Atlanta vs LA Dodgers

We went to the middle game of the Atlanta-LA Dodgers series on Saturday. The Braves won that one game of the series 4-3 and this play in the second inning was one of my favorite shots. The runner was picked off easily. The Braves came from 3-2 down to score twice and then hold on for the win. We saw LaRoche’s first game back as a Brave and he was instrumental in the win.

Click on the image above to see the complete gallery of photos from the game. I was glad they weren’t real strict above the rule of cameras being no more than 5 inches long.

After some weeks of limited sightings of hummingbirds they have returned for regular visits. The last couple of days it seems one comes to the window feeder every 10 minutes or less. I’ve also seen this guy guarding the feeder and chasing away intruders. This shot was taken with a flash through the front window. I also captured a video of a hummingbird taunting our cat while he was sitting in the window. The bird seems to know he is safely out of reach and hovers in front of the cat before going to the feeder.

As many photos as I take, whether around the yard or at school, organizing them and editing them can be quite a task. The one tool I regularly use is Picasa. With it I can organize photos into folders and edit them quickly. In addition, there are a number of plug-ins available making it easy to upload to Flickr, SmugMug, Facebook, or any number of photo processing sites making it easy to print them out.

The collage above was created by choosing the photos I wanted, selecting the middle photo, and saving. I uploaded it to AdoramaPix and had a 16×20 print made. Within a few days it arrived and looks great.

Many of the birds around the feeder are easily frightened when I get close. The carolina chickadees, however, are pretty comfortable. Unlike the cardinals and grackles, who will sit and eat for quite a while, the chickadee will pick out a seed and fly up to a branch to eat it. That makes it a challenge sometimes to get the shot. Frequently I will take the shot only to see a photo of an empty feeder or just the back tail feathers of the little guy. This shot was one of those fortunate ones just as he was taking off.

We returned home this afternoon after spending a great week with Jen, Lee, and David Lee in Fort Mill. Having spent the last seven days holding our grandson, feeding him when he was hungry, changing his diaper, kissing him goodnight, and sharing in the every day activities we now wait anxiously until he (and Jen) come to see us in Greenville in a couple of weeks. Dena jas pictures in her brag book and I’ve uploaded the last batch of photos we took just before leaving. The photo above is hardly original — I got the idea from a similar  photo in the hospital — but I look forward to printing and hanging it to remind us of this “little bundle of joy.”

The photos below are from my veazeyphotos.com site. It takes a bit to load.

JRVZ0408, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

We received “the call” this morning around 5:30. We packed and hit the road at 7:15 and arrived at the hospital a little before 9:30. After visiting for a few minutes with Jen and Lee in the labor room we retired to the waiting room and visited with David and Sonja Kemp for about an hour and a half.

David Lee made his arrival at 10:59 a.m. weighing in at 8 lbs 7 ozs and 21 3/4″. The photo above is the first (of I suspect many) photos of our first grandchild. Mother and son are doing great. For lots of photos go to VeazeyPhotos.com.

JRVZ0408, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

We’ve seen an occasional goldfinch fly across the yard in the past few weeks so we bought a sock filled with seed to attract them a few days ago. After hanging it out front we saw one of the brightly colored birds fly away one day. I moved it to the back near the feeder that attracts cardinals and this morning saw this guy perched above the feeder. I was able to take many shots but this one was one of my favorites.

JRVZ0017, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

This little guy cautiously visited the feeder I filled with seeds to attract the many cardinals we’ve had around our yard lately. He flew into the crepe myrtle tree outside the window and let me get a few shots then flew down to the feeder. I also saw a male and female flying around the yard and perched in a tree near the drive.

JRVZ9919, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

From having only a couple of lilies blooming we now have lots in bloom. There are still many buds so I suspect there will be even more over the next day or so before the current blooms begin to wither. The photo above was one of my favorites from the shots I took today. I’ll try and post another shot of multiple lilies later this week.