Out of boredom more than anything else, I was shooting this little blue heron when a hooded merganser surfaced right behind it.

It was cloudy and gray, and I couldn't get a good angle on the heron, but the merganser was a bit of a surprise.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 10:26 Tuesday, 24 December 2024

This is from the other day when it was very foggy out first thing in the morning.

We'll be on the road much of today, headed south somewhere to attend an unveiling for one of Mitzi's cousins.

I don't enjoy spending time in the car, particularly when it's a long drive to someplace where we're only going to be there for a little while. But Mitzi never requires me to accompany her to the places and events she wants to go to, so I seldom do. This is family, though, and it's far enough away that I wouldn't want her to be alone on the road.

The beat goes on...

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:50 Sunday, 22 December 2024

Bit chilly out there today.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:26 Saturday, 21 December 2024

("Tinderbox" in this post refers to the app, not some reference to fire risk.)

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 08:37 Friday, 20 December 2024

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 08:36 Friday, 20 December 2024

Headed out this morning for my walk without a camera because it was solidly overcast. But there was a pretty stiff breeze, and about a third of the way around the skies cleared.

Got to the back gate and spotted this guy. He (she?) sat there patiently while I walked beneath it twice, pausing to take shots with my iPhone each time.

Oh well, it was a good walk. Faster without the camera, and because it was a bit chilly. Still ended up breaking a sweat though.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 08:16 Friday, 20 December 2024

Disregard my last.

Had the wrong image selected.

This is "This morning's moon."

✍️ Reply by email

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:25 Thursday, 19 December 2024

Missed the occultation, and it's not a drone, but it's still an interesting shot. The moon, with Mars visible in the lower left corner of the frame.

Handheld hi-res shot with the Olympus E-M1X and the mZuiko 100-400mm zoom with the MC14 1.4x teleconverter mounted. (1120mm effective focal length.)

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 05:25 Wednesday, 18 December 2024

I spent some time yesterday doing large prints on my Canon Pixma Pro 100 printer. Printing is another perishable skill. If you don't do it all the time, you forget how to do it at all.

ChatGPT came in handy with some troubleshooting tips. It turns out that I couldn't allow the printer to choose the paper feed automatically, I had to specify "rear tray," because it kept insisting that I needed to load paper, even though the paper was already in it!

Sizes and margins were also problematic, and it kept defaulting to Letter Size.

Once I got it all figured out, I made several prints. Now I need to order more paper.

And figure out what to do with the prints.

Seems like a problem.

Anyway, I also wanted to screw around with Painteresque, an app that applies filters to images like the one above this post. I love the app, though I suppose it can be overdone.

I started to use my phone, but although the icon was there, it indicated it needed to be downloaded. When I tried to do that, it reported that it was no longer in the App Store and therefore couldn't be downloaded.

Well, long story short, I went to use one of my iPads and the only one the app was still on was the 12.9" iPad Pro (the original). I bought that with 128GB of storage, so it's never had to offload apps in order to update the OS. My 10" iPad Pro only has 64GB of storage, likewise my iPad mini. (There's another iPad around here with 256GB of storage that might have it, I just can't seem to put my hands on it.)

I suppose if I'd have been backing up all my iPads, I could have restored it from backup? I don't know, but it seems kind of weird that an app you've purchased can just disappear. Maybe it's a compatibility issue? The 12.9" Pro has stopped getting the latest releases a couple of years ago. This one is on 16.7.10.

At least I still have it on the 12.9", so I can make some images that might be appropriate for holiday cards. (Not the one above.)

The beat goes on...

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:16 Monday, 16 December 2024

Not an image I'd normally share, but it was interesting to me because it's the first time that I recall seeing a kingfisher back there in the swamp. They're smaller birds than the egrets and herons, so I'm less likely to notice them. This one's motion caught my attention. I had to pull out the binoculars to be sure. I figured by the time I got back with the camera it'd be gone, but it was still there!

Got a few frames before it decided to go after whatever it was hunting.

I've been shooting the birds out back with the E-M1X because it handles better with the 100-400mm zoom with the 1.4x teleconverter mounted than the OM-1, though if I was going out with the specific intent to shoot birds, I'd probably use the OM-1.

They both have bird identification as part of the autofocus algorithm, which is what makes these images possible at all. Even with in-body image stabilization, at 1120mm effective focal length, it's very hard to get one small auto-focus target on the bird, which is pretty much what you have to do at this distance. There are so many limbs and trees that can grab focus otherwise.

