Knitting and Birding Retreat in Carmel (day 2)

Sea Lion
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, we're home after an eventful three day weekend Carmel. Mary did a lot of knitting and some crocheting. I must have taken a thousand photos this weekend, and am frantically back home throwing them away. Happily, there are plenty of keepers, including this little guy having his nap. Which is exactly what I have to do now. More photos later! Zzzzzz.....

Knitting and Birding Retreat in Carmel

Black Oystercatcher
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We started the morning bright and early at Cross Hill, hoping to see the legendary Caracara. No luck.

After breakfast, I spent the morning at Carmel River mouth sitting on the sand waiting for birds like this Oystercatcher to come a little bit closer. It was really fun. I also drove up to Asilomar and worked my way back down the peninsula, grooving on my iPod tunes. Great day!

(Photos on flickr)

Greetings from Carmel

Warbling Vireo
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Today we had some excellent birding along Mount Madonna Road, where we had squirrley little passerines like this Warbling Vireo that didn't want his picture taken. I had great fun playing bird calls using my old iPod and a software package called birdPod.

And, I turned 40. A great day. More photos later, I have to get some sleep before going out early tomorrow in search of the wily Caracara.

McClellan Ranch and Stevens Creek

Western Bluebird
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Ashok and I were very pleased to have Mary along with us this morning. Ashok got a life bird (Oriole), and we had some fun photographing cooperative birds at the Audubon office bird feeders and in the community garden plots.

After Ashok left we went up to Stevens Creek County Park, where once again I tried to make a Cooper's Hawk into a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

(Photos at flickr)

Fun with Dunlin

Dunlin
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Following a hot tip from Ashok, I went to the Foster City pond near the radio tower before work in search of Dunlin, but had no interesting shots. Happily, I stopped by again after work and found excellent light and a willing, nearby subject. After all the rain, this was a really lovely evening.

I think that makes 293 ABA species photographed (Photos on flickr)

Birding with The Knitist

Song Sparrow
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We took advantage of a break in the weather to introduce our friend The Knitist to the glories of birding at Charleston Slough.

In Stevens Creek County Park, we walked from the Villa Maria picnic area uphill into Fremont Older Open Space Preserve. There, overlooking the abandoned quarry, we saw VAUX's and WHITE-THROATED SWIFT circling with NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS. All three species were flying at eye level, affording excellent views. ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was heard singing loudly from the bottom of the quarry. We found no dippers at the fourth bridge over Stevens Creek, where water levels were very high.

A breeding plumage BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER was seen from the observation platform at Charleston Slough, along with 28 BLACK SKIMMERS.

Two EARED GREBES in breeding plumage were seen from west the end of Shoreline Lake.

McClellan Ranch yielded many cooperate feeder birds plus a male WESTERN TANAGER in the sycamores above the creek, just at the entrace to the trail. A single WOOD DUCK flew rapidly overhead. Both BULLOCK's and HOODED ORIOLES were near the Audubon office building.

Grand total for the day -- 91 species. Pretty impressive!
(Trip notes at birdWalker, Photos at flickr)

Ashok and Bill visit Lake Merritt

American White Pelican
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

With a rare break in the clouds, Ashok was itching to get over to Lake Merritt in search of breeding plumage Eared Grebes. We found them, and a few other subjects as well, such as this beguiling American White Pelican.

Our second stop was Berkeley Aquatic Park in search of the elusive Tufted Duck. We did find a few Scaup, but none of them seemed to be tufted. (Photos on flickr)

Black-necked Stilts in love

Black-necked Stilts in love
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I arrived a little early at Lucy Evans Nature Center for the monthly meeting of Bay Area Bird Photographers. Since there was still a little sunlight left, I decided to wander around the parking lot with my 300mm just as an excuse to be outside and stretch my legs.

On the eastern edge of the parking lot I sat quietly for a few minutes to see how close the feeding Avocets and Stilts would approach. I noticed one Stilt stop feeding and stand very still, neck stretched far forward, while the other bird methodically splashed the water first on one side, then the other. I suspected something interesting was about to happen, and I was right. This whole sequence took at most 30 seconds.

