Plants In My Yard

Before I get started on today's blog post, I would like to tell you about a great product that I own. Let me ask you first: Do you have a device like the Canon EOS 7D that only takes Compact Flash cards? Hate the big prices on the Compact Flash Cards? What if I tell you that you can use your current SD cards lying around your house in these devices? Well you can with the SD-CF II: SD to CF Type II Adapter. This little adapter will adapt all your SD cards (SDHC and SDXC) into a CF card! Unlike other brands of adapters, I can shoot 1080p video on my camera with no breaks! Other cheaper adapters sometimes don't have the speed to support 1080p video, this adapter is not one of them. If you are tight on your photography budget and have a bunch of SD cards lying around, this adapter is definitely a must have for you!

Now let's move onto the introduction to today's photos. What do you do when you got no where to go? Take photos in your yard! :) If you have a big yard like me, you probably have a lot of plants and flowers growing there. There are a lot of things to take photos of especially at the macro level! Today I am going to show you some macro shots of plants growing in both my front yard and my backyard. I hope you enjoy viewing these photos! All of the photos were taken with the help of a pair of Kenko Extension Tubes and my handy Canon Speedlite 600EX RT.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best macro photography shots of 2012, use this link. To see all of my at home and backyard photography shots of 2012, use this link.

A leaf of a plant in my front yard. 

2 more shots of that leaf. 

Dandelion in my backyard. 

Golgi Berry Plant in my backyard. The berries are delicious. :)

Another leaf on a plant in my yard. 

Focus stacked image of millet growing in my yard. Remember my 2 parakeets? I dump their poop bowl in my front yard and millet grows from it! :) They love the fresh millet during spring and summer. They were very angry with me when they saw me taking photos of it instead of feeding it to them. XD 

Focus stacked image of the skin of an unripe orange. I have an orange tree in my front yard. 

I hope you have enjoyed viewing these photos of different plants in my yard! If you want to start off cheap macro, please consider Kenko Extension Tubes and the Canon Speedlite 600EX RT. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Fisherman's Wharf - Monterey, CA (Sapporo Sushi & Steakhouse)

I recently visited Monterey and went south a bit more also visiting Carmel-by-the-Sea, Point Lobos State Reserve, and Big Sur. This trip along California's beautiful coastline has lead me take many many beautiful photos! I am here to share them with you spread over several blog posts. I hope you enjoy viewing these photos!

Before I get started, I would just like to remind you that I made a Facebook Fan page for this photography blog. You can "Like Us" here. I have also made Google+ and Twitter pages. If you follow or "Like" me on these, you can be updated whenever I post something new! :) Please invite your friends too! I'm trying to get more viewers on here. Anyways, as always, enjoy my photos!

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view the best photos from this trip, use this link. To view all of the photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts

Point Lobos: Birds and Seals | Squirrels | Flowers and Misc | HDR Scenery | Regular Scenery

Fisherman's Wharf - Monterey, CA: George's Birds | Sapporo Sushi & Steakhouse | Scenery | Birds/Misc | Seagulls

Carmel-By-The-Sea: Photos

Big Sur: HDR Scenery & Panorama | Regular Scenery

Message from the Photographer: Be forewarned that the photos in today's article may make you crave for Japanese food. :P This is because today's photos will be of the Sapporo Sushi & Steakhouse restaurant at the Monterey Fisherman's Wharf. This means most of the photos on this article is of Japanese food and I have adjusted the values of the RAW photos just a little bit so they seem a bit more appetizing. If you are on a diet, it's a good idea to skip over this post... or not! Up to you! 

So before you go looking at the photos, let me tell you the food there is so good that I over-ate during that meal and still wanted more even though I was full! LOL So yeah, the food tastes as good as they look in these photos. If you ever head to Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey (not San Francisco!), I recommend you drop by them for at least one meal! It's worth the money and the parking fees! 

Here is a photo of the restaurant. This is the only non-food photo in this post. 

I kind of forgot what this was. I think this was the calamari steak. Not too sure. Was very good though.

Beef Yaki Soba

Yum... Sushi... Starting to crave for food as I'm writing this article. LOL

I think this was the fried scallop balls.

Another photo of what I think is the calamari steak. To the right is the fried scallop balls shown above. 

Caesar salad

 Miso soup

The white light you see reflected from the soup is from my camera's built-in flash. I used some paper to soften it up but it still wasn't soft enough. LOL Not too bad though, you should have seen the unsoftened image. HAHA

So this is all the photos I took of my meal! I hope you have enjoyed viewing this tasty blog post! :) If you ever visit Monterey, I recommend you drop by the restaurant. Please don't forget to share my blog posts with your friends! If you would like to get notifications next time I post, you can "Like" me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts

Point Lobos: Birds and Seals | Squirrels | Flowers and Misc | HDR Scenery | Regular Scenery

Fisherman's Wharf - Monterey, CA: George's Birds | Sapporo Sushi & Steakhouse | Scenery | Birds/Misc | Seagulls

Carmel-By-The-Sea: Photos

Big Sur: HDR Scenery & Panorama | Regular Scenery

Sunflowers

Continuing photos from last year, today I will share with you some sunflower photos. As you all know now I have 2 pet birds. I usually empty their crap try in my back yard and front yard. A lot of rice and millet grew out last year. I had one giant sunflower grow up too! There was about 30 flowers on the single plant. It was beautiful. I hope you enjoy the photos!

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best 2011 and 2012 backyard photos, use this link. To see all of my 2011 backyard photos, use this link.

I got a lot of sunflower seeds from them. :D Anyways, that is all for today. I hope you enjoyed it. Please share this blog post with your friends! Also if you would like to be updated every time I post, please "Like" us on Facebook. This can also be done in the Facebook box at the top of the right side bar.

Front Yard Photography

If you have been reading my blog from way back, you know I own pet birds. Sadly, I used to have 5 (2 cockatiels and 3 parakeets), now I only have 2 parakeets left. 2 (the cockatiels) died from disease and 1 (parakeet) flew away. Since my pet birds do spill a lot of food, and I usually leave them in my front yard during the day time, a lot of wild birds have made nests in the bushes in my front yard. They usually come on during the day time to scavenge the food my birds have spilled on the floor. Sometimes I even see my pet birds spill food for them on purpose. I wonder if they can understand each other... Anyways, what a better place to get photos of birds than my own front yard right? Today, that is all there will be. Bird photos from my front yard. Enjoy!

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best bird photos of 2011, use this link. To see my best at home and backyard photography shots of 2011, use this link. To see all of my at home and backyard photography shots of 2011, use this link.

Today's photos was taken using the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens and a few of the photos was lit up using a Canon Speedlite 580EX II.

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophys)

The reason you see so many leaves is because these photos were taken half way through last year December. I got 5 giant trees in my front yard and all the leaves started falling. HAHA A lot of work raking them up!

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophys) 

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophys) 

Golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)
This ones a fat one...

Golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)

Golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)

Golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)

Golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)

Golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)

Golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)

California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)

Can't see the "crown" on the bird, but should be either a golden-crown or a white-crown. That is the only types I see in the bushes.

California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)

California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)

Can't see the "crown" on the bird, but should be either a golden-crown or a white-crown. That is the only types I see in the bushes.

Golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophys) 

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophys) 

I hope you enjoyed today's bird photos! Anyways, I might take more soon because it seems the babies hatched! I saw a lot of little birdies flying around and hopping on the ground eating my parakeet's leftovers. LOL So make sure you check back soon! Also, please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar. See you next time!