Mully410 Critical Blog

Great day for Hoar Frost

2012-02-04T19:31:00.001-06:00

TCAAP WVA Sign and Frost D7K_5537, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Fog was predicted this morning so I headed out to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area with all my gear. We had spectacular hoar frost. Some of it was over an inch long.
I started out with the tripod and the Nikkor 10-24mm to get some wide environment context photos. Then I moved to the Nikkor 70-300mm for some tighter landscapes and close up before pulling out the Nikkor 500mm f4. I shot the 500 with and without the TC1.4eII.

After about three hours, I headed home and ended up shooting birds in my backyard for a while. The chickadee (not on the barbed-wire), the American tree sparrow and the grackle are all from my backyard.
Here is a slideshow. Click the four arrow like icon in the lower right for a full screen view of these 19 photos.

I go to the Minnesota Wild versus Dallas Stars

2012-01-22T21:49:00.000-06:00

Last night, I attended the Minnesota Wild versus the Dallas stars NHL hockey game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. They don't allow pro-DSLR camera or lenses bigger than two inches so I brought the D7000 and my small 35mm f1.8 lens. I was in 9th row behind the Dallas bench so I didn't have to crop more but all these shots are cropped. I had a lot of fun and would really love to get in there with a 70-200mm f2.8. Here is a full slideshow:

Eagles, Ducks and Swans on Lake Pepin

2012-01-15T21:06:00.001-06:00

Fish Fight D7K_4200, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I made a trip to the Wabasha area to look for eagles with my friend. It took us a while but we found a spot near where the ice met the open water. All-in-all, we probably saw 50+ bald eagles, some swans, thousands of common goldeneyes and hundreds of mergansers.

We learned quickly to be on guard when one of the eagles caught a fish. Even before the eagle left the water with its catch, others came to steal it away. Not a very majestic trait if you ask me. The two eagles in the photo above are a good example. Note the splash in the lower left of the frame. That's the fish they were fighting over.

Here is a slideshow. It looks a whole lot better in full screen so click on the four arrow thingies in the lower right corner.

Mully410 Published on the BBC - Royal Institute Christmas Lecture 2011 - Meet Your Brain

2012-01-09T22:00:00.001-06:00

I made this photo back on December 1, 2008 when the Moon, Jupiter and Venus were in close conjunction. I flipped the image 180 degrees so that it looked like a sad face. The reason you see these two planets and the moon as a sad face is a phenomenon called Pareidolia.

The reason I bring up this photo today is that I finally got confirmation that it was broadcast on BBC Channel 4 last December. A few months ago, a UK production company, Windfall Films, contacted me about this photo they saw on Flickr. They were looking for images for the Royal Institute's Christmas Lecture Series. From their website:

The Royal Institution of Great Britain - or "the Ri" - is an independent charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science. We're about discovery, innovation, inspiration and imagination.

Michael Faraday gave the first Christmas Lecture for the Royal Institute in 1825. This year's lecture was all about your brain. There are three programs, each about an hour long. My photo appears during the third program about 12 minute in while the host, Bruce Hood, talks about how our brains are biased to recognize faces. It's only up for about 3 seconds but as a science fan and skeptic, I'm super excited to be apart of this long running super cool lecture series.

These lectures are targeted towards children so I though they might be pretty basic and boring. It turns out they are basic but fun and interesting too! Bruce does lots of experiments and demonstrations with the audience. It's very entertaining. I encourage you to take some time and watch it to learn more about your brain. Your kids might like it too.

Here is a link to the Royal Institute's Christmas Lecture 2011 - Meet Your Brain.

If you just want to see my photo along with a bunch of other pareidolia, go to the third part, Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking and skip ahead to about 10-11 minutes.

Get Better at Photography - Practice

2012-01-08T20:41:00.000-06:00

Thayer's Gull (pretty sure)

Today, I went down to the Minnesota River to find some eagles. I had heard that there were a whole bunch hanging around. It's been very warm this winter so there is a lot of open water.

I only saw one eagle late in the day so I spent the better part of the afternoon shooting gulls. When most people see a gull they think "seagull." If you take some time and look carefully, you'll see there are many different kinds of gulls. Even if you don't like gulls and don't want photos of gulls, they are great practice. After watching them for a while, I learned exactly when they would dive on a fish. They also fly relatively slow and predictably when they are fishing. I pretty much shoot anything flying bird regardless because I want to be ready when something really cool flies by. I made 500+ clicks today and had a lot of fun too.

Here is a slideshow of all the gulls I shot that day:

What I Do When I Find Spots in my Photographs

2012-01-07T20:17:00.001-06:00

What do I do when I see spots on my photos? The cruddy photo to the right shows a number of spots. Mostly they show up when shooting with a small aperture against a large expanse of plain color, like a blue sky.

I always use the automatic sensor cleaning feature on my Nikon D5000 and D7000. Not sure if it works at all because I haven't tested it against turning it off for a while. Regardless, I think everyone will run to this situation sooner or later. The most likely causes of these spots are dust and bits of metal from your lens mount on the sensor. Technically, dust isn't really directly on the sensor it's on the tiny fragile filter that covers the sensor.

The best way to clean your sensor is to send it in to the manufacturer. It will cost you some money and time but it will be guaranteed by professionals that have experience with your exact camera. If you are impatient, a little technical and less afraid than you should be, you can try it yourself. (I suppose the second best way is to bring to a local shop you trust to have them do it.)

Do my best to prevent anything getting into the camera in the first place. Change lenses rarely. Change lenses indoors. Clean my equipment regularly. Minimize using zooms in dusty conditions. When you zoom in and out your are sucking air into the camera.

So, here is what I do. Try this at your own risk. A damaged sensor is a costly repair.

Erase the spots with software. When that gets annoying, proceed below.
Use a blower bulb to blow everything off the camera before removing the lens. I also wipe things down with a very slightly damp cloth.
Remove Lens
Select the mirror lock-up function in the camera menu and follow the directions. Read the manual with all the instructions and cautions before you do this.
When the mirror is locked up I point the opening of the camera towards the ground and gentle blow into the camera box. Most of the time this solves everything for me.
Test. I use my Nikkor 35mm f1.8 to test. I crank down the aperture to f16 or smaller and photograph a plane white wall. I take more than one photos at slightly different positions because I spent a whole lot of time attempting to remove a spot from my sensor that was actually on the wall. Doh!
If I still see spots, I take the lens off, lock up the mirror and use my Arctic Butterfly sensor brush from VisibleDust. It has a tiny yet powerful flashlight on the end so you can see things inside the camera box. This is a motorized brush that you turn on so it spins to built up some static. Then you turn it off and gently run it across your sensor. Follow all VisibleDust's instructions and watch their videos before attempting this. If you do it wrong, you can ruin your sensor. If you want to see what's on your sensor try one of their loupes.
Test again.
If I still see spots, I'll try the Arctic Butterfly once or twice more and re-test after each try. I do this because the "wet clean" is scary.
If the two or three tries with the Arctic Butterfly doesn't solve everything, I do a wet clean. I use VisibleDust's sensor swabs and solutions. I watched all their videos and various other videos I found on YouTube before I did this. I'm not going to get specific because I don't want to miss something or have a typo about this, so study their stuff.
After each swab, I let the sensor dry, reattached the lens and did some test photos. Repeat until most or all of the spots are gone from your photos.

** There are some things I learned after doing this the first time. I hope I can save you some expense and frustration. First of all, most of the spots got removed with the blower and Arctic Butterfly. Second, wet cleaning the sensor is easy, scary and takes some practice. The first time I tried this the first two swabs I used (you can only use them once a side), smeared the spots around. The next swab was too wet and left blobs after it evaporated. I wasn't pushing hard enough on the next four swabs so the dust still remained or it moved around in the frame. The seventh swab I tried, worked perfectly. They sell kits with a tiny bit of solution and four swabs. I bought two kits, fortunately, because it took seven swabs to get it right. I later bought a 12 pack of green swabs and slightly larger bottle of vDust Plus solution. The second time I cleaned the sensor perfectly with one swab.

Be sure you buy the correct size of swab for your particular camera sensor. The swabs I got work for both my Nikon D5000 and D7000 APC-S sized sensors.

In my experience, it wasn't any cheaper to do it myself compared to sending it back to Nikon. I'm about even for what I've spend on supplies for the first two cleanings. I'll be doing well if I can successfully clean 4 or 5 more times with the supplies I have on hand now.

I do not recommend you try this at home but know that I did it successfully and it was easy (and scary).

My Top Favorites of 2011

2012-01-01T18:44:00.001-06:00

I posted 2558 photos to my Flickr photostream in 2011. It was difficult to pick a top 10 list so I settled on my favorite 30. Here is a slideshow (once the slideshow starts, click on the four little arrows in the lower right to get to full screen):

Mrs Cardinal

2011-12-28T18:18:00.001-06:00

Mrs Cardinal DSC_2245, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I updated my backyard bird "studio" with some birch logs. Here is the first shot I published.

Look for more bird shots soon. I also added a heated bird bath.

Most of my photography lately has been at or near the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. Check out my other blog.

These are my images that Flickr picked to Explore

2011-11-28T22:40:00.001-06:00

Here are the full version of these photos.

Northern Cardinal

2011-11-19T20:12:00.002-06:00

Northern Cardinal DSC_9074, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

The backyard studio is in full swing now. We got some snow and wind with lots of birds looking to my feeder. This cardinal turned away from the wind so his crown is even more upright.

A colleague gave me an old Singer (yes Singer the sewing machine company) flash this week so I put it in a homemade softbox. It's AC powered so I won't burn through batteries and it happens to have a flash trigger so I don't need wires.

My softbox is a simple cardboard box lined with tinfoil with a white cloth in front. Works pretty well, I'd say.

My Latest Exhibitions

2011-11-12T21:34:00.001-06:00

Horse Family

Two of my works are showing at the Ramsey Country Library in Shoreview for the next several weeks. Gallery96 Art Center sponsors a number of exhibitions throughout the year. The theme for this exhibition is "A Story Told." I picked a couple horse photos I made at Theodore Roosevelt National park. My exhibits are 8x12 prints.

I have two other works showing at the Shoreview Community Center for the Gallery96 "What you did or made this summer" exhibition. This one runs through December 31st.

Here is one of my submissions at the Shoreview Community Center:

8x12 on metallic paper.

Huge Milestone for Mully410 * Images

2011-10-31T19:30:00.000-05:00

Early this morning, someone was responsible for the 500,000th view on my Flickr photostream. That's a lot of views.

Here are some highlights:

I wrote this when I posted this photo of an American Kestrel at the Raptor Center's release party on May 1, 2011: "...glad I took a second look at my files. Found this gem. If you zoom way in on his eye, you can see the sky and some people reflections." It's my most viewed photo at 10,979 views right now.

Thirty five people count Momma and the Kids as their favorite and 64 people commented on it for the most commented photo in my photostream. Second place for number of favorites only has 17 favorites.

Flickr has a feature called "Explore." They have some sort of secret formula for selecting 500 photos per day to show on their Explore page. This photo was selected back on April 30, 2001. Flickr received about 3000-5000 new uploads every minute...so being selected in the top 500 for the day is pretty cool.

