On A Roll Again...

Started a new On A Roll this morning (yes, starting again.) It was a cool, 34 degree morning with a beautiful sunrise. I saw nothing "special, interesting or unusual" and did not take a single shot. 


My previous roll of film will be back tomorrow and I will get to see what I captured On A Roll. I will go over it on the blog on Monday, should be interesting. 


I have discovered this project is like the scene pictured below. The brood is a roll of film and each shot like one of these chicks. Some are lost, out of reach, turned backwards, crowded, hard to predict, separated, and too many to think about. At the end of the job you just hope they are all healthy. There are 19 chicks by the way.

Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) and Young
Alaska 
July 1992

For those of you just joining the project here is a short explanation of what is going on. (For a complete description read "First Exposure" and "False Start".)


My goal is to shoot three rolls of slide film, each with a different subject matter, and publish them as a complete set, 108 exposures in a row. One of the challenges is planning the mix of flora, fauna, and scenics, not to mention colors, lighting, and the placement of vertical and horizontal shots on the roll.

The first section (roll) of the book will be "My Backyard" shot entirely in Mississippi, this is where I am now.

The Last Sunset

Monday evening was our last sunset in Destin. It was a good one.


Now, back in Madison, Mississippi, looking for a low tonight of 34 degrees. What a difference a day makes.

Walk on Beach at Sunset

(photo taken with Nikon P 7000)

Ghost Of The Sand

The work of a ghost crab is never done.

Ghost Crab (Ocypode quadrata) Tracks on Beach


(photo taken with Nikon P7000)

Beach Break

A short break from On A Roll for a few days in Destin. Just a couple of shots from yesterday.

Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) at Dawn

Sunrays on Gulf

Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla) in Flight

Sunset over Gulf

(photos taken with Nikon P7000)

Roll Review - Images #17-#35

Remember, these are my grades and comments based on memory only. The grade is based whether it came out as I had planned. The resulting photographs may be far better or worse than I expect.

SHOT LOG (My Backyard) 

Nikon F5, Fuji Velvia 100

17) Gulf Fritillary on Sunflower - (H)

Madison County

August 18, 2011, 10:53 am

Overcast, 89 degrees

17-35mm, 1/160@f5.6,  Hand Held

Grade C

This is another shot I am concerned about. The butterfly was moving so much I had to continually adjust for brightness and dark. The shot was quick and close focus, wide angle, so it is a "who knows" type of photo.

18) Praying Mantis - (V)

Madison County

August 18, 2011, 4:00 pm

Cloudy, 81 degrees

180mm, 1/500@f5.6,  Tripod

Grade B+

It took forever to get this seemingly easy shot. Just when I would think I had it set up, the mantis would move. I was using a very shallow depth of field so focus was critical. To get the lens parallel with the mantis I had to lay my face on the ground. That made the sky come into the frame (which I did not want) so I repositioned several times. Oh, and there was a breeze gusting. Who knows?

19) Green Tree Frog Resting - (H)

Madison County

August 22, 2011, 3:52 pm

Clear, 99 degrees

60mm, 1/2@f13, Tripod

Grade A-

This was a very close-up shot with a horizontal composition. I want to see this one myself.

20) Ruby-throated Hummingbird - (H)

Madison County

August 22, 2011, 5:12 pm

Clear, 99 degrees

500mm, 1/40@f4, Tripod

Grade A

This should be a pleasing image if the touch of blue in sky shows through behind the bird. I was trying to catch his "ruby throat" shining, but he was moving his head a lot.

21) Smooth Green Snake - (H)

Madison County

August 23, 2011, 6:57 am

Cloudy, 77 degrees

17-35mm, 1/10@f9, Tripod

Grade A

This was a cool moment when I found the snake. This is also the shot I was VERY distracted on because of the fawn walking up on me (see "Splendor In The Grass.") I'm curious about how the goldenrod foliage will look in the shot.

22) Purple Gallinule Searching - (V)

Rankin County

August 24, 2011, 6:54 am

Clear, 77 degrees

500mm, 1/50@f4, Tripod

Grade B+

It was odd light, but the shot is really dependent upon whether or not I caught the tension of the bird as it focused on another bird coming into its territory.

23)  Gray Squirrel - (H)

Madison County

August 24, 2011, 3:22 pm

Partly Cloudy, 94 degrees

500mm, 1/30@f4, Tripod

Grade C

This may be one that ruins this roll. My shutter speed was probably too slow to keep this from being technically good. Also, the foreground tree I liked at the time I shot, but it may be distracting. The light was also very flat, so....

