Gugblog: Pictures I Like From 2016

I don't want to call these my "best" pictures. Best is relative and as I gain knowledge and experience with photography some pics which were my best at the time lose their luster - but I still like them.

Most of my pictures this year are birds. Penny and I started visiting the rookery frequently and have taken thousands of pictures of herons alone this year.

My first picture is the classic hummingbird shot I got in Guatemala. The challenge here was not getting the bird in the shot but getting the bird in focus. I was using my bridge camera and it would not reliably auto-focus on a subject with any background vegitation. Focus was good against a blue sky and I had seen this hummingbird feed off this one flower that was in a perfect spot . So I waited and watched hoping the bird would return. It did and I got the picture I was hoping for.

Next is the night heron. This was the first time we had seen this bird and we
didn't know what it was. It posed nicely for us standing in the sunlight. I like the red eye. Penny found that this was a juvenile black crested night heron.

We also saw owls for the first time at the rookery. Great horned owls. Mom and dad and two juveniles. I took lots of pictures but again lighting and camera limitations made it difficult to get consistently good shots. Penny got some neat shots. Here are a couple of mine.

We both take many pictures of flying birds and they are challenging to get. Butt shots are easiest because the birds are often flying away from us. We are trying to get fewer butt shots. Here are some of my flying bird shots.

This guy passed directly over us-I like the beauty and symmetry
the picture has as well as the feather details

This pic shows how colorful the heron's are

This is a Green Heron - Penny's favorite bird at the rookery

Nice feather detail

Someone's got breakfast!

You probably wouldn't believe how many pictures I've taken of Osprey
trying to get ones like this.

and this

I didn't get a lot of sunset shots this year but one evening when we went to Lisa Jackson Park the sunset and wave motion combined for an interesting picture. This scene was much more dramatic when it is not a still photo. The moving waves created a mesmerizing effect.

The next picture was taken in Jacksonville after we all (family) had a seafood dinner next to the Mayport ferry landing.

Taking pictures of white birds presents the issue of getting details of the bird's feathers without washing out the white. With my current camera making proper exposure adjustments is much easier and can be done quickly. I got many good shots this year.

I like the yellow in front of the eye and the feet

We made a couple of trips to the Jacksonville Zoo this year. Even though the animals are captive it doesn't necessarily make getting good pictures easy. These are my zoo pictures I especially like from our visits.

This is Lucy. I took this while she was watching a video of herself on the TV
on the wall behind me. I love her expression

Taking this picture gave me chills. I felt as if I were being sized up for a meal.

Penny had some help taking pictures of the Lorikeets

I don't know what duck this is but it sure is pretty

We went to Guatemala and took a tour of New England in 2015. Here are some pictures.

an old convent

A resort we stayed at. Those are volcanoes

I couldn't resist taking this. It looks like a classic watercolor.
The boats were weaving back and forth in the outgoing tide
and every so often they would line up like this for a
second or two