in one place again!

I wanted it ALL!

Well it was Gallery Night in Alpine. All the stores are open with food and drink! I showed in a friends store with her. Here are a few that I hung. I sold several which made me really happy since I invested in a new printer. It's the HP 8700. It prints to size 13X19...It was great! Here's a few that I put in the show...My grandkids reflections of the creek a sepia a bird bath at sunset
This can also be my entry for the thirds theme...

On a trip to Ft. Davis Tx and around the Loop..I saw this cactus growing in the fence. A little way up the road there is a picnic area with a creek just behind it. After a small climb over the fence....There was the creek with some fast water. Of course the other side looked better and I crossed....and yes I did get my shoes wet! I did get to some white water. This was the  creek. It was a beautiful day.

Back home and in the backyard I found the last of the tomato and the purple jew and vikings. My  fountain grassisn't looking so good...Oh well here comes winter! I can't wait for spring!

Well it's finally fall here in west texas. The leaves are starting to turn and fall to the ground. I do still have some blue flowers left in the garden ( their name excapes me right now). I have some Silver Lace vines left and they are still blooming! The bugs and bees still appreciate the lunch they get! I thought this was a bumble bee but when I looked on the computer it wasn't! I don't have a clue what he is...Let me know if you do.

I'm cheating but thought you'd like to see The piggy back shuttle My nephew, Chris Pelfrey took these at Altus AFB, Ok. He was parked on the north end of the runway on the road outside of the base (along with a zillion others). This is the shuttle on landing .It was a tire smoking landing .This was a really cool picture I thought.And this is the shuttle on the ground and down . He took these shots with an older Sony Mavica. The one that uses a floppy. They landed about 1;20pm.CST and took of again about 4:15pm CST. A little piece of history.....Enjoy!

Recently we spent a hot afternoon at the Indy Zoo. We found this snake taking a siesta. This was a dragon seahorse and he looked comfy hanging out on his beads. Walking on we stopped at the Dolphin show. They were fast and I was slow....It was dark also, so I didn't get very good pictures, but here are a pair ofdolphins underwater. If any of you have children then you know about the movieracing stripes. The zebra talks, the fly really talks, the pony talks and etc, etc, etc. Well I saw him at the zoo too!
Enjoy!!We did!!