I love the tonality of the black & whites. Reminds me of the rich tones you could get from of the Kodak fiber papers used in the darkroom days.

Each has it own merit. The color for its pictorial beauty. The b&w would be a great graphic illustration for advertisement purposes, or as an art print.

Thanks. I overlooked the triangular head. Thanks again and for the ID features on the coral snake.

For all you who may have an extreme fear of snakes, often saying you don't know if it is poisonous or not, go to the down load on this pic and look at the pupil of the eye. It is round. All the vipers of North America, i.e. rattlers, copperheads, and cotton mouths, have eliptical pupils like a cat's eye. The aforementioned snakes also have a tail that has a short blunt taper. The non-poisoness snakes have a long slim taper in their tail. Snakes are an essential part of the ecosystem. Unfortunately too many of us grow up with what is mostly a superstitious fear of snakes which borders on the completely unreasonable.

I am not a scientist, biologist, even a college grad. Where did I learn these things about snakes? Eleventh grade biology class in the high school where I graduated from in 1964. Was education better then? It was in many ways more practical.

Although jazz is not my preference when listening to music, I do like her performances. Good voice, she really knows how to tickle those ivories, and as you say she always has talented accompaniment. All this wrapped up in an eye-pleasing package.

For those who are interested here is a link to some brief history of the old mill in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
Just briefly; the mill was built in the early 1930's and never intended to be a functioning mill. The interlaced wooden railings on the foot bridges are not wood, but concrete, as are most of the accessory items in and around the mill. Even the water wheel is concrete.
It was used in the opening scenes of Gone with the Wind, but was not built as part of the movie set. I have seen comments to the effect that the mill is only remaining structure from the movie, which gives the impression that it was built for that purpose, which it was not.
Follow the link for some interesting info, including the man who actually designed and built it.

https://aboutlittlerock.com/north-little-rocks-old-mill-pughs-old-mill/

I read years ago the this machine was never meant for general riding. It was constructed by Daimler to test an engine. Thus, rider comfort was not an issue.

I think we all could share a 'horror story' of leaky batteries ruining a device. I can't say that any one brand has been significantly worse than any other. Keep a record of when the battery goes in and you can better monitor when the battery needs to come out. I have noticed that a low drain device, such as a wireless mouse, or battery op clock can be the worst because the battery stays longer before it runs down.

I used to shoot weddings with the old heavy 'potato masher' strobes. I think they were made by Graflex, if I remember correctly. The shoulder pack that carried the batteries held two batteries somewhere about the size of a motorcycle battery. I never used anything but Duracells. The lasted significantly longer than Energizers.

If you are shooting for money and you give unquestioning trust to your electronic devices, you are already in trouble. Murphy's law. I ALWAYS carried back-up equipment.

Just a side note. Years ago Ever-ready, the maker of Energizers, advertised that their batteries would not leak and said they would replace a device ruined by leaky batteries. Well, they did leak about as regularly as any other brand. They don't say that any more.

Bottom line guys. Whatever floats your boat. I use which ever I can get a good buy on.

I have never used the 100mm, but I have used other Tokina lenses. I used one on a Nikon FM2 when I worked for the local paper some years ago. I don't remember the zoom range, but I do remember that it kicked butt when compared to some Tamron lenses. I currently use a Tokina 11-16mm wide angle and absolutely love it. Tokina makes good glass.

"It's snowing" is a pretty mundane statement and you would be hard pressed to find someone who did not know what that means. 'Ho-hum'. But if you say "bomb cyclone", you now sound like maybe you 'got more smarts' than the average person and you could possible be an important 'somebody'.

My assessment is this. Education can be used to benefit your fellow man or it can be used to make you feel like you are somehow better and above your fellow man. What a shame.

This is a scam that showed up frequently a few years ago on Craigslist. It involved numerous large items from cars to motor homes. The seller always told a 'sob story' and that the transaction had to take place through a third party. It is always a deal too good to be true. Sadly some have fallen for it. I once saw a super deal on a Toyota motor home. It was in Memphis, TN, about a 60 minute drive from me. The owner said he was on the west coast waiting to ship out on a military deployment, and I would have to conclude the transaction with a third party in Nashville, TN. I thought," Oh yeah, I bet" and sent an email telling the person to go jump in the lake.

One reason could be that a few years ago Nikon pretty much cut all independent repair services from any parts to work on Nikons. I am sure that a lot of those pieces are bought to harvest parts that may work in more than one model of Nikon, thus allowing the independent repairman to have access to some parts. Also remember that Nikon will not service any gray market cameras. The have to be serviced in the country of origin they were sold in. Same problem for independent repair services. Having an inventory of parts from inoperative cameras would allow these people to work on a Nikon that the company won't touch.

I am a 'dyed in the wool' Nikon lover and don't use anything else, but I have always felt that Nikon shoots themselves in the foot with their service policies.

Nice set of pics. Makes me homesick. I moved from central Illinois to northeast Arkansas in 1982 and I tell folks that I haven't seen a real winter since I have lived here. I am continually amazed at the inordinate fear that southerners seem to have of cold weather. We once had a weatherman on the local station who said it was going to be bitterly cold on a particular night. He said it was going to be between 35 and 40 degrees.

They are running Night Court on Amazon Prime

These are good flash units. I had one I used for over 25 yrs. They came out in the 70's. One needs to exercise great caution using them with digital cameras. The triggering circuit in older flash units can damage the camera. The trigger voltage is higher in these than in flashes designed for digital cameras. They are excellent when used in a slave flash set-up since they are not attached to the camera.