Storm Loses Game #3

Storm lost game 3 today. However, the girls played very hard against a pretty good team with many fast players.

To see the rest of the game pictures go here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/mytwinsfather/StormSoccerGame3?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Our House Guest for 1 Week

Here are my three girls and Tallara at Lake Mercer. We are dog-sitting Tallara for one week mostly to determine if any of us are allergic to dogs. So far so good. We are planning to adopt a lab but they wanted us to make sure we had no allergies first. Tallara is a very sweet 1 1/2 year old Husky Sheppard and is very well behaved and loves to go to the lake.

Storm Wins Game #2

Storm wins second game of the season after many rain cancellations. Storm lives up to their name and plays their best when it's rainy, windy, and cold. Everyone was right at home in the less than perfect conditions. The girls played well and were very aggressive. Here is a link to this weeks game pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/mytwinsfather/StormSoccerGame2?authuser=0&feat=directlink

The Girls Play Their 1st Game for the Fall 2011 Season

The girls played a tough team today and lost 2 to 1. However they played exceptionally well and every thought it was a very exciting and well played "on-the-edge-of-your-seat" game. For all of the game shots you can visit the following link on Picassa:

https://picasaweb.google.com/mytwinsfather/StormSoccerGame191711?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Trip to Natural Bridge, VA Last Weekend

Last weekend we made a camping trip to Natural Bridge, VA. We stayed at Cave Mountain Lake for two nights and had a great time in spite of the rain. Most of the time it was sunny and hot. Saturday we visited the Natural Bridge and Sunday we went to the Zoo where we got to ride an elephant as well as feed a baby tiger. See the pictures of both below. The tiger's name is Zeus and he was born on April 14th, 2011! I will post more pictures of our trip when I have time.


Cassi and I riding an elephant at the zoo!


My ladies getting to hold and feed a baby bengal tiger.

A Bald Eagle at Lake Accotink in Springfield, VA

Yesterday morning while photgraphing herons at the creek, a bald eagle made a special visit to me. I was able to get these flight pictures as he flew up the creek toward the dam.

Beautiful Sunset at Lake Mercer in Fairfax

Wonderful Sunset over Lake Mercer in Fairfax Virginia 6-27-2011

Highlights in Madison

This weekend in Madison, I spotted this 8 Point Buck out in the front yard. I snuck around the back with my camera and obtained this shot.


8pt Buck in my front yard


A Hummingbird at my neighbors (Buddy) house

A Ruby Throated Hummingbird

Here is another shot of the Ruby Throated Hummingbird

Tree Frogs in the Back Yard

I learned a new Photoshop technique last week called focus stacking. You basically take a series of photographs and focus at different depths on your subject. Photoshop then processes the in focus parts of all of the images then stacks them in layers. Below are three shots of my tree frog in the back yard.


Tree Frog in a Japanese Maple


Tree Frog on a Hydrangea

Tree Frog Staring out of a Flower Pot

Pileated Woodpeckers at Lake Accotink

Made a trip to Lake Accotink in Springfield, VA over lunch hour one afternoon last week. Didn't know what to expect. After arriving I discovered that there was a school field trip going on and had pretty much decided that nothing, I mean NOTHING, would still be around with 200 kids goofing off everwhere. As I was about to leave I heard a Pileated Woodpecker nearby and decided to wait it out adjacent to a couple of very large but dead trees. Sure enough one showed up then two, three and then four total. I had obviously stumbled on a family. Here are some shots of the woodpeckers doing what they do. If the weather and time permits this week, I may swing back and see if they are still hanging around.


This one was likely a youngster. Sat in the tree and called for momma.


There are very large woodpeckers. Largest in America if I'm not mistaken.

Lucky me to capture this one jumping from one limb to the other straight towards me.

Team Storm Turns up the Heat to Win Their Final Game

After a tough blow on Saturday, team Storm turned it around Sunday with a 5-1 win.

Go here to see the rest of the team pictures.

Saturday Storm Defeated

Saturday the girls played a difficult team but they gave it their best shot. Here a couple of pictures from the game.

You can view the rest of the game pictures here.

Coming soon, pictures from Storm's final game on Sunday. You won't want to miss them.

Unfortunately I cannot maintain all of the game shots online indefinitely. If you want to download them, please do so soon. I will try to keep them posted as long as possible but the oldest will go first.

Virginia Nature Photos

Here are some of my latest photos shot in Madison and Springfield, VA.


A fox shedding it's winter coat at Lake Accotink in Springfield, VA


A male Downy Woodpecker feeding a baby in Madison, VA


A Buck Moth caterpillar in Madison, VA. The Buck Moth caterpillar is the 2nd most poisonous in Virginia. The most poisonous one is the Saddleback Caterpillar. Get stung and expect 10 days of excruciating pain and swelling or worse if you have an allergic reaction. I will post more of these Buck Moth images in the coming days.

New Arrivals at the Bird Feeder

I recently set up a bird feeder out back and one squirrel has decided that it's his OWN feeding station and guards it. I've seem him resting on the pole with feet dangling. The other squirrels come in and if he's had enough of them a major squirrel fight begins with hair flying everywhere.

Here is the squirrel on guard with a pretty good grasp onto that feeder pole.

We also have about 8 baby chipmunks running around. I caught this one peeking out of his home. They enjoy the bird feeder too but are too fast for those fat lazy squirrels to chase.

Storm Loses 2-1 Today

Storm lost today 2-1 but the girls had a great time.

Follow this link to see the rest of todays pictures