Just a quick . . . er . . . semi-quick post about the communal bathing habits of House Sparrows. It all started in September, when House sparrows became regular visitors to the birdfeeders. They usually come in small flocks of about ten or so, but occasionally more.
They got into the habit of doing vigorous bathing, usually with multiple birds in the birdbath at the same time. Wait, let me back up a bit . . .
On December 11, 2021, I shot this image of the moon with the Nikon P900. I cropped the sides a bit, and output the image with a maximum dimension of 1200 pixels (for the purpose of what I’m posting, there’s no advantage in viewing the original size).
Yes, the sky was blue because I shot this a little after 4:00 pm, when it was still light. Let me show you two versions, one post-processed with Topaz DeNoise AI, the other with Topaz Sharpen AI, and then both processed using Lightroom to turn them into Monochrome images.
Voting is still slow, but that’s usual for this challenge, and I expect a few more votes will trickle in as next week’s deadline nears. Still, here’s another reminder that the voting for the SDS Challenge ‘Wrath’ Stories is underway.
If you are new to the SDS Challenge, a little background.
Three writers will each write one story a month going down the list of deadly sins. The stories can be anywhere from 666 words to 6,666 words in length, although those numbers are not set in stone. If ambitious, the writers will provide accompanying graphics. These stories will not be anonymous because some writers may want to use the same characters for each story and write a series — or book — encompassing all seven sins. Finally, interpretation of the titular sin is up to the writer. Meaning, each ‘sin’ can take multiple forms.
Disclaimer: The writing challenge has no restrictions and the stories will likely span a wide gamut of genres. The majority of the stories fall in the PG-rating range with a few perhaps pushing into the soft R-rating. Some readers might find a few of the stories disturbing because of the topics, language, and/or plot points, and if so, stop reading and move on.
If you want to read the Seven Deadly Sins submissions for the Sin of Wrath, and then vote, your gateway is THIS POST <<link. There, you’ll find links to each of the three stories and a poll for you to vote after you finish them (if you be so moved).
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 …
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.
So, the first was this:
You can click on the photo and see a larger version (~2x) or you can click HERE and get the full-size panorama photo (five photos stitched together) of this WW II B-17G, the Aluminum Overcast. Only click if you have the bandwidth and fast enough connection to download an 8MB file. After you have it, you can click on the photo to see it at the 1:1 ratio.
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On the 14th of April, I stood in the cold wind in the middle of a yard for about twenty minutes shooting photos and videos of an Osprey intent on doing pretty much little beyond perching on a tree limb and occasionally vocalizing.
You can click on these photos for a larger version but I didn’t bother with the full-size photos because it was a cloudy and dingy day and 1280 pixels in width is perfectly fine for these shots.
Part two will have better shots both because those shots were taken in a clear and sunny day and also because I used my D7000 and D200 with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens and the Nikon 80-400mm f/5.6 VR lens along with the Nikon P900.
But, on this day, I had only brought the P900.
I showed this photo in a previous post . . . That was hand-held and a week ago. […]
Because our typical daily driving distance is between four and eight miles with speeds seldom exceeding 35mph, once a week we go for a long drive . . . for the sake of the car; a long drive at higher speeds helps maintain the health of the battery and also burns off deposits which would otherwise accumulate and gum things up. It also doesn’t hurt that there’s a Dairy Queen in Waimea and that we both like their soft-serve cones.
Yesterday, we drove to Waimea and back via Saddle Road. Here’s the route:
Interestingly, the route looks a bit like a raptor’s talons . . . or the Grinch’s floppy shoe.
I’m going with talon . . . why does that even matter? Read on.
Do you notice the red circle I drew? The exact coordinates are 19º 51′ 55″ N and 155º 39′ 16″ W.
Well, that’s where we saw this . . .
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Disperser Tracks 