Daily Image - Mar 2018 Archive

01 Mar 18 As you are all aware I beta test for Topaz Labs and yesterday the company released a new adjustment called AI ReMix. For those of you who use the Topaz products and are curious or interested you can read about it here. It is a form of neural networking software that employs artificial intelligence hence the AI part of the name. I used that new product to create today's Theatrical offering. Our bus ride from Praha to Passau took us through farm land, forests, several small towns many of which were comprised of just a few buildings, and a couple larger communities. Throughout the entire journey our guide talked about the history of the area and not only was he an extremely knowledgeable historian but a very capable speaker in addition. His presentation made the mid evil period come alive. He was by far the best guide we had on the entire trip and they were all very good!! At one point in the drive approaching Passau he played a CD of the Moldau as we were driving across it. Couldn't ask for much more than that. The stormy weather that you see in the image was apparently the beginning of the storm that would eventually drench us for several days and do significant damage along the length of the Danube. The original was given a bit of straightening and perspective adjustment, the converted using the new AI ReMix adjustment. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 400; 1/400 sec @ f / 4.

13 Mar 18 The weather being about as perfect as it gets this time of year we took our first of likely several visits to Sequim on Sunday visiting friends and doing a little photography as well. Found two 8 member herds of Black Tail deer and what looked to be a mated pair of adult Bald Eagles as well as a solo individual. Also came across two previously unknown lavender farms as well as driving past a couple of my favorites. One of them, Jardin de Soleil, has a French theme and is generally well visited during the Lavender Festival. They also have a large number of poppies growing among the lavender which can make for some nice color when the poppies and lavender bloom at the same time. That's not always the case but when it happens the spots with the co-mingled poppies are really spectacular. Near the top of the fields is a small, for lack of a better description, nursery/showcase which is home to a few old wooden relics surrounded with flowers for your visual enjoyment and I would imagine as enticement to linger and purchase. One of these is a windmill mailbox made of wood. A couple of years prior to moving here we happened to hit it just right and found all the farms, Jardin de Solei included, at peak color. This is a slightly creative version of the windmill/mailbox taken on that trip and while there were no poppies surrounding the relic they did have a few groupings of geraniums which provided an equally nice red color. This original was straightened some, cropped for best composition, and given a small amount of manipulation for impact. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/500 sec @ f /10.

14 Mar 18 Crossing over the Charles Bridge from the Old Town side to the opposite end you walk under the bridge to visit an assortment of restaurants, small shops, boat cruise offices, parks, and art galleries. One art gallery in particular, whose name I didn't catch, has both indoor and outdoor displays. We didn't go inside, but did stroll around the outer display. The first display you encounter is totally exterior to both the building and the gated interior court. It consists of several very young faceless children with very large heads. The faces are replaced with what at first glance looks like a vertical section of bar code. Other than their heads the babies are anatomically correct and in proportion. Looking at them left us both with a strange feeling and I'm still not sure I'm really comfortable with them. Unfortunately we were not able to find any info that gave a satisfactory explanation for what the sculptor was trying to convey. Maybe one of you will have a good explanation at what we are viewing. I've cropped the original to remove a lot of distractions, adjusted the color very slightly, and added a wee bit of contrast enhancement. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/200 sec @ f /10.

28 Mar 18 On our coach ride from Praha to Passau we passed through a lot of countryside spotted with numerous nice estates as well as smaller properties and farms. There was much to photograph but trying to do it through the window of a large bus was challenging to say the least. I took a lot of shots but the majority of them met the key. Trying to shoot from a seated position through a less than spot less window while moving at 90+ kph is not ideal, and when compounded with the frequent reflections off the glass the number of keepers wasn't high. And that is a shame as there was so many simply beautiful sights that I wanted to share. Today's submission is one that turned out O.K. and is, I believe, an orchard of some kind. But it is the buildings that caught my eye which appear to be of Russian design. I'm just guessing as our tour guides, as good as they were, and they were very good, never made any mention of the views outside the bus. I've straightened the original some, given the sky a little contrast assist, and cropped of some distractions. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1250; 1/400 sec @ f / 4.8.

