Mushroom Forest

After the heavy rains earlier in the week i was putting out the garbage bins and down the hillside 'tween the house and hill was a village of mushrooms.

Its not a very good photo as the light was in extreme of bright sunlight and deep shade. Now, three days later, they are dried and falling over. Still, i was able to get some nice shots of small groups:

There is something i like about mushrooms although i'm not so sure what that is. They never last very long and when fresh, new they seem so alive in a rather static manner. And no two are ever alike. And they live underground as spores and then ever so often pop up for a breath of fresh air and then they are gone and a few days later there is no sign they were ever there.

I've been shooting mushrooms for years but only at a low lever of capture; i have met photographers who bring with them to shoot, light, light boxes, reflectors, etc. I sorta like keeping it simple and each has its own distinct outcome. Here are few earlier shots:

 'Nuff mushrooms for now.

Tamron 150-600mm lens - an update

Today i return the Tamaron lens i have had for the past week. Wasn't able to do as much with it as i'd hope, still, it was enough that i decided to purchase the lens. Heavy and cumbersome, it is still the lightest lens on the market for what it does and also the least expensive. Went out this morning searching for the birds we could hear -they were surrounding us - but mostly not really viewable. A few more photos from that lens:

Towhee

House Finch

Everyday birds; a Towhee and House Finch - both males singing to attract mates.

They came out pretty well considering the light was very blah and i'm not a fan of shooting upwards but that is where most of the birds are. I look forward to visiting a bird preserve where birds are plentiful.

O.K., now to pack up the lens and get it to Fed Ex.

UPDATE: I bought the lens as a result of the photos above; see Pt. Aransas Nature Preserve for its first use.

CLOUDS

Love 'em

Borrowed/rented Lens

Mon 24th

An hour or so ago, trying to find birds to photograph with the long lens, i was that the squirrel across the street was building its nest and snapped this series of photographs:

In the fourth frame the squirrel is looking at me as i think he could hear the camera clicking. I thought he might drop the leaves and run away but he didn't. I was curious about how he was going to get thru the fence as he was having trouble fitting the leaves under the bottom which is how he got thru as you can see further down. The  last image is of the nest and you can see his (maybe its a her?) grey body to the right of the nest. There was a second squirrel working on the nest by taking leaves from the tree branches but she/he never was visible enough to photograph.

There were shot at 300 and 500 mm and seems quite sharp despite my hand holding the lens ... the image stablizer works really well.

I no longer have any doubts that this lens will provide me with the sharpness i want in a birding lens. However, it is quite heavy and creates a fatigue in my forearm muscles that, as i type, feels like carpel-tunnel syndrome ... that, i don't know what to do about. I do have a good mono-pod that would work as a leaning post but ... well, you know what mono and tripods do for cameras steadiness and, they also hinder the versatility of a sports/birding lens. 

Oh well, i'll just have to figure that out.

Backyard Photographs

It was a damp foggy morning which are some of the best kind for water drops, cob webs and general mood images:

It was a fine morning.

First Use

Yesterday i rented a Tamron 150-600mm lens as i'm considering purchasing one. The reviews are pretty good and the price is within the range i can realistically save for. So, i rented one to see how i like it, how well it does and is it practically in terms of using without a tripod. Whew! its big and heavy. It does a pretty good job of shooting sharply and quickly.

This set is of the humming bird feeder hanging in the tree in the back yard:

150mm

300mm

400mm

500mm

600mm

The only thing done to the photos after importing is a slight contrast, otherwise they are as shot. I think it does a good job ... i didn't know there was a fly on the right top side of the lid until i looked at the 400mm photo. While the 600mm is certainly softer then then 300mm and 400mm, it certainly is very usable.

Lightly cropped and sharpened - 500mm

The primary reason for considering purchasing this lens is to photograph birds and that it seems to be doing well:

An Eastern Bluejay ... i'm pretty happy with the results.

And then there was this:

I had just received the lens and put it on the camera, Canon 7D Mk ll, and had only the vaguest idea how to use it, stepped out the back door and there was this bird circling some ways away. My initial thought was that it was an eagle as it was much too big to be a hawk or at least any hawk i've seen but all those were west coast hawks. The image is not too sharp nor clear but i'm happy it even worked. Now i'm thinking it is a juvenile Golden Eagle which take 3-5 years to get all their eagle feathers and color. 

If you are reading this and know what this is, i'd be happy to hear from you. Click on the images and they will enlarge and  you can see the feather strips, etc.

Digging thru the literature and photographs of Golden Eagles, i no longer think this is one of them ... i just don't know what this bird is.

New Belgium Brewing

This is the New Belgium Brewing brewery which is all of a 20 minute walk from our house. The photos were taken in mid-January and it was a bit cold and overcast. These days it is warm and on such an evening this place is overrun by dogs, children and adults, all having a good time. NBB does not serve food; however, each day a different food truck spends the day there and, so far, the food has been excellent and each day it is often a different ethnic selection.

Here is an unsuccessful pano from their back deck overlooking the French Broad River:

That blue looking road is a foot and bike pathway below and along the river for half a mile or so, installed by NBB ... it connects to a park at the foot of the hill where we live - so wonderful to walk there and a great liquid reward for doing so.