Flight images with Arduino

Over the winter I spent some time messing around with the Arduino micro controller. I had a ton of fun trying to capture in-flight images of the painted bunting at the feeder! It is hard to capture small songbirds in flight, but I think I got a few good images. I was able to utilize an infrared proximity sensor placed near the feeder to capture images using my Canon 40D on a nearby tripod.
Take a look:

Birds in Flight - Images by Chris Johnson

New painted bunting image

I entered this image in a contest over at Photrade.com Vote for it if you like it!

Vote for my photo!vote

New Galleries!

Our site has been updated to include new images captured over the past few years. Check out some previews below:



Click an image to view all of the galleries

2008 Sea Turtle Calendar

It took a while to put together, but the 2008 sea turtle calendar is available. I get many emails this time of year asking when the calendar is going to be ready, and I was a bit late, but I think it was worth the wait.

This year the calendar features Loggerheads, Greens and Leatherback turtles. All of the pictures were taken along Juno Beach during the past year or two. I think my favorite image on the calendar is the November image of the little "army" of loggerheads running to the ocean.

The calendar can be viewed here or purchased on the Lulu website directly.

a few new images

It has been a while since I have posted anything new here! Here is a new image of a leatherback turtle taken during the 2007 leatherback nesting season. It is one of my favorites of the year! The turtle is named "Clover" and she is a turtle we have been seeing since the 2002 nesting season. Each year she returns, she seems to have something else wrong with her. This year one of her rear flippers had a pretty terrible injury. She nested three times this year - with our help. Clover has a very hard time digging her nests and our crew usually needs to dig her nest for her!

I hope you like the image!

Hawksbill (or possible hybrid) sea turtle hatchling

This little guy hatched out of a nest on Palm Beach during the week of January 29 2007. It is either a full hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtle or a possible hawksbill/Loggerhead hybrid. Although hawksbill turtle can always be found in Florida's near shore waters, their nests are pretty rare in Florida. We will be sending some genetic samples to the lab to confirm whether they are hawksbills or not. Results to come!

He is pretty handsome, isn't he?

African Spurred Tortoise

This is our newest tortoise named Sessie. He has the run of the back yard and has dug himself a pretty impressive burrow. The burrow is probably about 8 feet long and about 3 feet deep. He eats most of the weeds that grow up through the mulch and seems to be enjoying his new home.