Friday, September 29, 2017 found us at anchor off Rábida, the smallest island on our itinerary. It is known for its red sand beaches. We started with a nature walk. There were starfish washed up on shore:
Starfish
Pretty morning glories:
Morning Glory
Quite a few lava lizards:
Lava Lizard
Lava Lizard
And we got our best look at the Galápagos Flycatcher:
Galápagos Flycatcher
Galápagos Flycatcher
Galápagos Flycatcher
Galápagos Flycatcher
Galápagos Flycatcher
We made our way to the top of a hill where we took a group portrait:
Like millions of other people, we went chasing the Great American Eclipse. We chose Nebraska, since everybody we knew was going to Wyoming, and the climate models suggested a good probability of clear weather. Our initial camp was at Lake McConaughy, which is just inside the line of totality. My sister Danielle and her husband Edward got there early to start scouting. Our plan was to check weather forecasts and then go mobile the day of the eclipse. The morning of August 19 I got up early and snapped this shot of the moon on its way to its date with destiny: Sunday morning we checked the forecasts. It was not looking good for Nebraska in general, but east-central Nebraska seemed better than western according to the forecasts. So we packed up camp and headed out to Camp Augustine, a Boy Scout camp near Grand Island, Nebraska: They had camping spots available, and a large field which would be good for observations. After a rather hot, muggy, sleepless night (dry camping wi
In my previous post on this lens, I used a 1.4x teleconverter on both lenses. I got a request to repeat the test without the teleconverters, so here are the results. These are all shot at ISO 400, f/5.6 at 400mm, 1/1600s, autofocus with the center point, RAW. It is later in the day, and it looks like light clouds and shadows moving in the breeze are slightly changing the lighting between the shots, so caveat emptor. First the whole image with the old lens: Next, the new lens: Here are the locations of the crops I took: First, the center crop. The old lens: The new lens - again, sharper even in the center (although the moving shadows from the windy day make it a little harder to tell): The left edge crop, the old lens: The new lens - significantly sharper: And now, the corner crop, the old lens: And the new lens. It is no contest: The chromatic aberration is not as bad with the old lens without the teleconverter - but the sharpness i
My wife, Jill, and I were in the Savannah, Georgia area at the end of June and beginning of July. We spent the first part of the trip exploring the built environment. Savannah is a fun, diverse city with a lot to do. We found this amazing metallic Diplodocus in the lobby of the JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District hotel : JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside hotel lobby We found lovely Spanish-moss-draped Live Oaks in the parks - this is Forsyth Park: Forsyth Park We found more of them in the cemeteries - this is Bonaventure Cemetery: Bonaventure Cemetery We found the amazing Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist: Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist We found many blooming Crepe Myrtles, draped in, of course, Spanish Moss: Crepe Myrtle We were staying on Tybee Island, which is about 30-45 minutes from downtown Savannah. On the island, we visited the Tybee Island Light Station, which was to feature prominently in our photos
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