Thank you, and if I have your permission I will copy your image of a mockingbird to use as a clue if I ever post a movie quiz question about that Gregory Peck movie again.
Wow! That is just flat out awesome! The colors of the sky reflecting on the lake and the fountain is simply beautiful. That is one great shot. Well done!
Thank you, Buzz.The framing was a bit of a challenge, as I didn't want the background and frame to overpower the subject, but, be an enhancement to the subject. I'm very glad you like it.
These are just some more unusual photos I have taken during my more than 15 years in China.
Little drummer boys they are not, but they do make a lot of noise to call attention to a new shop or restaurant opening.
.
Not too long after took this photo of autumn dried-out lotus leaves casting shadows upon a pond I saw that a Chinese professional photographer had taken almost the exact same picture.
.
One day I was amazed to look out my window to see that balloon hovering over the square below our apartment building, so I went out on the balcony to take this photo.
.
Outside a medical clinic - in all my years here, other than in a commercial laundry, I only saw a clothes dryer once.
Another comment I posted that disappeared. There has to be some kind of ghost that does that to me. What I said on it was that I took another look at the picture, and I can understand what you thought you saw, because with your prompt, I saw that as well.
When I saw them from a distance I thought they were mushrooms and then as I got closer I saw what they were. I think that they were probably replaced by handle type door openers which seem to be a lot more common than knobs here.
What surprises me is that the Chinese people don't just throw things that are usable away. There's always someone who buys just about anything.
There's always someone who buys just about anything.
That's true here in the US as well. Yard sales are a big way for people to get rid of their unwanted items and make a few bucks as well. There is also the swap meets where people can sell just about anything, used and new items. Like you say, there are folks who will buy just about anything, including used toilets
Hah! Snowbird - that's what they call Canadians who go south to the USA for the winter. Canadian singer-songwriter Ann Murray sang a song called "Snowbird" . (link) -> ->
Shutter speed and high ISO. Shoot bursts … you only need one winner and no one needs to see the deletes. Pre-focus on the spot you anticipate you might get the shot (and study the behavior of the species of birds that might be your objective at any given time). Anticipation of bird behavior is a big factor.
OK, here's my latest attempt — various manual shutter speeds between 1/1000 and 1/2000, and auto everything else (at least I think that's what I did).
Better results than I've had before, but there's certainly room for improvement. It's really cloudy today, so the low light probably didn't help with the faster shutter. I'll have to try again on a bright and sunny day.
Let there be light! The sun is out today and I discovered how to use my camera's 4K burst mode instead of the regular one. In enough light it lets me adjust the shutter speed as far as 1/32000 (the regular one stops at 1/2000 for some reason). I didn't go that high today, but it's cool to know that I might be able to stop a hummingbird wing one of these days.
As a bonus, in 4K mode I can review all of the shots in a burst like a film reel, save the ones I want, and then delete the rest with the touch of one button.
I just took these. Still room for improvement, but I think I did better today.
You're getting there. Try ISO 2500-3000 and Shutter speeds of 1/3200-4000 second or faster if the light is strong. Shoot SHUTTER PRIORITY and CENTER WEIGHTED METERING.
I don't usually give away my technique, but you're so competent, I'd be a real a-hole to not share it.
Did you say once that you use a Nikon D-500? I was looking at cameras online today, and the model name rang a bell. I couldn't remember if it was you or not who has one.
Wow. And I thought my old film Canon F1's 1/2000 sec shutter speed was amazing - it stopped in mid-air a baseball just hit by a professional (keeping to the bird theme the baseball player was a Blue Jay, LOL).
I was just reading about my camera's 4K photo burst mode. Apparently it doesn't use the regular photo-taking machinery at all. It uses the 4K video machinery (beyond HD at about 4000 pixels wide, hence 4K), recording at 30 frames per second, and then lets the user choose individual video frames to convert into jpeg images. It's like a trick to get faster frame rates than the regular camera's burst mode. It allows for constant recording, too, as if you were simply shooting a video. The only drawback is that the images it produces are limited to about 8 megapixels, while the regular camera's can be up to 18.
I haven't figured out how changing the shutter speed plays into the 4K recording, but it obviously does since it has it's own settings that are well beyond those of the regular camera's. Pretty darn cool if you ask me.
