It's about time!

It took way too long to get Pruitt out of his scandal ridden position.

Thank you for the compliment.

All of these were shot in Manual setting.

I started shooting back in the days of film, I get frustrated trying to shoot in any of the priority settings, and I won't shoot in any of the "Pre-set" modes.

The weather around here has been a real bummer because it's nice during the week, and it's been raining over the weekends. If I load my camera gear into my vehicle and take it to work, I need to lug it up the stairs and into my office, because my vehicle heats up too much to leave it there. Those stairs are out of "Code" and way too steep, so climbing up to the second floor is almost like climbing a flight and a half with only one landing part way up. Yes I do need the exercise, but not with the extra weight of my gear on my back.

I have some Killdeer that I've been spotting around the pond at work, but so far my shots of them haven't come out. I really need to set up the tripod to shoot them with the 100-400. They're just a bit too far away for the 24-105 to capture. I tried to shoot some goslings which were all out of focus without a tripod, and then the 7 goslings went missing the following day.

More shots with my new Canon 7D MII

The first batch of shots were taken with my new Sigma 24-105 lens.

These were shot at the Acton Arboretum.

The last two shots were taken with my Canon 100-400 MII lens.

I discovered this Great Blue Heron nest back in December behind the Town Hall when I went to renew my registration. I went back last week and found that the nest was occupied. According to another photographer who was there, it's a pair and two chicks.

You can be sure that I'll return to this site for more pictures, because it's the closest that I can get to a nest in the area. There is another much more active rookery about 3 miles away, but all of those nests are too far away for my current lenses.

Sigma 24-105 - 5.0 1/1600 100

(Download)

Sigma 24-105 - 5.0 1/400 100

(Download)

Sigma 24-105 - 5.0 1/400 100

(Download)

Sigma 24-105 - 5.0 1/400 100

(Download)

Sigma 24-105 - 5.0 1/400 100

(Download)

Sigma 24-105 - 5.0 1/320 100

(Download)

Sigma 24-105 - 5.0 1/250 100

(Download)

Canon 100-400 5.6 1/400 100

(Download)

Canon 100-400 8.0 1/400 400

(Download)

It has since been proven in an interview she did that SHE was a Russian Spy by her own admission.

And just who was the "Spy"???

The report was that there was an informant, not a spy connected to the trump campaign.

Oh yes, there was a Russian Spy who met with donny jr. in trump tower!

You know, she was that Russian Lawyer who was supposedly there to talk about adoptions.

I see you're having a real hard time dealing with the t***h these days!

trump went through another twitter meltdown this morning as he keeps trying to shut down the Mueller Investigation. An emissary representing Saudi Arabia and the UAE was caught trying to help trump win the 2016 E******ns.

trump can't defend his actions, so he goes on the attack about missing emails.

Thank you

I'm still getting used to the new body.

It's funny, I went in for the 80D to hold me over until the 7D MIII was released, and the sales rep said I would be disappointed in it.

I was looking for an improvement from my T-5 which was 18 mp, 3 fps, and had a really poor quality ISO rating. I couldn't shoot above 200 and expect the shots to be sharp.

I'm going to have to test out how far I can push the ISO on the 7D MII before I run into grain or noise issues.

The sales rep also said that there is a very slim chance that the 7D MIII might be out for Christmas purchases, but it's more likely that the release date will be next spring for the bird migrations. The rumored July/August announcement is way off the mark because the dealers would have been given some notice by now. It's at least a 6 week lead time for the ocean shipments from the factory to the retailers.

And yes I did download a manual from the Canon website, but it's got "COPY" stamped across each page, right through some important information.

But I don't think it's the AF Manual. I'll have to go back and see what other manuals are available for the 7D MII.

My 3 year wait to upgrade my camera finally ended last weekend at the Hunt's Photo and Video Expo.

After a bunch of missteps with the settings, I finally got a few keepers today.

I know that I can do better, and with more practice, the clarity will improve.

These were all shot with the 100-400 lens on a tripod, but using the shutter release button, not a cable or remote release.

Gosslings 5.6 1/640 1600

(Download)

Bottoms Up! 5.6 1/640 1600

(Download)

Red Wing Black Bird 7.1 1/800 500

(Download)

5.6 1/640 1600

(Download)

5.6 1/1250 500

(Download)

Here is a link to a 151 page User's Manual for your camera.
http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/manuals/pdf/index/s/finepix_sl240-sl300_manual_en.pdf

Taking the time to select a site to shoot is only your first step.

You need to allow sufficient time for each subject set-up to obtain the optimal results for your individual shots.

You will not improve if you don't take the time to learn how to use your camera to it's best advantage.

You're not doing yourself any favors by rushing through the zoo trying to get as many shots as possible, but not taking the time to get quality shots in the process.

How many of your shots are clear and sharp, and would you be willing to print, mat, frame, and display on your walls at home?

Would you like to try that comment again?

Because it is a Super Moon.

It is a Blue Moon.

It is an Eclipse Event, depending on where you're located.

https://www.space.com/39532-super-blue-blood-moon-occurs-wednesday.html

.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fbi-potential-t***sfers-russian-banker-nra-article-1.3763792
FBI investigating potential money t***sfers from Russian banker to NRA: report

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
The Rachel Maddow Show 1/18/18 - The 01/18/18 videos are the ones to watch.

Suggestion: get several 32 or 64 GB, or the next size up cards instead is a single 200 GB card. It helps in the inadvertent event of a card failure of not losing everything on the larger card.

Shoot until you fill or nearly fill the cards, then put a fresh card into your camera while you're on your trip.

If you mark the cards with a Sharpie Ultra Fine Marker, and use them in sequence, you'll know in which order they were used. Keep the plastic cases that the cards come in, and store them along with their cards in your camera bag.

No one has mentioned that shooting wide open (low f-stop number) creates a very narrow depth of field, for focusing.

You'll need a higher shutter speed to stop the action, but also a higher f-stop number to get a wider range of the shot into focus.

To accomplish that, you're going to have to crank your ISO up really high. Then you're going to have to weigh the noise or grain against the stop action.

The only way to find out just how high you can push the ISO up on your 7D MII, is to run some control shots.

Get to the game early, and shoot some test shots of the crowd as it arrives. Run through each of your mid-range to high-range ISO settings, and start pushing your f-stop and shutter speed higher with each change of your ISO settings.

Eventually, you're going to find your maximum ISO setting above which the shots aren't worth taking with your 7D MII. You might not be able to really evaluate the test shots just by viewing them on your rear display screen. Viewing them on your compute at home will give you a better evaluation of the test shots.

In the past, I've thought that I had some great shots when I viewed on my rear display screen, only to get home and find out that they either weren't in focus, or there was way too much noise or grain to make them worth keeping.