Marc Benton dot Com

Baby Cardinal

My wife sets out birdseed on our deck for the local wildlife. For months we’ve seen a Cardinal pair coming by for a quick meal. Last week we saw their baby for the first time. Well actually we heard him/her first. Every time mother was nearby he/she started chirping loudly for food.  We saw momma oblige a few times but was mostly trying to teach baby to eat on their own.

Can anyone tell us if baby is a boy or girl?  We’re not sure how to tell without a much closer (and personal) inspection.

I thought this shot was cute.  Baby was using a banana leaf as shade from the sun.

Blending In

It seems even flies enjoy tanning on a sunny day.

Yellow Hibiscus

I needed to break away from my night photos and display something a little more bright.  I took a series of photos of my wifes hibiscus plant this weekend.  I was planning to build a triptych in Lightroom with them but its just too complicated.  I find it much easier to build it myself in Elements.

This is definitely one you need to click on and see the larger version.  Enjoy and let me know if it brightens your day just a little.

Late Afternoon Calm over the Potomac

My family spent a couple of relaxing hours at Riverbend Park a few days back. While we usually enjoy the Maryland side of Great Falls, in the late afternoon the light is much better on the Virginia side. The calm water of the Potamac River combined with the setting sunlight made for a nice relaxing image.

Lit’l Bunny Foo Foo

Camera specs; Canon EOS 40D fitted with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens, f4.0, ISO 400 at 135mm.  HDR generated from three images using 1/200, 1/125 and 1/85 a second exposures.