Yet another comment disappeared. That's an interesting photo. What puzzles me is the photo appears darker where the sun is than on the left behind the rising clouds. The right hand rising cloud looks like a duck feeding itself.
I can see where that could happen, Buzz. But, the feathers on the back are part of the regalia, and the ones in the front are their hand held feathers which are also part of the regalia. It just depends on what the dancer prefers in their regalia.
Now that is a very cute, sweet looking little bird. One of the things I enjoy about this group, is that I get to see the many different birds that I have never seen before. Like this little Rosefinch. And shona's bright blue birds. Sharing our various photos and artwork as we do here, gives us all a chance to see things we might not have ever had the chance to see otherwise. And like the birds pictured here, they are such a delight to be able to see.
That really is a beauty, Kavika. It's really nice that you and your neighbors share your photos. The shadow of the Eagle on the water below it is very impressive.
It finally snowed here a couple of days ago and I shot quite a bit video of the bird feeders while it was coming down. I didn't edit the clips into anything watchable until today because yesterday I was laid up with Covid booster side effects — fever and chills, and no energy at all. I stayed in bed all day watching Seinfeld DVDs, LOL. I'm over it now, though, and ready for Omicron.
Here's what I put together. Get some hot cocoa and kick back. It's relaxation time.
Very soothing! I started doing video about 2 years ago but got bogged down with the process that you have mastered. Your work has me thinking about trying again.
I'm not happy with a couple of my transitions, but after I've strung the clips together and cut them up I'm often too lazy to go back and adjust them.
Just FYI, if you want to play around with videos again, there's a free video editor that comes with Windows 10, and it's the easiest of the three editors that I use. It's simple and straightforward, and really user friendly. It doesn't have all the capabilities of the fancier editors, but it's pretty darn good for simple jobs. There are several YouTube videos on how to use it, if you ever get the itch.
Ahhhh....so soothing and relaxing. And I'm with Kavika....I much prefer to see the snow on video than in person. I be a Beach Bunny, not a Snow Bunny. (grin)
You did an excellent job on this video, Dig. I really enjoyed it, as I do all of your videos.
I don't know about Zen, but, I get the shivers just watching it. My first experience with real snow was the 4 years I lived in No Virginia and there was always snow and ice every winter. I was so happy to get back to So Calif where the snow we did get was up in the mountains so we could enjoy seeing it without having to be personally in it.
The best part was being able to go up in the mountains and let the kids play in the snow in the mornings, then come home, change into our swimsuits and head for the beach in the afternoon.
Thank you so much for that video, Dig. Watching a variety of beautiful birds was enjoyable when I was in Canada, but here in China, spending most of my time in big cities, I rarely get to see any colourful birds like those, and watching them react to each other was fascinating. Although it started with the stop and start at about 43 seconds, I let it jerk its way through while I do something else, then the second time around it plays through relatively smoothly. It was funny to see the blue jay moon us.
They're your home birds, too, Buzz. I'm pretty sure the Toronto area has every one of the birds shown in the video, although a couple of them fly down here for the winter. Those birds live in pretty much all of eastern North America. A little nostalgia for you.
I really tried to compress the size for streaming. I knocked a couple hundred MBs off it, but if I'd gone much farther I would have lost too much quality. Sorry about the lagging. I don't know what else I could have done.
Yes, they are the home birds we have in Southern Ontario. We even got a pair of migrating ducks in our backyard pool that stopped on their way both south and north. Even though the pool was covered with a waterproof tarp at those times of year, it held a pool of rainwater that the ducks were able to relax in.
Don't be concerned about the lagging. It only took around 10 minutes to play through and then the second time it only stopped a couple of times for a couple of seconds.
Did it for you - I couldn't open them either. Looking forward to your following Raven's suggestion. Once you've saved the pictures to your picture library you can convert them to jpg or png, then copy them and paste on your comment here. Do you know how to convert them?
I think the sure fire way is to upload them from your computer using the 'embed local media / upload an image' thing. It's the box with the arrow in it next to the emojis in the header menu when you make a post.
Ah, the colours are amazing, and you've included many totems or spirit guides, the eagles, the wolf, the turtle, the bison and the beaver in an interesting design.