24)  White-tailed Deer - Doe & Fawn - (H)

Madison County

August 29, 2011, 12:23 pm

Clear, 94 degrees

500mm, 1/80@f4, Tripod

Grade A+

The heads of the doe and fawn were turned in opposite directions. There is a possibility of the light being "hot." I also noticed the fawn quickly moved its head about the same moment as I shot.

25)  Foxtail at Sunrise - (H)

Madison County

August 30, 2011, 6:58 am

Clear, 68 degrees

60mm, 1/125@f8, Tripod

Grade B+

Great light on dew-covered foxtails. This one depends on the mood the early morning light creates.

26)  Gulf Fritillaries and Dew - (V)

Madison County

September 7, 2011, 6:40 am

Clear, 54 degrees

60mm, 1/6@f25, Tripod

Grade A-

This was extremely hard to shoot because of the positioning of the butterflies low in the dew-covered grass. This was compounded by the fact that I found these after the sun was coming up, so the background may burn out.

27)  Mud Snake (Farancia abacura) - (V)

Madison County

September 7, 2011, 5:05 pm

Clear, 76 degrees

17-35mm, 1.3 sec@f9, Tripod

Grade B+

Finding this mud snake was the first cool thing. Getting the shot set up with a shy snake and unbalanced light was the challenge.

28)  Pearl River Sunrise - (H)

Madison County

September 8, 2011, 6:26 am

Clear, 54 degrees

17-35mm,  2.5 sec@f16, Tripod

Grade A

This should look good. The challenge was capturing the clouds at the peak of light.

29)  Green Darner - (V)

Madison County

September 8, 2011, 7:55 am

Clear,  58 degrees

60mm, 1/3@f16, Tripod

Grade B-

Pretty straightforward shot. However, it was very low light, there was a slight breeze, and the dragonfly was resting on an unstable leaf.

30)  Alligator at Moonrise - (V)

Madison County

September 12, 2011, 7:20 pm

Clear,  78 degrees

500mm, 1/13@f4, Tripod

Grade A

The slow shutter speed may be the killing factor here.

31)    Strawberry Bush Seeds & Acorn- (V)

Madison County

September 16, 2011,  7:54 am

Clear,  56 degrees

60mm, 8 sec@f22, Tripod

Grade A-

Long exposures can sometimes fool you.

32)    Decaying Fall Leaf - (H)

Madison County

September 26, 2011,  5:23 pm

Clear,  79 degrees

500mm, 1/200@f7.1, Tripod

Grade B+

This should be fine.

33)    Canada Geese in Flight at Sunset - (H)

 Madison County

September 26, 2011,  6:44 pm

Clear,  76 degrees

500mm, 1/500@f8, Hand Held

Grade A

I swung around and took this shot in an instant. The geese came in by surprise and my focus/composition time was an instasecond.

34)    Praying Mantis and Dew - (H)

Madison County

October 1, 2011,  7:15 am

Clear,  47 degrees

60mm, 1/6@f16, Tripod

Grade A-

Should look good. After I shot this, I remembered I had already taken a mantis photo, a month and a half earlier. That is one of the problems/challenges of this whole process.

****35)   Foggy Sunrise - (H)

Madison County

October 5, 2011,  7:21 am

Clear,  51 degrees

60mm, 1/160@f16, Tripod

Grade A

This should be a nice shot. It just was not supposed to be "the end."

Roll Review - Images #1-#16

Remember, these are my grades and comments based on memory only. The grade is based on the shot turning out as I had planned. The resulting photographs may be far better or worse than I expect.

SHOT LOG (My Backyard) 

Nikon F5, Fuji Velvia 100

1) Pearl River Swamp Sunrise  - (H)

Madison County, MS

July 6, 2011 - 6:01 am

Clear, 75 degrees

500mm w/2xTC, 1/40@f8, Two Tripods

Grade A+ 

Nice, powerful, misty sunrise.

2) Sawback Turtle on Snag and Reflection - (H)

Leake County, MS

July 7, 2011 - 5:27 pm

Partly Cloudy, 93 degrees

500mm, 1/200@f4, Tripod  

Grade A

The reflection should be good and the turtle 
should be easily visible on his precarious perch.

3)  Long-jawed Orb Weaver Spider at Sunrise - (V)

Madison County, MS

July 8, 2011 - 6:17 am

Partly Cloudy, 82 degrees

180mm w/ET, 1/2500@f2.8, Tripod  - fuzzy focus

Grade A+ 

This was shot directly into the rising sun. I purposely 
shot it out of focus so the spider was not so graphic, 
but more of an eerie, fuzzy image.

