Ahira's Hangar

Here are some shots from earlier this month:

Beautiful!!!

Thanks kindly! After 14 months using my Canon digital camera and getting to know both its strengths and weaknesses, I think I'm finally understanding how to get the most out of it.

These ones are from last weekend, which include my first squirrel shots of the season :

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I love how you got that intense neon pink.

Squirrels. You should see them in my yard - we have an acre of oaks and nut trees - not to mention flower beds filled with tasty bulbs to snack on. So our squirrels are so big and plump, they are like giant mutants. Even our chipmunks (they live in tunnels on the hill running up from the garage to the front porch) are tiny but very fat. When I see normal sized squirrels now I always think they are either babies or sickly.

Some of my better shots from my day at the zoo last week:







Those prairie dogs are pretty darn cute.

I love the prairie dogs! And that white owl!

What software do you use to get your pictures into those nice little thumbnail sizes? I have been thinking of getting one of those digital camera memory card readers, so I will not have to mess around with the camera cradle (which takes forever), and the software to go with rather than the dumb Kodak software?

While it is probably years off in the future, I've been looking at road atlases lately...I have heard several times that one of the best places to see (and film) wildlife in the US is Theodore Roosevelt National Park (supposedly even better than Yellowstone!). So I have figured out the prettiest way to get there...following the Lake Michigan shoreline in the UP of Michigan, then the Lake Superior shore in northern Wisconsin, then crossing across northern Minnesota in the Land of Lakes... A girl can dream of seeing wild horses running free.

Duchess, I think posting as a thumbnail is an option of the hosting site MM is using, imageshack. If you click on the picture, it then takes you to the full size version on imageshack.

...I think...

Ah. But I would still like to know which software he uses when he uploads the images to his computer from his camera. I do not like the camera cradle and Kodak software that came with my camera. That camera cradle takes so long to upload images to my computer that I usually print out the photo with my photo printer and scan it! And the Kodak software (or at least the version I have) does not play well with other programs.

They have photo card readers now - you take the card out of your camera and plug it into the reader which goes right into an open plug in your computer. It is supposed to be very fast. I'm just not sure what software, if any, I would also need to get to use one of the readers.

Yes, the Kodak cradle and software is quite old and slow and creaky in tech terms. I got the digital camera and attending cradle/software at the same time I got my old computer - which was in the same week I joined the Watch, however many years ago that was.

I guess I will have to plan a trip to Circuit City to get a digital card reader for my camera, and one for my son's camera (which take different sorts of cards even though they are the same name brand camera ). With gas so expensive these days, I do not leave the house other than to go to work unless I can combine at least 2-3 errands. The city busses do not come out this far, and it is just a little too far for me to feel comfortable riding a bicycle... Even if I make it that far, I do not know if I could make it back.

If that works out, maybe you guys will even get to see some of my more recent pictures, like the baby geese. Perhaps I can take some of my beautiful pink lillies.

I am using my old computer right now. The new one is all bogged down with a million Vista updates.

But even with the broadband connection it is so slow I am ready to tear a hunk of hair off of my head.

Now I know why I have not really used my camera for the past three or so years - everything with this computer takes so long it is just not worth doing.

My Fourth of July resolution is to get the new computer ready to use with my digital camera, and then get out there and start using my camera again! It is something that gives me so much pleasure, and I have been denying myself.

My first serious expedition will be in a couple of weeks, to downtown Detroit for another Tigers game. Weather permitting, I will take some pictures of some landmarks, fountains, and sculptures near and around and inside the stadium. And then I will upload them to the computer and to the internet and actually share them with people.

Duchess, I picked up a little device at Staples (or maybe it was Office Depot -- meh) that's basically a case with a USB plug on one end. It's specifically designed to turn your camera card into a USB thumb drive. I think it cost $10 or $15 on sale last year -- *much* cheaper than the multi-format card readers I was looking at at Circuit City and Best Buy.

I went this route because my camera is a Fujifilm, which takes xD cards -- the only card readers I could find for the xD cards were multi-card readers (as in, it would read every freakin' flavor of card ever made) and I didn't see the point in buying a 9-in-1 card reader when I only had one kind of card to plug into it....

I stopped off at Circuit City before work. I picked up two card readers (the exact little device that Aliantha is describing) - one which takes my camera's flash drive and one which takes the little tiny card my son's camera takes. They had a reader that could take nine different sizes of cards, but it cost a lot more money (the two I got were only $15 each) and it had to run with a cable, which defeated the whole purpose as far as I was concerned. I also picked up new memory cards for both cameras, and some fresh batteries.

So maybe you guys will have some pictures inflicted upon you soon.

Yay! It works! It uploads so fast now! Only had time for one memory card, but here is a sample picture from it. I took it two summers ago in Wisconsin. It is of two whooping cranes and their baby chickie.

Nice shot, duchess! I like the composition.

Glad that uploading pics is no longer a drag for you.