Goldfinches in my backyard

Lesser Goldfinch
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I really don't have a good photo of Lesser Goldfinch in my files, but I do have a good collection of Lesser Goldfinches at my backyard feeder. Only problem is, they seem only to perch on (a) backlit sticks at the top of the tree or (b) the feeder itself, neither of which is conducive to a good wildlife photo. So, I decided to try to be like the pros and place a natural looking perch in an advantageous spot and wait for the birds to land on it.

I did get some decent shots of the Goldfinches, and I did see them land on the perch I had provided, but never both at once. Still, it's quite fun to sit very still in your backyard and watch the birds flit around. A very zen activity.

(More photos at flickr)

Ashok and Bill visit Foster City

Double-crested Cormorant
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Ashok arrived early at our original destination, Coyote Point Marina. By the time I arrived, he had already scouted the area and concluded we should look elsewhere. Ashok suggested we try his favorite Foster City park near Marlin street.

I noticed early in the morning that I'd accumulated a big glob on my sensor, and without thinking I decided to just blow on it. Do NOT blow out sensor dirt yourself, use your Giottos Air Blower. Trust me.

After returning to the car for some clean, dry air, I got the sensor back in working order and found some great subjects to photograph on the pond, especially when Ashok's swans came out and put on a show. I added a few shots of bird feet to my "bird parts quiz" collection. A very enjoyable morning. (Photos on flickr)

Surf's up!

Surfer
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We wanted to show our Milwaukee-based houseguests the coast, so we started up at Horseshoe Lake at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve, drove down to Pescadero (lunch at Duarte's, mmmm), and thence to Santa Cruz.

I was looking for landscapes and birds to photograph (and we did find some Marbled Godwits making footprints in the sand), but honestly, the most exciting subject at hand were the surfers at Cowell's in Santa Cruz. With a 300mm f/4 lens and plenty of light, it was pretty easy to freeze the action, as I did here. (Photos on flickr)

Juncos at Foothills Park

Dark-eyed Junco
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Ashok and I visited Foothills Park this morning in search of Wild Turkeys and passerines [Note: this lovely park is open to Palo Alto residents and their guests only, so be sure to bring a Palo Altoan with you]. We heard a few songbirds and saw a few ducks and grebes on the pond, but mostly things were quiet.

This Junco was far and away our most cooperative subject, and I was glad to add a few more Junco shots to my files.

Wings over Andrew Molera

Andrew Molera State Park
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We had a great day birding with Steve Shunk (see field notes) at Andrew Molera today. I travelled light, carrying just the 300mm f/4 and my 17-40mm for landscape shots like this one. Partly, I was scouting the Carmel area for a weekend in Carmel at the end of April. I'm looking forward to that. I did manage to grab my first photo of Hutton's Vireo, bringing my ABA (*) lifetime species photographed list to 291. I hope to make it to 300 later this year. (Photos on flickr)

(*) Note: American Birding Association publishes each year a summary of various bird-watching records, including most species seen in one day and most species seen in one year. Among these records is the lifetime number of different species photographed in North America. See ABA's Big Day website for more details.

A few more portraits

Goose
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

With this shaping up to be the rainiest March on record around here, you have to sneak in moments behind the camera whenever you can. In this case, Charleston Slough is one of my favorite morning portrait stops because (1) the birds are accustomed to people because so many folks show up to feed the ducks; and (2) it's right between my house and my office. (Four photos on flickr).

A nemesis in my own backyard

Cedar Waxwing
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

First, a Townsend's Warbler flew right in front of Mary as she got out of the car. Then, we heard the sound of my nemesis bird high overhead. I said, "I bet those waxwings won't come down into this Holly tree and eat the berries."

Even though we see waxwings pretty often, whenever I've tried to photograph them they've been high up in a backlit overcast sky (like this one). This time, the berries must have drawn them down near eye level. (Four photos on flickr)

Once again into the snow!