4) Passionflowers - (H)

Madison County, MS

July 15, 2011 - 4:34 pm

Cloudy, 83 degrees

60mm, 1/400@f5.6, Tripod  

Grade B 

A little bit of experimenting here. The edges of passionflowers
 look like wirey hairs. I focused tight 
on these fine elements and let the main part 
of the flower go totally out of focus. 
Should be interesting.

5) Alligator Resting in Swamp - (H)

Rankin County, MS

July 18, 2011, 3:48 pm

Cloudy/Sprinkling, 87 degrees

500mm, 1/80@f4, Tripod 

Grade B+

Because I was so close to this alligator, I composed this shot in an 
unbalanced way to include some duckweed and 
to lend a sense of place to the image.

6) Bullfrog - (H)

Stone County

July 21, 2011, 7:11 am

Sunny, 80 degrees

500mm w/2xTC, 1/125@f8, Tripod 

Grade B 

I hope the warm, early morning light will give 

this shot life and highlight 

the bullfrog. 

7) Pied-billed Grebe on Nest - (V)

Stone County

July 21, 2011, 7:46 am

Sunny, 81 degrees

500mm, 1/125@f8, Tripod

Grade A  

This was a hard one to shoot. The grebe was nervous 

on the nest and I had to compose and shoot 

very quickly. There was a white

fragrant water lily flower in the foreground 

that I hope does not take over the shot. 

This is one I am anxious about.

8) BLANK !

Greene County

July 22, 2011,  7:38 am

Cloudy, 78 degrees

  putting in batteries

Grade F

What a stupid mistake.

9) Daisy Fleabane and Grasshopper - (V)

Madison County

July 29, 2011, 10:23 am

Cloudy, 90 degrees

180mm, 1/200@f7.1, Tripod

Grade B+

This image was an experiment of making the 

grasshopper a small part of the composition.

The little white daisies may be 

too busy for the image. It was 

hard to compose and predict the 

depth of field I needed.

10) Trumpet Creeper and Clouds - (V)

Madison County

July 30, 2011, 11:29 am

Partly Cloudy, 90 degrees

17-35mm , 1/200@f14, Hand Held

Grade C

I think the white clouds in this photo are going to cause an underexposed (dark) image. I tried to compensate for it, but I am still concerned.

11) Indigo Bunting Singing in Sunrise - (H)

Madison County

August 1, 2011, 6:28 am

Clear, 80 degrees

500mm w/2xTC, 1/4000@f8, Hand Held (resting on tree limb)

Grade A-

I really have no way of knowing whether this image will be 

pleasing or not. As I shot it directly into the sun with such a long lens set up, it will be "hot." The light may swallow up the small bird. Just don't know.

12) Eastern Box Turtles Mating - (H)

Madison County

August 1, 2011, 10:03 am

Clear, 90 degrees

17-35mm , 2.5 sec.@f22, Tripod

Grade B

This will be more of an "interesting" shot than a wonderfully lit and composed work of art. These turtles mating simply had to be photographed.

Don't blame me, I was "forced" to do it.

13) Bolete Pores - (H)

Madison County

August 2, 2011, 11:02 am

Clear, 90 degrees

60mm , 5 sec.@f32, Tripod

Grade A+

 The underside of this particular fungi is wonderfully structured. The chambers, light/shadow, and design 

of the pores is graphically interesting. Long exposures can be deceiving.

14) Sunrise and Canada Geese - (H)

Madison County

August 3, 2011, 6:20 am

Clear, 82 degrees

500mm , 1/250@f4, Tripod

Grade B+

The problem I had here was trying to capture the geese with their heads and necks visible. They were swimming 

straight away from me. Then, just as I was about to 

call off the shot, they started to turn. 

15) Red-tailed Hawk Panting - (H)

Madison County

August 4, 2011, 7:23 pm

Clear, 96 degrees

500mm w/2xTC , 1/200@f8, Tripod

Grade A

The heat was bad that day. This hawk was panting and trying to cool off with his wings open. The light is good here.

16) White-tailed Deer - (H)

Madison County

August 18, 2011, 9:58 am

Clear, 87 degrees

500mm, 1/15@f4, Tripod

Grade B 

This is a very different kind of image for me, but I like it. The

focus is on some leaves in the foreground. The lighting was interesting and when the doe heard something and turned her head to look, I snapped the shutter.