Déjà vu … again
As Frank Sinatra sang, “Regrets, I have a few….” The last time I made a major camera purchase was in 2014. We went to the mecca of camera stores (B&H) and I got a brand new spiffy Nikon D610. A month later the D700 followed by the D750 came out. (About the same price, better features!) Bad timing. Of course, no one tells you in advance so they can dump old inventory at max price. This time around I got a Nikon Macro 105mm lens to go with the Nikon Z5. This stuff ain’t cheap! And! Déjà vu! A month later, the new Z mount macro lens was announced. You don’t care. You didn’t get gypped again! I could buy/sell/trade my way to the new model lens. Nah! The old lens is fine; it’s just more weight (older lens). And, I have already gotten my money’s worth of macro photography even before the new lens has been released for sale. But(t), as with many things in life, timing is everything. My (timing) was perfect again. Then again, gear is not the definition of a photographer; anyone who buys great gear is not guaranteed success. Good tools make things go better. This mix of photos is with different cameras and lenses – right tool in the right moment, or, the tool at hand in the moment. The humming bird was fortuitous (lucky!!): I was holding the 105mm macro. This lens worked at the critical moment.
Macro? you ask? This one wuzza puzzler. Two bees humping? I thought they worked with a queen. No humpin’ allowed. It’s not an expected behavior?! This was right tool (lens) in the moment.
Chasing the Sun
We are due for a solar eclipse on August 21. The path is across the USA and will be partial where I am in Delaware. No, I’m not going to NC to get the total effect. And who knows? Maybe it will be cloudy and rainy? There is advice for those who may get to see it happen. Do not look at the sun directly! Do not point your naked camera/lens at the sun. Use proper protection (your eyes and the camera). You can get this protective gear from many sources. Get it or don’t look at the sun/eclipse directly. Me? I got glasses, a binocular, and a lens filter for my big 400mm zoom lens. The stuff was cheap. I spent about $20 for the lens filter. One trick pony, one time use. You could use a telescope or a mega zoom lens and dedicated filters = megabucks. Nope. I’m casual. One and done. Shoot the moon – super moon, blue moon – I get it when I can.
Technical specs: This image was enlarged from 400mm zoom on a full frame Nikon D610. I used: ISO 100 f10 1/250 sec. I bracketed. I can make out a sun spot at 8 o’clock. Otherwise the sun is just an orange disc to me. I’ll see what shakes when the solar eclipse passes me. Or not – if it rains. I am relatively prepared. I won’t be disappointed. Good luck to us all.
Diving
The first new thing I learned upon arrival in Jeddah was to learn to scuba dive. Yes! Mike Neslon – Lloyd Bridges – Sea Hunt! – my childhood – a fantasy in reach of fulfillment. The process is like anything else. They teach you the basics. A dive in the pool. And then the Red Sea.
Then it’s mileage – time in the water. The more time, the more experience, and thusly the more fun follows. It’s easy! Not so! As I have learned, things that I believe are simple are a bit more complex. I have seen so many others take lessons and then fall off. They don’t dive much anymore. I’ve found lots of people who are afraid of night diving – afraid of the dark. I am too, to the degree that I faced my fear and got past it. It was exhilarating. And itis something I look forward to doing.
The knife and BCD are new in these pictures. No longer. I think I passed 350 dives a while ago. The knife is lost at the bottom of the sea. It pulled free. I tend to scrape the coral a bit when I dive chasing the fishies. The knife is not to fight underwater. It is hardly enough to defend yourself. And sharks move way faster than I could ever. No! It’s for cutting yourself free. Right, you knew that? The hat is old. It’s my daughter’s college. I don’t have a college hat. But I paid for this one, so it’s mine – if you understand my drift. Someone else recently has tried to co-opt it. It’s old and been through lots of sweat at college rugby matches. But….well… I guess it’s time to break in a new one….
photobackstory 