Cardinals Training Camp - 3

Warm up time

Charging ahead - #87 Sean Morey, WR

Wall of Tackles - From Left to Right:
#79: Oliver Ross - Rookie
#75: Levi Brown
#69: Mike Gandy
#65: Brandon Pearce - Rookie
#68: Elliot Vallejo
Can't see the # for the other 2 - Sorry.

Cardinals Training Camp - 2

#7 - Matt Leinart QB

#85 - Jerheme Urban WR
#2 - Brian St. Pierre QB

Cardinals Training Camp - 1

Go Long

I think this is only the second week for the training camp, so I wasn't sure if the starters will show up, but I am glad to see Kurt Warner practice in the field. I am sure starting QB's position is still up in the air.

It's Friday afternoon, but there're a lot of fans watching the practice. Cards do practice on Saturday and Sunday, I am sure practice field will be packed!

Dana Point Harbor

Harbor, night shot.

Harbor, Cloudy morning.

A replica of the sailing ship used by Capitan Dana.

A few shots from a weekend vacation at Dana Point, CA.

Surf's Up

Vacation time - spending the weekend at Dana Point, CA. We were driving on Pacific Coast Highway, we stopped because a parking spot opened up, not knowing what's really around the area. We headed to the beach, and checked out some really nice surfing by the locals. We're close enough to get some nice shots with my Oly 150mm (300 equavalent) lens. Cool deal, I was hoping to catch some surfing action, lucky break.

It was a gorgeous day, and people were out in droves. The few beaches were absolutely packed. Nice place to live, if you can afford it, :O

Ready for a Melt Down

Didn't realize the car was that dusty. But that's not what I want to show you, of course.

Can't believe it reached 117 in Phoenix. How do people live here??

We had to hang around for a shot at 5 PM, so we went to a movie to escape the heat. Man, it's rough. Good thing it's only dry heat :) . . . . Yeah right...

Kick A$$ SUV

Saw this car at a window tinting place in Scottsdale. It's gotta be some body's fancy new toy. I guess hummers are too common, so they have to go with some other exotic military vehicle. :) Does anyone recognize this car? looks like a grown up version of the "thing".

I wonder where they're going to mount the machine gun?

Back Yard Bird Watch

Gray-headed Junco - Back end.

Gray-headed Junco - A profile shot.
I have never seen the Junco's until we moved to AZ.
Occassionally, we can see them on the bird feeder, but most of the time, they prefer to forage on the ground, from what I have read, they like to nest on the ground also.
Another thing is, they stay around year round, even in middle of Winter. We do leave out more seeds for them at that time. They are a genus of American Sparrows. I like the colors of these birds, and seems to have more "personality".

Male Ruby Red Throat.
We must have a pair nesting near by, since there's a lot of chasing and fighting going on right now for the feeder we put up. The females don't make much of a noise, while the males like to chirp loudly, make their presence known. They get a little mad when I don't keep up with the nectar, :).
The other type of hummer that visits this area, a later arrival, is the rufous hummingbirds. They are a lot more aggressive. They looks smaller than the Ruby Throats, but rufous will chase them away from the feeder. I have not been able to get a good shot of the rufous, since they are very skittish, and takes off as soon as I open our back door.

Lens Test

Pentax screw mount 135mm, f3.5, all shots were set to f5.6. No filter.
Camera - Olympus E500.

Most of the shots were very flat, lacking contrast. But it was during mid day, a bit on the cloudy side. I had to adjust the contrast to bring out the pop.

Because of the "smaller" optical view finder, it is a little more difficult to shot with manual lens, say, compared with the Pentax DL.

With the current state of my eye sight, it's very difficult to play with manual focus lens, it doesn't help that the M42 adapter I have does not offer AF confirmation, which would help me out a great deal.

Deer Sighting

Saw about 5 deer around our neighborhood. They were feasting in someone's garden and yard. These urban deer don't run away from people, I guess they have gotten used to big cars driving by with human heads sticking out the windows, and pointing, of course.

Monsoon Season

Rain Cloud from the Sky - Near Phoenix.

Saguaro and the Cloud - I17 heading north.

Building Momentum - I17 Heading North.

July is the beginning of the raining season, also called monsoon season. Before I moved here, I thought the term monsoon is reserved for raining season in India/Bangladesh area, but it's also used here. It's really nice not have to water the lawn, and just rely on the rain to soak the yard.

Lake Tahoe

Ponderosa Pines and the Lake.

Still have snow on the mountain range.

Rocky Shoreline.

Kayak and Relaxation.

Business trip to Reno. Finished my work early enough that I took a drive down to Lake Tahoe.

What a place. A combination of mountainous terrain, and the water offered by the lake, on top of that, great weather, and skiing in the Winter. No wonder people like to congregate here, and drive up the real estate value (I saw a half acre lot on the lake for $5 million, ouch).