My Blizzard Hike Misadventure

Hey there, fellow nature enthusiasts and reckless adventurers! Today, I'm here to share a tale that you might think is a little funny but also wags a finger at the more foolhardy among us. It's about the time I decided to challenge Mother Nature herself and learned a lesson in humility – and physics.

Picture this: a few years back, I was your everyday hiking adventurer, hitting the trails of my local nature park with the enthusiasm of a squirrel on an acorn hunt. Rain or shine, I was there. But then came the day when the news forecast a blizzard. Did that stop me? Of course not! I laced up my boots, grabbed my trusty camera (a partner in all my escapades), and headed out into a winter wonderland.

The trails were a blanket of untouched snow, and the snowfall was so thick it turned the world into a giant snow globe. I was a few miles in when I decided to take a loop back, probably prompted by the tiny voice of reason that I usually keep gagged and bound in the back of my mind.

As I trudged along, I reached the top of a large gulley. It looked innocent enough, but looks, as we know, can be deceiving. The moment I stepped onto the snowy and icy slope, my feet decided they had enough of being under my control. Whoosh! Down I went, sliding all the way down the hill. It was like an impromptu sled ride, minus the sled. And in a desperate attempt to save my camera, I held it high above my head like a trophy, making the whole scene look like a bizarre ritual to the snow gods.

When the ride was over, I lay there on my back, a human snow angel (or snowman-in-progress). First things first, I checked for injuries – none, thankfully. My camera? Also unscathed. It seems luck favors the foolish – sometimes.

Getting up, I decided that was enough thrill-seeking for one day. I walked back to the park exit with the cautious steps of someone who's just learned their lesson. That day, my love for hiking had pushed me into a foolhardy blizzard adventure.

So, here's the moral of the story: love nature, enjoy hiking, but maybe, just maybe, when the news screams 'blizzard,' it's a good idea to listen. Stay safe out there and remember, a good story is only fun if you're around to tell it!

I'll talk to you later.

Finally A Blue Jay

I finally got a few decent photos of a blue jay! He doesn't look very blue in the pictures though. I guess the blue of the sky and the blue of the bird worked together to throw off the vision of my camera a bit. It doesn't matter because I still got the pictures!

I really didn't know what kind of bird it was that I was seeing when I took the pictures. My usual method is that when I hear a bird, I stop and stand as still as possible. The less movement there is means that there is less chance of scaring the bird away. It doesn't always work out though.

I then scan the trees the best I can to try to find where the sounds are coming from. I have to hope the bird keeps singing so I can eventually see it up there in the trees. This is maybe the most difficult part because the bird could be behind a branch or farther away than it seems.

The only thing to do is hope that you see a little bit of movement on a branch somewhere among all of that tangled mess. Then you have to hope that the bird decides to stay in one place long enough for you to get your camera focused on it. Another very hard part.

You might think you're home free now. Nope, not at all! You've already found the bird with your eyes, but now you have to find it all over again with the viewer on the camera. It's a little easier because you already know where to look, but it's usually hard to pinpoint the bird with the camera even then.

After you finally get the bird in the middle of the viewer, you have to hope and pray that it doesn't decide that at that very moment it's a very good time to fly away. I've had that happen to me more times than I can count. The best thing to do is start clicking as soon as you can see the bird in the camera.

I always keep my camera in continuous shooting mode so that I can hold down the shutter release button only once to take several shots. In my opinion, that is the only way to get good photos of a bird. It's the only way you can keep up with these speedy little creatures.And you can end up with some spectacular shots that way too.

After you do all of these things, you will begin to get some good bird photos. You'll find that most birds stay in one spot for only a few seconds, so you have to be very quick in every step. This is the way I finally got these clear pictures of this blue jay. You can do it this way too.

Whenever you see pictures of a bird in flight, or with its wings spread out, the photographer usually used continuous click mode. Try it out for yourself if you haven't already done so. I'm sure you'll be able to get some good results with a little bit of practice.

And remember, this doesn't just apply to bird pictures. You can use this for anything. Like I said before, I always use my camera this way. You need it for good nature photography. I've done some pretty good stuff with a camera that most photographers would laugh at.

Try out these tips and tell me how it goes for you.

My Camera Add-ons

Today I am going to bring you three posts! I don't know how to do it any other way. You can comment or read any of the three that interest you. I'll start with the one that deals with nature, because I'm the most comfortable with this subject. This one is about my new camera equipment. I wanted to show you some of what I've been up to lately while I'm in the forest.

The first thing you might think is that I bought a new camera. Well, not exactly. I bought two add-ons to my camera. You can see some info on the camera if you go to this post. My camera has become quite popular, and sells for more used than it did when it was new. It's a top of the line point and shoot, but it was made so it can be much more. I can purchase addons to make this camera do great things.

