Puppies and Flowers

About a year ago, Linda's friend Lisa got a new dog. ..

We made a trip to Quispamsis to meet her. Ally took a liking to me right away.

We re-visited them yesterday an Ally was again, quite taken with me... Must be my animal magnetism.

Anyway, I took a few photos of her. I chose one of my favorites and converted it to black & white. 

Here she is...

Ally is much bigger than she looks...

While we were in Quispamsis, we visited the town hall where they have some pretty nice grounds. I took a few photos of some of the flowers they planted this year.

Some yellow flowers

A black and red flower.

 

A pinkish flower.

In case you can't tell, I am terrible at identifying flowers. But, I do like them.

There were a few other photos in the bunch. But, we've had some unusuallyby cold weather at night this summer and a lot of the flowers were a bit wilted. So, I chose a few of the best ones to share.

--- Mark ---

Canada Day 2015

Linda, Dad, and I went to the Canada Day celebrations in downtown Moncton tonight. It was a good time and the entertainment was great.

The crowd was a lot bigger than usual this year and this made getting good pictures pretty challenging.

There was a rather larger crowd than I expected in front of me when Trooper started to play. I wasn't able to get many good shots. I'll have to plan it better next year.

 Oh well, they still put on a great show even if I couldn't get any good photos.

Trooper - Canada Day 2015

Due to my bad positioning in the crowd, I was unable to get a clear shot of the keyboard player or the guitarists... Please forgive the peoples hands at the bottom of the frame.

Here are a couple photos from one of the opening acts, I believe they are called  "The Backyard Devils".

The Backyard Devils

The Backyard Devils

We saw another group as well. They were also very good. But, I wasn't pleased with the photos so I didn't include any here.

Also, I wasn't able to find a decent spot to capture the fireworks display from. So, I didn't share any of them either.

In the end, it was a good night. The entertainment was quite good. And Trooper reminded me why they've been one of my favorite bands since 1975. The fireworks display was very good as well.

Happy Canada Day!

--- Mark ---

Waterfowl Park

Today, I went for a drive with Ma Tante Lorraine and Ma Wife Linda; to the Sackville Waterfowl Park in Southern New Brunswick. What a disappointment that was.

First of all, the park was under repair due to a recent rain storm.  Normally I would accept this as a fact of nature. However, I was certain to check their web site the day before and there was no mention of any damage or construction.

Also, we didn't see any waterfowl at all the whole time we were there.

My wife said she saw one duck... and although I believe her. I couldn't spot it.

What a waste of a trip. And on top of that the staff that was manning the office while we were there, didn't seem to give a shit one way or the other. Except the one man that was there among a group of women.

I grabbed a few photos of the only non-dandelion flowers that I saw.

Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton

Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton

Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton

While it is possible that they were just having a "bad day"... I don't plan to return any time soon, nor do I recommend that anyone else wastes  an afternoon this way.

In my opinion, it was a very disappointing afternoon.

--- Mark ---

Itchy Trigger Finger

I was in the mood to take a few pictures tonight.... So I decided to take a few shots of one of the floweras my wife has planted in the yard.

It's a stubborn plant... I think due to the cold nights we've been having this year. But, it finally bloomed...  So, I thought I'd grab a photo of it.

Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton

I an limited to a maximum aperture of 5.6 with the lens I have. Although I am fairly happy with the results, I wish I had a lens that could provide me with a shallower depth of field.

I do have a 50mm 1.8... But. that is too wide for my needs... Especially in this case.

Oh well... Worl with what you have right? This was taken at 85mm and cropped a bit in post processing to give it a square aspect ratio.

--- Mark ---

Flower

I am not sure what this flower is called

I was restless and decided to take a photo of my wife's bush (pun intended)...

It was a bit windy and the sun was pretty bright. Since I am fond of contrast and shadows... I decided to shoot into the sun (backlit).

I focused on the middle flower. But I might redo it using a different focus point... We'll see.

Copyright 2015 by Mark D. Lipton

My camera was set on ISO 100, Shutter Speed was 1/400th. and aperture was 5.6 I believe....

--- Mark ---