Harry Potter fans out there?

Have you ever had one of those days that while you did not accomplish what you had originally set out to do it tuns out better than you had anticipated?

I made it out to Blue Hills yesterday. My intent was to venture up the hill, take a brief peek at the injured wildlife area, then continue on my way, hiking up the hill to the observation tower to take my pictures.

For those of you who know the Blue Bump you know what I am talking about. For those of you who are scratching your head saying what the heck is a "blue bump" I will explain.

Blue Hills (affectionately known as the Blue Bump due to it's small size in elevation 635 feet above sea level) is mostly run by the State more specifically they are managed by the Mass DCR and helped by the Mass Audubon Society running the trail side museum and taking care for the animals who are hurt and rehabilitated on site. They have several cages that are sometimes full and most times empty. While it is good news to see that the cages are empty, because this means there are few injured woodland creatures it is sad that there are no cute and inquisitive faces to look at.

There is the wildlife portion of the hill and there is the hiking aspect of the hill. There are great nature trails and if you do traverse to the top of the hill and climb the stairs of the weather observation tower you can get a great view of Boston. On a clear day you can see all the way to Mt. Manadnock NH on the MA/NH border, arguably the most hiked mountain in the world ( I have topped it more than a dozen times. I have yet to look back the other way and locate the Blue hills from atop the Monadnock Peaks)



You can check out these links if you are interested

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/blue.htm

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM6ER8_Great_Blue_Hill_635_ft_Milton_Canton_MA


My long story made incredibly short. I intended to continue up the Hill and take some wide angle shots of the view but was stopped in my tracks at the sight of the amazing creatures they have in captivity right now. Take a look at this great Snowy Owl. For those of you who are Harry Potter fans you will recognise Hedwig immediately :)

My Challenge here was to try to get these shots with proper lighting and detail on a washed out back and foreground all the while shooting through a 12 gauge wire cage and not letting you see the cage in front of his amazing face.

This shot you are going to see some shadow lines over him. These blurry lines are not shadows but in fact the lines of the cage that I could not get out of the focal range completely.

f/9

1/60 sec

ISO-400

WB-sun

150mm

Polarizing filter

No tripod

In this shot the lines melt away leaving you to do nothing but notice those amazing yellow eyes. I just learned this fact yesterday "The Snowy Owl is the only owl to hunt both during the night as well as the daylight, while for the most part all other owls hunt only at night"

f/5.6

1/400 sec.

ISO-400

WB-sun

220mm

Tiffen UV filter

Dolica WT 1003 Monopod
This was my first time using this or any monopod, I have to say I liked it.

Throw a penny and make a wish.

So I decided to go back to the comparison of the dreary winter colors versus same composition in black and white idea. These were taken in the late afternoon sun (2:30pm eastern) noted by the long shadow lines. The sun has been setting in the 4:30 range here these days.

I used the Rebel XS as always and the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 IS with the Tiffen UV filter.


I promise you I am going to go to Blue Hills and take some great wide landscape shots this week ... oh ... wait... tomorrow is already Friday isn't it?

Let me rethink this promise and say, I promise you that I am going to "TRY" to get to Blue Hills tomorrow to get those shots. I am eager to play with the internal color filters in the monochrome settings.









f/5

1/1250 sec.

ISO-400

WB-sun

44mm

Free handed

No fill flash

Tiffen UV filter

f/9

1/640 sec.

ISO-400

WB-Sun

44mm

Free handed

No fill flash

Tiffen UV filter

Straight Monochrome with no internal filter effects applied

This is starting to look like Woody Woodpecker Week!

For some unexplained reason there have been a slew of Woodpeckers this week (maybe since I put out the feeder?) Regardless they (all species) are one of my favorite birds. I am so intrigued with the way they work with the buidling and the hammering with thier heads and all... maybe because I was a builder and can appreciate watching the little guys bang for days to make thier cozy new home?

It is amazing to watch the way it happens, the patterns of life. The male will come along and work for days on end making the hole in the right tree hammering away until it is perfect. When he is finally all done with the perfectly built home to begin a family he perches over the area and makes a series of chirps and squawks until the female they have mated with comes to see her proud hubbys final project that he magnificently offers to his lovely wife. I have seen this go from start to finish a few times and it always catches my attention... anyway I digress, here is this little male red bellied woodpecker starting to scope out his new mantown.


These were shot with the new Canon 70-300mm I wrote up earlier this week.

Enjoy,
C~


Kind of bland....

f/5.6
1/80 sec.
ISO-400
WB-cloudy
C.Polarizing filter
300mm
Freehand
IS mode 1


Here a little more color and detail in the contrast.

f/5.6
1/160 sec.
ISO-400
WB-cloudy
C.Polarizing filter
300mm
Freehand
IS mode1

Just for fun

This was a singular shot that I do not have a comparison for but I just wanted to share anyway as I felt it did not come out horribly, terribly, badly. I only wish that I had caught her little face a bit more in the picture. She was about 10 feet above and 15 feet away from me for this shot.

f/7.1

1/400 sec.

ISO-400

WB sun

300mm

Freehanded shoot.

Tiffen Circular Polarizing filter (that I still have no idea how to use)

No hood (I am not certain on proper applications for this either) I purchased a cheaper but a good quality aftermarket hood for the ET-65B / 70-300mm lens. I am new to this lens hood tool and admittedly do not know when I am and when I am not supposed to be using it? I do know not to use it with a flash for short range shots due to shadowing but, thats where my knowledge ends.

