Category: on closer examination

'scene' along the way, a second look, attention to detail, backyard visitors, Florida wildlife, nature, on closer examination, perseverance, photography, watch your step

Intruders…

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Did you see that little creature peeking out of the water at the pond in the back of my over-55 mobile park, the one in the feature photo? I had heard that there USED to be an alligator in the pond, and it would bask on the bank in the sun sometimes. But it was gone, or so I was told. Gone to where was never explained. I’ve been coming down for the sunset for three years now, and usually you are greeted by a rather large turtle that will come over and check you out as you stand on the little deck which is provided for the residents to enjoy. My guess is that some residents feed him, because why else would he care that you are there? And, yes, the turtle was present and accounted for on this night. But it was the other little set of eyes that I saw that had me wondering.

Obviously not a great shot, just didn’t want you to think I’m making the whole thing up.
This is the shot that I go back for time and time again. Gotta love the little palm trees and their reflections.
It never hurts to have a bird fly through your sunset shot.
That it turned out to be this osprey fly over was a bonus.

I’ve been known to stand on the bank in hopes that the dragonflies would be flitting around the rushes at the edge of the water, so I suppose I will have to check out my surroundings a bit more thoroughly from now on. Once I start shooting Godzilla could come up behind me and I probably wouldn’t notice. Of course I count on my gated community to keep all the monsters out, but then the alligator managed to get in didn’t he? My guess is he isn’t over 55…

'scene' along the way, a second look, finding my way, fun, live and learn, old dogs new tricks, on closer examination, perseverance, photography, Rise and shine, sunrise, technology

Live and learn…

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I am totally and completely floored. I went out for sunrise photos this morning to beat the rain that will be here shortly. I normally use just my phone on this walk around the block, but I grabbed the new camera too. But then I yelled at myself, but not out loud in the dim light, that the camera was still in HDR mode and I didn’t bring a tripod. Early morning HDRs are a norm for me, I’ve taken a million of them and I know that if I don’t bother to use the tripod I won’t get a usable shot. Never, ever. So I took my shot with the camera, and with that instant, split-second shutter release, I figured the camera had reset itself by being shut off. So I checked, and there were the three shots! Don’t ask me how it got a long exposure in that split second because I have no idea. But it was seeing the shots in the computer that blew me away. Every. Single. One. Sharp as can be. Level. No sign of camera shake. All along I resisted buying new gear because ‘it’s not the gear, it’s the person behind the lens.’ But it sure can help. Oh, and the nice color I had seen when I headed out the door, the color that I was disappointed not to see when I got to the park, turned out to be the reflected sunrise. I always try to remember to look behind me. Canon r7, 18-150 kit lens.

a second look, dragonflies, fun, learning, old dogs new tricks, on closer examination, perseverance, photography, sunrise, technology

New toys…

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I went out with my new camera/lens combo this morning. The Canon R7 with the 18-150 lens that it’s packaged with at the moment. People who are wanting just the camera body are still waiting after ordering them a long time ago. I had identified this camera as my ‘next’ camera, even as I insisted that I was happy with my camera set up that had me ready to head out the door and shoot whatever came my way. But the new one is mirrorless, and that where the technology seems to be going. And I bought an adaptor so that I can use my other Canon lenses with the new camera, but I went out in search of dragonflies with the old lens on the new camera yesterday and I wasn’t so happy with the shots I took. It’s all good though, gotta shake things up once in a while.

I have to say that the sky was just gorgeous this morning, and if I hadn’t left my iPhone home charging (it was in the red) I would have taken all my pictures with that for it’s extra wide angle, the heck with the new camera. But I’m not unhappy with what I got…

The colors deepened.
The Ibis flew in.
Yesterday’s experiment.
adventure, blessings, coping, let it go, life goes on, on closer examination, perseverance, photography, reality check, road trip, Uncategorized

Hitting the road…

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Day one, the good news and the bad news. The good news is that the air bags didn’t go off. So I could see as I held onto the steering wheel for dear life when the 18 wheeler in the lane next to mine ahead of me hit a huge piece of truck tire laying on his lane of Rt. 95 and sent it flying into us. It happened too quickly to panic, and I was in heavy traffic so swerving wasn’t an option. But things seemed okay so we didn’t try to pull over at that point, and then I tried not to think about what might have happened, but didn’t. Eventually we reached our day’s destination and this is what we found. I’m not happy, but I am so thankful that it wasn’t worse.