Western Scrub Jay
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We expected to find snow on the hills this morning, and weren't disappointed. Walking the trails of Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, we even got some quality time with some traditionally elusive passerines like the Wrentit -- perhaps they were a bit startled by the snow, and forgot to skulk. (Twelve photos at flickr).

Cloudy morning at Charleston Slough

Anna's Hummingbird
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Decided to take a chance on iffy weather, and had some really nice, quiet moments with the Golden-crowned Sparrows and this Anna's Hummingbird. Eventually the sun came out, but honestly the light of the overcast sky was much more flattering. Did more experiments with the extension tube on the 500mm lens. I do love when I can create a out-of-focus background like this one (seven photos on flickr).

Ashok and Bill visit Coyote Hills Regional Park

Bushtit
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We made a trip out to Coyote Hills this morning. We found the gate locked when we first arrived, but after only a few minutes someone arrived to unlock it. We had a very enjoyable walk around our usual loop. Probably our most cooperative subject was a White-tailed Kite we saw on the way out (Three photos on flickr).

Portraits at the Duck Pond

Goose
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I stopped on the way to work today at the Palo Alto Duck Pond. My goal was to experiment with adding an extension tube to my 500mm telephoto lens. This allowed the lens to focus more closely than would otherwise be possible, making it the perfect tool for making detailed portraits of the birds at the pond. I need more practice with this combination, but I'm happy with these results (Seven photos on flickr).

Chilly morning at Ulistac

Western Jackrabbit
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I decided to take an early morning visit to nearby Ulistac Natural Area in San Jose, hoping to find some songbirds. Mostly, I was bombarded with the crazy, tireless chatter of lonely bachelor Mockingbirds on every shrub. Still. I found this lovely Jackrabbit, and I managed to get one shot of the local Red-shouldered Hawk before it spooked. I also found what looks like a promising spot for photographing Red-winged Blackbirds on the reeds by the pond. (Five photos posted at flickr)

Snow at Castle Rock, too!

Steller's Jay
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

So, just two days after driving up to Grant Ranch, I decided to Castle Rock State Park on President's Day. Although I didn't find a lot of birds up there, I did have fun taking pictures of the sunrise, and I did find this very cooperative Stellar's Jay. Did you know he has eyebrows? [see more pictures from Castle Rock]

Snow at Grant Ranch

Snow at Grant Ranch
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I returned home from Denver eager to get out in the field and make some images. With Mary at Stitches West and me scheduled to take a friend to the airport around 6am, today was the perfect opportunity. I decided to head up to Grant Ranch County Park in search of some overwintering passerines. What I found was quite a bit of snow, a lovely sunrise, and some cooperative Western Bluebirds. Take a look at the photos.

NANPA Wrap up

Mountains
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

[Note: I neglected to mention earlier that NANPA is the North American Nature Photographers Association]

I concluded my Denver trip with a day at Rocky Mountain National Park, where forty of us had a chance to photograph snowy mountains, elk, magpies, and each other. The Canon sales rep tagged along and let us test out a variety of Canon lenses. I had fun with the 14mm f/2.8 L for some wide angle landscape shots, but was rather baffled by the 90mm f/2.8 tilt-and-shift. I needed to spend more time with that lens to really unlock its mysteries. If you like you can see my trip gallery.

NANPA Day Three

Denver Nightscape
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, I have to be in the hotel lobby less than six hours from now, so I'll keep this short. We had a highly entertaining talk this morning from Tim Gallagher and Bobby Harrison, rediscoverers of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and long-time NANPA members. I attended a well-attended session about what Photo Editors want. Executive summary: Photo Editors want Photographers to read and follow the submission instructions. C'mon people, this isn't so hard. This afternoon we saw outstanding pictures of Great Gray Owls in Montana. Tonight at the awards banquet we heard a moving presentation from Patricio Robles Gil about conservation in Mexico. Stunning images. It's been a great weekend, I have so many todo items and things to think ahout. And I didn't even blow any money at the exhibition hall (mostly because the new Wimberley heads aren't out yet).

NANPA Day Two

9:00am Keynote, Wendy Shattil and Rob Rozinski

This husband and wife team told us some of their personal history and showed us some really amazing images from Colorado. I'm more excited than ever to be going with them to Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday.

