The Tiger

The red-winged blackbirds that had been "conversing" with me for the last week were nowhere to be found. I hate to say it...but I kind of missed them. It was fun trying to get mom and dad in flight hovering over my head. The babies must have "growed up", and left the premises.

So...my morning walk turned into a dragonfly kind of day. No swans, no geese, no herons, and not many ducks. One turtle.

But,...the dragonflies were out in force. The slender little brown and green ones are hard for me to capture. Hard to get in focus without a macro lens. The brilliant blue guys were plentiful and willing. The black and white striped ones were a little camera shy today.

Then...I found this guy. His wings remind me of a tiger...so his name is Al, named after my favorite Detroit Tiger of all...Al Kaline. Poetry in motion.

I really hate to say how many pictures I took of Big Al. I once took 235 pictures of a sitting pelican. Then it was 325 pictures of a red dragonfly. But, today...WAIT FOR IT...WAIT FOR IT!!!!!...615 pictures of the tiger dragonfly named Al. I was embarrassed when I downloaded them. I have a small excuse. I was standing...then sitting on a 45 degree concrete embankment that was hard to hold my place. I figured as long as I was there...I might as well snap a few shots. It was scary getting out of the sitting position. The momentum of the bank propelled me forward. I made sure no one was watching before I attempted it.

615 shots is going to be hard to beat. I got maybe 40-50 good ones of Al. I chose this one because I liked the green circle in the shot.

I had an discussion on Sunday with a guy who is still using a Canon AE-1 and film. I said to him in amazement..."FILM? FILM? WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO JOIN THE NEW CENTURY?"

I appreciated his point-of-view...but I'll never go back. The ease of slipping the SD card into my computer, and seeing the almost instant results...is strangely gratifying. I'm now going to send some pictures to our local Sams Club to be printed. Hard to beat.