Macro Safari

I met up with a friend this morning for a walk at one of the nearby marshes.  The main trail was blocked about a half mile in by a huge downed tree.  There was no getting through or around it so we turned around and found another branch of the trail that was away from the marsh.  It was shaded which made the walk very pleasant.  We saw 30 bird species including a Ruffed Grouse which I've only ever seen once before.  Unfortunately, it flew into the woods too fast for me to raise the camera.  A very fun morning.

Back at home, I switched the lens on the z6iii to my old 105 f/2.8 (which is a fab macro lens) and went out into the garden to look for things.  Loads of bees but the winner for me was this very tattered Banded Hairstreak, the first I've seen this year.  They are tiny little things but usually fairly easy to photograph because they don't flit around as much as most butterflies.  Anyway, I liked this on the milkweed leaf.  

I've watched a series of 4 set-up tutorials (Steve Perry, Back Country Gallery) for the new camera which was very helpful.  I have it set up to mirror most of the function buttons on my Z8 which will make switching between the two cameras very easy.  And I got the viewfinder screen set up the way I like it with histogram visible as well as grids, levels, etc.  I must say that I am liking the size of the camera and the way it feels in hand. I plan to take it out again tomorrow for some more test photos.

Jax had his weekly day care appointment today so I know he will be ready to sleep tonight.  Last night when I was making dinner, I accidentally dropped a half a sweet potato on the floor while I was cutting it and he pounced on it and wouldn't give it up.  At the whole damned thing.  I suspect that when he was in the shelter and in foster care, he had to compete with other dogs for food and now resource-guards high value food items - like raw sweet potatoes.  No harm done, thankfully.  

Hubs and I have watched a couple of good movies this week.  We enjoyed "King Richard" which was a biopic about Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena, the tennis champions.  Very good movie and a well-deserved Oscar for Will Smith.  Available on Netflix.  The other movie we watched this week was "The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn" with Sydney Poitier - a wonderful movie!  I'd never heard of it before so it was a delightful surprise when we watched it.  The cast is all terrific and the story is lovely.  Worth a watch if you have Amazon Prime. 

xo
Debbi