*OFFICIAL* Snapshot of the Day (one image per post please) #2

[dcstep]

First snow, yesterday:

Great Blue Heron In Snow by David Stephens, on Flickr

[Itsed65]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Hope you and your home are safe.

A couple of years ago, we lost 500-homes in one Colorado fire. 1,000 to 1,500 homes is HUGE. Those winds really pushed those fires fast.

My home is fine. I may have lost some wine in storage in Santa Rosa, but that is nothing to complain about. We could use some of that snow!

[Itsed65]

Tule Crossing by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[gary88]

Help a fellow e90poster out and vote for my shot of an F12 here on IG! I’m in a contest to win some stuff from a Ferrari dealer, would be a great way for me to make some connections.

https://instagram.com/p/BaExsZcj129/

[Terry989]

A new bottle of Scotch to get prepared for fall - - - 16 year old Lagavulin Distillers Edition (2000).

[Itsed65]

Tule Elk Above Tomales Bay by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Terry989

A new bottle of Scotch to get prepared for fall - - - 16 year old Lagavulin Distillers Edition (2000).

Very photogenic.

[Itsed65]

Mouse on the menu

Coyote Pup with Lunch by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Mouse on the menu

Our coyote mainly eat voles. We have a few mice, but the voles are the dominant population in the grasslands. I don't understand why mice and rats are problematic to homeowners, but voles are primarily a prairie varmit.

[dcstep]

Here's a shot where I was too lazy to remove the mullein, sticking out of the coyote's head. I thought I'd do it later, then the image got Explored on Flickr and became too popular for me to break the links that might be already established. I'll clean it before sending off to Getty. Here it is, mullein stalks and all:

Coyote Keeps An Eye On Me (Explored) by David Stephens, on Flickr

[Terry989]

Sun spider - Costa Rica (aka - Camel spider or wind spider)

One night I was out looking for pseudo scorpions to photograph. The night before, I spotted two different ones working the rocks, but neither one stopping long enough for me to get a photo. So I spot another fast moving one and grab it with my fingers moving it to a sandy area to photograph (which is why this one is a little dirty on the back!). That's when I discovered I had a sun spider and not what I was looking for! Oh well - - - I always wanted to find one of these, but now the pseudo scorpions will have to wait for another trip.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Terry989

Sun spider - Costa Rica (aka - Camel spider or wind spider)

One night I was out looking for pseudo scorpions to photograph. The night before, I spotted two different ones working the rocks, but neither one stopping long enough for me to get a photo. So I spot another fast moving one and grab it with my fingers moving it to a sandy area to photograph (which is why this one is a little dirty on the back!). That's when I discovered I had a sun spider and not what I was looking for! Oh well - - - I always wanted to find one of these, but now the pseudo scorpions will have to wait for another trip.

Terry, what focal length are you using? I've found that long focal lengths, like 200mm to 500mm, combined with 1.4x or 2.0x teleconverters, make great macro lenses for fast moving insects. Shooting at 700mm (1.4x TC) from 12-feet away, or even 9-feet with an Extension Tube, if there's enough light, makes things much easier. Anyway, the extra working distance is less likely to spook your subjects.

Nice shot.

[Terry989]

All of my Costa Rica photos were taken with a Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro. 95% of the spider/insect/scorpion/opiliones photos were taken at night in the dark, where a longer lens may make it difficult to illuminate and track. I have occasional used my 70-200mm as a Macro with great results, but it usually works better with larger subjects. The longer focal lengths really helps with butterfly's and humming birds photos! I don't have an extender, but I would like to try one of these in the future.

The 90mm is a good walk around lens, razor sharp and flat field from f/4 thru f/11 and still very good at f/16 - - - great for macro where you have a very shallow DOF at close range.

Review: https://www.ephotozine.com/article/s...s-review-29635

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Terry989

All of my Costa Rica photos were taken with a Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro. 95% of the spider/insect/scorpion/opiliones photos were taken at night in the dark, where a longer lens may make it difficult to illuminate and track. I have occasional used my 70-200mm as a Macro with great results, but it usually works better with larger subjects. The longer focal lengths really helps with butterfly's and humming birds photos! I don't have an extender, but I would like to try one of these in the future.

The 90mm is a good walk around lens, razor sharp and flat field from f/4 thru f/11 and still very good at f/16 - - - great for macro where you have a very shallow DOF at close range.

Review: https://www.ephotozine.com/article/s...s-review-29635

Now that I'm in the Sony camp, I'm thinking of the fE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS. I've already got the FE 1.4x teleconverter, so I'd buy the 2.0x to go with the 70-200mm, if I buy it. The great thing about the teleconverters is that they increase magnification without changing the minimum focus distance. For macro, you could add an Extension Tube and get even closer.Of course, they use up light, so the bigger the f-stop you start with, the better.

I'm using my FE 100-400/f4.5-5.6 GM OSS, along with the 1.4x TC, but it's too slow for night shooting. Still, it's a hell of a good lense. Shooting with my Canon-buddies, they were astounded by the a9/100-400mm combo, as we chased a Northern harrier. I let one buddy hold it for a minute, while it was set on silent shutter (my default). He took 77 in-focus shots of a biker, without realizing it.

[Itsed65]

Smoke! Here was the view from my back yard last night. Those hills are less than a mile away from my house and the hills across the bay I can usually see are totally invisible. The closest fires are about 45 miles from my house.

[Itsed65]

Since it was hazardous to go out and shoot this weekend, I decided on a DIY project. I got tired of re-arranging my photo prints in my modest home office (read-spare bedroom) and decided I wanted something that facilitated changing the photos on the wall as often as I wanted, without making new holes in the wall, etc.. Everything from the store was too expensive, so I did a little looking online and decided to do it myself. All I needed was a 1x4, a 1x3 and a 1x2 for each shelf (or rail as they are called) , some glue, screws and a good driver and a couple of hours. It's kind of hard to tell the scale here, but they are 8 feet wide. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, now I need to go through my stacks of prints

[dcstep]

Cooper's Hawk - In Flight by David Stephens, on Flickr

Shot with the Sony a9, FE 100-400mm G Master combo, with the 1.4x teleconverter, handheld. All I need is an f/4 500 or 600mm and I'll move all the way over to Sony. The AF is astounding, plus seeing the exposure in the EVF and silent shooting and lower size and mass, all combine to make it a superior package. Just missing that native 600/f4, then I'm gone.

[Itsed65]

Hawk in Tree #74 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Great hawk shot, Ed.

Here's my shot of his cousin:

Red-tail Hawk Poses by David Stephens, on Flickr

[M_Six]

Nice work, Ed. I'd have made a mess of it. I'm a walking disaster with hand tools.

[dcstep]

White Pelicans Bed Down For The Night

Pelicans Bed Down For The Night by David Stephens, on Flickr

[Itsed65]

I'm not much of a chardonnay guy, but Bella winery has some fun with their "Growlers". Earlier this year they had some sauv blanc in the same type of bottle and it was delicious. Luckily, this region escaped any damage from the fires.

A tub of Chardonnay by lennycarl08, on Flickr