These three photos were also Explored by Flickr: Shelf Cloud and Lightning; Dive, Dive, Dive; Smile.

This photo was picked up by the Associate Press wire last winter. These photos have won various awards. This photo won a second place and I was award a 24x30 print of my choice personally printed and signed by Moose Peterson.

In 2010, Demure Amur was not selected for the Minnesota State Fair but it did win best-in-show at the Salon 300 State Fair Overflow Show at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Read about how it won here.

More Crex Meadows Wisconsin...Sandhill Cranes.

2011-10-29T21:26:00.001-05:00

Went back to Crex Meadows on October 28th. I think we saw way more cranes than my last visit about three weeks ago. A couple of us (with no experience in such matters) estimated 10,000 cranes flew in for the night. I think I saw my first rough-legged hawk.

I think the first shot, the cranes on the road, might make a great book cover.

This slide show looks much better in full screen mode. Click the arrows in the lower right of the frame.

Sandhill Cranes, Trumpeter Swans, Songbirds and Raptors at Crex Meadows

2011-10-09T13:07:00.000-05:00

A friend and I spent the day in Crex Meadows Wisconsin. "The Crex" as it's locally known is a wildlife management area that attracts sandhill cranes by the thousands. We got there for sunrise and stayed until sunset.

Here is a slide show of what we saw. These are my favorites of the nearly 1400 clicks I made that day.

Click on the box like thing on the lower right of the slideshow frame to expand it. I think you can click it again once you get into the slideshow to get a full screen view.

Two Life Birds This Week During My Lunchbreak

2011-10-07T22:10:00.003-05:00

Bird DSC_2929, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Lately, I haven't been out on photowalks during my lunch break very often. Something about having to pay my bills....etc.

This week, however, I got out on two walks and saw two different bird species for the first time. The bird on the right is a Rusty Blackbird. According to Cornell University - All About Birds website, the rusty blackbird has declined 85-99% over the last forty years. Here is another shot of the bird:

(click to embiggen)

The second life bird I found and photographed was a golden-crowned kinglet. These aren't my best photographic works but I publish them anyway as documentation of my spottings:

Last spring during a lunch break photo walk, I spotted ruby-crowned kinglets.

Watertower in the Arden Hills Army Training Site

2011-09-21T22:44:00.002-05:00

Watertower DSC_1719, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I spent a rainy cold afternoon in the Arden Hills Army Training Site today. More photos on my other blog: Today at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area.

If you haven't "liked" the blog page on Facebook yet, please do so to get some exclusive content. You can also follow it on Networked Blogs.

Amur Leopard is Showing at Cafe Zia this Month

2011-09-04T21:21:00.004-05:00

Amur Leopard, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

As part of my member ship in Gallery96, I get to show some works at Cafe Zia in Roseville Minnesota.

This month, I took the big (16x20) Demure Amur print that won the People's Choice award at the Salon 300 show last year. I also brought Wild Mare and Foal (8x10) to the cafe.

Please stop by during September, grab a bite and take a look at some great art from Gallery96.

I go to the Minnesota State Fair

2011-08-27T17:37:00.002-05:00

Colors DSC_8230, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Yesterday, I made my annual solo pilgrimage to the Minnesota State Fair. I left work early and caught the park-and-ride bus based in our work parking lot. I had a great time making snaps and talking to people.

It started on the bus ride to the fair. I was lamenting how the midnight bus has lots of drunks and is quite annoying. The bus driver explained that bachelor parties are worse but bachelorette parties are even worse. She said, "the girls can't hold their liquor."

My first stop was the fine arts building. Some of the photography was pretty good and some was wtf? A snapshot of a guy on a motorcycle? Please.

My first snack was here:

I went to the Last Chance Forever show on the Garden Stage near the DNR building. I do this every year. Same show, same birds, but still cool. Here's my favorite shot:

Bay-winged Hawk...aka Harris' Hawk

I rode the Skyride...chairlift thingy in case you didn't notice the first shot in this post is from that ride.

I ate some gator bits and hush puppies. Very good.

I had the most fun watching the English Jumping competition. I sat next to a real nice woman who used to jump horses so I got free play-by-play. I learned a lot about shooting those events. It's very dark so my ISO was cranked way up. Lots of noise reduction in post. My 35mm f1.8 did ok but the brightest part of the coliseum is in the center. Didn't have enough zoom for those shots. I bet a 70-200mm f2.8 would work great.

I'm pretty sure this was the winner of the kids/adult class:

It was dark when I left the horse show so I tried a slower shutter pan on this ride.

I finished the night outside the Grandstand. Heard Heart play Crazy on You, Barracuda and a cover of Battle of Evermore that sounded quite good.

I planning on joining the Twin Cities Photography Group for a night shoot on the 3rd. Here is a slide show of what I did yesterday.

Here is Evening Bridge at the Salon 300 Show

2011-08-16T19:30:00.002-05:00

DSC_5930, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

My Evening Bridge photo is in the main gallery at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Here is a shot of it near the wood carving of the naked girl with a cello.

The show runs through Sept 4.

Evening Bridge at the TCAAP WVA will be showing at Salon 300

2011-08-08T21:49:00.002-05:00

Evening Bridge DSC_1034, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Evening Bridge at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area did not get accepted into the Minnesota State Fair this year. Who knows why other than the judge didn't deem it worthy. Oh well.

I dropped it off at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. They show state fair rejects at their Salon 300 State Fair Overflow Show.

Last year my Demur Amur won People's Choice. Please visit Salon 300 this year and vote for what you like (hopefully my work).

I'll be at the opening reception on Saturday August 8 from 6-8pm. Come say hi.

My 2011 Minnesota State Fair Fine Art Entry is Delivered.

2011-07-29T22:19:00.001-05:00

Evening Bridge DSC_1034
by Mully410 * Images

Today, I delivered my entry into the 100th annual fine arts competition at the Minnesota State Fair.

I've already written about it here on my other blog: Today at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. Please check it out.

I go to Slice of Shoreview

2011-07-27T20:17:00.002-05:00

Dock Dog DSC_2678, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I worked the Bikeways and Trails booth at the Slice of Shoreview this year. It's a great little festival. My favorite part is watching the dock dogs jump into the water. I could have sat there all day watching these dogs but I only had a few minutes.

The Lake Johanna Fire Department puts on a huge waterslide with their big fire hoses. Looks like fun.

Flooding Near My House This Morning

2011-07-16T20:28:00.003-05:00

Flooding DSC_2452, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Here is the intersection of Lexington Ave and Tanglewood Drive in Shoreview Minnesota. We got about five inches of rain last night/this morning. In fourteen years living in this neighborhood, I've never seen this intersection flooded. Lots of rain.

A couple adventurous/not exactly smart people drove through at high speed and I made some photos.

400000 Views!

2011-07-06T21:25:00.002-05:00

400000 Views, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

It's been a while since I last posted a Flickr view update. I was waiting for the next big milestone, 400,000 views. On February 11, 2011 my photostream passed 300,000 views. I am astonished that it only took five months to gain another 100k.

This is still Flickr's most interesting photo in my collection...whatever that means:

This one still has the most views at 10,936:

Momma and kids has the most favorites at 35. A nice 8x10 framed print of it is for sale at Cafe Zia in Roseville through July.

This shot was "explored" by Flickr, which is a big deal for me.

This shot is one of my favorites because it took a whole year of planning and I only had a few days while the lilacs were blooming.

Fireworks 2011

2011-07-05T22:41:00.003-05:00

Fireworks DSC_0137, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

For the third year a row, I setup on a beach on Turtle Lake in Shoreview Minnesota for the fireworks. The rich people on the lake didn't disappoint.

This year was easier in one way. I wanted the moon in my shots so I didn't have to re-compose chasing fireworks all around the lake. Fortunately, two docks under the moon were lighting off the big ones.

I used the Nikon D7000 and my Nikkor 70-300mm VR lens. I found I had to crop all my shots last year when I used the 18-55mm. All these shots are taken in Aperture Priority at f/11, ISO 100, on a tripod, with a remote cord, mirror lockup and -2 stop EV (and lots of DEET). The camera figured out how to expose the perfect shot. It usually picked a shutter speed of 3-8 seconds depending on how bright the bursts were during the shot. I used in-camera noise reduction. These photos needed very little post-processing. Some were cropped, most weren't. I applied some d-lighting to some of the bursts and a little sharpening here and there with Capture NX2 (I don't own Photoshop). Overall, I spend less than 2 minutes in the digital darkroom for any given shot.

Here is a slide show. It will look best in full screen mode...click the four little arrow like box thingy to the lower right of the frame.

Fireworks

2011-07-03T22:33:00.000-05:00

So, here are some links to my past Independence Day fireworks shoots.

With the D5000 in 2010

With the Sony DSC_W150 in 2009

This year, I'm going to try some multiple exposures now that I have a camera that will do that. I also might try and catch some shots with the zoom and might put the 35mm f/1.8 on my second tripod on an interval...or I might stay inside where it's cool and no mosquitoes. ;-)

I visit the Arden Hills Army Training Site

2011-06-30T22:07:00.002-05:00

Pipe Curve DSC_7156, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Last week during my vacation, I was hanging out at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area and ran across the environmental protection officer. She gave me a key, a tour and let me roam the Arden Hills Army Training Site all day.

Read about it and more at my other blog: Today at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area.

If you feel so inclined, I could use more "likes" on the Facebook Page for the new blog.

How I Shot Hummingbirds at my Feeder

2011-06-22T20:48:00.003-05:00

Hummingbird Female DSC_6609, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I spent this gloomy rainy day in my kitchen learning and practicing hummingbird photography. I rented an AF-S Nikkor 500mm VR G from lensrentals.com and set it up on a tripod. I took my small SB-400 speedlight, homemade snoot and SB-28 cable and mounted it on an old cheap tripod which I placed outside on the deck. Since the 500's minimum focus distance is about 12 feet, I had to set it up inside the kitchen and shot the birds through the open patio door.

This shot is a female ruby-throated hummingbird. She was the most frequent visitor today. This shot was at 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 450, EV -2/3.

Here is the male that I only got to shoot twice all afternoon.

1/250 sec, f/4, ISO400, -2/3 EV

Here is my fav:

No flash, 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000

Here is the setup. (I had a purple plastic bag over the speedlight.)

I learned a lot about hummingbird photography here.

Minnesota Skeptics' Blog

2011-06-02T22:17:00.000-05:00

I've been invited to post my skeptics rants on the Minnesota Skeptics blog. We have a number of smart and interesting writers.

Including, but not limited to, the one and only Biodork and increasingly popular podcaster The Secular Buddhist.

We'll help you learn not to fear the skeptic.

