Barrel Racing August 2011

Last Saturday we took the grand kids to see a Barrel Racing event.  Suzanne Barnes, a friend of Eileen's was the organizer.  The event was held at the Goodyear, AZ equestrian center.  It was a warm night; the temperature was in the 90's when the event started at 7 p. m..  For those of you unfamiliar with Barrel Racing, it is a timed event where horse and rider cross a starting line, ride as hard as they can to 3- 55gal barrels,  go around each barrel as fast as they can and then race back to the starting line.  A typical time for a circuit was on the order of 18 seconds.

I was using my Canon 60D to take photographs of the event.  I was using my EF 85mm, f1.8 lens.  The arena was covered but had lighting.  I ended up shooting at iso 3200 and 6400.  I was shooting on the highest 60D cycle speed which is a little over 5 frames a second.  Images were somewhat noisy and I had some autofocus problems.

Below are some of my shots.  Enjoy.

2011 World's Cutest Grandkids

We all think that, don't we?  Our grandkids are cuter than any other grandkids.  Here are some shots to prove my point.  Luke is 10, Brayden is 6, and Sophia is 4.

2011 Summer Hummers

We have two hummingbird feeders under the patio.  A Costa's hummingbird (we call him The Sentinel)  perches on a dried bush arrangement near the feeders.  He spends most of his time chasing the other hummingbirds away.  He lives in a lemon tree when he is not on guard duty.  These photos were shot through window panes in the master-bedroom patio door.