Upde Designs

Happy Tuesday!

I have three images for you today.  I decided yesterday morning that I would go to the Green Island Wildlife Preserve and see what I could find.  I was disappointed to learn that the main area of the preserve was closed because of duck and goose hunting season.  So even though I only wanted to hunt with a camera I could not enter.

So I traveled some of the side roads that were still open.  Pickings were pretty slim but I wanted to try out the Nikon D500 with a 600 mm lens.  I have not tried it with a long lens and I was very happy with the results.  The Nikon D500 is a DX (cropped) sensor, which gives a 1.5 times magnification to any lens.  So instead of shooting a 600 mm lens what I was actually shooting was a 900 mm lens.  I was thrilled with the results.

I also took the Nikon D4 with me and the difference in that 300 mm of additional length was dramatic.  None of the images I am showing today have been cropped.  You can click on them to make them larger to reveal more detail.

By far the most prevalent wildlife I saw yesterday were Coots.  They were everywhere so getting the right shot wasn’t really a problem.

I was actually on my way out of GI when I noticed some movement in the brush along the left side of the road.  I stopped and backed up until I saw this Blue Heron.  He was fishing in the canal that runs the length of the road.  Trying to get a shot of him in all that brush proved to be a real challenge.  I have several images of blurry blobs to testify to that.

So what I did was change my focus setting to single point and focused only on the eye.  He wasn’t moving so after several tries this is what I came away with.  I’m happy with it.

The ubiquitous turtle.  It was a nice sunny day and the temperatures were mild for November so I found this guy sitting on a downed tree trunk.  I had taken the long lens off the D500 and put it back on the D4 but I was so close to the turtle it didn’t make any difference.

That’s it for today.

It’s election day in US and finally the end of a very long, weird, and divisive election.  I pray for our country no matter who wins.  Jeanne and I voted a couple of weeks ago.  I hope you will exercise your responsibility and vote as well.

Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.