I’d like to think it’s not a big deal repair, but I guess we’ll see.

I must have seen the billboards with the legend about the live baby alligators before, but they stood out to me this trip. Possibly because I wasn’t driving at the moment. That could explain how it came to be that the only time I saw an alligator in my neighborhood was in Baltimore. Never in Florida.

fences, friends, fun, Home Team, making memories, moments, old dogs new tricks, on closer examination, perseverance, photography, sky, technology, weather

Baseball and fireworks!

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All that was missing was the apple pie! An early 4th of July fireworks display following a Clearwater Threshers baseball game. As you will see, the fireworks took most of my attention, but there were a couple of reasons for that. First, and mostly, it was the new netting that has been erected to prevent injuries from foul balls of the line drive sort. So you happen to see a cute interaction between the Threshers mascot and a cute little old lady in the stands, and you happily shoot a picture, but you get this…

Did I have a clue in the world that the netting was there? No, I did not. And yes, I was disappointed when I put the photos into the computer and lost what I expected to be my favorite shot.
The camera ignored the netting better than I would have expected for this shot. Not quite the ball on the bat, but close.
I might have been tempted to try to take the dark line of the top of the netting out of this shot, but it does illustrate the dilemma.

It was about this time that I noticed that my camera had dropped under a full charge, and I have misplaced my extra battery. And there were fireworks to come. I remembered being disappointed in my actual baseball shots the last time I was there, and there was no netting to contend with back then, so that was the end of my baseball shots. And the thing about fireworks shots is that you make your settings in the camera, setting an 8 second exposure, and every time your camera shows you a completed shot on the screen you fire another one off. Your camera only covers a small portion of sky, and you have no idea where exactly the next display will come up, so it’s a crap shoot. But on this day I got lucky…

And then there was the fiasco of trying to get off of the parking lot. The close in parking spot we were so happy to find when we got there turned out to be a liability when we wanted to leave. But I’m sure you’ve all been there. Fireworks and baseball at the stadium the next two nights in a row. I hope the weather cooperates as nicely as it did for us, and that they win for them, they didn’t for us. God bless the USA!

backyard visitors, Florida wildlife, nature, on closer examination, Passing time, perseverance, photography, pond creatures, Rise and shine, unintended images, Up and at 'em

Random stuff…

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The feature photo, and only photo that I know about at this moment, is the uninvited company I found out on the lanai this morning. I have resisted becoming attached to this lanai after loving the one at my old house. There is no lake here, no pond critter serenades, but the birds do sing so that’s something. But this morning I found myself at eye level to a creature that I quickly realized wasn’t a lizard. Lizards are so common, and mostly keep their distance, but this sticky-fingered creature was eyeing me up. As I was doing to him. So he retreated into the corner and then climbed to the very top of the corner brace. I thought that I would have to warn my friend when he came out because this little guy would be directly over his head if he sat in his usual chair. But Tampa Bay Lightning fans who have endured a disappointing play-off game and then a frustrating drive home aren’t given to getting up early the next morning. Maybe it’s the effort of growing a beard in solidarity with the players, a long-standing tradition I’m told. It’s currently in the whisk-broom stage, but I digress. It turned out that my fears as to the little guy’s jumping weren’t unwarranted, because he jumped onto the end table, landing with a thud, which is when I took his picture. Looks like he needed to wipe his chin after his breakfast. By this time the sun was baking me, the coffee was cold, and it was time to go in. I hope this guy finds his way back outside as stealthily as he found his way in, so I don’t have to check the corners of the roofline before I sit out here again…