Kestrals at Target Field

If you know me, you know I'm a HUGE baseball fan. Recently, I attended a day game over at Target Field in Minneapolis that went into extra innings. Now, I almost always have my camera along at baseball games - in addition to my binoculars, my glove, my radio, etc. This particular game, the weather conditions were perfect and I just happened to have brought the big lens just to see what kind of fun I could have from the nosebleed seats.

For those who are familiar with the new Target Field, a pair of kestrals have taken up residence in/near the park and often delight fans by showing up during games to sit and watch. I was lucky enough to have them show up with great light and good luck.

When they first flew in, I thought that there was just no chance I would be quick enough to catch them in flight with the big lens but I thought I would try anyway. The first shot wasn't great but it surprised me that I could FIND the bird and focus quick enough to catch them.



It's hard to see the silhouette but that gave me the confidence to keep trying. Then the first one of the pair settled down onto the big field lights that were just coming on to deal with the changing light as the sun started to set. I knew I could catch a sitting bird!



here, I blew it up a bit and cropped it for you so you can see the bird a bit better.



But then, the mate flew in and started circling - here was my chance to catch the bird in flight!



I had to zoom this one it too just so you could see the great face on the bird.



I just desperately tried to keep the bird in the frame and follow it across the open sky as it turned and flew across and I got my favorite shot of the day!



and then, he turned and flew away... It's even pretty to see him leave!



I took a LOT more pictures of the baseball game, but it was a lovely break in the middle of the action to stop and look up instead of down. If you want to see the pictures of the baseball game, they're on my other blog: Knuckleballs

Jeremiah's Senior Pictures

It has been a LONG time since I posted anything but honestly, it's because it has been a long time since I took out the camera for anything other than recording a family event or whatnot. But since it's that time of year again, it was time to take yet another little brother out to collect some shots to use as his senior pictures!

Poor Jeremiah. A) He's extremely photogenic BUT he really doesn't like being in front of a camera so he loses some of his natural charisma, B) I'm always challenged by potraiture since it's not natural for me and I was seriously out of practice. The first day, I really had great shots lined up but just couldn't get the results I really wanted. Everything was soft, out of focus, or just not properly lighted. It was most definitely not my best day. I still got a few shots I liked but I was disappointed. A couple days later, we hit the high school again and my brain and hands remembered the whole process a bit better and I got some of the shots I had wanted to get the first time around.

Here's my two favorites:




If you want to check out the others I managed to get, here's a slideshow of the rest.