Picture-A-Week 2018 - Week 14

Pictures taken between Monday, April 2 and Sunday, April 8.

It is rare that anyone has gone through life without sharing (or not) a package of Red Vines Twists at a movie theater or that anyone with a Costco membership doesn't have at least one five pound tub in their purchase history. Originally they were raspberry flavored but in the middle of the last century, they changed the flavor to “Original Red” which is berry-esque and 100% artificial. Much like the balloon from earlier this year, this photo was randomly inspired. I fumbled the tub while removing a Twist (or two) and it landed right-side up at my feet. I looked down and said quietly, “Hmmmmm...”. Ten minutes and a half-dozen frames later, I had another red thing for this year.

Original Red

Dave

They look good.

Only have popcorn at a movie or something with dark chocolate.

No Costco near us plus with just the 2 of us -- don't need to buy in bulk.

More wildlife from this past weekend. It's getting hot here in Florida. Not that 84 in the winter isn't already hot, but now we've been poking up to 90 the past week or two...sure sign that our brief Winter/Spring is surely over and the long, 9 month summer has arrived.

Anyway, braved the heat to walk around the wetlands again Saturday and found the following:

A black-necked stilt - well-named bird given those ridiculous leg-to-body proportions:

A male least bittern, all gussied up in mating colors, and standing high on a reed to get the attention of all the ladies in the wetlands, to know he's available for dates:

Down low in the reeds, always flitting over the waterline and hard to shoot, I finally got a brief second or two to catch this common yellowthroat calling out on the side of a reed:

It's baby time in the wetlands - hundreds and hundreds of nests have all hatched, and the noise is deafening. Tricolor herons, great blue herons, snowy egrets, cattle egrets, wood storks, anhingas, cormorants, green herons ALL have chicks now - and so does this great egret with her brood at her feet:

The often heard, rarely seen pig frog. Constantly croaking loudly and singing day and night, they usually hide in deep duckweed or algae, and poke only their heads out of the water. But when the water is relatively clear, and it's daytime, it's a little harder to hide, because I can see more than just your head!:

Thanks for "braving the heat" for those pictures.

Some birds have returned from the south, but with snow on the ground and flurries in the forecast, it'll be a while before we see the herons, or hear the peepers.

A black-necked stilt - well-named bird given those ridiculous leg-to-body proportions:

 

As always, great pictures! (400mm?) But the stilt was very appealing!

As always, great pictures! (400mm?) But the stilt was very appealing!

Thank you.

The lens was a Sony FE100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS, mounted on my A6300. It's my go-to bird and wildlife rig since I got the lens last year - perfect size, reach and speed for me. I sometimes also mount the 1.4x teleconverter when I need more reach.

Thank you.

 

The lens was a Sony FE100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS, mounted on my A6300. It's my go-to bird and wildlife rig since I got the lens last year - perfect size, reach and speed for me. I sometimes also mount the 1.4x teleconverter when I need more reach.

Is that a manual setting?

Is that a manual setting?

Not 100% sure what you mean - the lens is a native mount lens, so fully auto and compatible, and can be shot manually too. The 1.4x teleconverter is a piece of hardware, rather than a setting - it's a small adapter that mounts between the camera and lens to extend the reach of the lens.

Teleconverters are made in most camera mounts, usually in either 1.4x or 2x strength, but aren't always compatible with all lenses - certain lenses are often designed to function well with teleconverters, and are often longer focal length lenses of 200mm or more. Teleconverters can sometimes cost a little bit of image quality if they're cheaply made, or can be as excellent as the original lens for high-quality, matched converters designed with one particular lens in mind. They will always cost you a little bit of light - the maximum aperture of a lens will go down by 1 stop when using a 1.4x converter, and 2 stops when using a 2x converter. So an F4 lens with a 1.4x converter on it becomes an F5.6 lens.

When I stick the 1.4x teleconverter on my 100-400mm lens, the focal length of the lens becomes 140mm (100mm x 1.4) to 560mm (400mm x 1.4). The teleconverter is about 1 inch long, and sits flush mounted directly between the camera body and the lens it's attached to. Because mine's a 'matched' teleconverter, designed to work only with a few specific lenses, it's optically excellent, and all autofocus speeds remain the same, all camera functionality stays the same, and the stabilization still works the same.

Not 100% sure what you mean - the lens is a native mount lens, so fully auto and compatible, and can be shot manually too. The 1.4x teleconverter is a piece of hardware, rather than a setting - it's a small adapter that mounts between the camera and lens to extend the reach of the lens.

 

Teleconverters are made in most camera mounts, usually in either 1.4x or 2x strength, but aren't always compatible with all lenses - certain lenses are often designed to function well with teleconverters, and are often longer focal length lenses of 200mm or more. Teleconverters can sometimes cost a little bit of image quality if they're cheaply made, or can be as excellent as the original lens for high-quality, matched converters designed with one particular lens in mind. They will always cost you a little bit of light - the maximum aperture of a lens will go down by 1 stop when using a 1.4x converter, and 2 stops when using a 2x converter. So an F4 lens with a 1.4x converter on it becomes an F5.6 lens.

