CHASING THE BEE

I went over to Bishop's Close to see if the poppies were in bloom. Yep, they were. I played around for awhile and was enjoying a long awaited warm and sunny day here in Portland. As I was walking to my car I stopped at an iris garden and was watching the bees slide in between the petals, scoop up their nectar, and back themselves out before moving to another flower. I chased one and took a few shots. Though it's not a money shot it's fun to capture the activity. It's good to see bees, they've had a bad time with colony collapse the last few years.

AVA'S TRACK MEET

I've mentioned how much I like my new lens. It's fun, it really is. I took it to Ava's track meet last weekend. I've never shot at a track meet before and was undaunted till I got there a saw a flurry of kids and where the heck was Ava?? I made a call to Jodi thinking she was in the stands and knew where she was. Jodi wasn't there yet, ugh. Lanelle wasn't there yet either. I scanned and scanned and finally spotted her in a LONG line at the long jump. I hung out for several minutes as the line slowly moved. Ava noticed me and peeked around the girls in front of her and gave me a wave. Here's my favorite shot from the long jump.

So, then she disappeared amongst all the runners. Once again I scanned the field of kids for several minutes till I found her. Her next event was the 200 meters. Ava told me where she'd be starting and I got into position. Well, I wasn't in a good position and I found it really hard to shoot her as she ran. There were parents and students wandering all over. There were coaches in strategic places along the track. Ava's fast and before I knew it I had rattled off a few shots and hoped for the best.

I didn't get very much that I was happy with and it's clear I need some coaching on how to shoot at a track meet. It's definitely not like soccer, basketball, or lacrosse.