Some random pictures from last week's trip

[wetfeet101b]

Here are some random pictures that I took while fiddling with the new camera during our trip last week.

Some flowers/plants






Some bird pictures.
This one was not minding the camera at all as long as he gets his bread.


I had a hard time catching this hummingbird. It was zipping in between flowers so fast and I had the camera zoomed from about 20 feet away.
I managed to get this one decent shot out of about a dozen attempts.


It finally landed for a few seconds to rest and I was able to take another picture.


This duck knew to look at the camera every time I took his picture.


A nice mini-waterfall inside Disneyland.


Just playing with the zoom.

Pine cone zoomed:


Same pine cone without zoom:


Madison attending the Princess Celebration Luncheon at Disney's California Adventure Park.




John

[kfir from israel]

goood for u -u have disnyland!!!!!!!
very nice trip!!!!!!
i wish to be ther 1 day too
how did u cach the hummingbird????
u r fast

[pavel]

nice pics, John!

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Cool, John. I love all of the shots. Madison is so cute in her costume!! The blue tree - do you know what it is? It looks - magical . And the pine cone zoom photo with the one without zoom - WOW that is an amazing camera you have there. Is it a film camera or digital - or both? You have great talent with it. The hummingbird is always a hard one to get. I have taken oodles of photos of hummers, but none ever turn out. I can never get the little focus box on their tiny body long enough to snap the shot. heheh... I enjoyed these photos very much. Thanks.

Cheers,
BD

[Phyrex]

The blue tree - do you know what it is? It looks - magical .

Nice, it's Disneyland it's supposed to be Magical!

Love the pictures. Kudos on the hummingbird, probably need cat-like reflexes to catch that guy. Lovely princess.

[Molly Taco]

Wonderful pictures John. Is the purple tree a Jacaranda?
What a beautiful Princess !!!
Cin

[wetfeet101b]

Thanks everone!

I am not sure what the purple flowered tree is called. But I guess it is a California native since one of the main design features of the California Adventure park is that all plants/trees are supposed to be California natives.
Those trees are everywhere here in California, but this one's flower display is awesome.

All the pictures above were taken with a digital camera, Canon Powershot S5 IS. When I was shopping around for a new digital camera, this was #2 on the top 10 cameras. I got it for under $300.00.
The #1 on the list was a Canon EOS digital that costs around $1200.00.
Needless to say, I settled for #2 lol.

When I am in the mood to lug around a bulky film camera, I use my Canon Rebel 2000 film camera. I love the picture quality but is too bulky and I tend to waste a lot of film.
This new digital camera offers way more features than my film camera so I might retire the film camera soon and go all digital.

The hummingbird was a challenge to photograph. I spent about 10 minutes patiently following it with the camera lens and try to take as many pictures as I can.
One of the biggest problems was its speed. It would zip all over the tree before I can get it into focus.
Its quick flapping wings were also a problem as it confuses the auto-focus brackets. Sometimes I see up to 4 focus brackets on my screen as it tries to focus on the bird and the wings.

[Molly Taco]

Pretty sure that you purple tree is a Jacaranda tree they are in bloom everywhere in Fla right now too. So PRETTY.
Cin

[JUDIUK]

What a beautiful little girl! A proper Princess. You have hummingbirds?

[ang709]

Wow, that's some zoom you've got there! I too am impressed with the hummingbird pictures, but I like the one of the sparrow, too.