Picture-A-Week 2020 - Week 07

[pierces]

Pictures taken between Monday, February 10 and Sunday, February 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!

[grush240]

Snow in the back garden after Storm Ciara on Monday

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by grush240
Wrong pics

[boeckli]

Dancing on the ceiling (in your boxers)???  Seen in Hobart, Tasmania

 

[Docker123]

Several pictures trying out my new toy. I just bought a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary and gave it a run today at 600mm (APSC camera). Editing just with MAPhoto.

 

Singing Honeyeater

 

Great Crested grebe chick

 

 

Egret in the bullrushes

 

A choir of cormorants

 

some sort of duck

Edited February 13, 2020 by Docker123

[cruises42]

20 hours ago, Docker123 said:

Several pictures trying out my new toy. I just bought a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary and gave it a run today at 600mm (APSC camera). Editing just with MAPhoto.

 

Singing Honeyeater

 

Great Crested grebe chick

 

 

Egret in the bullrushes

 

A choir of cormorants

 

some sort of duck

I recently got that lens also. What type of camera do you use? What type editing did you so?

[Docker123]

2 hours ago, cruises42 said:

I recently got that lens also. What type of camera do you use? What type editing did you so?

This is from a Nikon D5600. Benefit of the 1.5 crop factor.

 

Very basic editing in Windows on MS Photo (noticed typo in original post). For proper editing I use Lightroom.

 

I noticed a lot of shots have come out darker than I had expected, so will have to work on my light. As always, better under than over.  
 

I went to test this afternoon, but the thunderstorm beat my car to my shooting spot.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love the pictures.

 

We got 4 1/2 inches of snow last Friday -- first snow storm of the season but I was too sick to get pictures.  And the snow was gone by Sunday.

[cruises42]

21 hours ago, Docker123 said:

This is from a Nikon D5600. Benefit of the 1.5 crop factor.

 

Very basic editing in Windows on MS Photo (noticed typo in original post). For proper editing I use Lightroom.

 

I noticed a lot of shots have come out darker than I had expected, so will have to work on my light. As always, better under than over.  
 

I went to test this afternoon, but the thunderstorm beat my car to my shooting spot.

 

I am used to point & shoot cameras. My husband bought me a Nikon D3400 and before I really knew how to use it he bought me a D500. I'm trying to learn how to use it but sometimes it's very frustrating (not knowing what settings to use and when). I mostly take pictures of birds.

[Docker123]

The advice I have been given about birds is shutter speed as fast as light will allow. Best for flying, but also to compensate for lens movement (much crisper for feathers and features). The lens at 600mm will highlight any small movement. If bright light, I run about 1/1600.

 

I have mine on a monopod with ball to control that and it’s weight.

 

I run auto ISO, and f5. Change numbers as light goes down. Your D500 should be very good in lower light conditions.

 

[Docker123]

Sunday morning outing to the Western Treatment Plant outside Melbourne. All sorts of birds, and some other things. Most with the lens at 600mm

 

Black winged stilt

 

Brolga

 

Musk duck

 

White fronted chat

 

Spider (40mm macro/micro) in a web in the gusty wind.

 

 

 

[Re-tired]

No snow here.  We did a quick trip to Cabo on the Royal Princess.

[cerabella]

That pic of Cabo is fabulous in b/w!😍

[cruises42]

21 hours ago, Docker123 said:

The advice I have been given about birds is shutter speed as fast as light will allow. Best for flying, but also to compensate for lens movement (much crisper for feathers and features). The lens at 600mm will highlight any small movement. If bright light, I run about 1/1600.

 

I have mine on a monopod with ball to control that and it’s weight.

 

I run auto ISO, and f5. Change numbers as light goes down. Your D500 should be very good in lower light conditions.

 

Thanks! Do you shoot in manual mode? I've been shooting in Aperture. What size monopod do you use?
These are a few I took today. I did have to lighten a couple up (in camera).

[Docker123]

1 minute ago, cruises42 said:

Thanks! Do you shoot in manual mode? I've been shooting in Aperture. What size monopod do you use?
These are a few I took today. I did have to lighten a couple up (in camera).

lovely timing and detail in those photos.

 

Yes, I shoot in manual as there is more control over various parametres.  At a pinch it would be shutter priority as speed is the most important for me for birds.

 

 

[pierces]

Last May, one of the Picture-A-Week photos was of the green golf ball-sized blood oranges that appeared on our tree after several years of nada. The tree made up for its years of laziness and produced well over a hundred oranges. We even lost a branch with about thirty oranges when it broke from the weight of the massed fruit. We are now picking the first of the batch and they really are worth the wait. they are a bit more tart than a navel orange but have a distinctive flavor and of course, the color. They don’t peel easily so our plan is to juice them and freeze it to be used in tasty summer beverages including mixed with vodka in what we have dubbed the Bloody Screwdriver. Sounds more like a piece of evidence than a drink, but it sure is good!

 

Bloody Delicious

 

 

 

Dave

[shanni-shanni]

Got a new camera at Christmas.

 

Very easy to use.

 

Tom

[zackiedawg]

The weekend was mostly cloudy, with rainshowers throughout both Saturday and Sunday...I did manage to get out and about, dancing through the rainshowers and shooting in between, to gather up some shots - both at my regular wetlands, as well as a few shots from some spots along the beaches:

 

Lovely monarch tasting a flower:

 

Even though there were showers off and on, and windy, this family still decided to head out and enjoy a day of boating on the intercoastal waterway:

 

Took a walk through the mangroves along the beach - just looking for something different - the mangrove tree crabs were all over the trees looking for a meal:

 

A lovely little northern parula sitting in the shade in the forest:

 

A great egret, with his green colors turned on to attract a mate, also displaying his peacock-like back feathers to put on a mating display:

 

A boat-tailed grackle, having just bathed himself, all glistening with water drops and showing off his iridescent feathers:

[Re-tired]

On 2/16/2020 at 4:40 PM, cerabella said:

That pic of Cabo is fabulous in b/w!😍

Thanks.  I have been playing with an R-72 filter.  It is much cheaper than a dedicated IR camera, but you can't use a camera with a built-in IR filter.  The filter is pretty dense so a tripod helps.  

[Cruiser Forever]

On 2/15/2020 at 11:39 PM, Docker123 said:

Sunday morning outing to the Western Treatment Plant outside Melbourne. All sorts of birds, and some other things. Most with the lens at 600mm

 

Black winged stilt

 

Brolga

 

Musk duck

 

White fronted chat

 

Spider (40mm macro/micro) in a web in the gusty wind.

 

 

 

Beautiful set of photos.   Nice.

[kenevenpar]

Sorry, I'm late to the party.  I haven't had time to edit.

 

From Zackiedawg's wetlands Feb 11:

 

A Sora - a common bird in the Rail family, but rarely seen as they hide reall well

 

 

Woodstork pair preparing to mate

 

Woodstork in flight

 

Gray-headed Swamphen

 

Tri-Colored Heron

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by kenevenpar

[zackiedawg]

Very nice Kev - lots of those look familiar indeed, and nice work with the IDs.  And congrats on the sora - they're not always easy to spot, and this isn't even the better time of year to spot them...Wakodahatchee only has a few of them, as Green Cay is generally a better spot for finding them, but with Green Cay closed, we have to find what we can!

[kenevenpar]

Thanks Justin!

 

Ken