Schönbrunn

Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens is located within Vienna.

At one point it was the residence of the Habsburg emporers.

Its now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Its also the location of the oldest zoo in the world...

...which has Pandas.

Pandas are awesome.

Check out Schönbrunn

Toronto in the Summer

One of the great things about living in Toronto is that there is so much to see and photograph. 

This summer has been no exception.

Between High Park, Colonel Samuel Smith Park, Gairlock Gardens, Muskoka and Mountsberg, I've managed to find Cherry blossoms, foxes, beavers, wolf cubs, goslings, raptors and other interesting aves.

Check them out. 

Mountsberg

Had a chance to take in a private group photo session at the Mountsberg Raptor Centre.
I absolutely loved it, and the results.

The Aves gallery has been partially updated.
I shot over a thousand pictures of the five birds, so they will be slowly dribbling onto the gallery over the next few (months) weeks.

I didn't even mind that it rained and frozen rained a bit.
Some were not as impressed with the weather.

 

New and improved...with more baboons!

Updated the Senegal Trip gallery.

New and improved...with more baboons!

Niagara without the falls

Can you believe we spent an entire day trip down in Niagara Falls without getting anywhere near the falls?
We actually spent the day at the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory and the Bird Kingdom.
I love those places - great locations for taking photos.

I've updated the Aves and Insecta galleries for the trip out to Niagara.

TTPBF

So we checked out the Tommy Thompson Park Butterfly Festival.
Not too many butterflies, but there were some nice birds and bugs.

I've updated the Aves and Insecta galleries for the trip out to Tommy Thompson.

Mountsberg!

Its hard to believe that its been two years since we visited Mountsberg.
I remedied that situation this past month.
And I really enjoyed being introduced to their new addition: Pawgwashiing Migizi
(Young golden eagle female).

I've updated the following galleries for our Mountsberg visit:
Aves
Insecta
Other Fauna

Seurasaari

My gallery from our day trip to Seurasaari is finally up.
So that's nine galleries up, three to go, and my Finland trip pictures will be complete.

My favourite photos from the past year

For bokeh, subject, story, memories, colour, or whatever reason I have, these are the photos from the past year of which I am most proud.

June 2009 to May 2010 Fav Photos:

Helsinki

I really enjoyed Helsinki.
I wish I had another two weeks to spend just there, never mind the rest of the country.
Anyway, my vision of the city can be found here

Birds, Butterflies & Bears...

With the weather being spectacular, and breaking records for warmth this past weekend, we emerged from our hibernation and headed out on a couple photo seeking trips. First up, on Friday we headed down to the Niagara region, stopping by both the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory and Bird Kingdom. Then, on Saturday it was off to the Toronto Zoo.



And here it is Sunday, and I've already got the images up.
Seriously.
Check them out:
The Butterflies
The Birds
The Bears and others

Friday Drive

Niagara drive today - butterfly conservatory, aviary.
Expect gallery updates at some point in the near future.

February IV Photographs

So, hey, remember way back in February when I said I'd post some pictures from Wings of Paradise and Barbers Mill?

Well, its only taken me a month, but here they are.

A few birds

Some butterflies

And the mill

mkIV, baby. Mark. Four.

So I went out Sunday to test out the new (heavenly) body.
Stopped by Wings of Paradise in Cambridge and tried out the higher ISO settings paired with the 300 and the 100 macro.



Then dropped by an old abandoned mill and paired it with the 17-35 and the fisheye.



Hopefully I'll get some pics up soon.

Images are Up

Ah, a weekend to relax, breath...
...and update the galleries.
The images from my West Africa trip are up.
And I've expanded and updated the rest of my galleries.
Check them out.

Back from West Africa

So, this is a raptor typical of West Africa.



This is what the rear wing of a Piper airplane looks like after such a raptor collides into it during take-off.



And this is what the rear of the fuselage looks like after such a collision (note the crinkled metal on the left side where the tail and fuselage are riveted together).



The impact scared the heck out of me.
Didn't stop the pilot though.
He continued our ascent and flew for over an hour (and up to at least 7000 feet) to our destination.
Even though the plane was warbling the whole way.
Anyway, I have made it back onto Canadian soil and should be posting some images from the trip shortly.
And we all know when I say shortly I mean, well, within the next 3 months.