07 Mar 18 Today we'll have another look at the Donnerbrunnen but this time in an attempt to showcase as much as possible in a single frame. This shot shows about 80% of it and you should be able to imagine most of the rest. You can read a fair amount about it here and I highly recommend you do. The fountain is primarily one emphasizing the importance of the four main rivers in Austria with the four large figures on the edge of the fountain, two female and two male, representing each of those rivers. The male figure in yesterday's mailing, Enns, is an old ferryman, and represents the Enns river, a major traffic line from the Alps. All of the figures are replicas of the originals which are in safe storage as is the case for much of the statuary throughout central Europe. If you are so inclined, do a search for the major fountains in Vienna and then just enjoy looking at them. If I read correctly in one of our guides, there are some 600 fountains in Vienna. I've done some perspective adjustments from the original to get the buildings straight, removed a few distractions, and given the sky some contrast adjustment. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; ISO 800; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

06 Mar 18 Since I didn't do a very good job on my prep for Monday's submission, one astute member of the group stepped in for me and found the identification of the church, commonly called the Church of St Jerome or the Franciscan Church. For those of you who may be interested you can read about it here. Before visiting that church courtyard we first spent about 20 minutes at a fountain at Neuer Markt, Vienna's 1st District. See, I did my homework for today's submission. The fountain which dates from 1737 has a female figure in the center sitting above the water, and is surrounded by four figures on the fountain's rim. The fountain’s central figure is Providentia as an allegory of destiny and foresight. She is surrounded by four figures, which represent the rivers of Traun, Enns, Ybbs and March in the archduchy of Austria; they simultaneously represent the four ages and temperaments. On the base can be found four putti with water-spitting fish (pike, carp, catfish and salmon), which are the fountain’s true water dispensers and symbolize the Danube. The city couldn't figure out how to use the central figure's name in naming the fountain so they just named it after the designer, Georg Raphael Donner. According to our tour guide one of the local princesses didn't approve of the nudity of Providentia and on several successive nights draped her only to have the locals remove the drape each time so she eventually gave up. It was during the ongoing informative talk that I was walking around the fountain taking pictures from all angles when I noticed an individual who obviously wanted his mug shot in front of the fountain and in particular in front of this Neptune figure. I offered to take it for him and he agreed, so I did. When I showed it to him he firmly but politely informed me that I had not done what he wanted and to do it again. I did and this time I got it right. We then started chatting; he was from Moscow and was a Russian aviator so we had lots to talk about. He also invited me to visit Russia telling me when I should visit and which TWO cities to visit. It was a great chat. I've cropped the original a small amount, given it a tiny amount of contrast enhancement, and replaced a very obtrusive red and white apothecary sign with a copy of the image in it's place to serve as a poster. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 800; 1/400 sec @ f / 9.

05 Mar 18 I think we'll dedicate this week to trip photos, and start with this one taken in downtown Vienna. One of my regrets of the trip was that I wasn't always able to get a snap of the title or name of my subject. My hope was that in such instances the travel books would back fill what I missed. Unfortunately for Vienna that didn't happen for the most part, and today's submission is one of many such instances. I do know it is the courtyard of a medium sized church but nowhere could I locate the name. The tour guides did fill us in but as I don't have very good short term memory in virtually every case I didn't store the info. Which is why I always look for an info sign to shoot. I do know that the central figure is some saint, but which one I have no idea. Although dry when we were visiting, I believe the white marble base would normally hold water but that it was emptied for the renovation. Our guide simply said things were being renovated and nothing more about this specific statue. Of interest to me was that the walkway sloped in one direction while this little alcove sloped in a different direction. Made for a fun challenge in trying to get a photo with parallel lines. Since the "fountain" was my main subject I elected to try and get it straight and let the church building list as it would. I've removed a few distractions but thought that trying to remove the red and green construction elements would not only be most challenging but would also remove some nice color. So I've left them as they were. As mentioned I've removed some distractions from the original, straightened it some, and adjusted the contrast to allow all the figures to present in a balanced manner. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 800; 1/320 sec @ f / 9.

