Outstanding documentary! The octopus is a fascinating creature, cramming so much experience into such a short (one year) lifespan.

Seeing the octopus's camouflage using shells to frustrate the shark, by itself, is alone worth watching the entire video.

https://www.netflix.com/title/81045007

Marshall

I"ll have to agree with you on that.

Here is one more try and then I'm going to get out of the weeds for a while...


PalmWarbler09Oct2020PrintA by Marshall Smith, on Flickr



Thanks,

Marshall

Thanks everyone for your positive comments! I was standing on the fishing dock watching the usual heron at this pond when the warbler showed up and I was lucky to catch him in the willows back on the bank. The sun had just come up so that helped, too.

I made a paper print and the color looked off a bit, so I redid it and maybe have gone too far the other way...what do you all think?


PalmWarbler09Oct2020Print by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


Marshall

This Palm Warbler came flitting through the willows at my favorite park pond in Georgetown, KY, on Friday.

PalmWarbler09Oct2020C by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


It has been a great season for warblers this year around here!

Marshall

I didn't even read the Daily Beast article, using it only for a link to put in the post that would lead one to the actual Netflix Discovery Channel program. I actually watched the program.

The lack of postmortem pictures at the time was at the express orders of Secretary of State William Seward, so any clandestine photos would have been severely punished, and so kept strictly under wraps, and within a family.

The investigator goes through rigorous research to find a window of opportunity to take such a photo, the type of photo (ambrotype) and whether the process was still being used in 1865, the room where Lincoln was moved to and where he died, the layout of that house and its occupants, and the chain of custody of the photo through the years.

She also had ballistic gel studies done with modern weapons and with a replica derringer of the murder weapon, and discussed with medical experts those tests. This was a real eye-opener for me.

Facial recognition experts studied the photo and compared it with the last four known photos of Lincoln, and came away convinced it is him.

Go back and actually watch the program and then make up your mind.

Marshall

On Netflix there is a Discovery Channel program on the investigation of a newly surfaced photo allegedly taken at the deathbed of Abraham Lincoln on the morning after he was shot.

Fascinating, the steps that are necessary to go through to prove or disprove a claim such as this.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-ugly-battle-over-an-alleged-abraham-lincoln-deathbed-photo

The last time I got a good photo was back in 2017...

CedarWaxwings06Nov2017_099web by Marshall Smith, on Flickr

Marshall

Keep looking! First time I saw one it was like WOW!

The lighting on this photo really doesn't do the bird justice, especially for its mask and red wingtip highlights.

Marshall

Cedar Waxwing, and unexpected and uncommon visitor to our yard this morning here in KY.

CedarWaxwing05Oct2020 by Marshall Smith, on Flickr

Fantastic-looking birds, with their black mask, red wingtip highlights, and yellow-tipped tail!

Marshall

Caught this Bay-breasted Warbler a couple of days ago picking insects out of a handy spiderweb.

Bay-breastedWarbler29Sep2020 by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


Marshall

This is one idea...

Hadn't seen one since I took this picture, but just now as we were sitting here watching TV one flew through the open patio door and buzzed around our living room for a few seconds and then flew out again!

Marshall

Thanks, all! Glad you liked it.

Seems like every time I try to catch a bird coming off a limb it's always out of focus and/or blurred. A combination of slow reflexes on my part, and continuous autofocus not able to react in time.

Things came together for this one. An extra morning coffee helped with my reflexes, and a lucky anticipation of flight triggered a burst of shots that caught her just taking off.

Depth of field, Topaz AI Sharpen, and NIK Vivesa 2 to lighten up her face and eye completed what I needed to get it.

Marshall

Oh, and a BIG crop was required, too...

Saw this Ruby-throated Hummingbird several days ago, and haven't seen ANY since.

This may be the last of them for our yard here in KY. We'll leave the feeders out for a few more days in case some stragglers show up.


Hummingbird26Sep2020_100A by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


They sure are fun to watch and photograph. Looking forward to seeing them again in the spring.


Marshall