Yes I still love to photograph barns. I was on the way back to the office from visiting one of our newest banks when I saw this barn against the brilliant blue sky and the big puffy white clouds. The fact there was also water in the shot was just the icing on the cake for me. I haven’t shot many barns this year because I’ve focused on wildlife during the migrating season.
This year I hope to shoot more farm scenes and perhaps the planting of crops, something I haven’t really paid much attention to in the past. We’ll see.
I do enjoy capturing images of wildlife. Although yesterday I didn’t have the right lens with me. Generally when I’m traveling to one of the banks I take the most versatile lens I have, the 28 – 300 mm. It does a good job for a variety of shots but wasn’t long enough to capture the swans up close and personal. This was a nice marshy area close to Scott County Park. I’ll have to visit this area again. Lots of ducks, geese, coots, and swans.
A complete departure for me with this image. I liked the pattern of trees reflecting in the water. I don’t know it just looked cool in person. I’m not sure I really captured what I saw but overall on second look I like it.
Lots of profound thoughts bouncing around in my head this morning. Fortunately for both of us I’m out of time and need to get the day of work started. Knowing my short-term memory issues I’ll forget about them by the next time I sit down in front of my computer. 🙂
So I guess that’s it for today. Enjoy your midweek hump day. I’m off to Cedar Rapids today. Might be some photo opportunities on this trip.
Happy Tax Day as well. I don’t mind paying taxes for the privilege of living in this great country. What I do mind is how corrupt our system has become (both parties) and how the mindset of the politicians is handling money that is not their own. Billions become only a number to them and has no real meaning anymore. From the time they decide to run they spend every waking minute on raising money and running for re-election. As a young man I always wondered why a man or woman would spend millions to get elected to a job that only paid $100K. I was naïve and thought they must be doing it for the betterment of their fellow-man! 🙂
Boy was I dumb. I’ve had to stop listening to the news on the way home from work because I get so frustrated. I guess I also never really paid much attention to how powerful the media has become. Perhaps they always were but I just wasn’t paying attention. It is mind-boggling how they shape public opinion.
Okay enough about that. I am showing you some images from last month. They are still fresh and have not yet reached their shelf life so I feel safe in sharing them with you.
I captured more images of Blue Herons in March then I think I have captured all together in my photography efforts. They are such a skittish bird and hard to shoot but for some reason this year at the Basin, they were in great abundance and more open to having their image taken. Don’t know what changed but I sure enjoyed it.
I have some more parts to go on the Phantom, which will require some drilling, soldering, and cussing. I got an antenna package for the controller and copter, which is supposed to extend the range from a few hundred feet to well over a mile. Hell I can lose track of it only a few hundred feet away imagine what it’s going to be like when it is a half mile away. 🙂
That’s about all that is rattling around in my head this morning. Nothing too coherent. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day (back to Winter) and be careful.
What a weekend. Spent most of Saturday morning doing our taxes (OMG) brutal!! That’s all I can say about that. Then we went looking for some patio furniture. We haven’t had any for years. Did a lot of looking and thinking.
After that we went looking for a new lawn tractor. My old one is about to quit on me. I’ve gotten 16 years out of it, which considering what I paid for it is amazing. I’ve had a fair amount of work done on it over the years and probably could have bought two more tractors for what I’ve spent just keeping the old thing running. But now it’s time to give it a rest and put a new one to work.
Yesterday of course was a complete washout. Cold, rainy, and windy, which made it a perfect day for naps. 🙂
Now about the images of today’s post. Since I didn’t do any photography over the weekend I decided to show a short video, that is actually a composite of two videos I made back on March 29th. I took both Phantoms up to around 450 feet and tried to video and photograph them in flight. It turned out to be a bigger challenge for my limited skills than I anticipated. I did get it done but it didn’t look anything like what I had wanted to accomplish.
I’m still in the learning stage and have in actuality had very little flying time. So at some point I should start seeing better results.
Anyway a short little 3 minute video of the two Phantoms flying if you have the time for a quick look.
Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your wintry day and be careful.
I’ve driven the same stretch of road for 14 years now. It is somewhere arround 4 – 5 miles long and is narrow and hilly. The speed limit starts out where I first get on the road at 50 mph, drops to 45 mph, then 40 mph and finally to 30 mph. Yesterday on my way to work I was deep in thought about some issues and frankly was not paying that much attention to my driving. I came around a corner and started down a steep hill when I met a Deputy Sheriff and instantly looked down at my speedometer.
Hmmmm, 53 mph, then I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw his break lights come on. Yep I was had. There is really only one place on this stretch of the road where you can safely pull over and I wasn’t very far from it so I just pulled over, stopped and put my 4-way flashers on and waited. I knew it would take him a little while to get turned around and then sure enough with lights flashing and dust flying beneath his wheels he was in hot pursuit. I think it shocked him to see me sitting there waiting on him. 🙂
I thought when he checked and found out that I haven’t had a ticket in over 30 years he might feel benevolent but I was wrong. He left me with some papers and an envelope. Well I deserved it and as a former Deputy Sheriff in a past life I know that was his job and he did it. I shook his hand (which also surprised him) and wished him a good day.
