AndyP7

Really lovely photos. Bringing back memories of our cruise to Glacier Bay first cruise of the season this past May. Glacier Bay is truly spectacular and I agree that there really aren't words to describe it.

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Andrea

Haven't posted here in ages!

Got out to a local nature conservatory today.

Andrea

Okay, Not taken today but a couple of weeks ago on our Med cruise....

 

 

 

A typical rainy day in London.

I just love this shot. It almost looks like a painting.

Andrea

So it sounds like no hot chocolate on the Spirit or blankets :(

 

We booked the Tracy Arm tour...hope we like it.

I was on the Glacier Bay May 1 cruise...Hot chocolate is available on the Lido deck anytime and blankets are available on Serenity deck :)

Andrea

Great review and photos! I was on the same cruise. Love seeing it through another pair of eyes. Your children are soooo cute! :)

Andrea

 

I haven't shared my wildlife photos in here in a while - I know there aren't too many wildlife/birder photogs around here, but thought I'd still share some recent shots out in the Florida wetlands, just to update how the wild life is living lately:

 

--

Justin

galleries: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

Justin, I just love your wildlife photographs. They are so inspiring! I'm saving for a long lens so that I can try for something closer to your shots, although I know it takes lots of practice, patience and being in the right place at the right time.

This is the closest I've been able to get to a Blue Heron with my 18-200mm lens. Cropped so I've lost a lot of resolution. Can't wait until I have a "real" lens for this kind of photography!

Andrea

Are these Bokeh?

As mnbruce indicated, your second and third pics have bokeh. As noted in the article in the link he posted, bokeh is really a term to describe background blur. There are varying degrees of blur - from very "coarse" like in the pics I posted, where the background light is showing as circles, to very "fine" where you can't tell at all what the background is, as in the pic mnbruce posted. Getting very fine bokeh allows the subject to really "pop" and be the main focus, which is obviously achieved in his photo (lovely!). It all depends on what the photographer is trying to capture/create.

Note the terms I'm using are my way to describe it and not technical at all! :)

Andrea

There have been some really great photos posted over this past week!

I've been playing around with bokeh...

Dream bokeh

Letter "A" bokeh

Canada Goose bokeh

Andrea

Could not line up the features. Cheap Kodak Instamatic in 1992 versus wide angle DSLR today. It was fun anyway.

St. Croix River, Taylors Falls, MN. That's Wisconsin on the other side.

My whole gallery from that day is here:

 

http://dodgerdigital.smugmug.com/Family/Taylors-Falls-2011

What a cool idea! I hadn't heard of this before. Learn something new all the time!

Andrea

I think I've taken my camera out more in this past week and a half than in the past year and a half! Here are a few pics:

Practicing with the 75-300mm lens at a local conservatory:

This guy was on the ground inching toward my leg and I had my 50mm lens on the camera and got this effect:

Trying out my new 18-200mm lens today, captured this dragonfly:

Have a great week everyone!

Andrea

My guess? No. While your basic 75-300mm isn't a super-high quality telephoto, it is probably very near the overall quality of a superzoom-type lens like an 18-200mm. Some 18-200 or 18-250 lenses are actually pretty good - sometimes better than kit lenses, but usually are best in the middle of their focal ranges and stopped down a bit - so shooting at max telephoto, and aperture wide open, likely won't get you any detail advantages over the 75-300 - not to mention having a lot less reach!

 

I'd get the 18-200 or similar lens for the sake of travel convenience and one-lens solutions - they are great for that, and my 18-250mm lens gets a ton of use, despite the fact that I have 7 other lenses...just because it's so convenient and still of very good quality. But though I occasionally use it for light duty wildlife, zoo, or emergency type shots, if I know I'm going to go shoot wildlife or nature shots, I'll switch to a more dedicated lens. If you really think it's a type of photography you're going to enjoy often or get into, better to save up for a nice long-reach telephoto for $700-1000 that can really increase both detail and reach. Otherwise, your 75-300 is probably going to do about as well, or even a little better, than an 18-200 just because of the extra reach it provides.

This has been super helpful - thanks! I picked up the 18-200 lens this weekend and it's a great lens. I have to say the quality is much better than the 75-300 kit lens, which I noted when cropping a few photos today. And I loved not switching between lenses to capture different types of shots. I did realize today though that the 75-300 does have more reach and I missed it when I came across a Heron and some seaplanes taking off this afternoon. For a beginner like me, there really is nothing like taking the lenses out and using them to really get to know what works for different situations. I think I will eventually be saving up for a dedicated birding/wildlife lens because I am just loving this kind of photography!

Andrea

Given that both my wife and I have extremely brown thumbs, I thought that I should get an image of this orchid before we ruined it.;)

 

 

Larry

Lovely photo :) I love orchids but once the blooms finish I just end up with a stick and then nothing ever seems to happen after that!!

Andrea

Well, today was clear and we saw the high show!

 

Very cool! I just love the sound those jets make!