 

When I stick the 1.4x teleconverter on my 100-400mm lens, the focal length of the lens becomes 140mm (100mm x 1.4) to 560mm (400mm x 1.4). The teleconverter is about 1 inch long, and sits flush mounted directly between the camera body and the lens it's attached to. Because mine's a 'matched' teleconverter, designed to work only with a few specific lenses, it's optically excellent, and all autofocus speeds remain the same, all camera functionality stays the same, and the stabilization still works the same.

I guess I don't understand what the

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I guess I don't understand what the

 

 

F4.5-5.6 GM OSS means. My 70--300 lens says f4.5-6.3G ED (I don't know what that means either).

100-400 F4.5-5.6 GM OSS

f/4.5 maximum aperture at 100mm - f/5.6 maximum aperture at 400mm

GM - G Master (Sony's top of the line)

OSS - Optical Stabilization

70--300 f4.5-6.3G ED

f/4.5 maximum aperture at 70mm - f/6.3 maximum aperture at 300mm

G - New design without manual aperture ring

ED - Extra Low Dispersion glass used to improve lens image quality

Dave

I guess I don't understand what the

F4.5-5.6 GM OSS means. My 70--300 lens says f4.5-6.3G ED (I don't know what that means either).

Ah - got it. As Dave already answered - that's the full 'official' name of the lens...just as yours has the full 'F4.5-6.3 G ED OSS' at the end. F-numbers are the largest aperture opening of the lens through the zoom range - yours is F4.5 (larger number = smaller aperture) at the 70mm end and F6.3 at the 300mm end. The OSS is 'optical steady shot', or Sony's name for stabilization.

'G' lenses are Sony's higher-end lens models, made to a higher optical standard than general consumer level lenses, and usually better built with more direct control features (like AF/MF buttons, stabilization switches). GM takes it a step further - those are Sony's top-of-the-line lenses - their 'Rolls Royce' models with top optical quality and build quality...usually with prices to match!

...usually with prices to match!

...always (but worth it)

Dave

I guess I don't understand what the

F4.5-5.6 GM OSS means. My 70--300 lens says f4.5-6.3G ED (I don't know what that means either).

I recently revamped my website and updated the articles.You may want to read the one on adding lenses. It explains a lot of the terminology in layman's language.

http://www.pptphoto.com/articles/addinglenses_frame.html

Dave

Ah - got it. As Dave already answered - that's the full 'official' name of the lens...just as yours has the full 'F4.5-6.3 G ED OSS' at the end. F-numbers are the largest aperture opening of the lens through the zoom range - yours is F4.5 (larger number = smaller aperture) at the 70mm end and F6.3 at the 300mm end. The OSS is 'optical steady shot', or Sony's name for stabilization.

 

'G' lenses are Sony's higher-end lens models, made to a higher optical standard than general consumer level lenses, and usually better built with more direct control features (like AF/MF buttons, stabilization switches). GM takes it a step further - those are Sony's top-of-the-line lenses - their 'Rolls Royce' models with top optical quality and build quality...usually with prices to match!

I recently revamped my website and updated the articles.You may want to read the one on adding lenses. It explains a lot of the terminology in layman's language.

 

http://www.pptphoto.com/articles/addinglenses_frame.html

 

 

Dave

Thanks!

More wildlife from this past weekend. It's getting hot here in Florida. Not that 84 in the winter isn't already hot, but now we've been poking up to 90 the past week or two...sure sign that our brief Winter/Spring is surely over and the long, 9 month summer has arrived.

 

Anyway, braved the heat to walk around the wetlands again Saturday and found the following:

 

Really nice shots. Inspiring me to get out and practice more now that the weather up north here is improving.

I recently revamped my website and updated the articles.You may want to read the one on adding lenses. It explains a lot of the terminology in layman's language.

 

http://www.pptphoto.com/articles/addinglenses_frame.html

 

 

Dave

Thank you for the answer to the above question as I found it helpful myself. Perusing your website recently, I have really enjoyed your photos and articles. I am in awe of your photo of the pool deck on Celebrity Summit (?) I believe at either early sunrise or sunset. I saw it and was stunned into several seconds of just staring at it. Great job and thank you for the content you provide there.

Thank you for the answer to the above question as I found it helpful myself. Perusing your website recently, I have really enjoyed your photos and articles. I am in awe of your photo of the pool deck on Celebrity Summit (?) I believe at either early sunrise or sunset. I saw it and was stunned into several seconds of just staring at it. Great job and thank you for the content you provide there.

I appreciate the kind words. Thank you.

Most of the articles were actually written in response to questions that are often repeated here. I have no illusions that anyone wants to scroll through a thousand posts to find and answer and while I don't mind answering, I found it easier to write articles on the various subjects and refer to them as needed.

Glad you found them useful!

Dave