That’s how my day started but good day after that. I spent my lunch break at the “Duck Pond.” There were no swans at the pond so after finishing my sandwich I drove over to the pond on the other side of 61 highway. The swans were there in a small pool with one goose. I don’t believe they have made a nest yet even though many of the geese have laid eggs and are nesting. Maybe their still just dating. 🙂
That’s it for today. Supposed to be a great day weather wise and it’s Friday so enjoy. Thanks for stopping by and be careful.
I have a short post for you today. I almost had a “I got nothing” post but as I was looking through my images from last weekend I saw this guy. I don’t believe I have ever seen a duck in this position. So if I haven’t seen one like that maybe it’s worth sharing. 🙂
Events over the last two days have left me in a philosophical mood. Fortunately for both of us I do not have the time to expound on them.
That’s it for today. Enjoy your day. Thanks for checking out the blog and be careful.
I’ll finish up my images from the Basin that were shot on Sunday. I could sit for hours and watch wildlife interact with each other and their environment. I shoot thousands of images of this interaction that never see the light of day. Some because they are out of focus or bad composition or any number of reasons but I enjoy each one of them because they remind me of the instance I was capturing.
Yesterday I had lunch with two great friends. We generally eat together at least once a week and for the last 12 years we flip a coin to see who buys. I’m pretty sure I’ve bought more lunches than I’ve had bought for me but such is life. Anyway once the flip is made it is time to reveal who gets the check. One of the greatest feelings is being the last one to show your quarter when one of them has a head and the other one has a tail. That means you cannot lose. 🙂
Of course the opposite happened Monday when both had a head and I had a tail. I have not kept track of winning or losing although one year (I think 2006) I had to declare Dave on my income tax as a dependent. 🙂
Isn’t life is like that sometimes? Things come up heads and you can’t lose and other times no matter how hard you try you are on the losing end. Here’s hoping your days come up heads!
That’s it for today. I hope you enjoy the mid-week hump day. Thanks for stopping by and be careful.
I feel bad today. Some of my friends told me yesterday they felt I put a lot of stress on the pelican in the video by flying the Phantom too close to him. I really appreciate their honesty and I certainly did not intend to cause any stress to any wildlife. I love to capture images and video of wildlife but it is never my intent to make them uncomfortable. I assure you that won’t happen again.
Last night was such a nice evening. No wind at all so I took the Vision 2 up for a quick flight. I got it a little too far away and it jumped into “come home mode.” That’s the same mode that kept it from dumping itself into the Mississippi River last February. I didn’t even shoot any video just wanted to fly in some very clam conditions and it was amazing how much control you have when the wind is not constantly trying to blow it off course.
I’ve shot a lot of images of gulls this year. They have been in abundance and there are a couple of places by the river that they let you get very close to them. I took this little guy’s image on Sunday afternoon.
Short post today. I have an interesting day ahead of me. Don’t know how it’s going to turn out but it will be interesting none the less.
I hope you enjoy your day. Thanks for stopping by and be careful.
Saturday was pretty much a veg day. Jeanne came home with a bad case of Bronchitis and was pretty much under the weather Friday and Saturday. She got to feeling better yesterday and so yesterday afternoon we did our normal photo trip around town.
First stop as always was the 16th Street Basin. We had heard there were a lot of Pelicans there but we could only find 3 or 4 at most. A couple came in while we were there but certainly not what we have experienced in past years. So in anticipation of finding a body of water full of Pelicans I packed my long lens (500 mm) and the Phantom and we took off.
Before I get too much in to this story I have to tell you about the two flights I did on Saturday. The first flight I flew from the back patio (basketball court) and went over to a small pond that is located on the school grounds. It is about 750 feet away and that is the farthest I have ever flown the Phantom and still maintained video link between the Phantom and my receiver. There were two ducks in the pond and I got as close as I could but the reception wasn’t all that good so I didn’t want to put it in the pond. 🙂
The second flight was later in the afternoon when I decided to take it up and see if I could above 1,000. Actually I got to 1,320 feet. It is amazing how things look from that high. I worked most of yesterday on editing that video but lost my work two times. I’m still trying to learn the video editing program and apparently I still have a bunch to learn.
This image was grabbed from the video and it shows what the neighborhood looks like at 1,320 feet.
Okay, so back to the story of the 16th Street Basin. I shot a few images of the one Pelican that was closest to the shore and then some other wildlife that was close enough to capture and then it was time to fly the Phantom and see if I could get some overhead shots of the Basin.
We went around to the other side (away from all the power lines) and I launched the Phantom. There were two Pelicans out in the middle of the Basin and I flew pretty close to them for several minutes. Came back to where we were and made a perfect landing. No really I did it was beautiful. Went over to turn the Phantom off and realized that I had accidentally switched the GoPro camera from video to still shots. The problem is I don’t have anyway to take still shots with the GoPro when it’s in the air. So all that flying was for nothing.