After the session ended, my friend Beth told me she was increasingly certain I should show my images during portfolio review on my laptop rather than on paper.

10:30am, Breakout Session, Stock Agencies

We heard from three panelists about how photographers and stock agencies can and should work together, including many interesting anecdotes from Jane Kinne, who substituted for panelist Cathy Aron.

I left a bit early and retreated to my hotel room to whip up a laptop presentation. I have to admit, my filing system for JPEG's could use a bit of sprucing up, but I was able to gather a pretty good set of 800x600 images without too much trouble.

2:00pm Portfolio Review I

I spent half an hour with the photo editor of a popular birding magazine. He seemed to like some of my images pretty well, lingering over my Spotted Sandpiper and Willet. He patiently explained that he never needed to see yet another stereotypical Sandhill Crane, American Avocet, Burrowing Owl shot, and I can respect that.

3:00pm Portfolio Review II

I actually got an early start with my second review, a promiment photographer and workshop leader, thanks to a no-show at 2:30pm. He offered some great composition suggestions, proposing vertical crops of images I did as horizontal crops for my most recent calendar. I realized that after I crop an image one way it can be difficult to see it afresh and crop it a different way.

6:30pm, Conservation Photography event

We heard from three excellent photographers about various conservation projects they are involved in.

Robert Glenn Ketchum talked about the threatened salmon fishery of southwestern Alaksa and a boneheaded copper mine proposed by Ted Stevens. His landscape shots featuring carpets of brightly colored tundra plants and meandering mountain streams were breathtaking, hard to take in. He also talked about the successful effort to prevent development on the Hearst San Simeon ranch and the startling biodiversity he found there.

Michael Forsberg talked about his book On Ancient Wings, his book about Sandhill Cranes. He photographed them from nothern Alaksa to Cuba, from California to Florida, and everywhere in between. His reminiscences about his travels were eloquent, moving, and thoughtful.

C. C. Lockwood talked about marshmission.com, an interdisciplinary effort to promote awareness of the vanishing marshlands of the Mississippi River delta in Lousiana. Although he had everyone laughing with his swamp humor, his sorrow was palpable -- sorrow he must have felt after watching hurricanes do so much damage he says could have been prevented by better attention to marshes anytime during the last thirty years. Deeply moving.

NANPA Day One

8:30am Summit Opening

Master of Ceremonies John Nuhn started the festivities today with an amusing collection of songs about photography, pictures of NANPA luminaries in their salad days, his own first hummingbird shot, and a lovely tribute to his parents, who encouraged his photographic endeavors. Quite charming.

9:00am Keynote Address, Jack Dykinga

Mr. Dykinga is a view camera landscape photographer, in so many ways the complete opposite of what we bird photographers do. He shoots one to ten images per day with a shutter time of 10 to 100 seconds, whereas we shoot 500 images per day at a shutter time of 1/1000 of a second. Still, I really appreciated the way he talked about developing a relationship with his subject, in much the same way one hears human portrait photographers talk. His sequences of images of the same subjects in varying light reminded me of the Monet haystack paintings we travelled up to Chicago to see back in the 90's. Beautiful images from an entertaining presenter.

Said "hi" to Arthur Morris and Ellen Anon, my instructors from the November 2005 Bosque trip.

10:30am Critique panel

A photographer, a Photo editor, and a Stock agency representative review some thirty or forty images submitted to NANPA, of highly varying quality. Although they were at times rather brusque, it was very helpful to see things from their perspective.

Had lunch with my friend and fellow Bosque participant Beth Maynor Young.

12:30 Exhibits

The new Wimberely gimbal head is here, but they're backordered until March and don't have a show special. There is a deal on the LowePro RoadRunner AW, but not that great of a deal. I talked to Jim Cozad of Cozad Ranch, where they can charge photographers to sit in blinds all day on their working ranch, which I think is a brilliant way to get more use out of their land. I talked to a really cool high-end color printing lab conveniently located in nearby Santa Cruz. I learned that the cool kids are using a printer that actually fires colored lasers at conventional photographic paper which is subsequently processed with traditional paper printing chemistry. Who knew? Also, I learned that Giclee is a fancy french name for "ink jet". It's nice to demystify this stuff.

