A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens
Life on my own, on the Nature Coast of Florida, and beyond…
My vague desire to go somewhere to take pictures on Friday was defeated by the off and on rain and thunder we had all day long. Lucky for me I wasn’t the chef on duty for dinner, so when something caught my eye out the front door I was outside and up and down the street trying to figure out the best view. It almost didn’t matter because the sky was colorful in every direction.
Some rainy days just wipe out the chances of a pretty sky. Others just set the stage.
I hardly know where to start. Somehow we came across the name of a park in the area, one that we hadn’t heard of before. The John S. Taylor Park in Largo, FL. It’s not a huge park, the walk was an easy 1.6 miles around. We stopped to see and photograph birds quite a few times. I’ve seen comments about migratory birds being in the area at this time of year, or maybe it’s just such a pretty park that the birds like to call it home.
There are lots more photos to go through, but they will have to wait for another day. It’s time to go out and enjoy another gorgeous day in sunny Florida.
Even in the daylight I watch my step in this neighborhood. There are lots of mature trees casting deep shadows, and wrecking havoc with the sidewalks with sections of concrete just dying to trip you up. But walking up the street last night I ran into a few of the neighbors…
Little kids might be too intimidated to approach these houses for Trick or Treating. And I thought of this neighborhood as typical suburban, but I hadn’t checked it out after dark.
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.
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…
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.
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…
A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens 