{"id":27474,"date":"2024-02-11T15:05:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-11T20:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=27474"},"modified":"2024-02-11T15:06:17","modified_gmt":"2024-02-11T20:06:17","slug":"recharging-the-batteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/11\/recharging-the-batteries\/","title":{"rendered":"Recharging the Batteries"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m gonna talk about fun stuff today.\u00a0 I need a break from Biden and his mush-brain.<\/p>\n

I was watching a YouTube video by one of the guys who provides me with pep talks on photography<\/a> and he said when you\u2019re feeling uninspired the best thing to do is grab your camera and look for inspiration.\u00a0 Well, Camera Girl has been haranguing me for the last couple of days about the return of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard to the swamp.\u00a0 Now this is an annual event.\u00a0 The same pair of mallards (I think) return every late winter to the local water and graze on the slime and ooze and raise up a passel of youngins.\u00a0 Some of my favorite shots of the mallards involve heavy snowfall.<\/p>\n

At the same time, they are very annoying because they tend to retreat from me and my camera whenever I try to capture them.\u00a0 But this year the battle is stacked more in my favor.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got the Sony 200-600 lens and with its extra reach I can still get reasonably close up shots from what the mallards feel is a safe distance.<\/p>\n

So, I went out this morning with my A7IV, the long lens and my monopod and picked my way between thorn bushes and mud holes until I was at a respectable one hundred feet from the ducks and banged out maybe a hundred exposures.\u00a0 I used single shot autofocus and a comfortable ISO 1000 to get the short exposure time I needed with the long lens.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The ducks are kind of funny in that the male and female look totally different from each other.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And they have slightly different behaviors also.\u00a0 The male is more confident while the female seems more cautious.\u00a0 His head seems to be mostly underwater while hers is above.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

He ranges around more while she is mostly still.\u00a0 And interestingly, I\u2019ve adopted the idea that they work for me and require my approval in order to feel legitimate.\u00a0 Well today they got the official thumbs up from the king.\u00a0 I provided them with the royal nod and now they can get on with perpetuating their species without fear of their charter being pulled.\u00a0 I told them that I am following their careers with great interest and expect to review their progress sometime in the early spring when the latest cohort is swimming and quacking around the puddle.\u00a0 After all Dunwich must be populated or duckulated or whatever duck increase is called.<\/p>\n

I was looking for inspiration today and sure enough, it was fun.\u00a0 And that got me motivated to download all the files on my camera and at least look at the mallard shots I just took.\u00a0 And that is the evolution of a good day.\u00a0 A little research, a little field work and a little work in the office and I have a few nice shots of the neighbors and a nice little illustrated post for the site.<\/p>\n

All right.\u00a0 Now I can stand to hear about what mush-brain has done today.\u00a0 Hopefully something harmless like taking credit for the invention of shoelaces or something.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m gonna talk about fun stuff today.\u00a0 I need a break from Biden and his mush-brain. 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