NANPA, Day Zero

Greetings from Denver!

It's really late here, I just wanted to record the fact that I arrived at this extremely new, extremely fancy hotel without incident. Not only does the room have a bigger TV than my house, the wall of the _elevator_ has bigger TV than my house embedded in it. Showing stock footage of buffalo. Good times.

A friend gave me her unused prepaid t-mobile card, which I think I just activated, so let's hope I get to stay connected all week without the extra $10 a day.

OK, better figure out what I'm doing tomorrow and get some sleep.

Ducks! Ducks! Ducks!

Harlequin Duck
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Mary and I had a great day trip to Santa Cruz and Monterey. We saw lots of great birds. We've been down to Monterey every January for a few years now, but always on our own. This time we decided to prove to ourselves that we could manage this trip on our own, and I think we did really well. We saw our target birds, managed our time pretty well, and didn't get lost.

The bird of the day was almost certainly this male Harlequin Duck. When first I saw this bird in Monterey Harbor, I was so excited I couldn't even say its name, I just hollered out "Ducks! ducks! ducks!"

Snowy Owl! In California!

Snowy Owl
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Life bird! Life bird! Along with most of the birders in the bay area, we descended on Liberty Island Road south of Davis this morning to see the first Snowy Owl recorded in California since 1978. Here are some more photos. What a day!

Pre-flight defecation

We had a great trip with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon folks to Ogier Ponds today (for more details see the photos or trip list). This Osprey was one of the birds of the day, and capturing this moment immediately prior to take-off was definitely the photo of the day.

From the Archive: "Electric Build-it Set"

Growing up, I had a lot of building and science-oriented toys. This is one of the ones I don't remember all that well, but I thought we could all enjoy the artwork on the box, which is straight out of the Tom Swift novels I used to check out of the library.

Mom and I found this while going through my bedroom back home. Inside we found an old silverware tray with a small handful of wire snippets and pieces of sheetmetal. I'm not sure what all I built from this set, but I think some of it was pretty cool.

The Floor Diaries, Part IV

Monday 1140 hours

At last the underlying floor is revealed. It's mostly hardwood under there, which is what we hoped. But it's in pretty bad shape. Paint smudges everywhere, weird shims made out of what appear to be roof shingles, termite damage, mysterious cuts, patches made from unfinished, mismatched boards. The contractor guys are dismayed at best. They say we really need to take out this floor, and fix the subfloor, and then put a new hardwood floor on top of it. Oh, and the reasonably nice hardwood floor in the kitchen was put down directly on top of this kind of old hardwood, which is Not Done anymore. But maybe we can just ignore that for now.

Big glue patch from the font door. It appears they used to have tile right under the front door. Why they heck didn't they preserve that tile when they put in the carpet?

Why is there a deep curved slot cut into the floor underneath the carpet? Bandsaw practice? Slot cars?

I'm the next room when I hear Don say, "OK, now THAT's a problem". I come out to see that he's found this power wiring underneath the carpet with a big nail driven right through it. Is it live? Is it safe? Hmmmmm.

We expected to some evidence under the carpet of where the old room boundaries were before the house was expanded. We had hoped they did something tidier than this, but that was probably overly optimistic.

The Floor Diaries, Part III

Monday 1140 hours.

Well, the carpet is pretty much gone, and they're starting to remove the pad. We're already pessimistic about what we'll find underneath, but at least the yucky old carpet is gone, gone, gone.

The Floor Diaries, Part II

Monday 0001 hours.

I waited until the last minute, then finally packed up the stereo. We strapped the Roll-or-Kari to the Hammond and moved it to the middle of the room. It's not all done, but we're going to need help with the remaining items. Off to bed...

The Floor Diaries, Part I

Sunday, 1700 hours.