Ducklings

2011-06-01T22:45:00.003-05:00

I saw 17 ducklings in the pond outside of work this morning. Unfortunately, I had to work so I only clicked a few shots at that time. Fortunately, many of them were still there after work. I sat down on the edge of the pond for about an hour and clicked off another 100 shots. Here are the best ones:

**click on the square-ish marks on the lower right of the slideshow for a full screen view.

Remember on Memorial Day

2011-05-30T08:55:00.002-05:00

Irony DSC_2070
by Mully410 * Images

I don't think "Happy Memorial Day" is appropriate. Is it? It's not like Independence Day where we celebrate our freedoms. Do people say: "Happy Funeral?"

Enjoy your freedom and when you are remembering those to died to preserve your freedom, remember those that have killed for our freedom.

A Skeptic After the Rapture

2011-05-21T13:08:00.002-05:00

Skeptic Rapture DSC_7845, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

So, I setup the interval timer on my camera, tethered it to the pc and setup an auto upload, just in case. Turns out, I got raptured. Who knew god loves skeptics...and heaven has internet.

Osprey Hates Eagle DSC_7166

2011-05-17T21:54:00.002-05:00

Osprey Hates Eagle DSC_7166, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I stopped by the bald eagle nest on Round Lake tonight. I watched one of the eagles perched on a high branch for about 20 minutes until it nicely flew off towards me.

After that, I walked up closer to the nest where the other eagles was standing guard. I didn't see any eaglets this time, but I heard there are two in there somewhere.

As I slowly walked back to the truck, I got distracted by an oriole and then by a song sparrow. Lucky for me because the eagle came back...with an osprey chasing it. They both were squawking at each other. The osprey clearly appear as the aggressor and continued to swoop down on the eagle after it landed.

I go to The Raptor Center - Raptor Release Party

2011-05-08T18:01:00.000-05:00

Red-tailed Hawk Release
by Mully410 * Images

On Saturday May 7, 2011, I attended the Raptor Release Party held by The Raptor Center. Last year, I made lots of good photos. This year, I think I did better.

The Raptor Center released three red-tailed hawks and one sharp-shinned hawk. Here is a slide show (click on the little icon in the lower right of the slideshow frame to get a full screen view):

Gallery 96 - Lemon and Lime Exhibition

2011-04-30T20:47:00.003-05:00

Lemon Lime DSC_7024, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

You are cordially invited to an art exhibition of works by members of the Gallery 96 Art Center at the Shoreview Ramsey County Library May 6-June 3, 2011. There will be all sorts of art at this exhibition, not just photographs.

Ramsey County Library Shoreview. 4570 North Victoria Street, Shoreview, MN 651-486-2300

Hours:
Monday 10am-9pm
Tuesday and Wednesday 1-9pm
Thurday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Sunday 12-5pm

The theme is "Lemon and Lime." My interpretation of that is this photo of fire performer Kelsey Ash Zachman. Kelsey and a number of her Fire Jam group joined me and some members of the Twin Cities Photography Group for a shoot back in March. In shot she is spinning a baton which is on fire at both ends. I colorized the fire with "lime" and "lemon" colors to match the theme of this show.

This exhibition will be juried by a University of Minnesota expert who will award prize money and ribbons.

Here is another shot of Kelsey and a link to to the whole fire jam at Minnehaha Falls.

Young Bald Eagles over Tamarack Nature Center

2011-04-25T07:15:00.001-05:00

Young Bald Eagles
by Mully410 * Images

My truck needed some service so after I picked it up in Maplewood I decided to stop by the Tamarack Nature Center in White Bear Township. I visit this place a couple times a years. It's a really nice park with an interesting trail around a lake that had floating boardwalks.

Shortly after I began my walk, I noticed a big raptor off to the south. I usually walk around the other side of the lake but this time I didn't. Turns out my quick decision to go the other way paid off. I was standing on the dock and turned around to see an eagle come down real close to me. I spent all winter learning and practicing my birds-in-flight photography at my bird feeder so I was ready. I'm really proud of this series of shots. Only one of the lone eagle photos was cropped in the slightest. This bird filled the whole frame. There were three young bald eagles in this group. Within a few seconds or minutes (don't really remember, it happened fast), they were all together. I still can't believe I got all three in the same frame...while one of them was upside-down. Later, I saw two adult bald eagles and a cooper's hawk.

Please view the full screen slideshow for the best results.

Young Barn Swallow From Redbubble

2011-04-19T19:34:00.002-05:00

Young Barn Swallow DSC_7845, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Since I recently opened a store on Redbubble, I decided it would be wise to try them out myself. I decided to get an 8x12 framed and matted print of this cute little barn swallow chick.

I'm impressed. The packaging was secure and durable. The frame looks to be good quality and the hardware is solid. I went with the "box" frame so it's a little thicker than the ones I have custom made locally. I can't vouch for the print quality as I haven't disassembled the unit.

My prices at my Redbubble store are less than if you purchased from me directly. The framer I use locally has a much wider variety of frames and mats. She also custom fits each frame and gives me a choice of glass. I use a conservation glass that has a UV coating. The prints I have done myself are top quality archival inks and papers. I'm not sure what Redbubble uses. Plus, when you buy from me directly, I'll sign the mat.

Overall, I think Redbubble is a good value. You get a decent print, mat and frame shipped directly to your address...and you can use a credit card.

Today at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area

2011-04-17T20:13:00.001-05:00

TCAAP WVA Sign
by Mully410 * Images

My regular readers know that I spend a lot of time at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. It's a small section of restored prairie that abuts the Arden Hills Army Training Site (formerly known as the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant.)

The NFL, particularly the Minnesota Vikings, have been talking about putting new stadium near "my spot." If it happens, it will be on the other side of the hills, behind this water tower. I doubt I will be able to see it from the Wildlife Viewing Area but I suspect plenty of garbage will fly into the lake. I'm not a big fan of publicly funded playgrounds for the super rich and I'm especially not a fan of garbage.

Given all that, I've created a blog to record my observations and show photos I've made at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. Please join me and those with an interest in nature and wildlife at by new blog: Today at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area.

Thank You!

Walking During My Lunchbreak

2011-04-15T20:01:00.002-05:00

Thrush DSC_9654
Originally uploaded by Mully410 * Images

Lately, I've been taking a walk around my office during my lunch break...with my camera. So far in just the last week or so, I've seen a whole bunch of bird species.

The photo above is a hermit thrush. I'm not sure if I've seen this bird before today but this is the first descent shot I've gotten of one of them.

Below is a shot of a ruby-crowned kinglet. These are migrants in my neighborhood. I saw a couple last spring but didn't get any photos. These birds have a tiny red sploch on the top of their head. Unfortunately you can't see it here.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
by Mully410 * Images

Here is my favorite of the week. Northern flickers aren't rare around here but I've never seen two in the same place at the same time. I had to be quick to get this shot.

Flickers_DSC9619
by Mully410 * Images

Mully410 * Images Opens Store on Redbubble!

2011-04-10T09:47:00.002-05:00

Red Admiral DSC_6092
by Mully410 * Images

Happy Birthday to me!

More and more people are asking to buy my photographs. I am more than happy to provide professionally printed, matted and framed prints or un-matted prints but up until now, it's been slow and awkward to order from me unless you are local to where I live.

Today, I launched the Mully410 store at Redbubble. After talking with some of my peers and reading reviews, I feel that this site offers good quality and service. Initially, I plan to make available only a select few of my finest works. However, if you see something you like on my Flickr page, please let me know. I'll be happy to make it available in my store if the original file has sufficient resolution.

Please let me know of your experience at my store should you choose to enjoy my photography in your home or office.

Thank you!

Dive! Dive! Dive!

2011-03-24T19:51:00.002-05:00

Dive Dive Dive DSC_6443
Originally uploaded by Mully410 * Images

I really love this shot. I locked focus while he was on the branch and waited for him to dive towards the feeder. It's luck that his flight kept his head in the focal plane. I like how his claws are visible.

(click image to embiggen)

Nikon D7000; Nikkor 300mm F4 AF-ED

1/1250sec
F 5.6
ISO - 400

Bald Eagles Changing Up Who Minds the Nest

2011-03-18T20:32:00.003-05:00

Bald Eagle DSC_5884
by Mully410 * Images

Tonight, I stopped by the local bald eagle nest after work. This nest has been around for a couple years. This year I decided to make a point of checking it out regularly. Both eagles were present tonight. One in the tree (above) and other in the nest. After a couple minutes of waiting, this eagle joined the other on the nest.

Bald Eagles on Nest DSC_5898
by Mully410 * Images

I'm not entirely certain if they swapped out who was minding the nest. All eagles look the same to me. Within a few minutes, one of them took off and landed on a branch near by.

Bald Eagle Landing DSC_5903
by Mully410 * Images

Bald Eagle Landing DSC_5905
by Mully410 * Images

This eagles hung on to this branch for only a few minutes and took off into the background.

Eagles DSC_5911
by Mully410 * Images

I have a couple more photos on my Flickr site. Go ahead and click on the link below and then on the four tiny arrows to enlarge for a full screen slide show.

For my photography friends:

I use a Nikon D7000 and an old Nikkor 300mm F4 AF-ED lens on a Manfrotto monopod. I set up for 400 ISO to keep a high shutter speed especially since this lens doesn't have any vibration reduction. AF-A, 39 point, 3D focusing and auto white balance. I rarely spend more than 5 minutes post-processing any image. The above eagle images were cropped to about 50%.

I visited the Minnesota Zoo

2011-03-05T22:17:00.004-06:00

Smile DSC_3556
by Mully410 * Images

After much debate with myself, I picked up a used Nikkor 300mm F4 AF-ED lens today. This is a really old lens and it's a bit beat up on the outside. It's a fixed focal length...no zooming. It's second fixed focal length (aka...prime) lens in my bag. The first one was the Nikkor 35mm F1.8...which is awesome, by the way. It's well known in the photography community that prime (non-zoom) lens are sharper and produce higher quality images. Naturally, I was skeptical.

After spending a few hours at the Minnesota Zoo today, I am convinced. This lens is awesome. I must have grabbed the focus ring in a futile attempt to zoom about a hundred times but I'll get used to it. This lens is built like tank. All metal and way heavier than all my other lenses combined so I used my monopod. Since this 300mm an F4 it gives me an extra stop that my Nikkor 70-300 doesn't have. That means higher shutters and lower ISO in lower light situations. I hope to find a teleconverter that will work with it so I can get out to an equivalent 630mm for some closer otter photos at Lake Marsden.

Here is a slideshow of my zoo trip. You be the judge:

(click the little arrows to the lower right to embiggen to full screen)

Mully410*Images Surpasses 300,000 Views on Flickr

2011-02-15T20:44:00.003-06:00

300000
Originally uploaded by Mully410 * Images

Sometime today, someone somewhere was responsible for the 300,000th view on my photostream.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Here are some highlights:

This is photo now has the most "interestingness" according to Flickr's mysterious calculations:

This photo is still the most viewed:

This photo has the most favorites:

This photo has the most comments:

Click on any of the above photos to embiggen it.

I visit Como Zoo

2011-02-13T22:45:00.002-06:00

Emperor Tamarin DSC_1664
Originally uploaded by Mully410 * Images

I spent my Darwin Day at the Como Zoo with fellow skeptic and blogger, Biodork. We started off in the primate building and discussed our cousins who reside there. This was my first time at that exhibit. Kinda shocking, I know. For as many times that I've visited the zoo and conservatory, you'd think I would have stopped in that building.

