David & Goliath Canon

Our Panasonic P&S movie mode died, so we replaced it this weekend. Back to the Canon P&S. That is where my journey into digital photography began. With a digital Elph. Somthing like a 100 I think. Then a 200 and then I quickly outgrew the features on that camera and went with the S series - a S50. That did me just fine for a few years until I went into the dSLR world. Well it seems that one goes full circle. Back to the Canon for the P&S. This SD870 IS is a little card size camera with a 28-105mm lens, which is considered wide angle and quite unusual for small cameras. It also has Image Stabalization which is nice since there is not a viewfinder. Notice that both screens are the same size - 3 inches! It will sure be easy to take on our trip to Yellowstone this summer. Great for outdoor candids. It's nice to be back to the Canon for P&S!!

Soggy Day Surprise

This is a little hard wood maple tree outside our house. It belongs to the city. A couple of years ago a car drove into it, during the winter. The car was a total loss and the tree is still doing just fine. Funny thing....we live in a circle drive. That's still a mystery how a car could get up enough speed to total it.... Well, I looked at the tree when I drove home today and it was a bit "green". I got my tripod out with my flash & diffuser. I shot in M mode using a -1 flash compensation and my 60mm macro. What's for dinner at your house?

Happy Spring

Spring has arrived in my yard. I just love these. Hope you enjoy them too. I used my 60mm macro and I have a 12 inch reflector that I used to get a little more light into the picture. These pictures were taken on 2 different afternoons.

New plant in my office Alocasia "polly"

I found this coolest plant at my local greenhouse. It has these really big leaves that sort of have a skeleton appearance about them. The leaves are really strong and underneath they are a beautiful purple. Yeah....I like new plants. They remind me just how creative God really is.

Going Green

Our way of "going green"....buy dogs.....they generate a lot of heat!! Whenever I sit around and watch TV in the evening, Zephyr likes to lay on me which keeps my neck warm. K-9 has my legs covered. Who needs a heater when you have dogs?

Please vote! I'm entering a contest - one picture only

These are my two most interesting photos from the zoo yesterday. There is a photo contest and I don't know which one is more appealing. Would EVERYONE who lurkes around here, be kind enough to comment on which one I should enter? Thanks in advance.

Jellyfish

Wow, were these critters ever difficult to photograph!!! Big round glass tank with only black light. They were moving all about so I was amazed that I got anything in focus!

So close

Some pretty intense pre-game strategy discussions were going on.

It was a very physical game today and we would have won, had we had a higher percentage of made shots. Oh well, 2nd and only 1 loss in a season is amazing. The last picture shows what an "offensive" foul looks like. Look at my previous post and you'll see almost the same offensive pose, but notice the body position of the defender. Interesting what a picture can reveal.

Victory for the hometown team

ISO 1250 with 200mm lens. Had my AF-ON button do the focus and then the shutter speed meter and take the picture. It was really fun to shoot that way! Next game in the morning.

Extension Tube + Macro + 1.4 TC

These two were with the 20mm tube + 1.4 TC.

Here we go. I hacked the 20mm tube so it would fit on my macro lens today. Why not? Well it is wild. I can now stack all three tubes, plus use my 1.4 TC on my macro lens now. Here is a few pictures just using the 20mm tube. Requires a tripod and very fine adjustments (and patience). Bottom three pictures were just with the 20mm tube.

Sweet moment

Zephyr's rule #1 - never tounch K-9. She was on the chair in the sunshine this morning and I thought I'd sit down with my 60mm macro lens. Over comes K-9 and just got into her face. I've never seen him do that before. It was rather sweet. K-9 must be feeling rather needy this morning. He'll even take a little love from his sister! (Actually, I think that sometimes he's rather put off that Zephyr finds the sunshine before he does. But the 2nd picture does show that he did "get" something from Zephyr). I totally wasn't "ready" to take these pictures. I was at ISO 100 and so on the 2nd picture, I just popped up the on-board flash to add a little light.

Extension Tubes

Here's the 60mm macro

Here's the 50mm 1.4 with all 3 tubes stacked

200L w/o tube - at its minimum focusing distance.

200L with 36mm extension tube

70-200mm at 70mm w/o tube at minimum focusing distance

70-200mm at 70mm with 36mm extension tube added

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to "hack" the 12mm tube so it will work with the 60mm macro. I just don't know how much I'll really use them. I think I'll wait and shoot a few spring flowers and then decide. I took all of these shots hand held. By far, it was easiest to work with the 60mm macro lens. So, when using tubes, it will be best to use a tripod.

Spring is coming

I'm sitting in my office this afternoon. It's 29 degrees outside, but I can see spring is coming. My bulbs in the front of my house are peeking up. Soon it will be hot and muggy! Yuck. Sure glad I live in a place that has a winter season. 200L + 1.4 TC