You don't have to go to Mars, the best real estate investment today is to buy up as much property you can in Greenland because it shouldn't take too long for it to be the best climate in the world. That's not a political statemtne, it's an ecological one.
Greenland’s ice sheet, the second largest on earth, experienced all-time high mass loss in 2019 due to the altered climatic patterns of the arctic region. The magnitude of the loss surpassed the previous record of 464 Gigatons (Gts), measured in 2012, by 68 Gts resulting in a net mass loss of 532 Gts in a single year. In other words, the ice loss from Greenland was responsible for a total sea level rise of 1.5 mm only in 2019.
Okay, then Alaska, Northern Canada and for those who are not afraid of Communism (and I know there are some on NT who sure as hell show they are), Siberia. Lots of land in those places.
First things first; please visit this article.
Thank you, and if I have your permission I will copy your image of a mockingbird to use as a clue if I ever post a movie quiz question about that Gregory Peck movie again.
OK.
Great photos all, Mac.
And the linked article is really impressive.
Random shot, Stone Creek, Ocala FL.
Wow! That is just flat out awesome! The colors of the sky reflecting on the lake and the fountain is simply beautiful. That is one great shot. Well done!
Anoon Kavika.. what a spectacular sky and photo...
A random shot? How about an incredible shot?
Great image!
Awesome shot.
The land that winter forgot...
An oldie to start the new weekend off.....
Yes, I remember it - great work with colours and framing.
Thank you, Buzz.The framing was a bit of a challenge, as I didn't want the background and frame to overpower the subject, but, be an enhancement to the subject. I'm very glad you like it.
The frame actually draws you into the image.
Awesome image, and the frame is outstanding. Nice touch with the drop shadow, too.
Thank you very much, Dig.
Anoon...These wrens don't live in my State unfortunately only in Western Australia....
Superb Blue Wrens...
I didn't take this photo...
That is a very royal blue those birds are sporting. I have never seen birds that color before. Really beautiful. Thank you for sharing them with us.
I don't think I've ever seen blue wrens before.
Anoon.. yes we get Wrens here but each State has their own variety.
Extremely hard to photograph as they flit around alot.
The males can have up to four females in attendance...
One of my favourite birds.
This is the variety I get in my yard in Victoria...See them often..
I did not take this photo.
Gorgeous birds, Shona.
These are just some more unusual photos I have taken during my more than 15 years in China.
Little drummer boys they are not, but they do make a lot of noise to call attention to a new shop or restaurant opening.
.
Not too long after took this photo of autumn dried-out lotus leaves casting shadows upon a pond I saw that a Chinese professional photographer had taken almost the exact same picture.
.
One day I was amazed to look out my window to see that balloon hovering over the square below our apartment building, so I went out on the balcony to take this photo.
.
Outside a medical clinic - in all my years here, other than in a commercial laundry, I only saw a clothes dryer once.
.
I fooled around a bit with this one.
.
Discarded doorknobs? Sure stumped me.
.
SURPRISE!!!
.
And a misty good night to all.
A/noon Buzz...
The leaves photo for a split second looked like flamingos standing in the water..
Great photos, thank you...
Another comment I posted that disappeared. There has to be some kind of ghost that does that to me. What I said on it was that I took another look at the picture, and I can understand what you thought you saw, because with your prompt, I saw that as well.
All great photos, Buzz. Those doorknobs are a fun photo. Is there a reason for them to be strewn in the grass?
When I saw them from a distance I thought they were mushrooms and then as I got closer I saw what they were. I think that they were probably replaced by handle type door openers which seem to be a lot more common than knobs here.
What surprises me is that the Chinese people don't just throw things that are usable away. There's always someone who buys just about anything.
That's true here in the US as well. Yard sales are a big way for people to get rid of their unwanted items and make a few bucks as well. There is also the swap meets where people can sell just about anything, used and new items. Like you say, there are folks who will buy just about anything, including used toilets
Cool stuff, Buzz. The doorknob picture is rather funny. They do look like mushrooms at first.
Friday is here at last, and time for a new artwork....
Goddess of Corn
Excellent all around.
Thank you, Buzz. Glad you like it.
