The Spoonies are starting to show up in numbers here now ! This mature Spoonbill was leading a flock of 6 juvies in late afternoon low/direct Sun.

This still as a test for my new Tamron 150-600 G2 - which has been discontinued and become quite rare in Sony A-mount. I am really trying to like this lens but it is a real challenge for me compared to my Canon stuff - there is a difference 8-( This was the best of several shots with considerable PP and @ f8.

Sony A99, Tamron 150-600 G2, @600mm, 1/640, hand held/braced, - f8- , ISO 400 with a small cropping.

Thanks to all for stopping by and to comment ! .......Larry
.

I recently ran across some old photos taken in 2007 when a buddy and I rode our motorcycles to Alaska from Southern California. At the time, I used a new DSLR, a Nikon D-80 with a 18-200 lens. All photos were shot in jpeg (having no idea what RAW was about). We were gone over a month and put over 5K miles on the bikes. We camped along the way and motel'ed it when a shower was in order. When my wife was ask how she felt me being gone a month, she replied, "Couldn't he be gone longer?". Gotta love her sense of humor. Our route took us straight up the coasts of Cal, Oregon and Washington. Caught a ferry to Vancouver Island, Canada, rode to the northern tip, and caught another ferry to Prince Rupert, Canada. From there caught another ferry utilizing the Alaskan Marine Highway System to Haines, Alaska (wonderful way to go - all inland passage). We rode from there to Anchorage, Soldotna and Homer. I was blown away by the shear beauty and vastness of Alaska. Truly an amazing ride and one I'll count as my best.

Regarding these old photos, I decided to see if I could improve a bit in Lightroom. Enjoy. Best viewed in download. Maybe more to come.

Don

Starting the morning at Crystal Lake, the first thing I saw as I walked to the dam was a moose standing at the edge and then lunging into the water to swim to the opposite end...but, of course, I didn't have my camera ready and missed out. What a bummer! But we dutifully stood in the frosty cold waiting for the morning sun to light up the red mountain peaks. After freezing for about a half hour, a senior couple came along, he in a t-shirt and she in a blouse with a light jacket. Sam, from sultry Mississippi, and I, from the foothills in North Carolina looked at each other and said, "they must live in Alaska!" Sam went to chat with them and got around to asking where they were from, to which they replied, "Mississippi!"
Anyway, after the sunrise, we worked our way up to the Yankee Girl Mine loop, back to the farmlands around Ridgway, and ended up at Dallas Divide for the Milky Way. We had it all planned out to get our foreground shots just after the sun set and wait a bit for the Milky Way to rise. Kinds like the moose incident, I was not properly prepared and, based on the star app Sam had on his phone, the MW was further to the west than we expected. So, this Milky Way is a single shot with too much noise in the foreground for the technically savvy, but I love it, none the less. To stand under the stars and be able to see the MW with the naked eye is breathtaking, and a wonderful memory!