Category Archive: My YouTube

Content I created

Nikon P900 — is it still a thing?

This post has photographs, but the main impetus is photography equipment. Reader beware, some might find it a long slog unless interested in the topic.  

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow, click HERE<<link. When you click the link, it will open in a new window, and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos (this will pause the slideshow).

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

I purchased the Nikon P900 in 2017 and for that year, it was my primary camera. Meaning, I took twice as many photos with the P900 than my then camera, the Nikon D7000, including using it almost exclusively on our 2017 Alaska cruise (which, I’m still documenting!), and wrote a lot about it.

For the next few years — until 2020 — I managed at least as many photos with the P900 as with the DSLR. And, I wrote about it (LINK). I especially revisited the issue of cameras at the beginning of 2019 when I was looking to make a change to my DSLR … and wrote about it …

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Count the Hummingbirds — Late Summer 2021

I usually have a few “find the hummingbird” photos each hummingbird season. I’ve already had a few, and I’ll likely have a few more.

However, today I’m doing something different, and you’ll soon understand why.

That video was shot with the P900. Unfortunately, I forgot to tweak the settings for the video so that the exposure doesn’t change. Meaning, zooming in and out will change the metering and hence how the video looks. Still, you get the picture … er … video.

Note: the videos are probably better watched on YouTube, but regardless of where you watch them, make sure you set the quality to at least 1080p HD. The spoked wheel next to the “YouTube” name (lower right) is where you can set the quality.

Note 2: the regular speed D7500 and Note 20 videos should also offer the choice of 2160p 4K (60fps for the Note 20), and if you choose that, also click on the full screen option. Even if you don’t have a 4K-capable screen, the video is better. BUT . . . be aware those take a few moments longer to stream (lots of data to download).

I’m only kidding about counting the hummingbirds. I try when I’m out there, but all I can tell you is that there are more than fifteen and less than thirty . . . I think.

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Ultra-slow-motion Hummingbirds

Edited to add: make sure you click the settings (the spoked wheel in the lower hand corner) and choose the high resolution (it defaults to lower resolution). Actually, these are best viewed on YouTube, but make sure you still choose the higher resolution.

Some videos I shot today . . .

These were shot from about a foot away with my Samsung Note 20 Ultra. Notice in the above video the people walking in the background . . . that gives you an idea how much the action is slowed down.

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Robin taking a bath . . . the bird, not the sidekick.

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery. 

When you click the links, it will open in a new window, and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button near the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: Above the play/pause button there’s the option to go full screen. Most of these look really good viewed full screen. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos (this will pause the slideshow).

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

What’s interesting about this series of photos is this . . . they were shot through a heavy plate glass door and a double-pane glass portion of a screen door. I’m amazed at how well they turned out.

I’m kind of in a hurry and it’s late, so I’ll keep this short. Wait . . . it’s earlier than I normally go to sleep, but we’re traveling tomorrow and that means getting up about six hours from now. Hence, if I want a minimum of five hours of sleep, I need to keep this short.

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Second “S” stories voting reminder . . . and let’s talk fonts

Because the Alphabet Challenge “S” Stories voting round is off to a very slow start, I decided I’d do a few more reminders. I suppose it’s to be expected, what with the Big Scary Day approaching . . . and just a few days before that, Halloween.   

If you are a reader of our stories and someone who votes, thank you in advance for casting a vote for your favorite of the three despite all that’s probably occupying your mind. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge S-Stories” are HERE.<<<Link Votes will be accepted until noon on November 8th.

I redid the voting post so that it looks more like what it used to look like. Perhaps that was the problem and not the possibility we might suck as writers.

And now, a horse . . .

That’s a photo captured on the first day I owned my Nikon D200.

Anyway, in case no one noticed, the fonts in the blog are different. Until last week, the Adobe toolkit was available to us bloggers . . . specifically, we could set what fonts to use on the title of the blog (above the header photo), what fonts to use for the menu and post titles, and what font to use for the body of the post. Now . . .

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Two Green Frogs

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow click HERE. When you click the link, it will open in a new window and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos as this will pause the slideshow.

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

So, a few days ago I posted this preview photo:

Here’s how that shot came to be.

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Doe, Fawn, and “K” stories voting reminder and stuff

The “K” stories voting window will close sometime Tuesday (14 days window). You can wait until then, but to be safe and ensure your vote is counted, you should probably vote for your favorite “Alphabet Challenge K-Stories” HERE<<<This Is A Link by the end of tomorrow (Monday).

Clicking on the above link will take you to the post with the poll where you can cast your vote. The post also contains links to the individual stories. After voting, readers can — if so moved — spread the news about the story to friends and family. Or, not. But, we hope for yes.

So . . . Doe and Fawn . . . we’ve had a doe and fan hanging around the yard last week. We saw them a number of times and I was lucky to see them out my office window.

Unfortunately, I’m shooting with them in the shade and through a window and screen. Still, with a little manipulation, the photos are passable.

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Again hummingbird, and a reminder about “H” stories voting

Maybe one more voting day left (and I’ve yet to write anything) before the “H” stories voting closes and the “I” stories go live. If leaning toward it, please read the “H” Alphabet Challenge Stories. After, if receptive to the idea, the writers hope you’ll make the effort and vote for your favorite HERE.<<<this is a link

That post has links to the individual stories and the poll where readers can click a box to indicate their appreciation for their favorite.

If you’ve already voted, thank you. If you’ve already forced your friends to read and vote, excellent!

Here’s the bird from yesterday . . . a Ruby-throated Hummingbird:<<<this is a link This is a shot I shared yesterday but I played around in Plotaverse (which won’t show in some devices) . . .

Plotaverse animation

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The Cicada Files — Sept. 2019

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow click HERE. When you click the link, it will open in a new window and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the upper-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos as this will pause the slideshow.

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

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A litle of this and a little of that

On a recent update, Samsung added the capability for Super-slow Motion to the Note 8. Mind you, it’s very limited. By limited, I mean that you can only shoot a few seconds of video and end up with about 6 seconds of slow motion captures.

The problem is that you have to catch whatever you want to film just right . . .

I’m about 18-24 inches away from these guys, for them who want to know.

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