15 Mar 18 We'll momentarily pick up today where we left off yesterday. The sculptures of the bronze babies are by a Czech artist named David Cerny and it was suggested to me that this display was a comment on abortion. I wasn't able to confirm that story but I certainly feel it appropriate when looking at those babies. If at all interested you can read some here. That said we shall now begin a walk along the side of the Danube in a small park next to where were moored for our visit to Vienna. This sign, well not my manipulated version, met us a few meters distant from where we began our walk. During out 5 city visit we saw many new signs but with this exception they were all readily comprehendable. This one left us pondering just exactly what was being communicated. We came up with several interpretations the sweetest of which was "This is a safe place to walk with your children" but we never did find out the exact meaning. Since we were left in somewhat of a quandary as to the precise statement being made I thought placing it in a bubble might be appropriate for Theatrical Thursday. I'd love to hear your thoughts as to its exact meaning. I've cropped and straightened the original a small amount, then applied the Topaz plug-in Impression 2 saturated water color option to get the effect. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 4000; 1/6 sec @ f /9 hand held.

08 Mar 18 One of the highlights of the cruise was a night at the opera, not just any opera, but Tosca performed at the Vienna State Opera. Now that may not sound like anything special until you have the background of the Opera House. I'll go with the very short version of it tonight with the first image of the interior. Tickets to the Vienna Opera are family affairs in that most of the seats have been held by families for decades if not longer. To get a ticket to see the opera there is like pulling hens teeth or getting season's tickets to certain football teams. When our tour director called to get us tickets (there were 130 of us) the first question he was asked was "and how long has your family been ticket holders." Never did understand how he was able to finagle the tickets but he did get them and I think we filled every vacant seat in the house. Neither of us being the least bit interested in opera, we thought about not attending but we did. The venue made it all worth while and today we'll look at the first of several photos from inside which for lack of a better description oozes of opulence. On top of all this was the stage itself and the orchestra. More about all that later. Other than a tiny bit of straightening this is what the camera saw. Since tripods were not allowed but photos of everything save for the performance was O.K. I had to use a very high ISO. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 8,000; 1/60 sec @ f /6.3.

02 Mar 18 During our visit to central Europe there were three occasions in which I encountered something I'll never forget. The first was in a Synagogue in Praha where we got to see walls lined from ceiling to floor with the names of Holocaust victims as well as pictures drawn by children in the concentration camps. I've already written about that and shared the image of the names. The second was in Bratislava which I'll write about later. The third was also in Bratislava and is the subject of today's mailing. We arrived at Bratislava to a beautiful pink sunrise but that was soon to change. By the time we had finished breakfast and disembarked the boat to tour the town the weather had changed to, you guessed it, rain. On this particular morning it was more of a cold drizzle but enough to make you think it would have been smart to have brought an umbrella - we hadn't - and to thoroughly wet the streets. As we were walking through one particular section of the city the tour guide was pointing out the differences in the normal architecture and that built by the Russians. During a portion of one of his talks he was standing in front of a black marble wall made of sections or marble on which was, painted I would guess, a pure white Temple. The wall was a memorial to the Jewish section and the Temple that had been totally destroyed in the war. White on black, it was pretty stark and intentionally so! But as I walked around looking for the best way to present this memorial I wandered into a spot that was perfectly reflecting the reflections off the water (wet street) of the folks in our tour group and the buildings around them. It struck me as though I was looking back in time at the individuals who could just as well have been walking in that market area during that terrible period in Western history. This is a sight I shall never forget just like that Synagogue in Praha. This is pretty much what the camera recorded. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 800; 1/80 sec @ f / 9.

16 Mar 18 Back to a 1:1 macro for today. This may be something you've never before seen, and for us this was a first. One of Jan's favorite plants is the Jack-in-the-Pulpit. We've tried growing them on several occasions, but the ones she planted two years ago have really taken hold and they are becoming a nice showpiece. According to the literature a fully mature plant can get to approx 24" in height and perhaps 18" in diameter. This year one plant made it to roughly 36" in height and took over one corner section of the side garden. One drawback to this is that In the process they have totally overshadowed a few other plants we like. But the big surprise, as if the size wasn't enough, was that they produced seed heads larger than a cob of corn. At first they were green, looking much like an ear of corn, but green instead of yellow. Eventually they got so heavy that the stalks tipped over and the "pods" were lying on the ground. We thought that interesting but gave it no further thought until one day we noticed that had turned dark red. They've lasted through the winter, are still on the ground, and the red seeds are still on the "cob" and still firm. Probably time we bring them into the hothouse and see if we can get them to germinate. Even if we got just a 5% success rate we would have a couple dozen new plants for free. I've cropped the image some and applied a very tiny amount of contrast adjustment. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 640; 1/60 sec @ f / 5.6 with fill flash.