We've just finished the Christmas Party. The last of the guests got to help me move the sofa into the garage. Pete delivered the loaner Roll-or-Kari that will make moving the Hammond tractable (God bless Pete!) Things are going pretty well, but we're fading fast.

Bosque del Apache, Day Three

Sandhill Crane
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, Day Three featured better weather than day two, although still bitterly cold. We had a great time at some of the now familiar sites on the refuge, as well as a great trip to a pond on the New Mexico Tech campus featuring a very approachable flock of American Wigeon. What a trip!

Bosque del Apache, Day Two (noon)

Well, we're hiding in the hotel from a brutal 40mph wind, doing an impromptu Photoshop lesson. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Bosque del Apache, Day One

Snow Goose
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

w00t! Bosque del Apache, day one. I shot over 600 pictures today, and managed to delete over 100 of them during lunch and dinner. There will be some keepers, including this landing goose. The sunrise and sunset light was outstanding. I'm really learning a lot on this trip about how prevailing winds influence landing direction, how to set manual exposure for flight shots, and which tripod heads to buy.

Bosque del Apache, Day Zero

Hi all,

Greetings from sunny New Mexico. We've had our opening night slideshow from our instructor, now it's an early bedtime, a _very_ early alarm clock, and our first sunrise with the geese and cranes. We're very excited!

-Bill

Pumpkins

Pumpkins
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I just wanted to show off the very diverse results of our Halloween pumpkin carving party. We managed to make a wolf, a cat, a Wallace, and a TROGDOR. And some very tasty roasted pumpkin seeds.

The 2006 calendar is done!

The 2006 wild birds calendar is done! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mary, Dan, Grant, John, Paul, and John for critique, advice, and encouragement. I'll be making more announcements about where to buy these in the SF bay area, but meanwhile you can order them on-line from my cafepress.com store.

We're going to New Mexico!

I have finally summoned the courage to sign up for Arthur Morris's bird photography class at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. I've heard he (pictured at left) is a great teacher. I've enjoyed his books and email newsletters.

So, this trip will mean many firsts -- first birding in New Mexico, first time travelling by plane with my enormous 500mm lens, first time shooting bird photos for three straight days.

Two Gentlemen of Verona preview this Saturday

Hi folks,

I'd like to invite you to the church this Saturday for some free theatre! A friend and I have been composing incidental music for this show, and I can honestly say the actors are fabulous. The director has done a great job of trimming the play down to an hour and making it kid-friendly. Thanks very much to University Church for letting us use its sanctuary. I hope you'll join us!


The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival presents:
Shakespeare On Tour's production of

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

- Saturday, October 15th, 2005, 2:30-3:30pm
- Free, Family friendly show, All ages welcome!
- Post-show discussion with the cast plus juice and cookies

Come join us this Saturday at the Church
1611 Stanford Avenue, Palo Alto, 650 758-9660


for more info about the show:
http://www.sfshakes.org/tour/index.html

Yosemite Fall Weekend

Yosemite
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We had really enjoyed the mountains during a weekend at Yosemite for our friend's wedding. I spent some time on landscape photography, and even processed some of them in black and white. It's a stunning valley, and trying to capture it with a photograph is _so_ hard.

Late Sunday night we found a movie at the visitor's center about the career and working style of Ansel Adams, who knew a thing or two about photographing Yosemite valley. What I didn't know is that he trained hard to be a pianist, and judging by his playing in this film, he would have been a darn good one.

In processing the photos from the trip, I had one or two moments where I thought the black and white image looked righht, and those were electric moments. Perhaps that feeling was what kept him going, too.

Albatross! Albatross!

Black-footed Albatross
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Every few years I venture out onto the ocean to look for birds. I generally get pretty seasick. Then, the Albatross shows up, and it's so friggin' amazing that I forget about everything else. Only a few years later, I'm ready for more. This time, for the first time, I took a camera with me, and tried to take some bird pictures. You can read about our weekend at birdWalker, it was fabulous.

By popular request, the Member Slide Night Gallery

I've had several requests for an on-line version of the pictures I showed at BABP Member Slide Night. So, here you go!

I survived BABP Member Slide Night!