My favorite spots are that cats and dogs. Here is a shot of one of the snow leopards.

And one of my favs, the Arctic Fox:

We watched this fox for quite a while so I could get a shot without building or fence. One of the wolves was fun to watch because someone brought their tiny little yippie puppy through the parking lot. I could see the predator eyes on the wolf as it ran along the fence.

I used to not be a fan of zoos. Those animals all caged up and unhappy and such. But there are some benefits to living in a zoo. For one, these animals no longer have to constantly spend every waking moment searching for food. Every animal and bird in the wild has to do that. And if I'm going to go down the anthropomorphic route: none of these zoo animals have to "worry" about being killed by other animals. Animals in nature, except for those at the top of the food chain mostly, have to be vigilant every minute in order to stay alive.

I love this pose so much that I spent way too much time in the digital darkroom trying to rid the above black-handed spider monkey shot of a red reflection from the buildings exit sign. Duh...make it monochrome!

(All photos are taken by me. Click on them to see a larger view on my Flickr pag e.)

City of Lakes - Luminary Loppet

2011-02-06T00:26:00.003-06:00

Here is a slideshow of the City of Lakes Luminary Loppet in Minneapolis Minnesota on February 5, 2011. I spend all my time on Lake of the Isles watching fire dancers.

Be sure to view it in full screen.

Shooting Blue Jays in my Backyard

2011-01-22T18:53:00.003-06:00

Blue Jay Spread DSC_0465
Originally uploaded by Mully410 * Images

Two weeks ago, I shared how I learned to make better photographs of birds in flight. This weekend it was sunny with single digit Fahrenheit temps and a below 0 wind chills so I stayed inside again.

One of the things eating away at me was the shallow depth-of-field I was getting by shooting wide-open with a fast shutter. Since I had plenty of light today, I tried something different. I switched to Manual and set my shutter at 1/1500 and f/8 and let the D5000 bump up the ISO as needed. According to my DOF calculator app, I should have about a foot of DOF. I almost never shoot in manual mode unless I shoot long exposures at night so I feel kind of proud of myself that this worked out.

The shot of the Blue Jay above is my favorite of today. I cropped it, added a little sharpening and some noise reduction.

Tips for Shooting Birds in Flight Near Your Feeder

2011-01-09T17:53:00.003-06:00

Jay Landing DSC_9366
Originally uploaded by Mully410 * Images

This weekend was very cold and I was feeling abnormally wimpy so I staked out my bird feeder. I've spent some time trying to figure out how to get decent shots of birds in flight but this weekend I was determined to figure it out once and for all. I could write three pages on the evolution of my learnings but I'll spare you that and just present my conclusions.

These tips are the product of probably 10-12 hours (and thousands of shots) of experimentation over the last several weeks (mostly this weekend though).

The first thing I learned was to pre-focus on a spot where I know the birds will be then I turn off the auto-focus. The auto-focus consistently "wants" to focus on the fence or the lilac bushes in the background.

The second important item is speed. I mostly shot in aperture priority wide open to get the fastest shutter speed without sacrificing ISO. Eventually, I gave up on this when I discovered I needed at least 1/1000 of second. So I switched to shutter priority and set it for 1/1000 or 1/1500 when I had brighter light.

The third thing I worked on was stability. Up until today, I hand held all my shots from my window while relying on the VR (vibration reduction) to stabilize my camera. Overtime, my arms and hands started to ache. You have to keep the camera up ALL THE TIME if you hope to capture birds, especially chickadees.

Chickadee Landing DSC_9448

Since I couldn't fit my tripod in front of the window, which is behind the TV, I used my monopod. It collapses short enough to rest easily on the sill below the window.

The last important thing I figured out was timing. I only get 3-4 shots before the D5000 buffer fills up and I have to wait a second or two before the next shot. (I shoot RAW for lots of reasons). For this reason, I have to make sure I push the shutter release at exactly the right second to capture the bird with wings outspread. In order to do this, I had to see the bird before it entered the field of view in my frame. This problem was solved by keeping both eyes open and pushing the shutter when I saw movement towards the feeder

I'm sure there are other tips out there but these worked for me.

1. Pre-focus and turn off auto-focus
2. Shutter priority 1/1000 sec or faster
3. Use a tripod or monopod so you can keep the camera in position for long periods.
4. Keep both eyes open
5. Have fun

Red-bellied Woodpecker
by Mully410 * Images

Flying Squirrel

2011-01-08T22:01:00.002-06:00

Flying Squirrel DSC_9071
Originally uploaded by Mully410 * Images

I spent most of my afternoon attempting action shots of the birds and squirrels in my backyard. Here is one of the better ones.

Focusing is the hardest part form me in capturing action shots. Today, I tried pre-focusing on a spot and then waiting for the bird or squirrel to come into focus. I got lucky with the auto-focus in above "flying" squirrel image.

This chickadee flew into the focus area but I don't think my shutter speed was quick enough.

Chickadee Flight DSC_9175
by Mully410 * Images

Bryant is the Best Furnace Company Ever

2011-01-04T19:43:00.003-06:00

I have good news about my melted/burned furnace problem.

Soon after Standard Heating and Air Conditioning replace my melted circuit board and wire harness, I wrote a letter (feedback form on the website) to the manufacturer, Bryant. The letter was carefully crafted to be factual, professional, personal and polite. I simply explained what happened, added some questions, wondered about the future reliability and mentioned that my father was considering a new furnace.

Within 24 hours, I received an acknowledgment from Bryant and an email from the local distributor that supplies Standard. We exchanged a number of polite emails and once the distributor saw the damage he agreed to compensate me for the faulty equipment.

This is not the first time a manufacturer "made right" with me due to a faulty product. You've read about my compact florescent that burned. GE ended up sending me an $8 coupon for some new bulbs and a pre-paid package to send the bad bulb to their lab. Many years ago I had a Sony STR-DA80ES home theater receiver. It was very expensive (for me) and ended up crapping out a month before the 5 year warranty expired. The service company had it for 2 months without giving me an update so I wrote to Sony. Within a few HOURS of writing that note, a man from Sony's corporate service called and offered a brand new STR-DA5000ES as a replacement because they didn't make the parts for the 80 anymore.

Lesson: Be polite. Be factual. Make it personal. Don't bitch and swear.

I'm still awaiting the exact amount of my refund/credit from Bryant so I'll update this later if you are interested.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T23:55:00.000-06:00

Lots of Fireworks DSC_5493
by Mully410 * Images

My Photography Highlights of 2010

2010-12-31T18:34:00.005-06:00

Squirrel DSC_8022
by Mully410 * Images

2010 was a big year for my photography. The above image has the most favorites on my Flickr page and is now considered "most interesting" with Flickrs mysterious interestingness calculations.

After about 3 years with a Sony digital point-and-shoot, I finally bought a Nikon D5000 with the 70-300mm AF-S VRII lens, 18-55mm kit lens and the 35mm f1.8. I reached the limit of the Sony's capabilities and knew exactly what I needed to take my photography to the next level. This gear gave me a quicker response time, quicker focus, more frames per second and more range with the interchangeable lenses. I tried to deny it and held off as long as possible but eventually got tired of the limitations of MS Live Photo Gallery. I needed something more powerful to "develop" my photos so I went with Nikon's Capture NX2.

Although the gear and software were integral to improving my photography, the biggest influence on me came from the Twin Cities Photography Group. I've met tons of great people of all skill levels. I've learned from those with more knowledge and shared what I've learned with others. TCPG has (almost) forced me to move outside my comfort zone to shoot things I wouldn't have shot. I've learned to see differently and found shots I never would have seen without this group.

My first event with the TCPG was a photo scavenger hunt. It was great fun and at the same time grueling and exhausting. More than the fun and exhaustion, I received some validation. This photo won for best example of "Signs of Spring":

Orange Awesome
by Mully410 * Images

For those of you who know a thing or two about photography, Orange Awesome was shot as a jpg at 3200 ISO. Glad I went with Nikon!

TCPG encouraged me to show my works so I participated in three gallery exhibitions that they sponsored. I sold my first image at the first show:

Sinister Chickadee
by Mully410 * Images

I took this shot of a wild chickadee at the Minnesota Zoo in the late afternoon. The print that sold was a professionally printed, matted and framed 8x10.

At our second show, I sold my second work:

Ducklings in Spruce
by Mully410 * Images

I saw this mallard family waddling between the ponds at work so I decided to bring my camera one day. I gently followed them around during my lunch hour until they headed for the spruce trees. This shot was the result of me correctly predicting where they would come out and me not being afraid to practically lay down in the parking lot.

Since the TCPG shows, I've sold a few more stand alone prints.

Demure Amur
by Mully410 * Images

TCPG members encouraged me to enter the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts competition. Demure Amur did not get accepted for the fair exhibit but it did win People's Choice at the Salon 300 State Fair Overflow Show in Hopkins. Read the whole story of how this shot won.
(also shot in jpg and at 1600 ISO)

Minnesota Public Radio recognized and published an image I made at Hawk Ridge on their Minnesota Scenes website as the photo of the day:

Click on the image for the full story. Click here for the full image.

A print of the image below won best-in-show at the Gallery 96 "Photographs of my Park" exhibition at the Shoreview Community Center this fall.

Evening Bridge DSC_1034
by Mully410 * Images

Finally, if you've made it this far reading here is a link to a slide-show of my personal favorites of 2010:

Go here to see my photos from my trip to Yellowstone National Park and here for my trip to Crex Meadows. If you are really ambitious, feel free to search my blog for all my photo posts.

My plans for 2011 include another photo expedition to...somewhere. I also plan to attend more workshops and read more books.

Squirrels, Squirrels and More Squirrels

2010-12-19T20:59:00.002-06:00

Squirrel_DSC8022
by Mully410 * Images

Today was single digit temperatures. I ended up heading out the TCAAP WVA for sunrise and saw a coyote and some ducks. I received some minor frostbite and managed some OK snapshots but I really need this to get closer.

Most of today was spent in my house wrapping presents and shooting the squirrels (with the camera.) The above shot is my favorite of the day. Click on it to embiggen it.

At one point, there were eight squirrels vying for the bird seed under my feeders. Two of these Eastern Gray Squirrels were black:

To Jump or Not DSC_DSC8091
by Mully410 * Images

Pandemonium ruled the backyard today. There was never more than a minute with all the squirrels contented. Unfortunately most of the action took place below my line of sight behind a foot of snow.

Put em up DSC_8028
by Mully410 * Images

Please visit my collection: Squirrels in Winter on Flickr.

Coyotes at the TCAAP WVA

2010-12-17T22:59:00.006-06:00

by Mully410 * Images

If you know me or follow this blog even occasionally, you know I spend a lot of time at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant Wildlife Viewing Area. Now that it's winter here in Minnesota, I don't bike there everyday. Besides, the sun is set before I leave work everyday.