12 Mar 18 We'll pick up where we left off Friday, that is, photographically speaking. On most of our visits at Eglon Beach, now as well as when I was a kid, Mt Rainier is/was for the most part a distant object, large enough to be of interest, but nonetheless a goodly distance away. A few times a year however it plays a little game and moves apparently about 70 miles closer and appears as though it is just behind the next hillside. I shared a similar kind of shot last year taken from Gig Harbor with a yacht club full of sailboats in the foreground. This time the foreground is Eglon Beach at a 1.6 low tide. Hiding behind the branches of the tree you might recognize a few of the taller buildings comprising the Seattle skyline. The small white line above and to the left of the orange ball is the Edmonds ferry terminal with one of the ferrys just departing. The location at which I was standing to take the shot would have been a pier in my youth but long since gone as part of the county parks "improvement" plans. "Improvement" of course is all in one's perspective. But it's been gone for several decades and today nothing of it remains save for the memories and some old photographs. I've cropped the original some, added a fair amount of contrast enhancement to bring out an otherwise very hazy mountain, and removed a few distractions. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 250; 1/2000 sec @ f / 8.

09 Mar 18 Back to a real close-up for today and this time form our local beach. Tue was 9 days post-op for Maggie and she really wanted to get some serious exercise so we took her to the beach and let'r rip. And did she enjoy her time there. While she was getting the bod back into fighting tone Jan was walking the beach looking for beach glass of which she found a goodly amount and I was scouting for interesting things on the rocky beach to photograph. For some reason there was a fair amount of feather material scattered about in a roughly 50 sq foot section so I snapped away looking for different presentations of feathers blowing in the wind. This is my favorite shot of the set and I made several different versions of it but much to my surprise Jan immediately said this was the best, so today you get a B & W. Since I couldn't find any indication of carnage I'm guessing these feathers were part of a normal molt. Whether or not that's the case they were nice to see fluttering in the wind and fun to shoot. This is a crop of the original that was then converted to B & W. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 250; 1/800 sec @ f / 8.

29 Mar 18 While visiting friends in Sequim a couple weeks back we took the drive along the cliff facing the Straights of Juan de Fuca- as we always do - looking for Bald Eagles. Most of the time we are rewarded with seeing at least one if not more. This trip yielded one set of two, likely a mated pair, and a solo individual. With both sightings the bird(s) let me take all the photos I wanted although the setting was not ideal due to power and telephone lines running through the trees. But you work with what you are provided. This shot was among my favorite except for the fact that the bird was looking to the left, out of the frame. So I chopped off the head, flipped it L/R, and put it back on the bird. Now I have the bird looking into the frame. I probably could have gotten the critter to do the work for me but in the time I had it didn't. Guess I should be more patient. The shot wasn't entirely what I had hoped to get but with the magic of software I have changed it into something I like, as does my main critic. So with a bit of texture and some blue color I now have a night watchman but not like that of Rembrandt. I adjusted the original with some cropping and what I wrote above. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f / 8.

30 Mar 18 Same as for the yellow flowers.

30 Mar 18 Two images for today, both of the same subject, but one emphasizing the flower and the other celebratory. Back to a macro and I should be sharing a nice shot of an Easter Lily but I didn't have one handy so going with daffodils. These were a gift along with a whole tub of them which are just about to bloom. Over the years I have played with different kinds of flash equipment and for the most part have had good results with them. One type I never had much luck with however was ring flash and it was likely more a problem of operator error than equipment failure. About a month ago I saw a demo of a new ring flash that looked to produce good results, was very reasonably priced, and returnable if not satisfied. What to lose? So I purchased one and gave it a go. I was immediately impressed with the results and the image for today was made using that unit. The straight image is just what the camera recorded; you can judge for yourself as to the quality of image produced. One thing I did note was that the camera did not record the flash exposure in the EXIF data but I may have unknowingly had that feature turned off. Based on this initial trial I'm thinking this will now be my go to flash for studio work. The straight image is just what the camera recorded; the colorful one was created using the Topaz plug-in Glow 2. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 1000; 1/60 sec @ f / 14 with ring light.

