Me vs. the Camera Battery

When I purchased a replacement battery for my camera several months ago at Radio Shack, the clerk warned me he didn't have a Kodak battery and the one he was selling me wouldn't hold a charge as long as the original.  It has driven me crazy.  It succumbs just as a really cool photo op comes up unexpectedly.


I'm posting twice today because I'm so excited about these photos I got coming back from Boulder late this afternoon.  I had stopped to take some photos of these low-lying clouds...

I took four shots and started to take a close-up of the aspen foliage, which is such a breathtaking color of spring green, when the camera battery died.  When this occurs, a nice Kodak logo pops up on the viewfinder screen then fades into oblivion.  I think if Kodak were still making cameras I'd recommend they have something else appear when the battery dies so the user didn't equate the camera's uselessness with the Kodak name.  

I groused out loud to myself, "You just see, I'll get up the road and there will be a moose."  Well, I went around the next curve and there, right by the road, were seven elk!  I tried to revive the camera thinking maybe I could squeeze out one more photo, but no dice.  I was spitting mad!  

I've been living up here most of two years and getting that many of any kind of wildlife that close to the road seldom happens.  I drove back to the cabin as fast as I could, fretting under the 25 mph speed limit through Eldora, pulled into the meadow, ran into the cabin, unplugged the camera cord from the computer, plugged it into the electric outlet, plugged in the camera, got a fire started in the wood stove, threw on a warmer coat, unplugged the camera hoping the battery had absorbed enough juice for at least one photo and headed back to the meadow where I had little hope the elk would still be.


At first I didn't think they were there because they were lying down.  I pulled over and they got up and I got about a dozen shots.  Here are some of the best.  What fun!

An uncle once commented, after looking through some of my family's snapshots, that in our effort to sneak up on our subjects to insure we were taking candids, we took a lot of "fanny shots."  At least these guys have kind of cute little derrieres...

Wish they had their antlers this time of year.  I've never seen them with racks, but this one seems to be the leader of the pack...

or maybe this one.  It was heading out...

...and finally got the rest of them to follow...

Speaking of animals heading out, did you get to watch the Preakness?  Having no T.V., I didn't, but if you go to the Daily Racing Form site you can pull up a video.  I'll Have Another won again.  Could be on the way to the Triple Crown.  And that was a horse race.  Photo finish.  I got excited even knowing who won and without having any money on the race.


I've got R&B Jukebox streaming from KUVO and it's really great tonight!  Have a wonderful Saturday evening.  Teddee