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Playing with the Canon G-11

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Well, I was having such fun exploring the macro capabilities of my new camera, the Canon G-11, it was hard to get off the porch. I've lost track of which of these photos are whose. Probably most are Phoebe's.
A Gerbera daisy. Woweee.

More gladiola naughty bits.

A fabulous painted rose from a birthday bouquet from our friends at Lakeside. Those guys do it up right.

A 20x zoom got me up close to a very cool stained glass window on The Owl House. Dunno why it's called that, other than the owls all over it. Bet Susan would like to install a window like this! I like that he looks so cranked off.
Macro and wide angle both. Here's a whole house.

And here's my little family, everyone in focus. Heck, the whole scene's in focus!

I've asked Phoebe when she becomes a supermodel, just to send the money home. And not to take it seriously; just do the shoots and send the money home and save some for your education.

Gawrsh, Bill's on the iPhone. Whaddya know.

More Bacon Bits, these by Phoebe:

overlong toedynails, I know, I know. I'm going to clip them this week. It's just our favorite thing to do. Can't you tell?

And a pebbly rough jellybean nose. If you're seduced by these photos, click for a product description of the Canon G-11.

If you decide to buy the camera, I'd be much obliged if you use this link to do it. It gets you to B & H Photo's page, where you'll find the lowest price and best service for your purchase.

A psychedelic paisley fishy in a sushi restaurant (not, fortunately, slated for the platter.) Hot news flash: now identified as a mandarin goby (really a dragonet) Synchiropus splendidus, by Myamuhnative and Tai haku. Thanks, folks! It's native to the Indo-Pacific Ocean.

Like many gorgeous ocean reef fish, the mandarin dragonet is heavily collected, heavily traded, and has lousy survivorship in captivity. It takes a specialized diet of copepods and often starves to death in captivity. Sigh. One more reason I could never keep a saltwater tank--too many sadnesses in the getting. Good luck, little dragonet. Looks like you're at the end of your biological road, in a sushi restaurant somewhere in Ohio.

And a couple of happy little monkeys.

Every once in awhile you meet a dog you could just scoop up and take home, no questions asked. Nugget is such a dog. A ChiWeenie (chihuahua x dachshund), saved from a pound when he could fit in your palm. A rare dog, cuddler supreme, with a terrific sense of humor and a coat like satin. He smelled like sunshine, like someone else I know.

Having grown up with a beloved but dour little dachshund, I think Nugget's sense of humor and joie d'vivre comes entirely from the chihuahua side. I highly recommend the combination!


He is thoroughly doted on by our wonderful friends Beth and Kevin. As he should be. One of the luckiest little dogs I've ever met. From the pound to the lap of love. It was so great to hang with them, such lovely people. They understand about dogs, and why we need them around. They also completely understood why The Bacon had to accompany us for our week at Lakeside. Thanks to Wendy for finding us a place that would waive the "no pets" rule.

It was a good thing Chet Baker was waiting for me back at our cottage. Kevin and Beth would have had a prime suspect in Nugget's sudden disappearance otherwise.

In other news, Ohio Wildlife Center just called with news on Dee Dee the big brown bat. Remember HER?!? Well, she's still in rehab, having refused to fly or flown only weakly until just a couple of weeks ago. But now she's flying well and will be transferred to a flight cage tonight. Then she's got three weeks of conditioning before she can be released.

They've got her rations cut to 10 mealworms/day but she's still 23 grams--way heavy for a big brown bat. Pregnant? Only time will tell! I really hope she's not pregnant, because if she delivers, she'll have to be kept until the baby starts flying. Arrrgh. But she and Darryl were very close, and she was housed with another male bat at OWC until May, and she probably mated last fall too, so all I can say is stay tuned!

I can't tell you how happy this makes me, to think that out of all the bat troubles, Dee Dee might once again flitter across the Marietta skies. Keep your fingers crossed for her.


This is me, getting my dogfix. I need a dogfix about every ten minutes. Pass the ChiWeenie! Hold the mustard!

14 comments:

Phoebe's supermodel chex're gonna be big. Then, when the fab fashion game loses its luster, she can put her already impressive artistic sensibility to work as a National Geographic photographer. They need 6-foot redheads.

That last picture of Nugget looks like a leopard seal. Ferocious!

OK, admit it Julie (just between us friends here) you lost that Canon Rebel at Yellowstone on PURPOSE, in hopes of a certain B-day present appearing soon thereafter...

Oooo, you look so summery and relaxed!
Wonderful to see you and the fun you're having at Lakeside.
And very glad to hear that dear little DeeDee is doing well.
Won't we all squeal with glee when she is aloft!

Your fish is a Mandarin Goby.

Have you tried scoping with that fabulous camera?

Posted by myamuhnative July 29, 2010 at 6:23 PM

You are taking me down memory lane with your posts. I worked at Lakeside one summer when I was in college...say the summer of 1970. I have to go back. It looks better than I remember. And, I just got back from working 2 months at Yellowstone Park. You wouldn't believe how many people lose cameras and cell phones there. Glad you got a new camera that does so many fun things. Love your blog.

wonderful news, beautiful photos.
Tons of love,XXOOM.

Posted by Anonymous July 29, 2010 at 6:49 PM

I want that camera so much right now.

As myamuhnative points out the fish is a mandarin goby (which helpfuly is a dragonet not a goby in spite of its common name). Somewhere on my blog are photo of a spawning pair in the wild but I'm darned if i can find 'em right now for some reason.

Have you tried the dremel tool-like nail grinding devices for dogs?
Bear hated having his nails clipped and at 101 pounds of taught muscle, it was a little like mixed martial arts to pin him down and get a single nail clipped.

So, I bought one of those doggy nail grinders and AFTER he got used to the sound, it has made that job much easier for all of us.

As for SW tanks, if you only buy aquacultured fish, you can still enjoy a good SW tank without the guilt of reef collecting. Same as with FW fish.

That camera is truly swell.

Diggin' the new camera.
And the owl window. WANT.

just noticed the follow up comment Zick. Mandarins actually have pretty decent survivorship in aquaria that are suitable. They do very poorly in unsuitable aquaria (due to the copepod requirement mentioned) but the same argument could be applied to pretty much any fish and all saltwater fish. From memory I also recall a story about them being caputred in a very specific way that led to a lot of dead fish until practices changed when people relaised the issue. They are also among the relatively few saltwater species to be spawned in captivity successfully though so don't be surprised if aquacultured mandarins are available soon (to go with cool aquacultured damsels, clowns, gobies and seahorses amongst others).

I still want that camera

WANT. OWL. WINDOW. NOW!

Funny, lots of talk about the sushi restaurant and no shots of the sushi! Glad to see the kids with such big smiles! The new camera seems to suit you well. Love the new pics that are coming from it!

We're diggin your nuggets, especially the ones from Lakeside. Didn't realize until now that you go there just for fun. Hope to see you there in Sept 2011, with the whole fam. Rachel, The Jaybird, Liam and Phoebe will be quite a four-pack! That village will never be the same.

Posted by Anonymous August 7, 2010 at 5:00 AM
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