Great shots. Owls are the ultimate quiet flyers. As a life long pilot I particularly love the second shot. Wing span ratio to body girth is amazing. Just a gorgeous bird!!

I live in a small but growing town in Utah - St. George. I have had my D600 now for several years and it is in need of cleaning by a professional. Have any of you who read this a recommendation for me to send my camera for a good cleaning?

Well said Selmslie and much to think about.

You nailed it Linda. The sky was either completely washed out or the water feature was blacked out. I tried a force flash, but again the water feature was great and the sky was white. I will delve into my owners manual and try to figure out "metering mode."

Admittedly, this is a difficult shot. Foreground is my water feature in my back yard and the background is a setting sun, taken with my iPhone. What would you photo pros recommend for settings to try and capture this same scene using my Nikon D600. I cannot accept the idea that my iPhone can do a better job than my Nikon.

I'm envious of your 150 to 600 lens!! I love my 80 to 400, but another 200 would sure be handy.

Thanks. My philosophy on photography - right place, right time, right equipment, and then the talent: right composition.

Not sure how to put the down load version on this web.

I was driving out of the North Rim Grand Canyon Park and happened to spot a very large bird coming in for a landing in a tree next to the highway. With very little time for set up I stopped and grabbed my Nikon D600 and put my 400 zoom on and began to walk back to the tree. Much, and I mean much to my surprise it was a California Condor, only about 400 of these birds exist in the wild. I caught him on his departure from the tree. Not the most ideal photo environment but I took the hand I was dealt.

Condor on departure

How is this one?

How's this one?

Just happened to bring my camera with me when I was showing my visiting daughter our golf course here in St. George. Roadrunners are prolific here but notoriously camera shy. I happened to catch one on a bolder preening itself and rather oblivious of us in our golf cart.

Roadrunner on a rock


Even the rather shabby must preen


The cactus are beginning to bloom

Your photos are outstanding. My philosophy on photos such as these is this: right place, right time, right camera equipment AND the trusted hand of a good photographer. You nailed all of these elements to arrive at these stunning images. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Your photos are outstanding. My philosophy on photos such as these is this: right place, right time, right camera equipment AND the trusted hand of a good photographer. You nailed all of these elements to arrive at these stunning images. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Thanks for the info. Let me just say I love, love, love my 600. With that said I was taking some indoor portraits with the camera in Auto and the built in flash. In the landscape position the photos came out perfect. However, when I rotated the camera 90 degrees to the portrait position half of the photo was under exposed. I suspect the flash went off while the shutter was only about half way open, thus only half of the image came in properly exposed. Seems like this should not occur while in auto mode. Anyone got ideas on this situation?

Charles Krauthammer once said, "Getting your politics right is the most important thing you can do, other wise you get the Hitlers, Stalins and Maos." This message is a shining example of NOT getting your politics right.
Thanks for posting JackInTheBox, and I approve this message too!