The first add-on is a semi fisheye 0.35x HD macro lense. This lense comes apart to make two lenses in one, a wide angle and a macro lense. The fisheye part can take wide angle pictures. The picture at the top of this post was taken with this lense attachment. It made the scenes I take at Carpenter Lake much wider. The day was very overcast. I haven't actually used the macro part yet because I'm still learning how to juggle all of this equipment.

The next lense, which is actually the first one that showed up in the mail, is a 3.2x HD telephoto lense. I have used this one the most so far, and I'm still learning how to use it correctly. It's a much different experience than without it. I took the pictures of the Furious Squirrel with this lense. I'm having a few problems, but I'm learning what to do with it.

The above picture of the ducks was taken with the telephoto lense. The log they are sitting on is on the other side ofthe lake and down about halfway to the dam. It's very far away, and much farther than the camera could see without this lense on it. My pictures aren't great with it yet, but they are getting better. I just have to learn the right settings to use.

My post on the KISS concert is just below. I wrote it for those of you who are interested. If it's not your type of thing, skip past it to my Awards post. And vote in my poll! This is the last day for this one!

Camera Goof

While I was out hiking last week, right before I saw that big herd of deer that I rambled on about for days, I noticed a problem with my camera. Whenever I looked into the viewer, everything looked washed out. It was completely unsuitable to get any photos like that.

Since I was in a hurry, I changed to a mode I don't normally use. That seemed to do the trick! The color was much better! There was only one problem, and it was a big one. Most of the time I took a picture of a deer, it came out blurry. I have tons of deer photos, but most of them are unusable.

This last time I went out to that place, I noticed the same problem. I wasn't going to use the blurry setting I used before, so I stuck with the washed out one. It didn't seem so bad at first, but it was still a little irritating.

Then I remembered that I had been trying to learn how to use my camera better. I actually have learned a lot of new tricks, but along the way I changed some settings that I should have left alone. At the time I thought when I shut the camera off, the settings would all return to normal. All of the simpler settings do this. Boy was I wrong!

Somewhere in my mind I realized my mistake during this last trip there. I took a picture of the forest, and I was completely unsatisfied with it. Then with the help of my new understanding, and the remembrance of what I had done, I changed the ISO speed back to the default. I had turned it up too fast, and the colors weren't coming out well in my photos.

The two photos I have chosen today illustrate what happened perfectly. It was right after the first one that I discovered my mistake. The second shot is the one I took right after I fixed my error. They are very similar pictures, but the second one has the color I had previously lost.

With my mistake now corrected, this was a good learning experience for me. It actually helped me understand my camera a little bit better. The higher ISO speed takes some blurriness away, but at the cost of deeper color. A lower ISO speed, of course, does the opposite.

Even a mistake can be an excellent learning experience. I always think of them that way. I make plenty of mistakes, but I always pay attention and try to learn something when I make them. This was just another fine example of a big one with my camera.

And for any of you who didn't know about this little beginner tip on cameras and ISO speed, I hope it helped you. This is what this blog is really for. It's to share the experiences of a normal person that likes nature, and hopefully to help others along the way.

If you've never done any of this nature stuff before and you'd like to start, read my experiences. This should help you realize that it's actually kind of easy, it's inexpensive, and even the big mistakes can be made small. Just follow along.


Related Posts

• Dangerous Deer
• How Tall Are The Trees
• I Thought A Picture Of Falling Snow Was Impossible
• Geese, Rain, And Dead Batteries
• My Camera
  

My Camera

This is a picture of the camera that I use. It's a Canon Powershot A590 IS. It's the very first camera that I have ever owned. I only ever used another camera a few times before in my life. I think I made an excellent choice for my first camera. I did a lot of research before I settled on this one.

I asked several people what camera they had, and what they liked about it. I asked them what they thought I should look for. Then I went on the internet and read about cameras every chance I could get. I checked for the best of what was current and available at the time.

The first thing I needed was something easy to use. Since I had no idea how to use a camera, I had to be able to figure out quickly. On the flip side of this, I wanted something that wouldn't be a disappointment after I did learn how to use it. It had to have enough features that beyond being easy it was a good camera that made good picture quality.

The next thing I had to find was something inexpensive. I wasn't going to spend a load of money on something that I might get bored with. This was going to be difficult. This camera is a very good price, and I got a better deal than most on it. If anyone wants more technical information on it, I made links to the website of the camera above.

I've had an even better experience with the camera than I hoped. It's been a great accessory on my everyday adventures. And I use every picture I take as desktop wallpaper on my computer. Nature pictures are my favorite, and these are all mine. I made a great choice!