I had another obligations that allowed me to cut out of work early so I took the opportunity to head to the TCAAP WVA after that. If you are not from around here or live in a cave or something, we got 17 inches of snow last weekend during a pretty heavy blizzard. High winds. Low Temps. The works. As I drove along the street to the parking lot, I glanced out at Marsden Lake and noticed what I thought were dogs on the ice. Well, there shouldn't be any domestic dogs inside the barbed-wire fence. These must be coyotes!

I quickly parked and much to my chagrin, the trail was not cleared of snow. It only took a nano-second (approximately) for me to decide to hoof it through the 3 foot drifts. I didn't bother with the boots, warm pants, hand warmers and other cold weather gear because, after all, there was wildlife that needed photographing...quick like. (two step in and my short hiking boots and socks were full of snow)

The shot above shows the best shot I got with all three coyotes. Click on any of the images to embiggen. Here are two of them running on the lake:

They ended up working their way towards me but "my spot" is still about a quarter to a half mile away. These two investigated that small dark spot in the center right of this shot below:

Then they approached even closer:

I didn't mess with the color in shot with any software. The sunset lit up the ice and snow all by itself.

Here's a nearly 100% crop for a better look. I might be able to get a decent 8x10 but I'm not sure.

Milestone for Mully410 * Images - 250,000 Views on Flickr

2010-12-12T10:45:00.002-06:00

250,000 Views
Originally uploaded by Mully410 * Images

Mully410 * Images hit another milestone last night. 250,000 views!

My Minnesota blizzard photos drove over 3000 views so far today.

Thanks for viewing!

Minnesota Blizzard 2010

2010-12-12T08:22:00.000-06:00

Neither Snow DSC_7257
by Mully410 * Images

Minnesota had a good old-fashioned blizzard this weekend. I love it. Lots of snow. High winds. Three foot snow drifts.

After my first round of snowblowing, I hit the road in the 4Runner to look for photos. I found the above dedicated postal worker. Thank you USPS!

It turns out most of the "great shots" were in my back yard. I had three squirrels running and jumping around. It would have been nice to have a video of the one that made a futile jump from the tree to the bird feeder. It landed in the snow in a big poof and disappeared.

The wind was very strong. This guy had a very difficult time hanging on to the tree branch. He almost fell a half dozen times while I watched.

Whew DSC_7292
by Mully410 * Images

The snow was very deep in the back yard

Snowbound DSC_7308
by Mully410 * Images

and it was cold...

Top Coat DSC_7287
by Mully410 * Images

All My Raptor Photos - Mully410 * Images

2010-12-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

I re-sorted all my raptor photos into one big set:

Deer Hunt 2010

2010-12-09T07:50:00.000-06:00

Sunset Near CCC Camp
by Mully410 * Images

I'm sorry that it took so long to get around to posting about the deer hunt this year. I was an interesting year for a number of reasons: we only had 4 people with us this year (last year we had 9) and this was the first year I had my DSLR. There was a constant battle in my mind on whether or not to focus on the hunt or bushwhack with the rifle and the camera.

We hunt on public land so "our spots" are sometimes occupied by other hunters. This year my preferred spot had a car parked nearby so I moved to another spot. I walked into the woods and encounter 2 more hunters within a few minutes so I turned around. I walked up the road and tried another spot. Within 100 yards or so, I saw another hunter so I turned around. It was about 9am before I found a lame spot near the road...low expectations. Within a couple minutes of sitting down two trumpeter swans flew by me and a red fox jogged past. I left the Nikon in the car! Within 10 minutes of sitting down on the first day a nice sized 9 point buck appeared. One shot from the front and through the lungs brought him down about 100 yards from me.

Here is the set of my favorite photos from this year's hunt. (there only one with the dead deer).

My Bryant 90i Furnace Burned

2010-12-08T21:46:00.007-06:00

Burned DSC07742
Originally uploaded by Mully410 * Images

(after you read this go here for the update)

This is a shot of the $480 circuit board in my Bryant 90i furnace. I woke up last Thursday to the smell of smoldering plastic. I searched the house and couldn't find an obvious culprit. My first thought was another compact florescent bulb melting like what happened last time.

I had to get to work and didn't want to come back to a burned up house so I called 911. The fire department showed up with a thermal imager and scanned the entire house. They checked the appliances, the rats nest of cables behind my home theater and all the computers and found nothing.

Pretty soon, I had 6 firefighters and 3 deputy sheriffs sniffing the heating vents throughout the house. Eventually one of them pulled open the furnace panel and saw a blinking light. We tested it by cranking up the thermostat but it wouldn't fire up. They turned it off and told me to call for repairs. It was about 8:30am or so.

The whole house smell of burnt plastic for days.

By 6:30pm when the furnace repair guys showed up, it was 51F in parts of the house. They quickly found the melted circuit board and wiring harness. I was told that this is rare yet they had a replacement board in their truck. They didn't have a wire harness but managed to jury rig the old one so the furnace will function until they received the replacement harness from the factory.

I'm disappointed in my 6 year old furnace. I spent way more than I had to get the most energy efficient furnace available at the time. I suspect all the money I "saved" with this new furnace was wiped out by this $900 repair. I emailed Bryant with the link to this post. I'll keep you posted.

(after you read this go here for the update)

I Visit Crex Meadows Wisconsin

2010-10-02T13:33:00.004-05:00

Impending Rain
by Mully410

On Friday October 1st, I did a road-trip to Crex Meadows in western Wisconsin. It was cloudy and looked like rain for the entire 80 mile drive. I arrive at the wildlife and education visitor center around noon just as the rain started. I decided to gear up for the rain and hike the short trail and boardwalk near the center. I got a few shots of leaves on pond shots and saw a white-tailed deer (didn't get shot). Towards the end of the hike I came to a swampy boggy area across the trail. In my laziness, decided to hop across on the "high" spots. I ended up discovering that the water was about 2 inches deeper than my hiking boots. Hey, did you know Gore-Tex doesn't keep water out when it goes over your boot? I made it back to the truck, rung out my sock and put it on the dash with the heater on full blast.

I drove up phantom lake road and stopped here and there when I saw something interesting. I got a couple shots of ducks and this white-crowned sparrow from the truck. Once my sock and boot dried out and the rain subsided, I looked for a spot for a lunch picnic. I saw this duck in a canal from about 20 yards away. It watched me for a minute or so then submerged never to be seen again. After lunch, I went for a short hike to see what I could see.

My drive took me all around the area. I took short excursions to dead-end parking lots and resumed on the loop. I went for another short hike at a rest area in the northern end of the "meadow." Throughout, the rain threatened.

I saw this bird land and drove up slowly. It stayed on the ground while I got out and captured my first decent shot of a northern harrier. There were quite a few around the area in the north east.

The rain moved in around 5pm. This was actually not disappointing. The showers were isolated so I had high hopes for a great sunset. I ended up going west to hit phantom lake road again. I remembered that the lake is on the east side of the road and should make for some good shots at Sunset. I found a nice spot near a lone birch tree and a small pond. From the moment I got out of the truck, I could hear sandhill cranes making lots of noise nearby. Within a few minutes, 4 of them dropped in about a 100 yards or so from me. You can see scores of them in the background of this shot. There were some hunters nearby. I saw their truck and heard their gunfire but couldn't see them until they came out to collect their game. After their last barrage, the nearby cranes took off to join the main crowd, well out of my sight.

The colors were brilliant. I didn't have to tweat most of them in post-processing. Here is the whole slideshow. Please try the full screen version by clicking on the icon in the lower right.

Crex Meadows Collection
by Mully410

Prints showing at Shoreview Community Center through December 27th

2010-09-30T23:42:00.002-05:00

Broken Cone Flower DSC_4077
Originally uploaded by Mully410

I had these two photos printed, matted and framed for a Gallery 96 show at the Shoreview Community Center. The theme is Ramsey County Parks. Both of these shots were take this summer at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Wildlife View Area and will be upstairs in the glass cases at the community center until the end of December.

Stop by if you can. I think Broken Cone looks really cool with the dark green linen mat.

Evening Bridge

Why Demure Amur Won People's Choice

2010-09-25T08:32:00.001-05:00

This photo, Demure Amur, received the People's Choice Award at the Salon 300 - Minnesota State Fair Overflow 2010 show. That means it received more votes by the public than any of the 300+ other works at the show. Here is the story of the my journey from the Minnesota Zoo to award winning photographer.

One of my fellow members of the Twin Cities Photography Group suggested a better crop than my original so I had an 8x10 of this portrait printed, matted and framed for the 2010 Art-A-Whirl and the Gallery of Giving shows. During those shows, another member suggested it would look super cool on metallic paper so I had a 16x20 printed, matted and framed and entered it into the MN State Fair Fine Arts competition. The fair promptly rejected it but I guess that wasn't a big deal given the reviews that show got this year. The first 450 artists who were rejected by the fair and picked up a form got the opportunity to show their rejects at the Hopkins Center for the Arts Salon 300.

The Salon 300 - Minnesota State Fair Overflow 2010 show is held during the Minnesota State Fair. There were all kinds of art in this show including everything from wood working, sculpture, painting and crafts. However, the vast majority of works seemed to photography.

Once I dropped it off at that show, I engage my social media machine and bugged everyone to get out and vote.

So, thank you Todd and Shayne for the technical and creative assistance. Thank you Twin Cities Photography Group for inspiration and encouragement. Thank you to all my friends and family for support and thank you to everyone who voted especially my mom and dad for bringing all their friends!

at the Salon 300 show

screenshot of the HCA web page

Here are some technical details of the original photo:
Taken on 2-6-2010 at 12:07pm CST
Nikon D5000 with Nikkor 70-300mm f4.5/5.6 IF-ED AF-S VR Zoom
1/200 sec
f/5.6
ISO 1600
+1 EV
300mm

Torso

2010-09-24T23:31:00.002-05:00

Torso DSC_3769
Originally uploaded by Mully410

This is my favorite self portrait. I just had an 8x8 print made and framed and think it looks really interesting. I've finally filled in the back story on this photo so if you are interested, click on it and read about it on my Flickr site.

Night Shots at the Minnesota State Fair 2010

2010-09-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

Upside Down
by Mully410

I returned to the Minnesota State Fair Sunday night. It was the first time that I visited the fair twice in one year. This time I was with a group from the Twin Cities Photography Group. We all brought our tripods with the goal of capturing some cool night shots.

The above shot, Upside Down, was taken just before all the lights came on in the midway. The sunset was particularly interesting. The landscape below took a lot of patience to get the green spinny thing in full cycle. This shot was taken atop the stairway next to the grandstand.

Full Spin
by Mully410

Ferris Wheel
by Mully410

I took a bunch of shot of this Ferris wheel. It was fun figuring out which exposures worked best. This shot is my favorite because it isn't a whole cycle of the ride and composition is interesting.

This last shot was kind of a mistake but I like it anyway. I spent a good half hour or more trying various compositions and exposures to capture this ride. This is probably my last shot. Apparently, I didn't realize the shutter was open and so moved the tripod around and got the interesting blurs.

Green Movement
by Mully410

See these and 121 other photos from my trips to the fair here.

