Yes, that was my point. As a hobbyist I’ll never own a Pro lens... lets see what we can do with this $99 zoom and the included flash. I think the wings are quite sharp, as shown by the reflections on the barbs. The colored reflections on the cheek, head, and back are pretty good. The profile of the back and tail does show some motion blur.

In this series I was trying out the technique of underexposing the background and using flash instead of shutter speed to stop the motion. The result looks sharper than some 1/2000 shots I took before. What IS the speed of the flash? I have not been able to find that spec. I can set the power, but I imagine the speed is fixed.

I had tried the technique earlier in the day on an internal still life. In TTL mode, the shutter won’t go faster than 1/250, which prevents getting a really dark background. In FP mode, the camera seems to want to use the mounted flash only to command other flashes, which I do not have. The mounted flash sticks at OFF. so I can’t use FP mode combined with a faster shutter. Any advice on getting around this limitation?

Thanks.

As attachment this time.

This one looks great blown up to full screen size.

Olympus E-M5 II, M.Zuiko 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R, F5.6 @ 89mm, 1/250 sec, ISO 200, manual focus @ 3.5 feet.
FL-LM3 flash, TTL +3.0.
Remotely triggered with OI.Share.
23% crop, +0.4 EV, no other edits.

(Download)

Male Allen's hummingbird at the feeder. Olympus E-M5 II, M.Zuiko 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R, F10 @ 140mm, 1/4000 sec, ISO2000. Taken in full late afternoon sun. +1.2EV, 48% crop, no other edits.

(Download)


(Download)

Here's the mama bird on the nest, and away from the nest giving me the eye. These are heavily cropped. I'm not thrilled with the sharpness, but not too bad for being backlit and in the late afternoon shade. I'm hoping to get some in the morning when the sun hits the nest area, should be brighter and sharper. We've decided the species is Allen's Hummingbird.

Orange, California
Olympus E-M5 II, M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ

I live near there and also saw white-faced ibises for the first time last year... from all the way across the channel, so my pics are not that close. Are those shots from up on the trail or down in the riverbed?

Sometimes the printer drivers can unlock specific features if you accurately tell them what kind of paper you are using. I recently had some excellent results with HP advanced paper on an HP office jet printer. The driver made all the difference.

I enjoyed it very much. The CGI of the dogs was better than reviews had led me to expect.

This is definitely an adaptation. There are whole storylines and back stories that do not come from the book. It is a remix of events, for example rescues take place under different circumstances. In this PG and PC version, the call of the wild is romanticized into the call to run free and live wild, but it ignores the darker half – the call to kill bigger and better prey.

ProMaster 4-layer Photo Gloves

Review I wrote on Amazon:

Pros:
These do work for photography, I tried them on a 2-hour photo walk in 20 degrees F with no wind. The finger and thumb easily flip up so you can operate buttons and knobs, manipulate lenses and filters, etc.
The forefinger tip is thin enough to press the main shutter button and some others without flipping it up.
The tips are compatible with the screen on my iPhone, but not with the Home button.
The magnets easily engage the tips to hold them up out of the way.
The elastic fabric cuffs are good and fit into my coat sleeves well and did not creep.
The rubberized grip is good.

Cons:
The tips flip up almost too easily, such as when reaching into a pocket. Don’t use the thumb and forefinger to brush away snow, the tips will flip up and admit snow. Use other fingertips.
The tips are very thin, allowing fingertips to get quite cold even when flipped down.
The gloves overall are pretty thin. These would not be appropriate for extreme cold or windy conditions. Another day in 33F I used them for driving and they were not very warm.