Picture-A-Week 2018 - Week 50

[pierces]

Pictures taken between Monday, December 10 and Sunday, December 16.

 

Rules: See above

That's it. This isn't a contest.

All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising).

Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize.

The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays.

Post one. Post many. Up to you.

Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

[Geezer Cruiser]

Entrance to my local Whole Foods store 

 

 

[dileep]

 

[dileep]

[Oakman58]

The clouds parted, the sun finally came out, and the temperature warmed up enough for these old bones to get out in the woods again.  I love the zoom on my SX530 and my only regret is not taking a tripod with me.

It's hard to see but this is a spike buck.

 

Momma and her offspring.

 

On the alert.

 

Another youngster but on his own.

 

That spike buck with some girl friends.

[dileep]

[ski ww]

I love the big cats.

[pierces]

Norman Rockwell's name was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this. He became famous for his depictions of American culture and this just seems like something he would have painted. The ritual of introducing toddlers to the Christmas season's official granter of wishes is like spinning the wheel of emotions. You may land on Awed Wonder or Shy Silence, but more often than not you get what's pictured here...Abject Terror! I guess the red suit, hat and large white beard tips Santa over into the same general profile of Clown and other larger-than-life horrors that haunt developing imaginations. Me? I like Santa. Except for that part where I pay for granting all of those wishes.

 

Rockwellian Moment

 

 

Dave

[zackiedawg]

A nighttime walk around Epcot center, on a lovely cool 40 degree night.  All are handheld, no long exposures as I didn't have a tripod with me - this wasn't really a 'photo' trip as I was mostly there with my friend and college roommate, letting him decide where we go and what we do, and taking a few snaps on the side when I had the chance:

 

 

 

 

[ski ww]

Well they all turned out just great, even if it was just a casual photo op.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great pictures everyone.

 

Thank you for sharing them.

[puppycanducruise]

Very nice pictures.

It's a joy to look at them.

Thanks to all for posting.

[zackiedawg]

To add to this photo week's photos, I started out with some Disney photos taken on Monday, and now adding some birding photos taken at the end of the period, on Sunday:

 

Red-shouldered hawk flying fast:

 

Pair of red-shouldered hawks on a date - both looking for a hookup soon as mating time approaches:

 

The wonderfully colorful male painted bunting, staying in the dark shadows:

 

Spotting this was like seeing a grain of sand from 20 feet away - what looked like barely a speckle on the top of a reed, when zoomed in at 600mm from 10 feet away, still required about 80% cropping to get the detail and see what the little grain of sand is actually an infinitesimally tiny baby frog:

 

Coming up from behind on a green iguana, I didn't quite spook him enough to run away, but he spun his head around to give me the watchful eye:

 

A resting young alligator, up on the shore with a smile:

[kenevenpar]

From a recent Florida trip:

 

Sarasota area -

 

Palm Warbler

 

Green Heron

 

 

Nanday Parakeet (Wild)

 

 

Boat-Tailed Grackle - Female

 

 

American Bittern

 

[kenevenpar]

A few more from Florida:

 

Sarasota -

 

Northern Harrier

 

 

Otter

 

 

Bald Eagle

 

[kenevenpar]

And a few more from Florida:

 

I pulled into a preserve called Green Cay, and almost parked in a space marked "Reserved for Zackiedawg".  Thanks for the tip Justin, this place was great!

 

Pied-billed Grebe

 

 

Purple Gallinule

 

 

American Coot - Look at those feet!

 

 

And at Sanibel - a Roseate Spoonbill

 

 

Ken

 

 

[zackiedawg]

Someone told me there was a car parked in my spot - luckily when I wasn't there...still, that's a no-no!  😉

Did you make it over to Wakodahatchee as well?  The nesting is starting to kick off there, and BIF opportunities are excellent from about 4:30pm to sunset...would have been good when you were in the area.

[kenevenpar]

Yes, but the afternoon was off and on rain.  Both are great spots; thanks for the recommendations!

 

As I may have mentioned, I really wanted to get some woodstork shots.  Unfortunately, the only one I saw was on the side of the road when I was going 65MPH .  Of course I did turn around, and cross eight lanes of traffic, only to see him flying off in the distance.

[zackiedawg]

You likely would have encountered them at Wako - there are usually a dozen or so hanging around, but the rainy day and depending on time, might have driven them elsewhere for a bit.  They haven't started nesting yet...but just this past Saturday they were there again.

