My Christmas Surprise

I have the best husband in the world!!!I have literally drooled and dropped hint after hint for the past 2 years that it would be my dream to own the Panasonic  m100-400mm Leica lens for my birding and wildlife photography. Using a micro four thirds camera this provides me up to 800 mm in length when compared to a 35mm or dSLR  .  I literally sat in stunned silence when Guy told me to order it, that he really wanted me to have it.It arrived Friday and I took it out for a quick test drive right away.  Now the thing about this lens is it needs light, the more the better and of course it was cloudy and overcast, and it has a learning curve so I was struggling a bit but if this is bad light, can't wait to see what good light will be.  And who gets to shoot a bald eagle on their first test run of a new pro lens??

 

A few other shots..

Presquile National Wildlife Refuge

Just back from a Photo Meet-up at Presquile National Wildlife Refuge which is about an hour from our home.  The only way to reach the Refuge is by boat so our organizer arranged to have a pontoon boat shuttle us over and also tour the waterway surrounding the refuge.It was a cool, crisp fall morning that quickly became very hot and humid after about 10 am as so with the the dew was so heavy my shoes and socks were soaked through to almost the knees before we finished.  Lucky for us we had the first hour on the refuge and the last hour on the pontoon boat. The refuge was not as overgrown as I thought it would be, and very few bugs were visible (yea no mosquito bites for once).  I was a bit disappointed that we didn't see much wildlife on the island or the waterfronts but I still had a great time and would certainly return again. Below are a few of my favorite photos from the day (as always, click for a larger look). 
 

Testing out the New Olympus TG-5

We just bought the new Olympus TG-5 camera so that we would have a nice P/S that was also capable of taking 4k video, was waterproof and could take it if we were to drop it.  As much as I love to use my Olympus EM-1, sometimes carrying it is not practical.  This p/s seemed to fit the requirements we had and since we already shoot Olympus the learning curve to the menu system is minimized.A few samples from the camera (all in jpeg, although the camera does shoot raw)Wild Daisies in the backyardWater drop on the rosesMy desk at work is moving, this is my new view :) (shot through 5" thick window glass)Pro Capture is a new tool from Olympus that allows you to anticipate the action and by a half press grab the shots as they start.  These were taking about a 1/2 mile away standing on that walking bridge you may be able to see in the middle of the above photo.  No edits except a heavy crop.
Lastly, first video from the camera. The only editing was to cut dead time at end of each clip and to merge them togetherCamera was on a tripod and operated via the Olympus app remote.I think once I learn all the ins and outs this is going to be the p/s we were looking for :)Have a great day!