Before and During the Minnesota State Fair

2010-09-06T10:08:00.000-05:00

Visit my collections of photos for the 2009 and 2010 Minnesota State Fair.

Mully410 Achieves 200,000+ Views on Flickr

2010-09-03T21:10:00.004-05:00

Kestrel Close Up
Mully410

Mully410's Flickr photostream attained a huge milestone today. Sometime around 2pm CDT someone clicked on one of my photos for the 200,000th time. Wow! 75,000 views since April.

The above photo, Kestrel Close Up, is my most viewed shot. 10,458 views as of now. I took it at the spring raptor release party hosted by the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. My second most viewed photos is this dorky donkey sign which has 5977 views and was shot at the Minnesota State Fair 2010:

This peregrine falcon is a rescued bird at the Raptor Center of the University of Minnesota. I also took this shot at the spring raptor release party. It's the 3rd most viewed shot in my collection at 4383 views.

Flickr tracks photos with a thing they call "interestingness." It's some sort of combination of views, favorites and comments. I find Flickriver the easiest way for you to see what Flickr considers are my photos with the most interestingness:

I have 26 photos and 1 video with over 1000 views.

These 132 photos and one video are all tags by other people as their favorites.

These five photos have won various awards so that makes me an award winning photographer, right?

Last but not least, these are my personal favorites from 2010...so far.

I go to Minnesota State Fair 2010

2010-08-28T21:08:00.003-05:00

Red-tailed Hawk by Mully410

I had a good time shooting at the Minnesota State Fair. I chose to bring the Nikon D5000 and the AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G lens. Not having a zoom forced me to use my feet to get close. Since this is a prime (no zoom) lens, it couldn't suck any dust inside. I love the sharpness of this lens with the best examples in the close ups from the Last Chance Forever raptor show.

I spend most of my time tracking down wildlife and chasing butterflies but this trip to the fair had me rethinking what and how I shoot what I shoot. There are some experimental shots mixed in with some traditional snapshots and funny signs in this set:

Please let me know what you think.

Garbage on a Bench and Fantasy Football

2010-08-26T22:13:00.004-05:00

Garbage on a Bench
Originally uploaded by Mully410

I retired from fantasy football this year mostly because I want to use that time for photography. While examining my Flickr stats tonight, I noticed a bunch of views coming from an espn website. One of the links lead me to someone's fantasy football team. Turns out my photography is so cool and desirable that it's being "stolen" for fantasy football team logos. Should I be pissed? I think not. He can only get a very low res version of the above photo. Now, if it shows up on the cover of a magazine, I might become irritated.

I ended up creating an account just so I could comment on this guy's team. I hope it doesn't scare him off.

My Photo at Salon 300 at Hopkins Center for the Arts.

2010-08-24T09:28:00.002-05:00

Demure Amur by Mully410

I'm showing a 16x20 metallic print of the above Amur Leopard in the Salon 300 show at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. This shot was taken at the Minnesota Zoo. There are only about 30 or so of these beautiful animals left in the wild.

My work is in the gallery room (not in the hallway) and has a very nice black mat, black frame and museum glass. The show runs through September 5th, 2010. If you stop by, please vote for it for the people's choice award. Let me know if you see a red dot on my tag. That means it sold!

My Favorites from my Yellowstone Journey

2010-08-22T22:11:00.003-05:00

I just revisited my Yellowstone Journey Collection and selected my 10 favorites from my trip to Yellowstone National Park in May 2010. I've provided a background story on each shot and welcome any questions.

Here is a nice slideshow in Flickr's new light box. Click on the "show info" button for the stories when you are in full screen viewing. (the pause button is in the lower left and the full screen button is in the lower right)

Amur Leopard take Mully410's Photostream over 170,000 views

2010-07-30T19:43:00.004-05:00

Amur Leopard DSC_7190
Originally uploaded by Mully410

This Amur Leopard shot suddenly received over 3000 views yesterday and today. Thanks everyone! That puts the Mully410 Flickr Photostream over 170,000 views.

Today, I managed to photograph a rare event at work (rare in that I don't always have my camera). Check out the slideshow below. Warning...if you don't like seeing mouse guts, move along.

I saw this hawk on a flagpole yesterday. I decided to bring the DSLR today knowing the chance I'd see it again would be remote. I saw it on the top of the light pole as soon as I pulled into the parking lot. As I approached, I took some shots (just to be sure I got something in case it took off). Within a minute or two, it swooped down to grab a mouse right in front of me. After it secured its prey, it proceeded to the top of another light pole nearby. For the next several minutes, I watched as it tore apart and ate the little mouse.

Fireworks on Independence Day 2010

2010-07-05T00:05:00.002-05:00

Sunset Fireworks DSC_5470
Originally uploaded by Mully410

Well, I didn't get the shot with ISS that I was planning. I didn't even see it. However, I did get some cool shots. I think the one above is my favorite.

Here is the whole set:

Independence Day Photo Challenge - ISS and Fireworks

2010-07-04T11:45:00.002-05:00

Fireworks and Moon
Awarded 2nd place by NASA lunar scientists and artists
Originally uploaded by Mully410

Tonight will be a rare (maybe unique?) photographic opportunity. For those in the mid-west of the United States, the International Space Station will fly over between 9:52pm and 9:58pm or so. What makes this rare or possibly unique is that it's Independence Day. That means fireworks.

I scouted out a spot where I will be for the fireworks tonight. I've been reading up on how to properly expose shots for fireworks and have been experimenting with photographing the ISS for years now.

ISS will look like a fast moving point of light. If you've seen satellites fly overhead, ISS will look just like that but brighter...sometimes a whole lot brighter. Since it moves at about 17,000 miles per hour, it will be fast and obvious.

Tonight, July 4th, 2010, ISS will become visible in Minnesota at 9:52:42pm CDT at 310 degrees (North West) at an altitude of 10 degrees. It will reach its peak height at 9:55:04pm CDT at 4 degrees (North) at an altitude of 22 degrees and move to its end at 9:57:27pm CDT at 58 degrees (East North East) and 10 degrees altitude. If you know your constellations, ISS will pass through Cassiopeia...it looks like a "W" in the northern sky. Here is a nice applet from NASA to help you track ISS and other space flights.

Now that you know where and when ISS will pass, the big challenge will be to properly expose your shot. You'll only have about 5 minutes. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do other than a small aperture and long exposure, perhaps 1-2 minutes, with and ISO of 400-800 or so. I suspect the fireworks might be over exposed with such a long shot but I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen. Be sure to turn off your in camera long exposure noise reduction or your camera will spend half the pass doing calculations.

Give it a shot and post your best. I'm very curious to see how people handle this challenge.

I shot Yellowstone National Park - Theodore Roosevelt National Park - Devils Tower National Monument

2010-06-05T23:21:00.002-05:00

Grizzly DSC_9686
Originally uploaded by Mully410

At the end of May, I road tripped from Minnesota to Yellowstone National Park. Here is a link to the whole collection.

I stopped off at Theodore Roosevelt National Park on the way out there. A saw lots of wildlife including wild horses (aka...feral horses).

I have two sets on Flickr of this park...Day 1 and Day 2.

Within Yellowstone, I saw Grizzly and Black Bears, all kinds of birds, baby bison, osprey, eagles, rainbows, waterfalls, a rescue chopper, geysers (duh) pools and other thermal geology, a coyote, elk, pronghorns and baby bighorn sheep. See these sets: Day 4, Day 5, Day 6.

On my way back, I stopped at Devils Tower National Monument. Ever since I saw the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind as kid, I've wanted to go there.

I saw prairie dogs, birds, climbers, butterflies, rocks, deer and flowers. See this set for more.

Kestrel Close Up - University of Minnesota Raptor Center - Raptor Release Party

2010-05-02T10:18:00.003-05:00

Kestrel Close Up DSC_7535
Originally uploaded by Mully410

This is an American Kestrel which resides with the University of Minnesota Raptor Center. The Raptor Center had their annual raptor release party yesterday. The brought a dozen or so birds that cannot survive in the wild to show everyone before they released some others.

This Kestrel shot is now my top viewed photo on my Flickr Photostream with almost 4000 views at the time of this post.

Below is the second most viewed photo on my photo stream. It is a Peregrine Falcon. It has over 3000 views.

These two have pushed my total views very close to 140,000...

Dog's got wings and helps fly over 125,000 views!

2010-04-24T23:38:00.002-05:00

Dogs got Wings DSC_6703
Originally uploaded by Mully410

I went on a photowalk with the Twin Cities Photography Group today. Along came a couple of dogs who really weren't supposed to be off-leash. They were real quick. This was only one of two shots I managed before they took off. I posted this on Reddit and got about 400 hits within an hour which pushed my Flickr Photostream over 125,000 views tonight. Wow. Thanks for viewing.

Update on my Burning Compact Florescent Bulb

2010-04-22T23:06:00.004-05:00

Here is an update on my previous burning compact florescent bulb story. Here is the original story.

GE kindly sent me a postage paid box for the bulb, so I sent it back to them for study. They also provided an $8.00 coupon for more GE bulbs. Thanks!

An Osprey Story

2010-04-21T21:34:00.004-05:00

I was out at the TCAAP Wildlife viewing area tonight. One of the local osprey stopped by and sat on a tree nearby.

Eventually, it decided it was time for dinner and took off.

It plunged into the water three times before it nabbed dinner.

It came back to the nearby tree but didn't feel comfortable eating in front of me and soon took its catch towards the nest.

As it left, it showed me its catch.

(The tiny sparkles are water shedding off the bird. The larger fuzzy blurs are from a cottonwood tree.)

On the way to the nest, a young eagle showed up. The osprey dived bombed it a few time and enlisted the help of its spouse.

They both pestered the eagle until it retreated. Just before the eagle was out of sight, it took a plunge for its own dinner. Unfortunately, this took place directly into the sunlight so my photos didn't work.

Somewhere during the scuffle with the eagle, the osprey lost the fish.

Click on any of the photos to embiggen them or view the whole slide show including bonus photos below:

Spring Break with the Twin Cities Area Counsel of Camera Clubs

2010-03-27T21:01:00.005-05:00

Gray Wolf - Sheriff (12)
Originally uploaded by Mully410

Today, I spent the whole day with the Twin Cities Area Counsel of Camera Clubs. It was their annual "spring break" event. They brought in a number of great speakers and some vendors selling camera gear.

I most enjoyed the lunch time event held by the Minnesota Wildlife Connection. They brought in one of their new wolves, Sheriff, for us to photograph. The above shot is one of only a few I was able to get without his tough out. It was probably very warm for a wolf today at 40F - 50F or so.

Most of my shots are this pose:

Or this:

See my set of the 11 best shots on at my Flicker photostream.

In case you are wondering, this is a captive and not a wild wolf. I believe he was born in captivity so he'd have a difficult if not impossible time surviving in the wild. The Minnesota Wildlife Connection is certified by the Humane Society, USDA and Minnesota DNA (according to their website.)