20 Mar 19 Back late as I thought might be the case, and really tired, so sharing a B&W version of the same image I shared for Monday and it being B&W Tuesday it seems fully appropriate. Nothing more to say about the image as I think I covered it pretty thoroughly already. For those of you who favor B&W it might be a fun exercise to place them side by side for comparison. Might have to wait until Wed to do it from the archives but I think the difference in the sky will be surprising. The trip up to the Skagit Valley was more than I could have hoped for in that the sky gave us a non stop show from sun up to sun down, the avian display was the best we've experienced to date, and there was lot of fauna to shoot as well. In addition to several hawks, a dozen plus Bald Eagles, hundreds of Trumpeter swans and Mallard ducks, plus a few individual duck species I couldn't identify, and a few Great Blue Herons, we recorded several flocks of Snow Geese the largest of which exceeded 30,000 (30K) birds, and three more in the 1- 3,000 member size. Even met a photographer friend from another club while shooting the large flock. While we were observing the 30K flock they put on several launches for us, at one time flying low directly overhead and depositing digested grass on us. It was a trip to remember. I'll start sharing from the trip on Wednesday. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/320 sec @ f / 16.

19 Mar 18 Lately there has been a lot of discussion about our globe experiencing another Grand Solar Minimum. It is a rather interesting discussion regardless of your take on it but a part of it that has caught my attention is a discussion of changes in clouds and cloud patterns that we should expect. Now, having NO meteorological experience save for that given in ground school in flight training, I have to admit that I have little to no knowledge of how accurate the discussion of changing clouds and cloud patterns may be. That said I can say that I have been seeing increasingly different types of clouds in our local area from that which I can remember from either my youth or what I was photographing as recently as a decade back when we returned here after retiring. Of course there is always the proposition that, like seeing everywhere the same car as you just purchased when you weren't aware of them prior, having read about the idea of new clouds has just drawn my attention to same. That however does not account for the photographic record. Regardless of the reason, real or imagined, the cloud displays to which we are being treated are simply delightful. A fun thing to do for me is to photograph clouds which I can use to create digital "brushes" which allow me to add a cloud or two to an otherwise boring sky and as you are aware I infrequently do so but also tell you when I do it. So all the clouds that have been showing up lately have me out collecting as many of them as practical. While doing such Sunday I got a few cloud shots which had more than just clouds in them, and I'm sharing one of those today. I may share a second version of the same image for Tuesday as we are heading up to the Skagit Monday for a Snow Goose shoot and will likely return home late. The shot today is from Norwegian Point, next door to my cousin's home on Puget Sound, looking across the Sound. Whidbey Island is at the far left, Seattle is off screen at the far right, and the Point-No-Point light house is immediately to the left of that small tower on the horizon. Of course it is the clouds that caused me to take the shot, but I think it all goes together quite well. This is pretty much straight from the camera save for a small amount of contrast enhancement. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/320 sec @ f /16.

22 Mar 18 Early on in our marriage we purchased a painting of a sailboat sailing under a sky blue pink sky. We bought it because it reminded us of the kinds of skies we saw infrequently but often enough for the painting to strike a positive nerve. It hung in our house for several years before we tired of it for some reason and gave it to Jan's mom who really liked it. For quite a while after we didn't see anymore of those kinds of skies and began to think that we had imagined them being more intense than they really were. Returning home last Friday from a camera club event I timed it perfectly to capture one of those old skies, and it was just as we had remembered. I shot for about 5 minutes by which time it had all disappeared. This was what I saw! And even though a straight shot it seems like a reasonable candidate for Theatrical Thursday. This is straight out of the camera. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1000; 1/100 sec @ f / 9.

