Dense smoke

The northern Nevada area is socked in with smoke from the Rim Fire at Yosemite. See the link below for coverage and a dramatization of the way the smoke is moving across the west, not only from this fire, but others as well.

Wildfire near Yosemite surges, prompts evacuations

This is the view looking south from our front door. Normally we can see the foothills. I can’t even see to the end of the road.

Obviously, this is not good, health-wise. Our throats are raw, our eyes are burning, and we are sneezing and coughing. I can’t close the windows because we rely on a swamp cooler to cool the house.

Still, the photographer in me had to take advantage of the diffused light.

I will now return to my sneezing and coughing.

When you have a black dog . . .

Sometimes you just have to go with it.

How we spent our Saturday morning

Today was the Northern Nevada AIDS Walk at Idlewild Park in Reno. In addition to the run and the regular 5k walk, there was a 3k Paws for the Cause walk. It appeared that most attendees were participating in that! There were a lot of dogs. We took Nina, but left Buddy at home. He doesn’t always play well with others and this event would have been too much for him. Nina, on the other hand, was in her element.

A few shots from the day. A mix of color and black and white.

This little one was pleading with her mommy for something!

One of the many dogs…

Morning coffee and the paper.

Beautiful pup.

Ooh…Dad has a treat!

Did I mention there were dogs?

All the dogs got a red ribbon. Nina, trekking along.

It was a fun morning and full of excitement for Nina. She was so tired and I thought for sure she’d conk out in the car, but she only napped for a bit.

Really…she was pooped.

Really pooped.

The blank stare of the incredibly weary . . .

Furry Kids

There’s a reason they call me Ellie Mae. Critters and me – like bread and butter.

A little experiment in high-key processing.

Buddy

Maya

Jezebel

Nina

Test flight

I finally broke down and bought myself a EF 70-200mm f/2.8L (the less expensive one) and I’ve been taking it out for a whirl. So far I am quite pleased. The clarity of the photos are very good, even under low light and high ISO. (The photos I posted of Buddy and Nina yesterday were taken with this lens – Buddy’s image was taken at ISO 3200, f/2.8, 1/50s, 200mm and Nina’s at ISO 1250, f/5.0, 1/50s, 200mm.)

Today I ventured out into the backyard. I wanted to see what it would do at 200mm in bright sun, shooting wide open at very fast shutter speed.

These doves were coming in for a landing on our power pole at the corner of our lot. ISO 100, f/3.2, 1/1600s, 200mm.