I've been looking forward to getting out and about this weekend. I can't go too far as I'm wearing the work leash for this weekend and next. But last weekend my efforts were far below where I need to be. It's one thing to misfire on far off Eagles, but to miss aircraft on Final to FNT? There was even an American Eagle flying into FNT - all the funny blog post headers will have to wait. Root cause? I think that even shooting at 1/2000th of a second was not enough to cure lens shake. I also bought into the notion that Vibration Reduction could be turned off at high speeds. I may have to re-think some of those moves. And I may have to consider really working with the mono-pod.
So today arrives and I'm out the door, mono-pod in hand and lens VR On. There will be a clear photo or something is going in the trash - including the one holding the camera. I believe in technology, it's usually the human on the business end that has the issue. That comes from years of tech support in some form or other.
And clear shots were had today. As to the far off BIF, I saw a hawk of some breed that came in pretty clear but is so far off the contrast of the bird just isn't that good. Can the sun offer too much light? But great improvement over last weekend. Confidence restored.
Lots of work with the mono-pod today. Worked on important subjects such as how to carry the mono-pad and camera a long distance. That's more important than one would think. And once shooting is in progress, what hands go where? Yes, there is bad news on this - I missed two shots that I might have had without the pod. But in the end, what I did get was pretty good.
One of the fun parts of the day is researching the birds I have photographed. I know not much about bird recognition in the field. But in front of a PC - I'm starting to get the hang of it. Today's bird of choice is a Whit-breasted Nuthatch.
I spent about fifteen minutes with this little birdie. The bird would move around quite a bit looking for food. We played a form of hide and seek. With no counting. The sunlight on the white feathering played havoc with some of the shots. But it's all good.
In searching on the web for the identification for my new friend, the description was just about dead on. Most notably the description said there was a lot of time in the bird's walking travels spent upside down. And that is where I got this one. I had a few shots with this pose, but I needed to get the side coloring with out the sunlight washing everything out,
All in all a good day and good rebound from last weekend. Certainly more critters out and about enjoying the improving weather.
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