This is cropped to 3:2, so that's pretty much all the bird I get in the viewfinder, and it's dancing around pretty good as I'm trying to shoot. The bird ID will put a box around the bird and the af algorithm will confine its efforts to the bounding box. If there's enough subject, it'll try and focus on the head, or even the eye. In this case, I think I was lucky to get the bird at all.

Shutter speed was 1/500s (f9, ISO 320), so I'm relying on IBIS to reduce or eliminate motion blur. I'm happy with the result. It was a target of opportunity of a rare subject. Would I print it? Probably not, except to send to Mom.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 15:22 Thursday, 12 December 2024

Got eaten alive by gnats getting this shot (and some others). Florida is flat. You either have to go to the beach, or launch a drone to have a horizon that isn't as close as the house across the street.

This is just a single frame, cropped and edited.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:10 Wednesday, 11 December 2024

Went out to put the drone up yesterday evening and spotted the moon.

Honestly, I don't know why I do this. I guess because it does give me some satisfaction, or pleasure at some level. I'm not so jaded and cynical that I don't get some thrill from being able to step outside and achieve this.

Though nearly anyone can these days. It's not that much of a skill at all.

And why do I post them?

Beats me.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 05:56 Wednesday, 11 December 2024

I decided to put the DJI mini 3 up this morning. Not terribly disappointed.

Put a 3-image pano up at Flickr. Probably over-cooked.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:36 Tuesday, 10 December 2024

Pretty sky last night, but it's hard to enjoy it in this claustrophobic suburban landscape.

Should've put the drone up.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:53 Tuesday, 10 December 2024

I put the 12-200mm super-zoom on the diminutive OM-5 for my walk this morning. It's at the ragged edge of being comfortable on the sling. The weight distribution seems to make it more prone to bouncing around on the sling, the center of mass is farther from the tripod socket where the strap attaches. It's worse if I leave the lens extended, which I'm prone to do, since I'm usually looking for subjects far from me, like this rose.

The weight is fine, though.

The choice for this post was between a rose and a squirrel. I liked the splash of color. The squirrel is up at Flickr. The rose is SOOC, the squirrel was lightly edited.

I'm satisfied that the 12-200 is sharp enough for me. It's not a cheap lens, but MPB has it at a reasonable price, and less than KEH. Mine was described as "like new" and I concur with that assessment.

I'm uncertain at this moment whether this lens will live on the OM-5. It'll take a few more walks to know for sure. The 14-150 is perhaps ideal, but I'm a sucker for reach. I would carry the OM-1 with the 75-300 because of the additional stability of the larger grip at 300mm. It wasn't super uncomfortable, but it was noticeable. I may just keep the 14-150 on the OM-5 and the 12-200 on the OM-1 and just alternate cameras if I'm walking with a camera.

I need to start walking for pace soon, which makes taking pictures pretty much impossible and choice of camera and lens combination moot.

The beat goes on...

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 10:25 Monday, 9 December 2024

One of the nice things about this place is that we're looking back into a "preserve." (It's a swamp.) From the kitchen window, we can make out large white birds perched in the trees back there, though it usually takes binoculars or the camera with a long telephoto to identify them. (Cormorants and anhingas are easier.)

There were three yesterday afternoon. This white ibis was one of them. The large one was a wood stork. I didn't get a shot of the third, which I think was another ibis.

This wasn't the best shot, but it was the one I liked the most.

The E-M1X with the 100-400mm lens and the 1.4x teleconverter, so 1120mm effective focal length.

In other camera news, I bought a new, used, lens.

I took the 75-300mm zoom up to New York and left it there on purpose. I love that lens as a walk-about telephoto zoom. It's very light and pretty decent for the kind of casual birding I do. The 100-400mm is better, but it's heavy so I won't bring it unless I'm mainly interested in shooting, not walking.

I've been keeping the 14-150mm zoom on the OM-5 as a walk-about combo, and it's very versatile and sharp, but it doesn't have as much reach as I'd like if I encounter a bird.

So I finally succumbed to curiosity and GAS and bought an mZuiko 12-200mm/f3.5-6.3 super-zoom. It came in yesterday and I took a few shots with it. I haven't made any exhaustive tests, but the biggest criticism is that it's soft at 200mm, which is the main reason I bought it.

I shot the street sign down on the corner and my initial impression is that it's sharp enough for me. It's an "intermediate" quality lens, not "pro," but better than "kit." Weather sealed, which is nice, as my 14-150mm is not. It's heavier, with a 72mm filter diameter around a fairly large front element. So I don't know how it'll handle on the OM-5, I used the OM-1 for my first shots.