This was a good way for me to start the new year:
My nine year old boy Ghost playing like a kitten.
Aha, I said above in a reply to Shona1 that maybe a ghost was causing my comments to disappear. Your cat could be the answer.
Yesterday we had a warehouse fire - two building burned. Luckily they were empty. The photo is from my cell phone on the roof of my office building.
So many fires are being reported these days - a terrible one in Philly.
Yikes.
Here is Sid & Nancy at 4 months and a video of Sid (Nancy makes an appearance at the end...)
Great post, EG!
Nice fish, but a Youtube?
Really nice, EG.
Taken this morning in my back yard.
© A. Mac/A.G.
Nice shot.
Excellent shot, Mac! Beautiful bird!
Hah! Snowbird - that's what they call Canadians who go south to the USA for the winter. Canadian singer-songwriter Ann Murray sang a song called "Snowbird" . (link) -> ->
I wish I could stop wings. I can shoot at 10 fps, but every time I've tried to stop motion it doesn't work. What's the secret?
Shutter speed and high ISO. Shoot bursts … you only need one winner and no one needs to see the deletes. Pre-focus on the spot you anticipate you might get the shot (and study the behavior of the species of birds that might be your objective at any given time). Anticipation of bird behavior is a big factor.
Thanks. I think I'm going to go play around with it right now.
OK, here's my latest attempt — various manual shutter speeds between 1/1000 and 1/2000, and auto everything else (at least I think that's what I did).
Better results than I've had before, but there's certainly room for improvement. It's really cloudy today, so the low light probably didn't help with the faster shutter. I'll have to try again on a bright and sunny day.
Thanks for the input.
Great shots, Dig. The second photo showing the wings in action is truly impressive. Well done!
They look pretty good to me.
You're on your way!
Let there be light! The sun is out today and I discovered how to use my camera's 4K burst mode instead of the regular one. In enough light it lets me adjust the shutter speed as far as 1/32000 (the regular one stops at 1/2000 for some reason). I didn't go that high today, but it's cool to know that I might be able to stop a hummingbird wing one of these days.
As a bonus, in 4K mode I can review all of the shots in a burst like a film reel, save the ones I want, and then delete the rest with the touch of one button.
I just took these. Still room for improvement, but I think I did better today.
You're getting there. Try ISO 2500-3000 and Shutter speeds of 1/3200-4000 second or faster if the light is strong. Shoot SHUTTER PRIORITY and CENTER WEIGHTED METERING.
I don't usually give away my technique, but you're so competent, I'd be a real a-hole to not share it.
Hey, thanks. I'll try that.
Did you say once that you use a Nikon D-500? I was looking at cameras online today, and the model name rang a bell. I couldn't remember if it was you or not who has one.
D500; I have 2 and a D750 as backup when I need a built in flash
Awesome.
Wow. And I thought my old film Canon F1's 1/2000 sec shutter speed was amazing - it stopped in mid-air a baseball just hit by a professional (keeping to the bird theme the baseball player was a Blue Jay, LOL).
I was just reading about my camera's 4K photo burst mode. Apparently it doesn't use the regular photo-taking machinery at all. It uses the 4K video machinery (beyond HD at about 4000 pixels wide, hence 4K), recording at 30 frames per second, and then lets the user choose individual video frames to convert into jpeg images. It's like a trick to get faster frame rates than the regular camera's burst mode. It allows for constant recording, too, as if you were simply shooting a video. The only drawback is that the images it produces are limited to about 8 megapixels, while the regular camera's can be up to 18.
I haven't figured out how changing the shutter speed plays into the 4K recording, but it obviously does since it has it's own settings that are well beyond those of the regular camera's. Pretty darn cool if you ask me.
Wonderful work, Dig.
Something new to play around with – stopping motion. It's kind of fun.
Dawn, the Gulf of Thailand, near Ko Samui
That's a real beauty, G. The early morning sun reflecting on the water is excellent. Very nice editing as well.
Thanks, Raven Wing.
Neat cloud shadow streaks.
Thanks, Dig.
Yet another comment disappeared. That's an interesting photo. What puzzles me is the photo appears darker where the sun is than on the left behind the rising clouds. The right hand rising cloud looks like a duck feeding itself.
