Well, this post is old enough that perhaps no one will see my response, but here is my take anyway. We have been in the end times since Jesus ascended to heaven (e.g. Hebrews 1:2), and we will be in the end times until he he returns. This obsession that American Christians have with trying to match newspaper headlines with Scripture is highly suspect, and has led to ridiculous things, like predicting the date of the rapture, which only brings shame to the church. We are to watch for Christ's coming, but it won't be in the newspaper.

Maybe not a suggestion, but WOW! You can hang that in my den.

I don't do a lot of long exposure photography, but yesterday I decided to give it a try. I was at a dam where water was being released. I set the ISO as low as it would go (200) and stopped all the way down (f/25). But the exposure was still 1/125 second. Obviously it didn't give the smooth effect I was looking for. I don't have a neutral density filter, but even that wouldn't slow it down all that much. What could I have done? Thanks in advance.

Here is the picture. Not long enough exposure to smooth it out

Yep, Brownie Hawkeye in the 50's. This is so true!

I have only been a member of UHH for about a month, but I come back every day because you guys are such awesome photographers! Great job!

Thank you for the clarification

Thanks for the ID!

A few weeks ago I bought a Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L telephoto (the earlier model, not the newer one that costs a thousand dollars more). I use it on my 70D, which has a crop sensor, so the range is effectively 160 - 640mm. I thought a trip to the zoo would be a good way to put it through its paces. Seattle has a great zoo in Woodland park.
In general, I like the lens. It is heavy, and focuses slowly, so I missed a few shots. I find that sometimes it is razor sharp and 400mm and sometimes a bit soft. Perhaps my technique?
Anyway, I had a lot of fun and took a surprisingly large number of photos. Here are some of my favorites.

A red lemur


My favorite of the day, ring-tailed lemurs


When the giraff is behind a fence, try an abstract. Might look good on a pillow.


A male monkey calling his mate


His mate


a wolf


For the uninitiated, this is a bird

Sorry, but for those of use less familiar with the jargon, what is BBF?

That's where I was, on my way to Snohomish

We're starting to get some sun breaks in the Pacific Northwest. I love it when you can begin to see the mountains still covered in winter snow.

The city of Monroe in front of the Cascades


A barn with a view


Horses enjoying the spring grass


Mowing the lawn

And let's not forget the viewfinder! Trying to take a good picture by looking at the screen on the back of a phone, especially in bright light, really stinks. Looking through a viewfinder makes me feel like I am really experiencing the scene.

Great wildlife shots. You're lucky to have access to things like this . . . 'cept maybe the alligators!

The sun is shining, and that's rare enough in western Washington. I noticed two kinds of flowers have come out.

What did you expect? If you can't pull 'em, photograph 'em!


Also a nice tulip

Nice. I can hear the seagulls. Got fish and chips?