Saturday, 18 April 2009

Camera Critters - Birds and a Marmot



aCamera Critters


Took these first four shots a couple of months ago, shortly after getting my 35 mm SLR. In fact, I think it might have been the first roll of film I shot..




Such tranquil scenes...

Some of the bird life at Virginia Lake in Reno, NV. I'm lucky enough to live about a 10 minute walk away, so it's a favourite place of mine to go..

That little island, in the second photo, is known as Seagull Island and usually just resembles a large blob of gulls. I think most of them were out on the lake, the day I took that photo..



My first attempt at taking a shot of geese in flight. Definitely a tad shaky. They don't look quite as blurry on the originals, but seemed to have developed it on the upload.

I think that a telephoto lens is definitely on my shopping list .... along with a macro lens :-)

How long away is Christmas??? :-)

This was taken the other day, when I walked up to a field about a mile and half away from us. It has a colony of marmots living there, who are a source of endless entertainment.

Both photos were taken with my small point and shoot digital. I also shot two rolls of 35mm, but they're currently away being developed. Apparently, the old two day service is now a five day service!!

Sending them out to be developed, is a little cheaper than the 1 hour option.

Time to look into developing my own, methinks !! :-)


This might look like a field of rocks, but it ain't :-)

If you look about the center of the shot, you'll see the marmots head poking out of it's burrow. We spent quite a bit of time eyeballing each other !

I'm hoping the 35mm shots, will show it up a bit better..


Mr Marmot scampering around..

Well, I'm pretty sure they are marmots. Perhaps someone could verify that for me?

Now go to CAMERA CRITTERS and join in the fun.

45 comments:

Yen said...

WOW! Those are just amazing photos! Thanks for sharing them:)

??? said...

I love the flight photos and the marmot is adorable - is he as huge as he looks?

Oskar said...

I think those are great pictures.

I don't know what a marmot is though.

Rhea said...

I think they are marmots...but I'm not sure. Great photos! I love the geese in formation. :o)

Carletta said...

Lovely shots but my favorite is the first flying geese one!

I think I'd be too impatient to wait for film now that I have instant gratification with the memory card. :)

My post is here: Carletta’s Captures.

i beati said...

super shots so many birds I could never leaveSandy

Tina said...

thats a pretty lake. i can see why its so full of birds. i would live there too if i was a bird lol

Diane said...

i dont know what a marmot is!!!!!!!! lol

Susan Cook said...

Great shots. I love ducks and would love to see that many.

I guess I've heard of marmot before but have no idea if that is one or not. Looks really big though.

Indrani said...

How free those birds look.
lovely shots!

Manz said...

Ahhh, last week I asked if you had considered going as far as setting up your own darkroom... If you can develop your own... do it!!

I think it's fantastic that you've gone back to film. I think if you took a photo of a child, they would be confused as to why they couldn't look at themselves right away. Waiting for the results can be exciting... 5 days is tough though.

*****
On another note, I've set up a "directory" page on the main gritfx website for my cc posts. I'd like to add some links to other cc participants - yourself included. If you're interested in being added, send me a website/blog badge (120pixels wide x 80pixels) to manz76@live.com.
Manz's Camera Critters Page

Staci said...

Beautiful shots! The lake is not what I think of when I think of Nevada; I've got family in the southern part of the state and so I think of desert! Thanks for giving me a different view.

Kerslyn said...

beautiful photos! i colors of the water and the sky. so tranquil.

Reader Wil said...

I think you managed quite well to take a couple of good photos with your point and shoot camera. I have one myself and prefer it, for it's handy, small and light.
Thanks for your visit and for the bird's name!

ViennaDaily said...

Love the blueness there!

Joyoz said...

I like the blue scene of water and sky.

Flying Solo said...

You have very lucky indeed :)
And you shoot them good!!!!!!!!!!

Michele said...

That's really amazing as to how many birds really inhabit that lake. How neat it is to see that... I can imagine there can be a lot of honking and quacking that can be heard at times! Your photos are beautiful!

Sharon said...

Looks like you're having fun with your camera. That's the whole point right? Keep it up & by the time you get a few more lenses, you'll really know what you're doing. Great shots!!

EG CameraGirl said...

How frustrating that the turn-around time has increased. The film processors must be employing fewer people.

Not sure what a marmot is!

Bruce said...

I LOVE ducks!!

Teena in Toronto said...

Great shots!

Thanks for stopping by!

Anonymous said...

Could be a prairie dog, but unusual to see just one...

Loved the lake shots...so peaceful!

Ria said...

film photos?!? wow!!! amazing!!! i never get good ones that way...

Kenia Santos said...

Great photos! We have no beaches in my State here in Brazil, and lakes are rare to see around. Happy to discover you live in such a beautiful and friendly place. :) Thanks for coming by and leaving such nice comment. Lots of kisses to you and your babies, too. Take care and keep smiling!

Adrienne Zwart said...

The aqua color of the lake is just gorgeous! We have marmots here in Ohio, tons of them actually. But no one ever calls them that around here. Commonly, they are called groundhogs. They do borrow. We have a pair living under our shed much to my dismay. It seems they like my coneflowers the best. They wait till the plants get about 2 feet tall then chomp the bud right off! And as much as that annoys me, I still get a kick out of seeing them emerge in the spring.

Amy said...

Love the ducks. The blue is so vivid and nice in these photos :)

Unknown said...

SUper shots! Hope you are having a great weekend! : )

Willard said...

An amazing variety of shots. Good luck with the 35mm and thanks for stopping by my blog.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Karen: Neat shot, I never saw a Marmot.

Maude Lynn said...

My favorite is the next to the last one. I never would have seen him, if you hadn't told us to look!

Anonymous said...

Great pics!

My husband and I like to pretend that when birds are gathered together they are having a bird meeting. And then we make up the conversations they are having. .....we're weird!

Mimi said...

Great post! Your photos are so wonderful. Thanks for visiting my blog..

Vicky said...

great shots! looks like there is a party at the lake. Thanks for dropping by.

Island Style said...

Wonderful..I love geese! What a beautiful grandchild!

Amy said...

Great pictures. Had to look close for the little critter.

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Gattina said...

The lake with the ducks looks really beautiful ! You are lucky to live so close !

Bradley Hsi said...

You are brave to go into the film in this digital world. Are you scanning the film yourself or the shop did it for you. Great shots!! Thanks for visiting our blog.

Rita said...

wonderful pictures!
I have no idea what a marmot is...or what it looks like lol

Jennifer said...

Good pics! I'm not sure what a marmot is--but he's cute!

Samantha ~ Holly and Zac ~ said...

That is a beautiful lake. It looks really peaceful there.

Thank you for visiting my blog. :-)

Ladynred said...

Beautiful shots of the birds. I still keep my film camera even though I'm not using it. Thanks for the comment.

Jen said...

You always take such gorgeous photos! I think it's awesome that you live so close to all of the wildlife... nature is so beautiful!

Misty DawnS said...

That's a LOT of geese! Great shots!

Like Adrienne said, we also call them groundhogs or woodchucks.