A Different Lens

 As our loyal followers and frequent visitors know, Hoot Owl Karma relies heavily on photographs to relate our encounters with nature, and all the photos included in these pages are original photos captured by one or another member of the Randolph clan. While the younger among us are quite accomplished with their phone cameras, Dad depends almost exclusively upon his digital SLR. 

Recently, he's enjoyed the use of a new camera and lens courtesy of a super cool Father's Day gift from Julie and the boys last year. 

Unfortunately, Dad clumsily damaged the lens in late June, and its absence has impacted both the quality and quantity of Hoot Owl Karma posts since that time. 

He is pleased to announce, however, that after repeated failed attempts at repair, Julie collaborated with the good folks of Best Buy at Southpoint to completely replace the damaged lens today. 

With the autumn wildflowers near the peak of their blooming in central Carolina right now, we'll do our best to make up for lost time over the next few weeks, albeit through a different lens. 

The sunflowers, lobelia and purple aster, complete with photo-bombing skipper and goldenrod soldier beetle, were all captured this morning with the old digital Rebel, which still serves quite well in an emergency.

The variegated fritillary and lovely orange zinnias were test shots captured in the Best Buy parking lot courtesy of the replacement lens. 

It is our intent to make these the first of many glimpses of nature seen through a new and different lens, courtesy of Hoot Owl Karma.

Thanks again for tuning in...

Fair Photos - September Dilemma

August is at an end, and summer seems determined to assert itself at last, here on the brink of September in Central Carolina. The busy days of back-to-school are already back to the busy days of school, and Hoot Owl Karma's late summer hiatus is at an end as well. With the end of summer comes the annual award-winning Lee County Regional Fair, hosted by the Sanford Lions Club. 

And with the Fair comes the Youth Photography Exhibit, which Jay and Hunter plan to enter again this year. Last year, we scrambled to select and print some of their favorite shots from the previous year on our home computer and arrived at the exhibition hall mere minutes before the entry deadline. This year we've endeavored to avoid the chaos of last; we have five days left, and counting...

But picking and choosing from a year's worth of special moments can be hard, and they've had a particularly tough time deciding this year. 

Here are a few of the shots Hunter's considering...

Barred owl, bill still bloody from a recent meal, peers placidly down from its roadside perch along Highway 15/501 in late December, while red-tailed hawk looks up from it's meal of gray squirrel just a few weeks later in the heart of campus at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The toad in the middle of the road is another possibility, captured this summer in the aftermath of a warm late evening shower.

And an impressively large horsefly which somehow made its way inside the car with Hunter late last fall would have to be a dark horse candidate at this point. 

Unfortunately, all these photos would qualify in the same category, so Hunter will have to choose just one of these four to go along with his landscapes, buildings, and people.
We'll let you know how it goes...