Barred Owl, 300th Post

One of my favorite photographs from the past fall’s wildlife shooting is this shot of a Barred Owl. This was one of the many shots I captured while following this owl around Big Meadow in the Shenandoah National Park. If you missed my first post where I tell the story of this adventure, click the label “Owl” at the bottom of this post.



With this post I am celebrating my 300th post. My photography and equipment has changed quite a bit since beginning this endeavor. When I began posting I was shooting a relatively new Canon S2 IS which actually was my third digital camera.

My first digital was a little HP fixed focus, fixed lens point & shoot that ran the batteries down quickly. It used two AA rechargeable batteries with a run time never exceeding five minutes. This camera was a Christmas gift from my in-laws in 2003. The HP taught me that digital was the direction I needed to go and soon I upgraded to a Canon A85, 4mp with a 3X optical zoom. Soon after acquiring it my niece Amy (ASH) showed up with a neat little camera, the Canon S1 IS. With its 10X optical zoom it was quite an impressive tool. Shortly after the Canon S2 was introduced I took the plunge and few months later began blogging.

This past August after spending a some time behind Willard’s Canon 10D mounted on his 500mm lens I recognized that for me to continue the digital passion I had no choice but to upgrade to a DSLR. Soon a Canon 30D along with a 24mm-105mm F4L IS arrived from B&H and with it I began exploring the world anew. With a Canon 100-400 borrowed from Willard I entered this fall carrying a tool kit capable of capturing good wildlife shots; thus Country Captures has changed for a time from being a rural scenery blog to more wildlife oriented. Where will it go from here? I cannot say as I rarely plan a post until the minute I sit down in front of the monitor.

Thanks to all who have kept me company on this journey and encouraged me on with your kind comments along the way. It has been fun!