The ice went out on the river here this week here in Northern Iowa, and seeing lots of ducks on their way by.

(Download)


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this helped me understand the focus settings on the D7100

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbwvBe3Zxr4

Pyrotechnics Guild International convention is in Iowa this year at Mason City if you like fireworks. I am close by and went the last time they were here and really enjoyed it. Aug 9-15
RAGBRAI should be in the northern part of the state this year....July 20-26
Never been to the Amanas but alway wanted to go. Lots of things to see and do.

it's a threshing machine. Small grains, (mostly oats in my area) were bundled in sheaves then stacked into shocks. The grain and stems/straw was dried in the fields. Then when the guy with the thresher would show up at your farm, they would all all the grain in and the bundles were run thru the machine. Then piece with the words McCormick Deering would carry the grain out and the large tube on top would swing out and blow the straw and hulls into a pile for bedding. I am not sure if this one pictured could be used for corn too. I do remember the corn sheller coming to the farm and shelling off the grain from the cob. We stored the ear corn in what was called a corn crib with slotted side so the air could move thru and dry the corn. I think the corn sheller that I remember was bigger. But that was a long time ago....before we had combines.

yes, when it opens in Perfectly Clear it makes it's own adjustments, but you can choose default, landscape, portrait, fix dark, fix noise or tint removal. Then you can tweak the settings a little more to suit your tastes. But 95% of the photos I run thru this editor improves. I shoot raw and it works good. But my nephew was out west and took 90 pics in jpg and I run them all thru the editor and it improved them too. It is really simple to use. I got it on a online black friday promo last year.

I used it in Lightroom all time and love it.

Thanks for all the comments. It was crazy there were so many in this tree and they blended in with the Oak leaves and hard to see. I really like the first pic, the way the leaves seem to frame the bird.
thanks again

shot with the SX50

a friend sent me this link...it's a 76 page ebook

http://www.lightroomqueen.com/free-downloads/quickstart/lr5/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvatia_gigantea

if you get them when they are not over ripe they are very good cubed in scrambled eggs. I got one this year about the size of a volleyball and it was more then we could eat before it got old. I shared it with friends that like them too.

bookmark this site and have a location planned in advance. I had a gravel road where i was miles from any city lights, which is kind of easy being in the middle of nowhere.

http://www.softservenews.com/Aurora.htm

Thanks 10M....they are rare here too. I've only seen them a half dozen times in my life and I'm 56. I took some pics in the 80s with film but my exposure was so long the focusing rings showed up on the photos.

Thanks Bob

No, I don't know him. I'm way up north...almost on the Iowa/Minn border.

took this 10/02 at 1 am. 18mm 3.5, 800 ISO and 25second exp.

I got one the size of a volleyball this year. I've never seen one that big. They are good diced up in scrabbled eggs. That one would feed an army.
thanks for sharing