Update on my previous post: My Compact Fluorescent Bulb Burned a Hole in Itself Today

2010-03-23T18:03:00.003-05:00

I received a response from GE about my light bulb ignition blog post.

Dear Mr. (Mully410),

Thank you for contacting GE Lighting. I am happy to assist you.

I am sorry you have experienced a problem with one of our products, and assure you that feedback on product quality is important to us.

There can be smoking at the end of life on CFL's on rare occasions. This is generally not cause for alarm and we have yet to see a case where there is an actual flame. Our products are UL listed and the plastic housing is made of a material designed not to sustain combustion.

All GE bulbs have a rated life warranty, and we are glad to file a product claim on your behalf. You should receive a response within 15 days via US Postal Service.

Please retain the failed product until you are contacted in writing. Product Services periodically requests the product be returned for testing, and if so, a pre-paid mailer or shipping label will be provided. Your reference number is: 2010015428.

If you have already disposed of the product, please follow the instructions in the written response.

To make sure you have the most efficient product for your application, please visit our FAQs on www.gelighting.com.

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.

Regards,
Tammy

GE Lighting Internet Response Team

I'll keep you posted...

My Compact Fluorescent Bulb Burned a Hole in Itself Today

2010-03-18T21:04:00.004-05:00

Bulb Burned
Originally uploaded by Mully410

I try to do my part in running a green household. I have a super efficient washing machine, furnace and water heater. This has saved me some nice money over the years. I've even replaced most of my old light bulbs with compact fluorescent.

Today, while I was moving my clean cloths from the washer to the dryer, I smelled something burning. There was smoke coming from my compact fluorescent bulb. I quickly turned off the switch. It stopped smoldering after about a minute so I uninstalled it. Here is the result (click on the pic to go to the Flickr page and then "all sizes" to get a close-up. It looks like it burned right through the ceramic like housing. Luckily I was home and noticed it right away. It only left a nasty burnt plasticy smell throughout the house. No telling what would have happened if wasn't around to notice it.

Fascinating. I wonder how many of these do this. I bought the GE brand, not some knock-off cheapo brand, because I felt safer going with a well known company. When an energy inefficient incandescent burns out, the circuit is simply broken and things don't start on fire. Now I'm wondering if the risk is worth the reward in having these new energy friendly bulbs...not to mention that they are toxic and can't go into the normal garbage can.

I plan to contact GE about this and will likely send it in to them. Stay tuned.

Here are the specs of the bulb:

Here is the caution label and UL listing:

This is what it was plugged into (different bulb in this pic):

Here is an update with the conclusion.

American Kestrel's Successful Hunt on the former TCAAP

2010-02-27T18:25:00.003-06:00

Kestrel Flight
by Mully410

Today was a bright sunny day, but not a great day by photography standards with the harsh overhead light. However, I've found that it's very difficult to capture shots of raptors in the evening so I go out in the early afternoon anyway. I put a circular polarizer on my 70-300mm Nikkor zoom and grabbed my brand new Manfrotto Monopod for a walk on the relatively new trail along Rice Creek on the west side of the old Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant.

There wasn't much to see until I came across this Kestrel. I saw a pair of them hunting last fall in this area so it wasn't completely unexpected. This is a male American kestrel. You can tell it's a male by it's vibrant bluish gray color. I saw this guy from far away on a telephone pole. Within a minute or so, he flew off and crashed into the ground. I couldn't quite see where he landed so no shots of that. Soon he took off towards another pole with a prize in his claws. It was most likely a mouse. Kestrels are very small falcons so rabbits and squirrels are probably way too big for them. These shots had to be severely cropped in order to see the bird so no poster sized prints. If only I would have had this lens...but then again I probably wouldn't have been hauling that behemoth on a long walk.

This set looks particularly great when you do the full screen slide show. Hit the four dot square in the lower right of the screen once you start the show.

Golden Trumpeter Swans - My Best Bird-in-flight Photo so far

2010-02-26T22:58:00.002-06:00

Golden Trumpeters
Originally uploaded by Mully410

Tonight, I was out at my spot in the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant Wildlife Viewing Area. It was fairly warm out and I figured I'd haul out the tripod and attempt some more shots of the Moon. I got a whole bunch of blurry shots and a couple that turned out pretty sharp...see below.

Just after I put my camera away, I heard a "honk" and saw these two trumpeter swans. Thanks to my foresight in keeping my camera setup for quick shots, I got 4 quick ones of these swans. The light was perfectly golden as the sun was almost down. The only thing I did to the above shot was to crop it a little. The color is as I saw it. Amazing. Here is the other shot.

I watch a pair of swans raise their young in Marsden Lake every summer. I wonder if these are those two. Probably not but what the heck are they doing up here when all the lakes are frozen?

Sharper Moon - Waxing Gibbous
by Mully410

My Photography Resources - The where, what, how, why and wtf about making photos

2010-02-25T20:27:00.007-06:00

Black-capped Chickadee (my favorite bird)
Mully410

Many of my friends, colleagues and acquaintances ask me about cameras and photography. While I'm no expert on such things, I appreciate the inquiry and will do my best to help.

What camera should I get? Short answer: I don't know. How much do you want to spend? What do you plan to photograph? Where? Do you want something small that fits in your purse or pocket or something fancy schmancy because you know the difference between shutter, aperture and ISO?

Keep in mind this bit of wisdom: If you take crappy pictures now, when you get a more expensive camera you will take more expensive crappy pictures. I paid a bit extra for my camera when I purchased my Nikon D5000 from National Camera and Video because they offer introductory classes for "free." I read the manual before I bought the camera and read it again before the class. Then I got Ken Rockwell's user guide for the D5000 and read it.

I learned most of my photography while using a fairly simple compact Sony DSC-W150 before I upgraded. I figured out that I mostly like the aloneness of being out in nature and want to find interesting shots of birds, animals, bugs and plants. For this, I needed a better zoom lens especially since I take daily shots at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. Most of the wildlife there is behind an eight foot barbed wire fence. I spent almost as much on the AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IF-ED as I did on the D5000 body and kit lens because I need to reach out to my subjects. This lens fit my budget and got great reviews for lenses in this price range. Next on the list is a small prime and maybe a great macro/micro, if I win the lottery.

Fence Close Up (I love great DOF like this)

So here is my advice:

1. Figure out what you want to shoot and how much you want to spend.
2. Do research. Read pro reviews. Read customer feedback about your selections at Amazon, Adorama or B&H Photo. If you know what you are doing, Digital Camera Review provide very extensive and more complicated reviews. I also go to Crutchfield to read their technical descriptions and customer feedback. They are a great resource for everything electronic. My favoritest resource is Ken Rockwell. He does very thorough yet easy to understand reviews of everything and has lots of important tips for making better photographs. I learned a lot from him.
3. Once you buy a camera, READ THE MANUAL.
3a. Buy an extra battery and at least 2 memory cards. You will always run out of juice and a memory will always fail when bigfoot runs by or that ufo lands in front of you.
4. READ THE MANUAL again.
5. Stop using the "green" auto setting. It's embarrassing.
6. Turn off the stupid focus lock sound. Nobody needs to hear that your camera has now locked up on it's focus.
7. Read how other people use their cameras. Here are a couple sites I've read extensively in order to learn more about photography in general:

Rick Sammon seems to be a Canon guy but has interesting tips for all photographers. He also writes a lot about the digital darkroom.
Lisa Bettany at MostlyLisa is a pro photographer who blogs about what she is shooting. She also has lots of tips and some reviews.
Digital Photography School has a massive collection of everything you want to know about shooting anything.
If you don't like to read, there are lots of photography help videos at this site.
The Digital Photo Experience is another great resource with contributions from lots of great pro photographers.

8. Find a place to store and share your photographs on-line. I use Flickr because it rocks! There are many others available.

9. Get inspired. I often explore the most recent uploads on Flickr and the most interestingness area on their website. I recently found Flak Photo and go there for a more artsy take on photography.

More Grass Seed (should have had a spray bottle for better droplets)

All in all, it doesn't matter what anyone else says about your photos. Shoot what you like and you will like what you shoot and most importantly, have fun!

I visit the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

2010-02-21T12:12:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, I visited the University of Minnesota's Landscape Arboretum. I don't recall ever visiting this fine nature preserve, but I probably did when I was a little kid. I had the most fun at their massive collection of bird feeders. The birds were very tame so I got some great shots of my favorite bird, the black-capped chickadee. Go here to view all my shots of my favorite bird.

Here is a slide show of my adventure:

Go here to look at individual shots.

I went to the Minnesota Zoo the other day!

2010-02-18T21:32:00.007-06:00

I had a great time at the Minnesota Zoo a few weeks back. Took 521 shots and posted the best 10% on my Flickr page.

Here are the highlights:

I stopped at the Amur Leopard exhibit. Two of the three cats were mostly lounging around but one of them was "bathing" like cats do and then climbed around and posed a bit for me. Some of the shots appear to have no fence but this is because I was able to get back far enough with the zoom lens. The fence mysteriously disappears in front of them. Sometime I had to revert manual focus because the auto-focus would cue up on the fence.

When I first walked past the Grizzly exhibit, they were sleeping on top of each other. By the time I walked past them again, these two were fighting or playing or something. I don't think I did a very good job capturing the scale of these beasts (except for maybe the kid shot). They were huge. I also had to shoot through about 3 inches of glass.

Next, I took a walk through the Minnesota trail. These cats and dogs are all native to Minnesota, except for the Tiger. I didn't know where else to put that shot.

I think these Otter pics turned out pretty well. The otters behind the glass are the large sea otters. The others are smaller river otters which are native to Minnesota. I have some river otters near my house so I'll try to get some pics with the new 70-300mm zoom this summer. UPDATE: Ryan Vikander said...

"Actually in your otter photos, the second to last picture are Asian Small Clawed otters, not native to Minnesota. But great pics none the less!"

Here is the last set I posted. It has snow monkeys, some fish and a wolverine.

Hope you enjoy my photos. You can embiggen the slide shows by clicking on the four dots on the lower right side of each frame. You can also follow this link to get to my Flickr site directly. There you can view each photo individually, all the camera properties and geo-tags.

100,000 Views!

2010-02-05T18:33:00.003-06:00

(click pic to embiggen)

Today, my Flickr Photostream received its 100,000th view. It hasn't even been 2 years since I opened my account there. Here are some highlights:

This photo won 2nd place in the MyMoon photo contest sponsored by the Lunar and Planetary Institute.

Independence Moon
Read more about it here.

This photo has the most views at 2956 at the time of this post. I think it looks like something Dr. Seuss would invent.

Whoville?

"Gag Me" probably had the most meteoric rise in views in my photostream. It had over 2400 views in about 24 hours thanks mostly to the people on Reddit.

Gag Me

I made a photo book using pictures from this set of pics from the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. I'm planning to redo some of the shots as best I can this summer with my new camera.

These 10 photos are my personal favorites for 2009:

All of these 13 photos have received over 1000 views by people other than my mom:

Thanks everyone for viewing. 2010 is going to be great year for making photographs!

Skywarn Weather Spotter Information - Time to Renew!