The clouds are forward of the sun. In other words, the sun is shining on the back of the clouds on the left.
It's a cormorant.
I have to assume that the clouds on the right are forward of the sun as well, but okay, I'll take your word for it. .
Getting some good shots today … more to come.
© A. Mac/A.G.
Another great shot, Mac. You're on a roll today for sure.
Saturday is just ahead.......
Another eagle dancer?
No, not an Eagle Dancer, a Fancy Dancer in full regalia.
What looked to me like feathered wings fooled me.
I can see where that could happen, Buzz. But, the feathers on the back are part of the regalia, and the ones in the front are their hand held feathers which are also part of the regalia. It just depends on what the dancer prefers in their regalia.
Beautiful colors. Kind of sunset-looking.
Thanks, Dig.
very cool RW
Thank you, dev. Glad you like it.
Thanks, RW. Got more.
© A. Mac/A.G.
Now that is a very cute, sweet looking little bird. One of the things I enjoy about this group, is that I get to see the many different birds that I have never seen before. Like this little Rosefinch. And shona's bright blue birds. Sharing our various photos and artwork as we do here, gives us all a chance to see things we might not have ever had the chance to see otherwise. And like the birds pictured here, they are such a delight to be able to see.
I haven't seen any of those for months now. No purple finches, either. I wonder where they all went.
Looking for breakfast in Stone Creek. My neighbor snapped this photo this AM. One of our two resident eagles.
Nice one! Great timing.
That really is a beauty, Kavika. It's really nice that you and your neighbors share your photos. The shadow of the Eagle on the water below it is very impressive.
Does your neighbour email his photos to you?
We have a group within Stone Creek of residents that post photos in our inhouse group.
It finally snowed here a couple of days ago and I shot quite a bit video of the bird feeders while it was coming down. I didn't edit the clips into anything watchable until today because yesterday I was laid up with Covid booster side effects — fever and chills, and no energy at all. I stayed in bed all day watching Seinfeld DVDs, LOL. I'm over it now, though, and ready for Omicron.
Here's what I put together. Get some hot cocoa and kick back. It's relaxation time.
Outstanding Dig, I much prefer seeing snow on a video than actually being in it. Love the birdlife
Thanks, Kav. It wasn't bad. Only about an inch.
Very soothing! I started doing video about 2 years ago but got bogged down with the process that you have mastered. Your work has me thinking about trying again.
I'm not happy with a couple of my transitions, but after I've strung the clips together and cut them up I'm often too lazy to go back and adjust them.
Just FYI, if you want to play around with videos again, there's a free video editor that comes with Windows 10, and it's the easiest of the three editors that I use. It's simple and straightforward, and really user friendly. It doesn't have all the capabilities of the fancier editors, but it's pretty darn good for simple jobs. There are several YouTube videos on how to use it, if you ever get the itch.
Morning dig...thank you for that. You have some gorgeous birds in your area...feel sorry for them in the snow but I guess they are use to it...
It is a lovely way to start my day with a coffee and egg and bacon roll.... after watching your video.
Thank you, Shona. Really glad you enjoyed it.
Ahhhh....so soothing and relaxing. And I'm with Kavika....I much prefer to see the snow on video than in person. I be a Beach Bunny, not a Snow Bunny. (grin)
You did an excellent job on this video, Dig. I really enjoyed it, as I do all of your videos.
Thanks Beach Bunny, lol. There's something Zen about falling snow, isn't there?
I don't know about Zen, but, I get the shivers just watching it. My first experience with real snow was the 4 years I lived in No Virginia and there was always snow and ice every winter. I was so happy to get back to So Calif where the snow we did get was up in the mountains so we could enjoy seeing it without having to be personally in it.
The best part was being able to go up in the mountains and let the kids play in the snow in the mornings, then come home, change into our swimsuits and head for the beach in the afternoon.
Thank you so much for that video, Dig. Watching a variety of beautiful birds was enjoyable when I was in Canada, but here in China, spending most of my time in big cities, I rarely get to see any colourful birds like those, and watching them react to each other was fascinating. Although it started with the stop and start at about 43 seconds, I let it jerk its way through while I do something else, then the second time around it plays through relatively smoothly. It was funny to see the blue jay moon us.