Can anyone offer pointers on a circular polarizing filter or proper application of a lens hood?

There will be more later !

C~

Not today ... But maybe tomorrow

Okay, so I know I said I was going to go to the Blue Bump today.......... however........ something else came up and I ended up down the Cape with my Fater-inlaw. We had to do a few errands at the house and then took a very pleasant walk with him exploring the neighborhood and having some great conversations as always.

There were allot of sights to see and I caught some good pix that I will be sharing in coming days and then I took some tragic horror shots that will need to be redone completely.

Here is what I have for you today.... Undershot of a dock leading out to the water that surrounds the neighborhood.

You can find me clammin just to the left of this very dock come spring . If you are lucky enough to find me there you may just get some homemade Clamcakes and Chowdah out of the deal too :)





Shot number 1 seems to be too light and "all inclusive" not giving your eye the reason to pay attention to any particular point in the frame.

Shot number 2 I feel has a better light to it, drawing your eye away from the foreground and towards the water and farther end of the dock, where your focus should be.

See what you think?

f/8

1/200 sec.

ISO - 200

WB-Sun

18mm

UV filter

Freehand

f/9

1/200 sec.

ISO - 200

WB-Sun

18mm

UV Filter

Freehand

How do you deal with the dreary winter whites?

Just a little spin on the standard color shots when there isn't much color to be had. Go B&W!!



These were shot using my EF-S 18-55mm IS canon lens. UV filter no tripod. I have a few internal filters for color marking over the monochrome that I want to fool around with for larger landscapes I simply did not have the access to the right scenery for this today. I am thinking of taking a ride to Blue Hills tomorrow to explore. There should be plenty of opportunity there for this.







f/9

1/160 sec.

ISO-200

WB-sun

55mm

uv protective filter

Standard color setting






f/9

1/125 sec.

ISO-400

WB-sun

25mm

uv protection filter

Monochrome setting in Canon Rebel XS

As always I welcome post comments with any and all advice!!

Canon over Tamron

New Canon Lens description


I have decided to remove the Tamron lens I have been using from my toolbox. While it's Macro settings have been treating me pretty well, it does not suit my needs fully. I am replacing it with this lens below. I believe this will be a great move for the long range shots I am looking to capture. I ordered it from an online source and it should be arriving today. I hope to be able to provide some great trials tomorrow.

For today's photos, I will be using the 18-55mm IS Canon lens.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens

Featuring the latest 3-stop Image Stabilizer for outstanding camera shake reduction, the EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM zoom lens also features super responsive autofocus. Replacing the popular EF 75-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM, the world's first interchangeable lens with Image Stabilizer (IS)


Image Stabilizer ;

IS dramatically reduces image blur caused by camera shake. The EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM features Canon's latest 3-stop IS, a one-stop improvement over its predecessor. This allows shutter speeds up to three stops slower than would otherwise be possible, with no perceptible increase in image blur. Photographers normally shooting a 300mm frame handheld at 1/500 second can obtain the equivalent result with a shutter speed of just 1/60 second, vastly extending options in low-light conditions.

Gyro sensors detect unwanted vibrations, triggering the corresponding movement of a correcting lens group perpendicular to the optical axis. This alters the light path, returning the image to its correct position on the sensor or film plane.

The EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM provides 2-mode IS for shooting immobile subjects. Mode 1 stabilizes the image along both the horizontal and vertical axes. For shooting while panning to follow a moving subject, Mode 2 turns off correction in the panned direction and prevents the effect of dragging the subject back through the frame. IS switches off automatically when the camera is mounted on a tripod, thus preventing feedback loops between the IS sensor and stabilizer motor vibrations.


Superb auto focus;

The micro USM motor found in the EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM employs ultra-sonic frequency vibrations to drive auto focus with unrivalled speed and near-silent operation. Good holding torque stops the lens with precision and accuracy, the instant it arrives at the correct focus point and without overshoot. A high-speed CPU and optimised AF algorithm result in a significant increase of AF speed compared to that of its predecessor.

A zoom ring locking mechanism is provided that locks the zoom at the wide-angle setting. This ensures that the lens is carried or stored in its most compact position, preventing possible damage caused by the lens extending and hitting obstacles when being carried mounted on a camera with a strap.


Pleasing defocused background ;

The EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM employs an electro-magnetic diaphragm (EMD) with a circular aperture. This helps create an attractive, even defocused background when isolating a subject at large apertures.


Image quality ;

By optimizing Super Spectra lens coatings and lens element shaping, Canon's engineers have been effective in suppressing flare and ghosting--more prone to occur with digital cameras due to reflection off the image sensor. By increasing light absorption, coatings reduce reflections off lens element surfaces to deliver crisp, undistorted images with natural color balance.

Focal length translates to 112-480mm equivalent in 35mm film format when fitted to EOS 20D and EOS 350D cameras. (not applicable to my XS model)


The EOS system ;

The EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM includes distance metering information, providing compatibility with the E-TTL II flash system of late model cameras. When used in conjunction with Canon's range of EX Speedlite flash units, the lens passes distance information to the flash algorithm for markedly improved flash exposure metering.


Lens Description ;

EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM telephoto zoom lens * Image Stabilization allows in-focus shots with longer exposure times (up to three stops slower shutter speed) * Micro Ultrasonic Motor for fast autofocus * compatible with all Canon EOS SLR cameras * minimum focus distance: 4.9 feet * lens is 5-13/16" long, 3" in diameter *