Cagey Heron

Been stalking this guy/gal for the past month or so.  He likes to hang out at the pond behind the house but never seems to be around when we're on the dog walk or when I have the camera.   But managed to get a few shots this morning.   He's very cagey so couldn't get close at all so I found myself putting the XF 55-200mm to it's extreme with very aggressive cropping again.  I want a 200mm prime :-)   LOL.

He caught a fish but was to far away to really see.

If you look close you can see 2 turkeys who just ran off the road as I came around the corner.  Missed them by that much!

Jock River Run

Loaded up the kayak and went for an early morning run on the Jock River.  The goal was to get pictures of the Ospreys (Success), Turtles (Success), Frogs (Success), Herons ( none to be seen ) and any other critters around.   This is a great spot.   Also a good chance to exercise the XF 55-200mm and X-T1 from the kayak.   Glad I got out early (7am) as the light was getting harsh very quickly.

Mom, Dad and the Kids

This turned into a "how aggressive can I crop with the X-Trans?".   Turns out you can be pretty damn aggressive.   Most of these are from the jpg's (why bother messing around with the raw's to get them just to look like the jpg's), big crops done to them, some black and contrast added and shadows lightened to pull out some detail if needed.    These Ospreys are up on a 60ft platform but from the angle I need to get pictures I must be at least 300ft away.  So if you apply the Pythagorean theorem, oh the hell with that I failed geometry anyhow, I was a long way away! :-)    How about a 400mm prime there Fuji?  lol.  Couldn't afford one even if they did exist.

Dead calm morning but already at 7am the sun was starting to get bright.

My launch spot, can't ask for much better.

She started crying out as soon as I came around the corner.  At this point I couldn't see the chicks and dad was nowhere to be seen.

Dad showed up when I was paddling so missed the shot.  He brought a fish home for the family, she's about to start ripping it apart.

and with fish on the menu, up pop the kids.

  

Maybe I'm starting to look like lunch?

After that final stare, I headed down the river.

Finally found the turtles :-)

Check out he big deer fly on the shell of the guy on the right.  Good luck biting through that ya little bugger.

"Let me tell you about the way I walk!"

Mr Attitude

He can't see me right?

Get this damn bug off me please!

Critters

For some reason I've run across a lot of critters over the past 24 hours.   Unfortunately I missed pictures of the snake, the heron and the hawk but managed to get the deer, squirrels, woodpecker, rabbit and the dog :-)

The XF 55-200 is my least favourite lens of the 3 I bought but it's doing the job :-)  These are the original jpg's from the X-T1 with crops and small curves applied.

Spring Trip to Algonquin

The past weekend we made it into Algonquin Park for a couple of days of fishing and relaxation.  This was the first time this group had been out together as a group.  Two of the guys (Matt and Ken) have tripped together before.  For Richard and myself this was a first outing.  

In the end after agonizing over camera gear I ended up taking the X-T1 with the 14mm and 55-200mm lenses.  They turned out to be excellent choices.  My thought process was I could crop most anything from the 14mm images, I was correct, the X-T1 has the resolution and the sharpness.

Unfortunately my blog post from my first trip to this spot is long gone as it was on another blog that I deleted in a moment of insanity.  Pics from that 2006 trip can be found here

This was the most dramatic picture I took in my opinion - posted it first for those who don't scroll far enough - lol

We arrived in the park and loaded the canoes up.  Richard and Matt.

Everyone but me.  Matt was taking pictures as well so if he share them I will post a few of myself. 

After a short 1.5 hour paddle we made our camp site.

Tent setup. 

Richard, eager to fish!

Matt and Ken 

Hey guys!

So ended the first evening.  All the black dots are mosquitoes - I am to lazy to clone them out :-)  Bugs were bad but we made the best of it.

See the bugs?

The latest is bug wear fashion.  No that is not a bottle of Crown Royal on the edge.

See, we don't live as pigs in the bush, we do our dishes!!!

Ken gearing up for day 2 of fishing.

No wind = nasty bugs but beautiful day!

Not a trout but a whitefish.

The picture on the left I took in 2006 and was one of my favourite pics for many many years.  It gives a sense of adventure ahead,  to the right and below are shots from the other day.  The scenery hasn't changed nor has the sense of adventure ahead.

Fire time to cut down on the bugs a bit. 

Below is a series of sunset shots as the day ended.

A small sliver of moon that very shortly after this set. 

This trip ends with a lovely fire on a quiet lake listening to the loons while we stared at the most amazing stary sky I have ever seen.  A short but great trip to remember.