"Bird Feeder"

It's been a long, cold winter here in Idaho. In fact, it snowed just last Sunday. The weekend before that, we finally had a couple of warm days (near 80) and we started getting our yard ready for spring.

We bought a new bird feeder and filled it with seed that is suited to birds in our local area. We hung it up and after a couple of days the birds found it. We've only had it about two weeks or so and the food is half gone. I think we will be filling it year-round.

The birds add color to our yard. This is a male "House Finch." (according to my National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds-Western Region) The males are much more colorful than the females.

I just love to watch them, sometimes all four perches are filled with birds. They put a smile on my face and a song in my heart.

"Serenity"

This is the 2nd Youtube video of my images. Thanks again to my daughter for making my photographs come to life with music and her smooth transitions!

See more of her work at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AKBProductions

"Close Encounters #2"

Here are a couple more shots of that ostrich that was flirting (according to the caravan guides) with the truck we were on...



How cute are these?



Love those long lashes!

"Close Encounters #1"

I shot this ostrich close up when we went on the Photo Caravan Safari last month when I went to California. It's something I had always dreamed of doing when I lived in San Diego County, but had never gotten to do. It was so awesome being right down amongst the animals. This ostrich was a challenge because he just kept moving, poking his head up and down next to out truck. We were told that they wouldn't bother our jackets on the seats, but one time I turned around to find my jacket in its mouth and half way off the truck. I'll try to add a shot of his face peeking over the side of the truck. It was so cute!

"My First YouTube Video"

My daughter was kind enough to create a video with some of my images with music added to post on YouTube, so today I'm happy to announce that it's live. She is an aspiring film maker and has her own site with short films she's directed, edited and produced. (Her link is below the video) This is our first attempt at photo videos, so the quality is not as good as I'd like, but we're discussing that for the next one or a remake. Stay tuned...

Thank you, my dear daughter! I'm honored to have my video done by AKB Productions.

http://www.youtube.com/AKBProductions

"Blog Improvements & Special Thanks"

I've made some changes to my photography blog. First of all, I created a brand new one, then linked to it from my website and back again. I have moved my blog entries from the old blog on my website, to this one. I will be able to do far more with this blog than I could with the other and hopefully, it will be a benefit to you, as well. I have added a separate guestbook just for this blog, so you may sign it just to say, "hello" or comment on what you think of it. (the guestbook at Shekinah Photography is for signing and commenting on my website itself)

If you 've previously commented on any of the old blog entries, they did not transfer. You will need to enter your comments again on this new blog. Thank you for your trouble, but I haven't figured out how to move those.

To leave a new comment on a particular blog entry, go to the end of that entry and click on "comment." To e-mail an entry to a friend, you can click on the envelope right next to the "comment" or click on "recommend this site" found in the right hand column of this blog.

I'm working on linking my photos directly to my website galleries, where visitors can view the images along with others in the gallery and also have the option of ordering prints for their home or business. (you can do that now by going to http://www.shekinahphotography.com/.) I will have a link to bring you back to this blog, if so desired. In the meantime, if you're at Shekinah Photography, just click on "Blog" at the top of the page and it will bring you back here!

Learning html and css is no easy task but I am enjoying it very much. I don't know how many more changes I'll make to the original template, but I am happy with it at this point.

I need to give some credit and special thanks to a new friend of mine who's been helping me via e-mail. She didn't have to take precious time out of her day to help me, and I really appreciate her generosity and web know-how. Thank you so much, Denise! See Denise's work at http://www.denisegoldberg.com/.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back soon, and see what changes you can spot since the last time you were here!