Andrea

Nice shots Andrea - bird and wildlife shots are always fun. Just wanted to add a little ID to the above - it looks like in your shot above what you've actually captured is an Osprey, rather than a bald eagle. Ospreys (aka Sea Eagles) are similar in size, but are usually very distinguishable from the black band across their eye and down the neck:

 

 

I'm basing it from what I can see in your shot - the head is a little dark to see for sure, but it does look like it's got the osprey stripe. But I also have never had the chance to photograph a bald eagle...so I can't say I have any experience with those! Ospreys we have many of down in Florida, and I see and photograph them often.

I think you might be right! It's so hard to tell between a young bald eagle and an Osprey. In hindsight this bird was hovering quite a bit and did take a dive with a not so graceful splash into the water. I thought it was because it was still learning! I took a look through some of the other pics and I can see that the head is white - bald eagles are brown until they mature. Thanks for the insight!

Question for you, as I know you take a lot of beautiful wildlife photographs. I've been looking at an 18-200mm f/3.5 - 5.6 lens that will be multi-purpose for travel because of it's range, but will also give me more reach (I think that's the correct terminology) for zoom capability. It's about half the cost of some of the more costly lenses and gets decent reviews for what it is. In the case of the Osprey pics, would I get better results, i.e. more definition, with a lens like that? Thanks for your help!

Andrea

You really need to try it. It is a lot of fun and not just for the Holidays either. There are also tutorials online with instructions on how to turn the lights into shaped bokeh like stars and hearts, etc. Be sure to post here when you complete your image. I cant wait to see what you create!

 

 

Dileep - Really like the purple wild flowers in the foreground. You are blessed to live so close to such beauty and you capture it so well.

 

Duzzy - Your first attempt a fireworks? Are you sure? They look great! A good fireworks image contunues to elude me.

 

Pierces - I like Larry's calorie counter better :).

Great picture! Bokeh and Christmas/holidays - two of my favourite things! I'll definitely post the results of my experiments :)

Today I thought I'd try using my 75-300mm f/4-5.6 kit lens. I think I lucked out with the bald eagle!

Great Blue Heron

Young bald eagle learning to "make the rounds"

Canada Goose

Hope everyone has a great week!

Andrea

Thanks for sharing your pictures...they are beautiful. I'm a sucker for shallow DOF. I should have a bumper sticker on my car that reads "I brake for bokeh" :D

 

I hope your enjoy Bryan Peterson's book. My copy is never far from me. I reread it all the time. If you like it, be sure to check out his other publications. They are all wonderful.

 

I really enjoy participating in this thread. I know you will too. Have a great week!

Thanks! I too love shallow DOF. Any chance I get I use my 50mm f/1.8 lens but I'm also learning how to achieve bokeh other ways. Can't wait to try Peterson's exercise using Christmas lights (just have to haul them out!)

Andrea

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the camera and photo discussions area and have spent some time over the past few days reading through this thread. Wow! There are some really amazing photos here. I love the way they've captured the essence of where you live, work, travel and "play" whether using a point and shoot or higher end equipment. You've all inspired me to get out and start using my camera again :) Here are a few pics from a walk through a local Nature Conservatory yesterday:

I've recently picked up Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson (thanks Jen4398 - I think it was you who recommended this book on another thread) and have been reading through the C.C.P.I.C.S. tutorials thanks to pierces/Dave.

I have much to learn, but am really enjoying the process. Thank you all for the inspiration!

Andrea

I'm back! Daughter is recuperating nicely and this was one heck of a week. Thanks to all for your concern and prayers! Much appreciated!:)

Sooo glad to hear! Thanks for the update :)

Andrea

My daughter is in the hospital and very sick. I may not be on here for a few days. Just wanted to let everyone know. Will update things as I can. Prayers appreciated...

 

Pat:)

So sorry to hear. You and your daughter are in my thoughts and prayers.

Andrea

Appreciated by me too! I'm also still following along, even though I don't post much :)

Andrea

How terrible for Egon! I'm glad he realized it soon after - the credit card companies are usually pretty good about handling these things if you report the theft quickly. If I read correctly, Egon didn't actually give his pin number, which should make it harder for the thief/thieves to do anything with the card.

Here's hoping he gets over his cold quickly and enjoys his side adventure to Switzerland in just over a week!

Andrea

I've been following along since the beginning but haven't posted until now. What an amazing adventure Egon is having! I check daily for updates to see what's next.

Thanks to yellowbird and ladysail for bringing us his adventures as well as the pictures that help tell the story :)

Andrea

This coming Tuesday and Wednesday Celebrity is having REALLY LOW

prices on some last minute cruises. If you can sail in March and/or April

you might want to check out there specials. You have to book on these

2 days. Some of the SS are 150% but even if it was 200? The price

of the cruises are VERY LOW.

 

Here is a link and this is allowed because it is through the cruiseline:)

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/exciting_deals/XcitingDeals_cel_tues.pdf

 

There are 4 pages of choices.....that is ALOT.

Hi Lois,

Thanks for posting this link - there are some great deals! I've cruised NCL and Carnival in the past but with Carnival no longer offering anything except 200% fares for solos, I'm exploring other lines. I'm thinking Celebrity for Alaska later this summer. Not sure if I should take my chances at waiting for last minute deals for that one though. Might just have to bite the bullet and book!

Andrea

Carnival Freedom and Key West through a window of the Key West Lighthouse

Andrea