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DailyPhotos > Mark (blackstrat)  > Daily Picks > Daily Picks 2008
OK, I'll bite, but I won't promise they'll all be new ones. In fact, I think I'll make it an opportunity to dig through my archives.
Gallery pages:  <<  <  7  8  9  10  11  12  >  
< 99 of 106 >
Mark (blackstrat) > August 26, 2008. Nice view from the back deck. The Sutter Buttes, the Sacramento Valley's most prominent geological feature, is almost entirely private property. You can drive around them, but not into them, and the only way to get really close is to take one of the hiking tours arranged by the Middle Mountain Foundation.
Mark (blackstrat) > August 25, 2008. Every once in a while I shoot something besides kids and pets. Even though it's kind of soft from hand-holding at 200mm and shallow DOF, this is still one of my favorite hummingbird pictures. I really like how the colors of the bird and the bokeh tie in so well. It's a Rufous Hummingbird, in case you're wondering.
Mark (blackstrat) > August 24, 2008. Thank you all for yesterday's wonderful comments--it's nice to know that Spencer's story touched you. I wish you could have met him; he was a delight. No tears today, though. Here's Chance again, one of my favorite photographic subjects. When he was two he thought his blue fright wig was the funniest thing ever dreamed up. He wore it constantly and laughed the whole time he had it on.
Mark (blackstrat) > August 23, 2008. This is my friend Kurt and Spencer, "the world's greatest doggy," as Kurt called him. That's Spencer on the left. Spencer was a stray who haunted a deli Kurt frequented, where he was much loved by the clientele. He'd hang around politely, eyeing people's lunches, then pick out a likely candidate and gently lay his head in their lap. He was a great judge of character, and so was always rewarded with a laugh and a piece of cheese, his favorite. Spencer recognized the word cheese in at least seven languages. Seriously. Just whisper "formaggio" and you'd instantly have a smiling dog at your feet. Worried the dog would be picked up by animal control, the deli owner encouraged Kurt to adopt him. Kurt took him home and named him after British rocker Spencer Davis. Spencer Davis should feel honored. Spencer was the most athletic dog I've ever known, and the things he loved best were swimming and chasing sticks. And I don't mean puny little sticks; we're talking serious lumber here -- six feet long and as thick as your arm. I remember going down to the American River with Kurt and Spencer in March. In March the American River is fast and frigid with snow runoff. Kurt would find a huge log, and with both hands and a sort of discus-thrower spin, heave it out into the middle of the current. Spencer would stand at attention for a moment, triangulating, then run down the bank and jump in, swimming downstream at an angle ahead of the bobbing rushing stick, until they met in the middle, where he'd grab it and head for shore. Repeat endlessly until owner is exhausted; Spencer would hardly even breathe hard. Then one day last year Kurt took Spencer down to the river and tossed a stick, but this time Spencer looked at the stick, then looked sadly up at Kurt, and just lay down on the shore. Six weeks later he succumbed to cancer at the age of eight. So here's to you, Spencer; we wish we could have known you longer. You sure packed a lot of fun into your eight short years, but I'm sure you're in a place now that's full of cheese and sticks and rushing water and loving people whose arms never give out. Whew. Sorry about the length of this caption; I got to reminiscing. But that's what photos are for, isn't it?
Mark (blackstrat) > August 22, 2008. Taylla was heading out the patio door to play with her cousins and I was following with the camera. "Ooh, nice light," I said, "let's see your modeling shot," and snapped the picture. Who needs a soft box when you've got a window?
Mark (blackstrat) > August 21, 2008. That's one dirty little gardener. There's nothing in the world my Dad likes better than working in the yard, and there's nothing in the world Chance likes better than doing whatever his great-grandpa is doing. Chance spent the afternoon "helping" Dad in the yard, and if happiness can be measured by pounds of dirt, he's one happy kid. I've done lots of formal, carefully arranged portraits of family members, but none of them make their parents as happy as these candid moments with their dirt and scraped knees and tousled hair and the happy smiles of those who truly know how to live in the moment. We could all learn a lot from kids.
Mark (blackstrat) > August 20, 2008. There's a huge 40-foot high rock formation behind the house that's a favorite hang-out for nieces and nephews, and consequently, along with the flower beds in front of them, one of my favorite spots for impromptu portraits. If you see many of my photos, you're likely to see those rocks a lot. This is my brother's son, Preston. I actually like the branch he's looking through; I'm not sure why, it just feels right somehow.
Mark (blackstrat) > August 19, 2008. My niece Dallas's husband, Eric, gives their daughter Isabella her first swimming lesson. A good time was had by all. I'm not sure who that blue kid with all the teeth is. Must have been a neighbor.
Mark (blackstrat) > August 18, 2008. I'm convinced that if I could capture a picture of a six-year-old holding a puppy on the hood of a vintage car beside a pond full of water lilys under a feeder swarming with hummingbirds it would be the most popular picture of all time. But all I could come up with was the puppy and the car.
August 18, 2008.
I'm convinced that if I could capture a picture of a six-year-old holding a puppy on the hood of a vintage car beside a pond full of water lilys under a feeder swarming with hummingbirds it would be the most popular picture of all time.

But all I could come up with was the puppy and the car.
> August 18, 2008. I'm convinced that if I could capture a picture of a six-year-old holding a puppy on the hood of a vintage car beside a pond full of water lilys under a feeder swarming with hummingbirds it would be the most popular picture of all time. But all I could come up with was the puppy and the car.
August 18, 2008.
I'm convinced that if I could capture a picture of a six-year-old holding a puppy on the hood of a vintage car beside a pond full of water lilys under a feeder swarming with hummingbirds it would be the most popular picture of all time.

But all I could come up with was the puppy and the car.
Camera: Nikon Corporation (Nikon D200) |
More details: exif |
Original size: 2592px x 3872px |
Current: 201px x 300px |
Other sizes: Small • M • L |
Share photo: links, forums, blogs |
Keywords: family pets
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< 99 of 106 >

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