Well, I reset the camera and took it up again. I got pretty close to a gull and a Pelican and had some fun tracking the Pelican. I know I made him a little nervous but I didn’t stress him very long. Good thing I decided to come back when I did because I was running on fumes (battery wise) as I came in for a landing there was a gust of wind and with the battery so low the controls did not respond as they normally do so I crashed. Yep, it’s on the video. My good fortune I crashed into some soft grass so no damage to the Phantom or the camera. 🙂
I do not know what this duck is and I didn’t have time to look him up. If you know please post in the comments.
The video below is only a little over 5 minutes. Some good music and I think you’ll like the Pelican and Gull. That’s it for today. Hope you enjoy your day. Thanks for stopping by and be careful.
I’m glad it’s Friday and we have the weekend to look forward to. I thought I would end the week with some fun images I took last Saturday at Gabby’s birthday party.
I’m not sure Josh is ever going to be a great fielder on some baseball team but he may improve. Fundamental one, keep eyes open. Fundamental two, keep eyes on the ball. 🙂
What ever athletic skills he develops he will get them from Ben’s side of the family. Neither Jeanne or I have much athletic ability.
Gabby is transitioning from sad to happy in this image. Once she saw her Mommy things got happier. Isn’t that the way it is in life. Most of us always feel better when we’re near our Mom. 🙂
And finally, I’ll leave you with an image of my Son Mark. I have taken hundreds of images of Mark over the years and he normally gives me a manufactured smile (say cheese) like Josh does. So I had the camera on him Sunday and he gave me that smile and I didn’t push the shutter. I just waited until he relaxed the fake smile and gave me this look, which I captured. He is a good-looking young man. 🙂
That’s it for today. Not much pontificating or profound thoughts. Just some mindless ramblings and some fun images. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day and be careful.
What a great day yesterday was. I was scheduled to do training for the bulk of the day but late Tuesday afternoon that got rescheduled. Since I had already blocked off the entire day for training I decided I might as well take the day off and tackle the Phantom wiring job. Not that I couldn’t have found something to do at work but this wiring thing has bugged me for a couple of days and I really didn’t know when I was going to be able to find the time to try it again. It’s just too difficult of a project to start at 8:00 p.m. after work.
So as the image above shows it was a complicated process. I decided that I would rip everything that I had done before out and start from scratch. It started by watching the videos again. Then I found a video that gave me a key piece of information. DJI industries color code their wires different then we do. Their ground wire is always brown and their hot wire is either yellow (most of the time) or sometimes orange. That made a big difference in how I approached the wiring project.
I also decided that I was going to disassemble the Phantom. I was going to take the top off and doing the wiring on the inside to get rid of all that extra cable. I have taken a video class on soldering and I felt I had a good knowledge of what to do and how to do it. So one hour later I have all the screws out except one that just won’t come out and one that has been completely stripped. 😦
By this point I’m pretty frustrated. I did some research on how to get a stripped screw out and then went to Lowe’s and got the tools I needed and a bunch of stuff I didn’t need. Back home I finally got the two remaining screws out and disconnected the GPS system, cut wiring harnesses and began the process of tinning the wires, soldering, connecting, and bundling again. After a couple of hours and retracing my steps I was ready to put the top back on and button it up.
It’s actually a pretty neat package. I never have to worry about a battery for the transmitter as it is now powered by the Phantom’s power supply. The video from camera runs through the Zenmuse Gimbal (which also runs off the Phantom’s power supply) and that is then fed to the transmitter and it sends a signal to the FPV device (which in my case are the FatShark Goggles.) Additionally the IOSD Mini reads flight data from the Cambus and sends it through the video feed to the transmitter and is applied over the view you get with the goggles.
I got it all put back together and then decide to put some new decals on that I had ordered from the same company that sold the immersion transmitter.
So now my Phantom looks pretty patriotic which will be nice around the 4th of July. 🙂
Now for the big moment. It’s sitting there all nice and retouched and I know the wiring is correct so it should work unless I fried the goggles or the transmitter. I powered it up and turned on the goggles and nothing but gray screen. But a few clicks on the channel selector and I started getting fuzz and a few more clicks there it was in glorious color with all the flight data you could ever hope to have and then some. Only one problem! All the data is metric. Meters and kilometers and a bunch of other things I don’t recognize. Well it shouldn’t be a problem. I’m sure there is an easy way to convert to feet and mph. Nope! The website rather arrogantly states that the rest of the world is on the metric system so there is no need to make a conversion fix available.
So it looks like I’m going to have to learn the metric system after all.
Here are the FPV FatShark goggles with the antenna set to the same frequency as the transmitter on the Phantom. It’s pretty cool and a lot easier to fly with these than with a small iPhone screen. 🙂
At one point (I think it was when I stripped the screw) I asked myself what would make this a great day? The answer was to get the wiring all done, the thing put back together and have it work and then take it for a quick flight before the rain came. And that is what happened. There is a video below of a quick flight this afternoon to test everything out and then a merge to a night video I shot on Sunday evening around 9:00 p.m. I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day and be careful.
Oh by the way, the video is about 5 minutes long instead of the 7:20 it shows. I made a mistake so it runs empty screen at the end for two minutes. I’ll fix that when I have some time.
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