More testing will have to wait, as I'm getting ready to head over to my son's to visit with his family and watch Romulus on his new home-theater setup.

Anyway, still dicking around with cameras. Some things never change.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 09:02 Sunday, 8 December 2024

It’s colder in North Carolina than it is at Winterfell. Just a degree, but still… colder.

Winterfell.

I miss it already.

Headed back to Florida. Stopped at the Tioga Pennsylvania Welcome Center. Beautiful.

Shot this with the iPhone as I went to get the car Thursday morning. Turned out pretty well. Unedited.

Was watching some YouTube videos of cars stuck in the snow south of Buffalo. Pretty bad.

One thing that's very helpful is the outside temperature reading. As long as the air temperature remained above 32°F I wasn't too worried. I was worried that if it dropped precipitously, we'd be facing a much different situation, with wet snow freezing to ice. I'm pretty sure they were salting the roads as they were plowing, but I'm not certain.

Snow, in modest accumulations, I can handle. Ice means get off the roads.

Another feature I'd like to see added to either CarPlay or the general instrument cluster is an elevation display. Below 1,000' we were seeing mostly rain, above 1,000' it was generally snow. I asked Siri once what my current elevation was, and I got a response that sounded reasonable, like 1,300' or something. I asked again later, and it prompted me to give Siri permission to use my location, which seemed weird. And then it couldn't tell me my elevation.

CarPlay would show yellow and red roads where there were no backups, or cars, for that matter. I'm guessing they were getting data from cars moving slowly in those stretches.

✍️ Reply by email

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:03 Saturday, 30 November 2024

It'll melt rapidly with the sun shining again. Put the drone up to grab a quick shot of what may turn out to be a rare scene. I won't necessarily miss the snow, but I'm glad it happened while we were here.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:52 Sunday, 24 November 2024

I didn't plug in the RAV4 yesterday evening because we had no power. Mitzi reminded me this morning, so I went to the garage and plugged it in. Saw this on the way back to the house and figured I'd try getting a shot with the iPhone 16.

Studying the radiant heat contraption last night after the power came on, I noticed that one of the unions from the header to the tubes running under the slab has a minor weep. I could feel some wetness, and there is scale building up around it. Probably just needs to be tightened, but I'm not going to touch it.

I'll try and reach the previous owner and see if he recommends someone, preferably the installer, to come out and take a look at it.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:01 Sunday, 24 November 2024

Power went out a little over an hour ago. Looking at the outage map, it looks like it's going to be a while before we get it back. MBP is on battery, using the iPhone hotspot.

Still snowing pretty good. The driveway is white again. The neighbor came by and plowed it for us.

I think we'll get a generator before we spend another fall or winter up here.

Going to play it by ear and see how it goes. Can always get in the car if we have to.

It's still pretty!

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 13:53 Friday, 22 November 2024

Same name as another post, but felt appropriate.

We brought a shovel up from Florida, because we don't use it that often, just moving pygmy rattlers and I can use the rake for that. We didn't try to shovel the whole driveway because that would be insane. But I did have to clear the snow that the plow pushed into the entrance to the driveway.

The RAV4 Prime has a trail mode, where power goes to all four wheels. I was about to test it out when the guy came who was giving us an estimate on installing a garage door opener. He had a 4WD F150 and got up the driveway just fine. Had some trouble getting back down, but he made it.

I think I could get the RAV4 out if we had to, but I'm by no means certain. I got it out of the garage just as the door guy showed. No wheel-spin in about 10 inches of snow, but who knows?

We could hear limbs breaking from time to time. Snow packs well. I tried to make a snowman, but I seem to have lost all of my snowball rolling skills.

Power's out at my sister's place out near Albany, but all she had was wind and rain. No snow in Buffalo either.

Anyway, this is pretty amazing. One good thing is that people seldom end up dragging all their shit to the curb after a snowstorm!

✍️ Reply by email

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 09:55 Friday, 22 November 2024

It's been snowing for about 15 hours straight. It's changed to smaller, more powdery flakes. The temperature continues to hover just at freezing. It may go up after the sun rises, but clouds may limit the amount of snow that melts.

I'd welcome clearer skies for a better shot, but I couldn't wait to get one posted.

This is a relatively rare event around here these days. Mitzi isn't thrilled. I think it's great.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:49 Friday, 22 November 2024