23 Mar 18 Driving along the Hansville beach area is a marshy area containing primarily cattails, and I've thought about grabbing some photos of them for several years, so about a week ago I did just that. I picked a poor time to try and for the most part was unsuccessful, but when approaching the location from which I wanted to work I noticed something rather odd at the edge of the property and just had to see what it was and take a shot or two. It turned out to be what I think is some form of flowering kale, but I wouldn't put any money on it. But a deep purple cabbage-like plant with magenta stalks and deep yellow flowers is something that is hard to ignore. I'm guessing some local resident was cleaning out the garden and thought the marsh a good place to toss unwanted plants but they didn't quite make it into the marsh and just got caught on the roadside edge of the marsh. There is nothing fancy or clever in this image, just an interesting combination of colors that you may like to play with to create something of your own. I've cropped the original some and adjusted the lighting otherwise it is pretty much as seen. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/200 sec @ f / 9.

21 Mar 18 Our last visit to Fir Island turns out to have been in 2012. We used to go several times a year, so I was a little shocked when I just checked the photographic record and realized we haven't visited since moving here; need to change that! Not as shocked however as we were yesterday when we returned to my favorite site on Fir Island, the Hayden Farm Reserve. To our surprise it had been totally revamped and what was previously 200+ acres of farmland planted with winter wheat for the 10K+ flock of Snow Geese was now reduced to about 1/3 its size and planted with what looked to be corn. The rest of the acreage was now an estuary, the 100 year old dike that had been established to create the farmland having been intentionally breached to let the salt water flow back to what is presumed its original location. We missed all this transformation during our 6 year absence. From what I have been able to ascertain the project was finished either in the fall of 2016 or 2017; either way we now have a much larger natural habitat for a multitude of species. In that 6 year period it appears that the Hayden Farms flock has grown from 10,000 individuals to c30,000 individuals. The local area is host to approximately 75,000 individuals total. No need to travel to New Mexico to see them if you live near here. The shot for today which kicks off the first of perhaps a couple dozen I'll share is a view of the newly created estuary at both low tide and bright sun. What remains of the 100 year old dike in this area can be seen in the middle of the image running to the right hand edge. The thin blue line above it is Puget Sound. You can also see some more of the beautiful clouds I've mentioned of late. I've added a small amount of contrast enhancement to overcome the flatness due to the harsh lighting. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f / 9.

26 Mar 18 Here is a shot of why we drive up to Fir Island and spend the better part of a day. Last Monday we made it an afternoon venture and it turned out to be our best day with the birds to date. Amazingly we drove right past the flock on our way to see what used to be the inlet from Puget Sound to the Hayden Farms Reserve. While preparing to walk the newly revamped Reserve we heard them launch and turned to look at the road to see them flying where we had been just minutes prior. After walking the new Reserve we drove back to the road, roughly a block, and I parked the SUV and walked across the road to a location where I could safely shoot while not disturbing the flock. As I watched them the flock, which was initially perhaps 30 yards away, slowly moved to within 3 yards unconcerned by my presence. I was joined by a couple other photographers and for the better part of an hour we remained in our spot shooting the birds. We were treated to another 5 launches before we left and at times had them flying directly over our heads perhaps 20 feet above us; you can see their shadows on the grass. The launches on this trip were different from what I've encountered before in that the entire flock never fully got airborne. Generally they all go at once but on this particular day then tended to peel off in succession but never with the entire flock participating. They also didn't do the normal sudden stoppage of squawking and then a fraction of a second later launching. I have no idea if the flock size had anything to do with it, 30,000 individuals vs the 10,000 I am more accustomed to seeing, or if some other factor was involved. Whatever the reason it was a real joy to watch them for as long as we did. If you are in the local area, there is still time to go up and see them. If you plan on visiting them for some photos, you should have a short focal length lens other wise you will miss the big picture. This is basically straight from the camera. Nikon D500; 18 - 200 ( 27mm full frame equivalent) setting; ISO 200; 1/1000 sec @ f / 9.

27 Mar 18 Well, as the saying goes, what goes up must come down, so here we have a few members of the flock returning from their exercise called "how to confuse the predators." As unbelievable as it is to see them all launch and not collide, it is equally so to watch as they return never landing on an already "parked" fellow. Not sure how they do it but I have never seen one bump, let alone nudge, another on landing. These critters are simply amazing! Nothing more to add to what I've already said other than to encourage as many of you locals as possible to go see this show before they depart for their northern breeding grounds. Today we see them in B&W and as isolated individuals which is in stark contrast to yesterday's mass confusion of color. I've removed a few individuals who were partially present at the edges, otherwise, this is what the camera recorded. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f / 9.