Sep 7, 2010 - The iPad - My Thoughts After 3 Months

Truthfully, the following posts have been in progress since I got the iPad, but with each passing day I find new apps and things to do and so it's been difficult to nail down my thoughts.

In this 3-part blog series, I explain how I use the iPad, show some of the apps I use on a daily basis, and conclude with some pros and cons as well as some hopes for the future.

This is a photography blog, and these articles don't exactly pertain to the photographer's use of an iPad, which is a whole topic for another blog post. I'll write that up sometime soon but needless to say there are some excellent apps out there for photographers!


The 3 blog articles are as follows:


1. Fun & Useful Features


2. Professional Purposes


3. General Findings, Pros/Cons

Aug 21, 2010 - When life gives you bugs - make bugonade!

Yesterday I headed into Tiny Marsh all excited about what feathered friends I may find. It's always something different at the marsh and this trip was no exception.

The birds were few & far between. The nesting Osprey and their young were still there, and I accidentally flushed countless wood ducks and a few herons. After a while I realized there just weren't many birds to see compared to other visits to the marsh.

Not wanting to call it a day, I put the extension tubes on and started shooting small things. Bugs, and frogs.

So it wasn't a great bird outing, but it was an enjoyable outing nonetheless.



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Aug 10, 2010 - Halfway Lake Provincial Park

I don’t camp as much as I once did, but it was nice to head north for a few days of peace and quiet. The chosen destination: Halfway Lake Provincial Park (park info here), located about an hour north of Sudbury Ontario.

Shortly after arrival at the park, a few of the locals could be heard making noise. These locals turned out to be a group of juvenile Merlins. A Merlin is a small member of the falcon family. They were seen flying around and chasing each other, and appeared to be having a lot of fun doing this. When I realized the source of all the noise, I had to laugh. Everywhere I go there seem to be birds of prey.

Over the days to come, the Merlins would be seen at many spots around the small lake, and in particular in a specific tree near our camp site.

In addition to bird-watching, the park was explored, in between meals of homemade wine-basted meatballs, a menu item that lasted the whole trip.

One goal of the getaway was to disconnect from work and the web. That goal was achieved. Other goals included exploring, observing, and taking a few photos along the way.

I also managed to fly-fish. In a small boulder-bottomed river, I caught a nice Bass on one of my hand-tied sinking minnow imitations.

One of the amazing things I notice when up this far north is the unique and diverse varieties of plants you can find. In even a single square foot of forest floor, there are many types of organisms to be seen.

It took a few days to wind down from the stresses of city life, but in surroundings like this you’re bound to unwind at least a little.




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