October 13, 2022 – A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens

I got a bit excited the other day. I had my new mirrorless camera and I did what I swore I wouldn’t do, I bought another lens that’s made for that camera. On sale of course, so I feel a bit better about it. The thing about the lens I’ve loved for so long is that I can keep it on the camera all the time. Butterflies or birds on a far off branch, I’m ready to take a shot. But mirrorless is the way things are going in the world of cameras, and they are much lighter weight as well as more technically advanced. And I hadn’t upgraded for over three years. It’s a huge step up, even if it wasn’t the most expensive option out there. It was a huge upgrade for me. So I was anxious to try it out, and John Chestnut Park was a sure bet for some birds. But it presented some challenges since my subjects were really too close to me for the best shots with the new lens. I went home a little disappointed, but not discouraged.

Autofocus struggles to find a little bird against a busy background. I’ll try manual focus next time. And mechanical shutter.

How cute is this one? A tufted titmouse I think.

These guys posed like crazy, but I’m not used to how you set the focus points on the new camera, so I cut off beaks and tails. So many more failed shots than usual.

This guy wasn’t supposed to look like a predator coming to eat you. In reality he was heading for me because so many people feed them, but I’m not one of them.

Way too many failed shots of this very cooperative Downey woodpecker.

Can’t resist a bright flower against a perfect background.

Many cliches come to mind. Practice makes perfect. If at first you don’t succeed try, try again. I was so busy being disappointed with all the failed shots that I didn’t notice that all the shots weren’t failures. Practice, practice, practice.