[cruises42]

4 hours ago, zackiedawg said:

Someone told me there was a car parked in my spot - luckily when I wasn't there...still, that's a no-no!  😉

Did you make it over to Wakodahatchee as well?  The nesting is starting to kick off there, and BIF opportunities are excellent from about 4:30pm to sunset...would have been good when you were in the area.

I always love your pictures. Is there a point and shoot camera that will give me great zoom and quality pictures likes yours and kenevenpar's? 

[zackiedawg]

Cruises42 - It will depend on how close you can get and how nice the light is - a decent P&S camera can take solid, quality photos with nice detail, if the light is good and generally the closer you can get - where the bigger sensors and big, high-quality zoom lenses stand out is when subjects are much further away, and when light is less than perfect.  Also, you're likely to be much more challenged trying to focus on moving birds or flying birds with most P&S models - it's much easier to do with larger-sensor, fast-focusing interchangeable lens cameras that can keep up with and track better and in worse light and contrast than most P&S cameras can.

If willing to spend bigger money and carry a heavier camera around, probably the best P&S big zoom camera you can buy today is the Sony RX10IV - it has a larger 1" sensor, good 600mm equivalent reach, and a fast focus system that can actually keep up with birds in flight...but it's quite large and expensive.  There are a few other 1" sensor superzooms out there not quite as good, but still capable of quality and detail.

In general, larger sensors and interchangeable lens cameras with good quality telephotos will be best for birding and wildlife, for the ability to shoot in a variety of changing conditions and for still and moving subjects alike.  But even a smaller sensor P&S camera can pull off a nice, detailed shot of a reasonably close bird in good light.

[boeckli]

Auckland 13.12.2018 (Photos taken from my balcony at the Auckland Hilton)

Celebrity Solstice on ice

 

Is she going to hit the hotel ?? 😱

 

Hope the rearview mirrors are clear ...

(Golden Princess can be seen in the distance)

 

There's a cruiseship outside my hotel window 😲

 

Edited December 28, 2018 by boeckli

[cruises42]

11 hours ago, zackiedawg said:

Cruises42 - It will depend on how close you can get and how nice the light is - a decent P&S camera can take solid, quality photos with nice detail, if the light is good and generally the closer you can get - where the bigger sensors and big, high-quality zoom lenses stand out is when subjects are much further away, and when light is less than perfect.  Also, you're likely to be much more challenged trying to focus on moving birds or flying birds with most P&S models - it's much easier to do with larger-sensor, fast-focusing interchangeable lens cameras that can keep up with and track better and in worse light and contrast than most P&S cameras can.

If willing to spend bigger money and carry a heavier camera around, probably the best P&S big zoom camera you can buy today is the Sony RX10IV - it has a larger 1" sensor, good 600mm equivalent reach, and a fast focus system that can actually keep up with birds in flight...but it's quite large and expensive.  There are a few other 1" sensor superzooms out there not quite as good, but still capable of quality and detail.

In general, larger sensors and interchangeable lens cameras with good quality telephotos will be best for birding and wildlife, for the ability to shoot in a variety of changing conditions and for still and moving subjects alike.  But even a smaller sensor P&S camera can pull off a nice, detailed shot of a reasonably close bird in good light.

Thanks for the information. I've had a Nikon d3400 since February. I just have the kit lenses and I don't feel like I get enough zoom even using the 70-300mm lens. Usually I can't get close enough to the birds so even zooming they look small and then I crop in the camera. Plus in most cases I don't really like the quality once I crop it. I still don't know enough about photography to do much more than to use the automatic setting. I also found that I don't like changing lenses so I think I need to go back to P&S. So I'm looking for a camera with great zoom, be able to take pictures of birds in flight and great macro (I like to take pictures of really small things-like a snowflake the size of a pin head). I like the sound of the Nikon Coolpix P1000 (for the extreme zoom) but it is very big, doesn't get the greatest reviews and I'm not sure if it does everything else I want. The Coolpix A900 has good zoom too. I notice that they are not mentioned much here so I'm guessing all you great photographers don't think much of them. The Sony is a bit more expensive than I would like.

[ski ww]

We docked in Auckland once and when the people in the hotel woke up, there we were looking into their bedrooms because they didn't close their curtains.

[kenevenpar]