Weekend Oct 28/29 2023

[Don]

Good morning all. Not a good night for me, up very early (before 4 AM). Pretty sure a nap will be called for later.

Once more into the archives. A couple more photos from Sicily, these taken at a little place that was right across the road from the base. Long since gone I suppose as I looked on Google maps a while back and the entire area looks very different. My buddy and I would often go across the road, have some Lambrusco (wine), then catch the bus to go to downtown Catania. Those were the days...

[Dave]

I'll bet those photos bring back good memories.

They did for me:

My preferred hangout during my college days in Beloit Wisconsin was called Woody's - an old fashioned bar with sawdust on the floor (probably to soak up spilled beer and vomit) and a table-mounted shuffleboard. The beer was kept ice cold, and my habit was to take a big gulp of beer and chase it down with a shot of ginger brandy, which quickly spread and warmed my insides.

OK - I've revealed too much about my misspent youth.

Woody also owned a laundromat next door. I'll bet he made a good living off of the college guys.

I'll try to return this afternoon with a photo to post.

[Dave]

From my archives (a little over 5 years ago).

This is a Brown Pelican in breeding plumage, taken at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Ecological Preserve.

Over about 20 minutes I was able to slowly close to within 6 to 8 feet from this magnifigant bird, and I took many photos. Six of them turn out pretty good.

   

Have a good weekend.

[Don]

Very nice photo of the Brown Pelican Dave. I always enjoy seeing them on the coast. And White Pelicans as well. They always are so graceful in the air for such a large bird.

Those photos so bring back memories. I actually made a "Zine" with some of the images a while back. I probably have mentioned it before. Here are a couple of photos of the front of the Zine and one showing front and back. I had tracked down a friend I had been stationed with in Sicily and sent him one, which he seemed to enjoy.

I just had a 2 hour nap to try to catch up on some sleep lost last night. At 3 local time I will be logging into the cruise site to try to book some shore excursions. One of them will be a birding hike in Costa Rica and another will be a Whale Watch in the Sea of Cortez. They open the bookings by the class of cabin and since DW and I don't have the highest dollar cabin, some of the excursions are already full. Hopefully we will be able to get the ones we want. Then it will be watching Alabama play football the rest of the afternoon.

Edit: You posted while I was doing my post Lorell. Sounds like you are liking your new lens. That is a good start to I'm sure will be lots of nice images. The photos I posted earlier were originally B&W film and I think a color slide from over 50 years ago, hence the "grungy" look. I had to do a lot of editing to make them look nicer, especially the wine bottles. That negative was in sad shape.  The hand you see if that of my buddy Jim, who I tracked down and sent a copy of the Zine mentioned above. I had kind of hoped we would keep in touch, but after my initial phone call (with a nice chat) I thought he might call back periodically, but no joy. Oh well... can't go back it seems.

[Luv2shoot]

Hey guys, those are some great shots that you are digging up from years gone by.

Don, it sounds like you had a lot of good times with friends in your younger years and you have continued to create and maintain many friendships with your music buddies.  The wine bottle photo is really cool, I almost missed the hand and arm in the lower right corner.  The grungy look is great and the background is perfect.  I like the nostalgic-looking photograph of the exterior of the bar, the canvas awnings and the men standing in the doorway. 

Dave, Good capture of the pelican.  Our pelicans on Anna Maria Island are so tame.  You really do not have to sneak up on them.  I like the popping colors and the lovely clouds in the background.  Nice composition too.

Yesterday my lens arrive.  I grabbed my camera and ran out to the park as fast as I could.  Although the sun was shining and it was in the mid 70's, the wind was not cooperating. It was so windy and all the flower shots I took were blurry.  It will take some time to get use to this lens.  The whole purpose is that it produces a creamy romantic look to the composition.  You still can get crystal clear shots, but you have to turn the aperture to the extreme CLOSED end, f/22.  When the aperture is wide open, F/1.8, all is blurry. 

Like I said, I have to get use to it.  It is TOTALLY MANUAL.  I use auto-focus all the time, so I have my work cut out for me to get the parts of the composition that I want in focus. The lens makes for a great macro.  I am just noticing that I am having trouble holding still  and steady now.  I cannot blame it all on the wind.  I am digging out my mono and try pods.  This morning there was about 5 minutes when the sun was out, otherwise, it is really dreary out there. So, I grabbed this shot of a rosebud quickly although I do not think that the sun was shining on it at the time.

Just like my fisheye lens, there will be many that do not like the blurred image. 
So, here is one that came out sort of okay. It reminds me of your rose close-ups, Dave.

[Dave]

Don, I'll bet those Zines are worth viewing. Available on your website, I presume. And thanks for the comments about the Brown Pelican shot.

Lorell, that's a lovely floral. I'm glad your having fun with the new lens. I have a question: with the aperture all the way to f/22, do you have to set a much slower speed than usual? Thanks for commenting on my photo. The birds at the nearby wetlands aren't tame; maybe they're accustomed to seeing people, but it's rare to be allowed as close as I got to this pelican.

I am considering a purchase too: not a lens, but a larger external hard drive. I'm researching two: one is 22 TB and the other is 24 TB

Here's a photo  from January 2021, taken in my outer front yard...

   

[Luv2shoot]

Wow, Dave, you got the bonus shot, one bee and one butterfly.  Pretty cool and pretty lucky and pretty picture.

Yes, I would have to slow down the shutter speed.  Since it is in manual mode, I will finally be using the METER in my camera.  I will probably have to turn up the ISO so in darker situations, but if I am doing macro shots, I probably will try to be in well lit places anyway. 

Don, sorry that your friend didn't want to reconnect with you.  It was nice for you to send him a copy of your Zine.  It sure feels good to share things like that with others. 

Here is another shot using the new lens. Yesterday when I visited the garden center and foolishly tried finding flowers that would hold in spite of the windy conditions, I walked over to the nature center to see if they had anything there that I could photograph. Turtles, lizards, snakes, bunnies and other such wildlife don't move too fast, right?

I could not find anything in the several aquariums they had except for this fella.  This was the best I could get shooting through thick glass.

[Don]

Good morning all.

Very colorful shot, Dave. As Lorell mentioned, butterfly and bee both. Nice.  I like the snake photo too Lorell. Quite some time ago I purchased an accessory that would fit on the front of a lens (made of rubber I believe) and would allow the lens to get right up against the glass of an aquarium. I never used it as the planned trip to the Atlanta aquarium never happened.

Dave, I "self-published" my Zines. The first two (Sicily 1969 and Steps and Stairs) I used Kindle self publishing through Amazon, and are all B&W images. The next two I moved to Magcloud (Abandoned and Visions). Abandoned is a collection of old and abandoned buildings, autos, etc in B&W and Visions is a collection of mostly nature photos (in color). I did it mostly for my own amusement and never really tried to sell any, although every once in a while one will sell. These photos are from Abandoned.

Yesterday afternoon the excursions opened up for our cabin level and unfortunately we could not get all that we wanted. There was a semi-sub excursion that was already sold out, and the whale watching (2.5 hours) also sold out, although we did get a 2 hour whale watch excursion. The one we really wanted was Birder's Paradise, a 6 hour or so bird walk in Panama, and we did get that one. Anyway, I should have some good (I hope) photos after that trip, which isn't happening until January. I will only be taking my Z6 and 24-200mm lens, and my Lumix point and shoot. Still figuring out the best way to take the Z6. I want to take the lens in a lens pouch but I haven't found anything the I can fit the Z6 body into, just to give it some protection.

I see you added some photos to your Flickr account Dave. I guess I need to upgrade to Pro and upload more photos to mine.