2010-01-17T18:23:00.003-06:00

Rain Clouds
by Mully410

I am an official Skywarn weather spotter. You can read about that here. My officialness expires every two years so this year I'll have to renew. The 2010 class schedule is out now. Go here to find a free class near you, if you live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

2010-01-10T06:47:00.000-06:00

Don't forget...Minneapolis Skeptics Meet-Up on January 14:

We all had a great time at Be'Wiched Deli for our December meet-up. Thank you for attending and thank you Melissa for a tasty homemade treats. Common Roots is booked already for January so we'll try Be'Wiched again. Their service was great and the food was fantastic...they make their own pastrami. The only issue was that they close at 8pm but it didn't seem to bother many people. We can always walk across the street to Bunkers for more.

Some of you know I enjoy taking photographs. To those that don't know that consider this a shameless plug. On December 10, I saw this article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. It is supposedly a Bigfoot in northern Minnesota. There is even some skeptical commentary by local biologists (although they could have given them more space.) The spiral lights of Norway is another item that hit the new near the time I wrote this invite. There are countless credulous news stories including dubious eyewitness accounts and the standard fuzzy photos or video. At this January's meet-up, let's talk about our favorite interesting "sightings" of the strange. You don't have to bring an essay or anything but it might be interesting to think about a couple things: What could it be? Where would you go for verification? How could have the reporting been improved?

Please post links to news stories or photos in the comments for this meet-up so we can all share our thoughts when we meet.

In the mean time, check out my ghost girl, UFO, ghost battle and my short video.

Go here for the full details and to RSVP.

I visit Como Zoo

2010-01-09T17:25:00.001-06:00

I went to Como Zoo & Conservatory today to exercise my new camera. Here are the best shots out of 340.

2010-01-05T07:23:00.000-06:00

Here are the details for the next Saint Paul Critical Thinking Club meeting:

Location: Kelly Inn, Rice Street and I-94
Date: January 10, 2010

Time: 10:00 a.m. to Noon

Presenter: Jeff Anderson

Topic: Drowning in the Unholy See: justice must prevail even when confronting revered institutions and tradition

Breakfast Buffet $10.00 Coffee only $3.00. We need to plan for the room setup and meal, so if you are going to attend, please RSVP to criticalthinkingclub@gmail.com.

Speaker: Jeff Anderson is a nationally acclaimed St. Paul based attorney with 25 years experience obtaning justice for victims of clergy sex abuse.

Jeff Anderson was 2003 Lawyer of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer, Top 40 Personal Injury Lawyers, recognized by William Mitchell College of Law as among the 100 Who Made a Difference. In 2008 he received the prestigious Steven Sharp Public Service Award by the American Association of Justice and was a finalist for Trial Lawyer of the Year by Public Justice Foundation for his advocacy in representing hundreds of survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Southern California.

Jeff Anderson will speak about bringing justice to victims of clergy sex abuse through the crucible of the courtroom and the media to trigger what has been described by some as a “second reformation.” These observations will include how a a Mexican Cardinal attempted to silence him and how Roman Catholic clergy from the Vatican to Bishops abandon any semblance of critical thinking, not to mention moral standards in order to obscure this ages old condoning and protection of pedophile priests.

Mully410 Critical Blog - 2009 - Year in Review

2010-01-01T11:58:00.004-06:00

Two Cardinals

Mully410 Critical Blog has been more popular than I had hoped last year. Since installing Google Analytics back on January 30, 2009, I've collected a number of interesting stats. Here is a rundown of the most interesting statistics for 2009:

Mully410 Critical Blog had 16,344 page views by 7804 unique visitors in 2009. I have 10 feed subscribers, 80 followers on Networked Blogs and 51 Facebook Fans. Mully410 also has 72 Twitter followers and most of them are not porno spammers.

The top 5 most viewed posts:

1. I See Hummingbirds - Ruby Throated Hummingbirds

2. Jesus' Brain - What is this?

3. Ban this Dangerous Killer Drug?

4. How to find Comet Lulin:

5. See Shuttle Endeavor and International Space Station Tonight

Of the 9607 site visits from 98 countries, the most came from people in the USA (6773). Next was Canada (770), UK (543), Australia (211) and India (105). Whoever visited 18 times from Lithuania had the highest average time on my blog at 21 minutes and 43 seconds.

The cities where the most views originated are: Minneapolis, MN; Circle Pines, MN; London, UK; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA. (I'm amazed by the level of detail Google provides for free.) Someone in Cheltenham, UK had the highest average time on my blog (one visit, four pages for 25 minutes).

The most traffic came from Reddit.com. Thanks for voting my posts up there! The second most visitors came from Google searches. The most searched term was: Jeremiah 10:1-4 which leads to this post about Lord apparently hating Christmas trees. If you search Google for Mully410, you will get 12,100 listings!

I'm satisfied with the traffic on my blog, although this traffic report doesn't compare to the more than 80,000 views on my Flickr site. I don't allow any advertising and therefore don't make any money from my efforts. I plan to keep it that way because making money this way may turn a fun hobby into a job and I already have a job.

Thank you for viewing, clicking, reading, following and commenting!

New Years Eve Blue Moon

2010-01-01T08:13:00.000-06:00

Blue Moon 12-31-09 (3)

I confess. I adjusted the color temp on this shot to make the Moon appear blue. NASA has in interesting article about the history of "Blue Moon." I encourage you to read the story but here are some snippets for the lazy:

Don't expect the Moon to actually turn blue, though. "The 'Blue Moon' is a creature of folklore," he explains. "It's the second full Moon in a calendar month."

Most months have only one full Moon. The 29.5-day cadence of the lunar cycle matches up almost perfectly with the 28- to 31-day length of calendar months. Indeed, the word "month" comes from "Moon." Occasionally, however, the one-to-one correspondence breaks down when two full Moons squeeze into a single month. Dec. 2009 is such a month. The first full Moon appeared on Dec. 2nd; the second, a "Blue Moon," will come on Dec. 31st.

The modern astronomical Blue Moon occurs in some month every 2.5 years, on average. A Blue Moon falling precisely on Dec. 31st, however, is much more unusual. The last time it happened was in 1990, and the next time won't be until 2028.

I hope you enjoyed learning things from my blog in 2009. Make 2010 a great year!

Happy New Year! My Top 10 Photographs of 2009

2009-12-31T22:10:00.003-06:00

Here is a slide show of my Top 10 Photographs of 2009. I took all these shots myself.

Click the four dots to the lower right on the frame for a full screen version.

I bought myself a new camera for Christmas this year so stay tuned for higher quality shots of wildlife and nature.

What is Critical Thinking?

2009-12-26T08:33:00.001-06:00

Here is a short primer on critical thinking for you.

Mully410 Flickr Views Top 80,000

2009-12-25T14:38:00.002-06:00

Whoville?
Originally uploaded by Mully410

This week, my Flickr photos exceeded 80,000 views. Wow! Thanks for viewing. Here is a run-down of some interesting bits about the 1788 public photos I've published on my photostream.

The above photo, Whoville?, is the most viewed photo. There have been nearly 3000 views of it so far.

55 of my photos have been tagged as favorites by people I don't even know. Thanks everyone! Here is the most favorited photo:

This Venus, Jupiter Moon conjunction is also the most interesting of my photos according to Flickr and has the most comments. Click here to view my "other people's favorites" set.

This photo below of Minnesota Viking Chester Taylor is modified with tiltshift maker and is the most up voted of my posts on Reddit.com with 68 ups and 18 downs.

And finally, this is my most popular video posted on Flickr:

See the Geminids Meteor Shower This Weekend

2009-12-11T18:53:00.004-06:00

The Geminids are one of the best meteor showers. It comes around every December. The peak this year is around the 13th or 14th of December. Go here for everything you always wanted to know about the Geminids.

It will be cold here in Minnesota...duh...so dress warm. Once you think you have all your warmest clothing on, put on some more. Then get in a sleeping bag and relax in your lawn chair around 8pm. Recliners work best. Face easterly and kickback.

Don't let the picture of telescopes fool you. Using a telescope or binoculars for meteor showers is pointless and ineffective.

Minneapolis Skeptics - Drinking Skeptically- December 10 - Note the New Venue!

2009-12-07T06:47:00.000-06:00

Announcing a new Meetup for Minneapolis Skeptics!

What: Minneapolis Skeptics - Drinking Skeptically- December 10 - Note the New Venue!

When: December 10, 2009 5:00 PM

Where:
Be'Wiched Deli
800 Washington Ave. North
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612.767.4330

Our regular venue got booked before I could reserve it for December. Thanks to one our our esteemed members, I think I found a suitable replacement at Be'Wiched Deli. (anyone detect the irony?) They don't have a private room like Common Roots but they will block off a section for us. Check out their website: http://www.bewicheddeli.com/

As you already know, we don't always have a topic or formal discussion at our Drinking Skeptically events. 'Tis the season and all that so why don't we bring our favorite Christmas woo-woo. It could be implausible gift items, strange myths or idiotic predictions. Religion is an easy target, especially at this time of year, so let's try to be more creative and find some other ridiculous topics.

Learn more here:
http://www.meetup.com/Minneapolis-Skeptics/calendar/11915538/

Touchdown-Tiltshift

2009-12-06T20:16:00.003-06:00

touchdown-tiltshift
Originally uploaded by Mully410

Minnesota Viking, Chester Taylor, stretches for a touchdown in this 2008 pre-season game versus the Seattle Seahawks. This Tilt-Shift modified photo got over 700 views in just a few hours. Tilt-Shift Maker alters your photos as if you used a tilt-shift lens. This makes the subjects of the photo appear to be tiny action figures. My favorite one is the wagon teams at the state fair.

Please vote up Chester Taylor at Reddit! Thanks!

Critical Thinking Club, St. Paul - Bah! Humbug! A critical look at charitable giving

2009-12-06T10:14:00.001-06:00

Here are the details for another timely topic at the Critical Thinking Club of St. Paul. I have struggled to find many suitably secular charities. I wonder if this will help:

In 2008, charitable giving to 1,514,821 tax-exempt organizations amounted to more than $300 billion or 2.2 percent of our GDP. Nancy L. Raybin, chair of Giving Institute: Leading Consultants to Non-Profits confirms the public’s perceived magnanimity of this statistic, “… the American public agrees with us that charitable giving is an integral part of the country’s economic fabric.” Charitable giving has become a sacred cow that only Scrooge would dare to question. In this interactive presentation, we will critically examine charitable giving, keeping in mind that the Critical Thinking Club is one of those 1,514,821 tax-exempt organizations.

Critical Thinking Club, St. Paul
Location: Kelly Inn, Rice Street and I-94
Date: December 13, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. to Noon
Presenter: Dr. Laura Hutt
Topic: “Bah! Humbug!” A critical look at charitable giving

Breakfast Buffet $10.00 Coffee only $3.00. We need to plan for the room setup and meal, so if you are going to attend, please RSVP to criticalthinkingclub@gmail.com by the end of the day Thursday.

For meeting announcements for all Critical Thinking Club chapters, bookmark http://www.crest-o-the-hill.org/CTC/index.htm