Red-tailed Hawk
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Tonight was my first time to participate in Member Slide Night at the Bay Area Bird Photographers club. We saw images from about six or eight photographers, including Doug Cheeseman. I showed about 28 images from my laptop, including this Red-tailed Hawk which I just shot this morning. A slight majority of the images came from the Dell 3300 DLP projector; the rest were good old fashioned 35mm slides. The slides people had to contend with focussing the projector and not putting their slides in sideways; the laptop people had to contend with video connector adapters and wacky brightness/contrast/color settings, so everyone had their challenges. Altogether, though, it was an impressive body of work, and I came home wired and inspired.

A visit to CoffeeTec

How to grind coffee
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

With only hours left before our Photo Challenge deadline, Grant took me along on a visit to CoffeeTec, a local engineering firm that advises and outfits coffee roasters. Jay, the proprietor, was very generous with his time, spending almost an hour showing us around the shop and helping us take pictures of glorious old roasters he's restoring. Thanks, Jay!

Looking at Deadwood through Joss-colored glasses

We finally watched HBO's Deadwood last week. It's really good! Having never seen any of HBO's series before, I was a bit taken aback at the extraordinarily vulgar language. But on reflection and further viewing, it seems entirely appropriate.

The really striking thing was how I couldn't stop matching up each Deadwood character with its Firefly counterpart. Mal is Bullock, for example. Think about it. And be sure to see them both!

Bill's all-time best Onion Articles

In honor of all The Onion's back archives being made freely available, I humbly present Bill's All-Time Best Onion Articles:

I Enjoy Being a Battery

Angry God Clarifies "Don't Kill Rule"

Keep Your F*cking Sh*t Off My Desk"

Starbucks To Begin Sinister 'Phase Two' Of Operation

Man With Hammer-Induced Thumb Injury Appeals To Christ Almighty

U.S. Dept. Of Retro Warns: 'We May Be Running Out Of Past'

Bush Regales Dinner Guests With Impromptu Oratory On Virgil's Minor Works

Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory

Supreme Court Rules Supreme Court Rules (spinnity)

Bill Gates Grants Self 18 Dexterity, 20 Charisma (spinnity)


(Kudos to my friend Ken for noticing the new availability of these gems. There's even an advanced search page).

Second day out on the new lens

Dowitcher
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

My friend Ashok took me to the Hayward Regional Shoreline yesterday, where we discovered that the shorebirds are back! Woo! I had a great time and shot over 200 pictures. The new lens is working great, even delivering sharp images with the 1.4X teleconverter.

First day out on the new lens

Snowy Egret, Palo Alto
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, I took the new lens out for a test drive this morning. I didn't get to the duck pond until nearly 9:40am, by which time the light was already rather harsh. Still. The lens performed perfectly, the weather was delightful, and this little guy posed very patiently. Woo hoo!

Zen and the Art of Organ Maintenance

Inside the Hammond C3
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We had a swinging rehearsal at our house tonight to officially welcome the Hammond C3. Afterwards, Pat showed me how to perform the required annual maintenance of the organ by putting the prescribed amount of official Hammond Oil into the reservoirs in the back of the instrument.

World's best anniversary present

[So, I walk into my local camera store this morning, armed with the name of the famous naturalist and photographer who knows the owner plus a printout showing the prices available at the large mailorder camera store in New York. I want to make a big purchase, I want to do it locally, but I don't want to pay a premium. I'm expecting a conflict. I hate conflict.]

Me: Hi, is [name of owner] here?
Owner: Hi, what can I do for you?
Me: I was sent here by [name of famous photographer]. I'm interested in a Canon 500mm. And believe it or not, my wife is actually encouraging me to buy it.
Employee: Quick, get his money now!
Owner: Well, what kind of price would make you interested?
Me: If I could match the price from [mail order place], I'd be really happy.
Owner: No problem, we'll order it, i'll be here next week
Me: Great!
Owner: Be sure to take your wife out to dinner before the lens comes in!

Dan and I walk across the street to get some coffee. I'm feeling all tingly. And they even had the Kirk quick release plate in stock.

Woo!