They're your home birds, too, Buzz. I'm pretty sure the Toronto area has every one of the birds shown in the video, although a couple of them fly down here for the winter. Those birds live in pretty much all of eastern North America. A little nostalgia for you.
I really tried to compress the size for streaming. I knocked a couple hundred MBs off it, but if I'd gone much farther I would have lost too much quality. Sorry about the lagging. I don't know what else I could have done.
Yes, they are the home birds we have in Southern Ontario. We even got a pair of migrating ducks in our backyard pool that stopped on their way both south and north. Even though the pool was covered with a waterproof tarp at those times of year, it held a pool of rainwater that the ducks were able to relax in.
Don't be concerned about the lagging. It only took around 10 minutes to play through and then the second time it only stopped a couple of times for a couple of seconds.
found some pictures, thought I'd share...
(picture text deleted as requested - Buzz of the Orient)
devangelical, I am unable to see the pictures. They come up as html text.
Same here, Mac.
that figures. I can see them here, so I don't know what I can do to correct the situation.
Try saving them to your hard drive as a .png or .jpg. Those are easily acceptable to NT. Not sure if that will help, but, worth a try.
I can try that later. please feel free to delete the picture comment amac.
Did it for you - I couldn't open them either. Looking forward to your following Raven's suggestion. Once you've saved the pictures to your picture library you can convert them to jpg or png, then copy them and paste on your comment here. Do you know how to convert them?
I think the sure fire way is to upload them from your computer using the 'embed local media / upload an image' thing. It's the box with the arrow in it next to the emojis in the header menu when you make a post.
Hello Saturday....
Ah, the colours are amazing, and you've included many totems or spirit guides, the eagles, the wolf, the turtle, the bison and the beaver in an interesting design.
Thank you very much, Buzz.
I count six critters in there. Am I right?
Yes, there are 6, and they are all Spirit Guides.
Beautiful piece.
Thank you, G.
One more for our roll over to Sunday......a Mayan Quetzal Bird
Anoon Raven...
Absolutely stunning....
Thank you, shona.
Anoon Raven...
Absolutely stunning....
LOL. You beat me to the punch. I don't mind as long as it isn't Barbados rum punch.
Stunning.
Thanks, Buzz.
That is fantastic!
Thank you, G.
© A. Mac/A.G.
What? JFK was wrong?
Unless you have property on Mars & a way to colonize, Kennedy correct scientifically, but impractical in terms of an alternative earth.
You don't have to go to Mars, the best real estate investment today is to buy up as much property you can in Greenland because it shouldn't take too long for it to be the best climate in the world. That's not a political statemtne, it's an ecological one.
Regardless, it's not expansive enough to sustain the population of earth.
With Greenland’s Extreme Melting, a New Risk Grows: Ice Slabs That Worsen Runoff
nsideclimatenews.org/news/18092019/greenland-ice-sheet-melting-sea-level-rise-climate-change-heat-wave-study/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI54Xk0Oyl9QIVGo7ICh01MA7NEAAYASAAEgKLq_D_BwE
Greenland’s ice sheet, the second largest on earth, experienced all-time high mass loss in 2019 due to the altered climatic patterns of the arctic region. The magnitude of the loss surpassed the previous record of 464 Gigatons (Gts), measured in 2012, by 68 Gts resulting in a net mass loss of 532 Gts in a single year. In other words, the ice loss from Greenland was responsible for a total sea level rise of 1.5 mm only in 2019.
Okay, then Alaska, Northern Canada and for those who are not afraid of Communism (and I know there are some on NT who sure as hell show they are), Siberia. Lots of land in those places.
Very nice, Mac. Well done!
Stone Creek sunset to end the day.
Note the heron in the bottom left of the photo.
That's a real beauty, Kavika. And that lone bird standing by the lake makes it's enjoying the sunset as well.
Actually saw it immediately. Stone Creek skies provide a kaleidoscope of entertainment.
Aligned with the fountain, too. Intentional perspective. Great shot!
One more to see Sunday on its way.....
And they're off to the races!
I can FEEL the motion, but I think the frame is too confining.
Thanks, Buzz.
Rolling thunder. Good one.
Thanks to all; see you friday.