Fooling around with the new equipment acquisition...

                           A few "photo captures" of some semi willing subjects..

                                 Left click on the pictures to enlarge them..
                                                                

                                                                

                                                                

Santa left a new toy in my stocking..

..hard to believe...

No...I did not get any new fish or corals.....but I did manage to get some new fancy "glass" for my camera....it should only take me a year to figure out how to use it..or perhaps never figure it out...either way...I'm set...

Hey... at least I didn't torture any blue legs this evening....yet...

Yes...Christmas dinner was a great success once again..

As per her usual. Mom planned ,prepared and presented a wonderful meal.  Nothing was served that I did not thoroughly enjoy..too excess I might add.
In her  brand spanking new digs...Mom is certainly showing why I always ask her where to hang a painting, or where a decorative item should be placed.
The hacienda may be a little to classy for the likes of me scrounging through the fridge looking for goodies...but...giving Pops grief makes us all happy...all the time...so I'm allowed entrance into the gates(literally)...

Good food..Good times...

I know what your thinking....why doesn't he take pictures of beautiful sea creatures in all of their aquarium splendor?

Ok..here ya go....

sexy snail foot

and the parasitic snail that rode in on him

The Trio....or multi pack....

We enter here, with a predetermined omen of approaching darkness.We suffer through the indignity and the haze of the shadows. And we leave this place with the brightness and clarity of normalcy.

Lunar eclipse...

some pic's of the lunar eclipse the other night...


before.

during

after

I must say...

Even though I may never win a photo contest ,,,I have had a really fun time....yes I said it.."I"  have had a "good time" !  exploring the tools and methods  of  digitally photographing  the small crustacean  known as the blue leg hermit . The blue leg is a beasty that  had otherwise gone  unappreciated by myself and many others. I have learned a lot in the past few weeks.  The best results came after I studied how to capture the photo and how to edit it after it was on my PC.  Obviously it took a long time before I was happy with the results...

the struggle continues..

Good Times!

Well as you may have noticed if you follow my photographic

struggles at all....this has basically been the "blue leg hermit picture blog" for a few weeks...and I'm going to add more redundancy to your daily internet tedium....here goes...

                                                     Fidgety  Crab ...

                                               Aaargggh,,,not this again

                                                         Yea,,F'u dude..

                                            
                                                       Trapped....

And I'm out'a  here

.

I took these shots with a method that I can not confirm nor deny exists. Much like a state secret of the highest order I'am not able to  say who aided  and abetted my technique or facilitated my passion for a decent photo of the mighty blue leg hermit crab....But I'am glad they did......

It's been awhile since I put up a video...here ya go..

Some of the fish in my water bearing "man cave"....

Killin' time. One fish and one photo at a time...

The dodge tool, burn tool and drop shadow experiment are in affect here.

This fish does three things,,eat,crap, and wait for me to take its picture.

There will be more to come....

,,,,,,and then he starts in with the photoshop....DAMN IT MAN!! WILL WILL IT END?

On white

On black

I guess this is just an F'in Blue leg hermit picture extravaganza

This little guy thought he could escape my gaze, 

he thought wrong....

My last photo of a Blue leg hermit crab....at least for a while.

The contest voting for photo of the month on BARS has begun, and after one day, I'm behind. The major competitor is , yes of course, a photo of a blue leg hermit crab.  This set me to thinking on how to approach things a little differently, and I came up with this ...

I do think it is a better picture than my first contribution ,which is far too late in coming for addition into  the process .  I do not however, think I have a chance at winning the current contest. I must say truthfully, I do enjoy the self flagellation involved in the action of a photograph's capture and its editing, even if my uncooperative subjects are annoyed by it. 

(edit,dec 4, 2;47 am...came up with a caption for this picture....ahem....here goes..."what the hell are you looking at?  What?  )

A Few more Photo's from the other night...

I did not enter these photos for obviuos reasons. .  I might someday, perhaps, . get a grip on this piktur takin' thing.....but, for now, for here,,, these must do...

My POTM contest contribution to BARS...

Blue  legged hermit crab. 

A "mostly" herbivorous addition to a reef tank popularly utilized to  help control excess algae growth. They are collected in the Caribbean and adjacent areas.  The "blue knuckle" hermit crab,  a larger, more expensive cousin hails from the pacific ocean. It costs more. Thus, I do not have one to photograph.

Retail cost?

Caribbean blue leg hermit..$.79..Pacific blue knuckle hermit crab...$10

I was driving home tonight and looked into the sky,,

 and the moon beckoned me to frustrate myself for several hours..


I should really..

Search youtube before I decide to take photos I have no idea how to set up for..

I'll do some research later..


anywhoo....

consider yourself mooned..

Ok,  I watched a couple youtube tutorials about shooting the moon..

and came up with these..

They actually are a bit better..I should add that this is the first useful application  I have  had for my Sigma 70-300mm lens..

(EDIT-thursday)

Ok,here is my final attempt..for the time being..

 and here with a sepia filter..looks kinda "moon like", circa 1960,,

It's a jungle in there...

More close ups...

This is a aquarium plant called wisteria that actually grows out of the tank when it can...

I must admit..

Hibiscus is one of my least favorite flowering plants. I have had  too many back breaking experiences with this all to readily applied  landscaping nightmare. 

I hate it. The phrase "any port in a storm" can be applied here, however, and  with my trusty Nikon D60 , 60mm macro lens,a few cold beers...and some Photoshop,,,I present these for your perusal...

The invasion ...

of the giant duckweed is both beneficial and worrisome. On the one hand this "weeds" incredibly fast  growth inhibits nuisance algae from utilizing excess nutrient, on the other hand it diminishes the all important light reaching the completely submersed plants. It  requires constant pruning . It can be a major PITA...while being a major tool in maintaining an algae free planted aquarium.

                                                              

And so it continues...