I'm back! Here's sampling of my work with the digital format. In late 2006, I took my hard-earned little bonus from my excellent boss and picked up a shiny new 10-megapixel Nikon D-80 digital SLR. I had resisted as long as I could, but after seeing the results I got with the Kodak digital "starter" camera I'd received as a gift a couple of years prior (2.0 megapixels - responsible for the 2004 shot of Portland Head Lighthouse, above), I knew it was time. I'm *STILL* learning, by the way...
First train photographed with the D-80 - MARC's mid-afternoon westbound at Metropolitan Grove Road in Gaithersburg, MD.
En route from Maryland to Ohio for Thanksgiving 2006, we took a quick spin around the Cumberland area. I took one photo. This is a westbound empty coal train waiting for the signal at Mexico tower, and a single unit that thinks it can sneak out of the yard if it keeps its headlight off and goes really, really slowly.
In general, zoos kind of bum me out, but these prairie dogs at Washington's National Zoo in June 2007 seemed pretty contented.
The red panda would probably have preferred a nice, thick forest in which to hide and sleep, but no. This enclosure with a half-dozen good sleeping trees will have to suffice. I try to keep in mind that many of these animals in US zoos are not just here for show; they're here in an attempt to make more of their respective species.
The site of the fake moon landing, shot with my new zoom at 450mm in September 2007.
Moth! Washington Grove, MD - September 2007. I was pushing it with the zoom, not quite far enough from my subject. Note to Santa - I need a Macro lens!
In October 2007, we took the first real photo excursion for which digital was our primary format - North Carolina's Outer, Middle and Lower Banks. This is a perfect replica of the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse, Roanoke Island.
It was a bit of a challenge to find which little boat service was operating on which day, but we persevered and made two trips to Point Lookout to shoot its spectacular tower. This one's from the sunny day.
Always dramatically curving off into the sun, is the future.
Come with me...
Clouds. With the right lens and a lot of patience (and luck), they can do some beautiful things. That's why my head can so frequently be found among them. The wind shear at the top of the formation above, shot in Kill Devil Hills, NC in 2010, makes it look like a thin veil. Or something.
Right there. Fly through that!
Storm-watching from the comfort and safety of one's balcony at the beach - a nice way to spend a lazy afternoon on vacation.
Whoosh.
Gull adrift in the downdraft at the edge of a cloudburst.
Closer to home - much closer - I shot these frames of a thunderhead roiling and rolling to the north of Germantown, MD in May of 2011. It was different every time I looked up.
"If you'll look out the right side of the aircraft, you won't see the intense storm we're narrowly avoiding."
Mashed potato clouds!
Faces in the crowd.
You missed us this time, Nature. Nice show, though.
