Beautiful - it doesn't look exceptionally low - are these archival images or current? Hopefully you will get enough snow this season to make up for the past few years.

Very nice. I don't care for the "warpiness" of the pano images, but it is pretty amazing how well it compensates for camera jiggle as you sweep it from left to right. I am not sure it would work so well in a busy image without a horizon line. Will have to try that.

Apparently the folks who build right on the dunes don't realize that... Over time the entire barrier island here shifted back and forth.

Great images. It is a great train trip to take.

If there are still any actual camera stores - the kind with a physical "brick-and-mortar" presence - in Louisville - visit them and see what they have so that you can actually hold various cameras and see how they work and how they feel for you. If no camera stores, Best Buy may be an option, but my experience is that half of their display cameras don't function.

I don't like the cold, but it is oh so pretty!

Great set - I always enjoy vicarious travel through UHH. I think that sushi is one of the foods I would not eat from a street vendor, although foods like satay are usually tasty and safe to eat.

What I always called "Farm Rule Number 1". My "Farm Rule Number 2" is: "If you plan on eating it, don't name it"! (My sister made that mistake...) Of course, Number 3 is "Watch where you step...."

So sad for the people involved and their families. Also tragic that fewer and fewer of these magnificent old warbirds are around. They were examples not only of great engineering but of the nation's resolve to stop the Nazi tyrants trying to take over the world.

Very nice set!

Nice portrait!

Very nice. Do you have a suet feeder? That will attract woodpeckers and other species. If you have a butcher shop or a willing meat department you can get a big chunk of suet for a few bucks (or free) and hang it in a net bag like oranges come in. I think they like that better than the processed (and expensive) suet. The processed suet is less likely to melt and cause a mess in the summer, though.

I disagree - with a long telephoto lens it is very challenging to track a fast-moving object. A red-dot allows you to keep both eyes on the bird, rapidly moving the camera to stay with it. You just have to have a camera with an autofocus that can keep up with you.

A few years back I was fortunate to be able to go on a photo safari to Kruger NP and surrounding areas in South Africa. We passed a vehicle stopped near some rhinos in which almost everyone was using their phones to capture images of those creatures. I imagine that most of them want the photos to show their friends what they witnessed, and for that purpose the images will be fine. But SOME of them - maybe a few who would never have considered photography as a hobby - may get home and see other photos of wildlife taken with a traditional DSLR or newer mirrorless camera with a telephoto lens and decide that they want much better images in the future. I enjoy having my iPhone with me wherever I go, and for wide-angle shots it works very well (see today's post at http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-757580-1.html ). But I enjoy wildlife photography, so I still use my "regular" camera.

The iPhone also does really nice portrait photos, and I have even added it to my arsenal in some model sessions. However, it does not allow you to sync a flash or flashes with it. I have tried a device and App that tries to do that, but could not really get it to work well at all.

For sure! They do have a way of doing that!