Month: August 2024

Computer issues with Karl’s photo computer led me to examine my own files, and the external hard drive I use for my not very regular back-ups. Clicking through the various folders containing older blog posts and photos, projects started and not completed for one reason or another, I realized I needed to do some pretty serious clean-up. I also loved looking through the work done for the past almost 14 years of the blog. The photo of the Blood Moon, above, was one of my first attempts at moon photography. This shot was my favorite of the series, just before the moon was completely red and some moon shine still visible. Of course, looking at the setting I realize I would do things differently now.

We hiked at Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas County Florida early one Spring and as we drove toward the parking lot saw birds flying into and out of the tree. A flock of Cedar Waxwings gathered stocking up on energy before making their way further north to their summer grounds.

I learned a lot about tracking a bird in flight taking this series of shots. I took a lot of photos, and this one is the only one I liked. Isn’t that how nature photography goes…

September usually brings some relief from the higher humidity and temperatures, and we look forward to getting back to our hiking and nature photography.

For us, August passes by slowly. The temperature and humidity stay high enough to make walking outdoors when the sun is up just plain too hot, so we stick to mornings, evenings, and shade the rest of the time. Insects love this weather, so they tend to be my primary subjects. Most things green thrive on the humidity, then rain, then hot sun. We watched the small field behind our house grow so fast in one week we felt we could see the motion. Tropical Storm/Hurricane Debby passed by us taking the worst of its fury further north, but we did get drenched. Rain came down in bands for three days. We lost electricity briefly a few times, and then for a few hours. Thankfully the storm drains managed to keep up with the torrential downpours.

Our presentation at Brooker Creek Preserve went well. Once again with questions and comments we exceeded our time by at least 30 minutes, but with no other program behind us we kept going until everyone had their questions answered.

My one year experiment using a mobile phone camera and Super Zoom type camera (also called a bridge camera) turned into a year and a half. I mentioned in my last post my mobile experience. The super zoom camera (built in lens that zooms out to 600mm or more) was a little more familiar to me since I could shoot in RAW and had various settings. It took time to get used to the fact that while I may be at 400mm according to the camera, the lens is much smaller and most of that is digital zoom so the results were not always as I envisioned. It weighs so much less than my SLR and lens with a much smaller footprint, so I really wanted it to work for me.

For this experiment, I often left my SLR home to force myself to use one or both of the above for traveling or hikes. My conclusion: Both stay in my everyday carry bag and have their place in my photography, but my SLR will still be my primary camera. Part of it is experience and familiarity, and part that my nature photography in particular often requires zoom and a high level of sharpness, and the larger lens produces the shots I envision.