My studio is a total loss

Hi, everyone I just wanted to share. I live in TX right outside of Dallas. Last week do to cold weather and electricity going out for 37 hours straight a water pipe busted in my ceiling. I didn't find out until 2 am that morning when the Fire Department called me.
When I got there we opened the door and water started gushing out the door. The busted pipe was spraying water everywhere. I lost everything, I had insurance but when covid 19 hit I was told to close my business. After four months I was allowed to reopen.
I wasn't getting any customers due to the six feet distance apart from one another and having to wear a mask. All my clients canceled their appointments. I completely understand because who wants to have a picture taken wearing a mask. So with no income coming in I had to do something and fast if not I was going to lose everything including my home so I had to make some hard decisions and one was canceling the insurance on the studio, now with everything ruined, I don't know what to do.

Thank you for listening to me : )
Jay

Busted water pipe

Day of the Squirrel and Hawk--- And almost..

The end of the Hawk

This is sorta long.

Yesterday morning we were preparing to head out to some errands, Home Depot was on our list of places to stop. I needed to check if I needed now paint rollers. Just as I was about to step out the back door I spotted the squirrel pigging out on Sunflower seeds. Almost the same instant I say the Coopers Hawk perched about 8' away. Basically the Squirrel and Hawk were side by side with the Hawk 3' higher. It was very obvious the Hawk saw the Squirrel because every now and then it would stop scanning for birds in the sky and take a hard look at the Squirrel. The Squirrel seemed like it couldn't care less.

I couldn't bring myself to open the back door and spook one or the other of them. So naturally I went for my camera and started taking pictures.

The Squirrel was only 15' from me and the Hawk about 20'. I tried everything I could with my 150-400 but there was no way to get them in the same shot. Then I shot some to try to join them in PS. (I learned earlier today, when I tried to blend them, that the angles and distances were enough that blending them was past my abilities to make look good.)

I looked away for a minute to change a setting and when I looked back the Squirrel had waddled away but the Hawk stayed. Stayed for a good while.

Finally I decided I needed to go out to the garage to check if I needed the rollers and the Hawk would just have to "deal with it". So I set the camera to record a video and headed out the back door, slowly. (First video recoding for me with a dslr)

The Hawk seemed rather untroubled by me opening the back door and storm door. I had noticed that it seemed to be dealing with something in it craw. Whatever it ate before landing in the perch in my yard seemed to still be moving around, quite a bit. I could watch its craw change shape through the camera viewfinder. And when it moved the bird obviously noticed. It seemed to be talking to itself as well.

Anyway, I slowly made my way between the house and the Hawk, guessing I passed within 6-8' of it as I slowly walked to the back door and to the garage. I fully expected the hawk to fly away but it sat and occasionally looked at me. It seemed more troubled by the beep the electronic door lock made when i entered the combination. After checked my painting supplies I came back out, when I closed the door and the electronic lock activated the Hawk flew to the back corner and perched on the bug trap. (that will be the black object you see in some of the photos.

Ten minutes later the Hawk was back. This time perched on the small feeding platform just above where the Squirrel had been feasting.

Eventually I needed to head out the front door to Home Depot.

Later that same day. I was reading on the couch in the Sunroom. It was raining, very cold and windy. I heard a loud bump as something large flew into the glass deck railing followed by the sound of that thing falling to the deck. I got up expecting to find a dead Mourning Dove. It was the Immature Coopers Hawk that was here in the morning.

The Hawk was flat on its back, wings extended and flat out. I thought for sure it was dead. So I called to my wife and out I go. No blood but the Hawk looked very dead. Soaking wet, limp all over, no sign of life. Naturally I carefully picked it up rolled it right side up with its breast on my forearm and its head in my hand and folded its wings into a natural position. Despite the fact that I thought it was dead I was holding it like it was alive and hurt. As I stepped through the sliding glass door back into the house I thought I saw its eyelid move. Could be nerves?

I asked my wife for a towel. What a woman- she gave me a fresh dish towel from the kitchen.

Slowly the Hawk regained consciousness. Naturally we took a couple pictures. The first my wife took with the cell phone. After that we walked down to my studio, bird in towel waking up. I gave the "mostly dead" Hawk to my wife took a couple more pictures.

When she handed the Hawk back to me it started, ever so slightly, to react to being confined in a towel and started to move its legs and tried to move its wings. It wasn't frantic, yet. I was afraid of hurting it further so we took it out to the patio and set it on its own feet. I put small pvc patio end table over it to block the rain.

Eventually it moved out from under the small table and onto the grass. For the next few hours we stood and watched out the windows to see if it would make it.
Eventually it flew back to the perch near where I photographed it in the morning. Around last light it left, I didn't see it go.
"Its a wild thing and it has to make it on its own." That's what we kept telling each other. We doubted it could survive the night, but we hoped it would.

This morning. The young Coopers Hawk was back on one of the perches. It looked a bit out of sorts but mostly ok. It spent most of the day here and finally disappeared mid afternoon. The small birds that frequent our feeder have been MIA and continue to not stop by. We are taking that as a good sign.

Too long a tail and too many photos. Images of this morning will follow in another post.

first shot, Hawk checking our Squirrel

another image about the same time, Hawk checking me out

Just a squirrel and an old guy, noting to worry about

This squirrel must have a reputation for kicking hawk butt.

Down for the count

more recovery



Just released

moving on its own

Back on a perch, very low light image for my camera

B-52 Stratofortress

Great New England Airshow; Westover ARB, Chicopee, MA

B-24 Liberator Bomber

This photograph was taken at a mini-airshow at Portland (ME) Jetport. In the background is a B-25 Mitchell bomber.

Farewell to SLRs

It’s most curious that so many who scoff at the widespread shift to fully live view cameras will tend to point out that they haven’t yet seen any significant gains in image quality from live view systems as compared to SLRs. Is this ordinary short sightedness or is it an intentional classic straw man thing ? I haven’t yet heard of anyone adopting live view primarily for its image quality.

Six classis Rolls Royce's in one spot.

About five years ago.

Spring is on the way.

It’s lovely to see the spring flowers popping up.

Canon 650D, 18-55 lens.

Please try the downloads.

Carpet of Crocus

Snowdrops

Crocus

Odds and Ends outdoors

Sometimes the camera shutter goes off at the correct time. Clicking the dowload button will provide a bit better view. Enjoy

Ibis and crayfish

Bald eagle

Wilson's snipe

Muskrat

Blacktail hare

Snow goose

Mule deer

Mule deer

Mule deer

HEIC to JPG

I have a question regarding HEIC pictures vs. JPG. It seems that some of the photos taken with my new iphone have recorded, (processed) in the HEIC format. Research into what is necessary to continue processing/printing suggested that I load an app that will convert the HEIC to JPG. Any suggestions as to the conversion app too use? Need suggestions. I am using Windows 10
This should be an simple operation to make such a conversion.
Thank you.
Guy

Red Fox at Woodlawn Cemetery - Baltimore County, MD

When I got a new camera back in 2019, the first day out I photographed a Red Fox at Woodlawn Cemetery. Well, I just moved up to a new camera a few weeks ago and I got another Red Fox to pose for me. I've see quite a few in between, but I've only been this close twice. Both times it was about 30 away.