The pool

So far, I've resisted its appeal. However, I feel this will soon come to an end. This Prairie girl isn't meant for sustained 30-degree temps with humidity that never dips below 80%.

Deets: f/6.3, 1/200, 50mm, ISO 100

Not to be left out...

Roxy must be in the kitchen if there's any activity going on...but sometimes it's just so hard to stay upright.

Deets: f/1.4, 1/200, 50mm, ISO400

Uncooperative

The minute I pointed the camera at Lola tonight, she turned and ran away! It was all a bit reminiscent of her escape out the front door a couple days ago, when I called her name and she turned around, looked at me and then ran the other way. Managed to get a few shots in the end, though...

Deets: f/1.4, 1/125, 50mm, ISO800

Full Moon!

Well, technically the full moon was last night...but I missed that opportunity! This was the first time I've ever attempted moon shots. I probably should've reviewed/planned a bit more before heading out because my first group of shots involved the tripod and long shutter speeds, which proved wholly inappropriate! Thankfully, I just headed down the street to shoot, so it wasn't too much effort to head out again. Unfortunately, though, the hazards of shooting a night in Bermuda meant I saw no less than two nasty, huge flying cockroaches...and those were only the ones I could see in the blackness! Blech!

Deets: f/8, 1/160, 300mm, ISO200

All Me Monsters

Dave and Lola watching US v. Ghana. Roxy watching Dave and Lola.

Deets: f/1.4, 1/160, 50mm, ISO200

Summertime in Bermuda

Although the term "Bermuda shorts" seems to be bandied about in connection with any knee length shorts, the true version of Bermuda shorts are actually a form of mens formal wear. Properly worn with knee high socks and a collared shirt, they can be made more formal with the addition of a tie and even more formal by throwing a blazer in the mix. A large proportion of men with white-collar jobs sport these shorts to the office regularly during the summer months, although with varying degrees of formality - ranging from a no socks, boat shoes and a golf shirt combo all the way up to blazer-level. It takes a while for a newcomer to the island to stop smirking at the sight of these outfits about town...but after a while, you hardly notice it.

Here's Dave's Friday-casual look (no tie). (Those wild & crazy British blokes are much more apt to sport pink than their North American contemporaries.)

(When you look at this shot, imagine a lot of accent-riddled moaning about having to take posing direction and the pain endured in holding a smile for such a long period!)

Deets: f/3.2, 1/100, 50mm, ISO200

Pink Flowers - Part I

Since I am often lacking inspiration/subject matter, I'm planning to take photos of this bush using a few different lenses with their wide open aperture. First up is the 50mm f/1.4. I love the bokeh this lens allows but I find the focus point hard to get just right (which is a combo, I believe, of the large aperture and the small screen on my Rebel that doesn't really give me a good idea of how my shots are coming out). I wasn't particularly taken by any of the shots I took today...the flowers aren't as pink in the photos as they are in real life, which must be a function of my metering setting, but I do like the blur of the brick wall behind the shot. I also like that I was able to use ISO 200 with such a fast shutter speed at this time of day.

Deets: f/1.4, 1/1000, 50mm, ISO 200

"Bermy Donuts" at Harbor Nights

Deets: f/2.8, 1/200, 34mm, ISO800

Strange white substance?

See that strange white substance there in the hole of our "natural" backyard fence? Don't call the cops - it's salt!! Bermuda is home to a large breed of nocturnal toad, which kindly secretes a solution that's deadly poisonous to dogs and cats when it feels attacked...you know, like if a dog was chasing it...

A little over a week ago, I spotted one of these buggers in the area of the yard where the dogs do their business. Since Dave is chief in charge of pest control, this assignment was his domain. So far he has:

(a) Caught the thing in a bucket, took the bucket way down the street and dumped him out. (Dave has this thing about being kind to all creatures, great and small). Unfortunately, later that day, the bugger was back in the same.freaking.spot, glaring at me with his beady little eyes.

(b) Found the toad's nearby nocturnal hideaway hole in the ground and peered inside, only to find the toad staring at him. The toad was subsequently shut into his hole with a good amount of dirt. Apparently he had sufficiently aroused the ire of Dave, such that suffocation was deemed a viable option.

Of course, however, two days later the damn thing appeared the hole pictured here in the backyard wall in the same bloody area where the dogs do their business. In discussing these vermin with my admin assistant (a local), I was advised that I should put salt on its back. Although she indicated this would bring about the sucker's demise, I have no idea if there is actually any merit to this theory. However, when I spied that bugger taunting me in that cave in the broad daylight of Sunday afternoon, I made a beeline for the salt. I glared at him with my beady little eyes and poured a good half cup of table salt on his back. He barely flinched. A few minutes later, he stood up, shook most of the salt off and toddled off back in the direction of his previously shut-in hole. I sent Dave over there with the bucket and instructions to catch him and throw him in the ocean, but the elusive little bugger had vanished. Thankfully, though, there's been no sign of him since...although I've probably just jinxed myself by posting this tale.

Deets: f/2.8, 1/50, 27mm, ISO400

Grillin'

The house chef, hard at work. (Lotsa noise in this one.)


Deets: f/3.5, 1/100, 27mm, ISO1600

A little bashful

Lola's a bit shy about being in the kitchen sink. She's developed some sort of foot infection that requires frequent soaks with a special shampoo. Dave kindly provides this service in the kitchen sink. Luckily Roxy does not have this issue...I can only imagine what a circus a beagle in the kitchen sink would turn into!

Deets: f/3.5, 1/100, 70mm, ISO800

Early Birthday Present

I get gadget lust, especially if the gadget is an "i"-something. However, I thought I had the lust beat this time. In 2003, I bought a first generation iPod....I still have it but it looks like a Commodore 64 now. I also have an iPod Shuffle, an iPod Video and an iPhone. I'm bowing my head in embarrassment. The Video was justified by passing the first generation on to my husband, the Shuffle was justified because the Video is too big for the gym and the phone was justified, well, because it was a phone. I thought this over-consumption had taught me a lesson - never buy the first generation of any of Mr. Jobs' inventions because a few months later, a slicker, more powerful version will appear on store shelves.

So, when the iPad became available here in April, I was convinced I didn't need one. I wanted the souped-up iPad, with multi-tasking, app folders, a camera and memory slots...surely it would be just around the corner after the launch of the 4G phone. It wouldn't be more than a year. I could wait.

But then two months later I found myself stopping the ffwd function during PVR commercial skip so I could watch the iPad ads. It seems as though this subliminally encouraged Dave to buy me one, but "only the 16G, WiFi version, so we can justify a better one when the next generation hits shelves." Brilliant work, Mr. Jobs and Apple marketing team.

Deets: f/3.5, 1/320, 70mm, ISO800

Somebody's Had Their Weetabix!

It's not a biped, though! Our vet has prescribed a two-biscuit-per-day serving for the Beagle, to aid with some...um, rather unpleasant "gland issues". So, Roxy is now dining on Weetabix in addition to her regular delights. An unforeseen, yet pleasant, side effect of this has been that her ingestion time has slowed from Mach 3/warp speed to slower than Lola.

Deets: f/3.5, 1/320, 70mm, ISO800

Back in action

(It's been a while but I'm hoping to get this blog back up and running...)

I watch a bit of soccer football...um, about once every four years. World Cup 2010 is well underway...and you can tell where our allegiance lies!

Deets: f/2.8, 1/250, 24mm, ISO 1600