Elusive Birds of Middle Creek

Today, my wife and I took a trip to our favorite place to hike and see wildlife.  I always get so frustrated by the pamphlets that can be found there.  Basically, the photography of the animals and landscape is pretty poor, in my opinion.  I feel I could do much better, but never get around to offering my services. Perhaps it's a good thing I'm yet to do so.
Normally the photos I get from Middle Creek are quite decent.  Today, though, I came across two birds, slightly hidden, and I realized there might be a reason that the photography isn't as good as it could be.  It was hard for me to get the shots I wanted, and the results really are less than fantastic.  But they remind me oh so much of the pamphlet photography.  Here they are:

Pheasant

I did not do this beautiful bird justice.  Let it be known that it was hiding in a grove, avoiding me and my camera.

Canadian Goose

I like the way the bushes frame the goose.  I don't like the fact that sometimes I can't move around and get my subject from the direction that I'd like to get it from.

A Study Of Energy Transfer

My friend and I decided to go run amok with a camera.  He is a ninja, so we ended up doing some high speed shots of him doing ninja-like things.  Here is a study of the motion required to send a rock through the air at warp speed.  It is easy to see in each frame where the energy is building up and where it is being transferred to.

Truly Ultimate Power (a Study of Energy Transfer)

Note the 6th frame, the frame right before the release of the energy/rock.  It is the only frame that the ninja appears tense in.  Every other frame is either the fluid motions leading into the release or the continued fluid motions of the spin after the release.  It is in a single split second that all the pent up energy from the spin is dominated by the ninja and then let loose.

Dominated Energy

A larger image of the ninja exposing his truly ultimate power.