Wildlife in My Back Yard...

I got some rabbits for that Owl. Apparently, when we had the US open at Bethpage, the rabbits were chased out of the park.

Cheers

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Remember my rabbit problem? Since July 4, when 6 of these owls showed up at once, I haven't seen a rabbit (knock on wood ;-) ...Jim Thompson

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Mmmmmm! I love owl.

Bob

Jim Thompson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

is your chuckwalla still around?

I've got red-shouldered hawks,owls,blue herons,otters,possums,and raccoons that show up around my apt.complex. The hawk was landing on the palm tree just outside my dining room window,maybe 15 feet away.The otters were inthe retention pond and "lake",eating some of the fish.First sighting was when 4 otters hopped out onto the grass and began preening only 20 ft from my rear stairway. I watched one catch a big fish and eat it;he kept an eye on me,but kept eating. I got to within 15 ft of him.

Aren't they all feather and not much meat on the bones?

A birder friend lives near what used to be one of the last undeveloped areas in the Silicon Valley area.

After Easter, when the kiddies got tired of their cute little rabbits, they used to toss them over the fence into the wilds. The local owls and hawks thought they were tasty. There was never a rabbit problem.

Yes. But he's elusive. I only see him a few times a year.

I have some HUGE breed of hawk that I've affectionately nicknamed "Big Bird" ;-)

Owls, raccoons, coyotes, and lizards and scorpions by the bucket-load.

I can open a door and take pictures of the owls but, if I move outward at all they're gone. The closer shots, I was already sitting on the patio. Some were taken thru window glass, fouling up the focus and contrast. I need to get a camera that can do a sequence of staggered exposures... there's software I just saw that stitches that all together with fabulous depth and detail. ...Jim Thompson

A Red-Tailed? They're pretty impressive, up-close and personal.

In VT we had a pair of Moose one winter and a bear one summer. Deer were all over the place, particularly during hunting season.

Here it's only the neighbor's ankle biters and some Killdeer. The Jack Russel is going to have an accident soon. The neighbor is already going to court next month. ;-)

The software that came with my HP scanner does some really neat panoramas. I use it often when I don't have a short enough lens. It should do 2D stitching as well. The old manual focus film cameras were far better at focus and contrast than the new stuff.

Excellent cameras and lenses are to be had for pennies on the dollar on eBay, too. ;-)

I completely disagree with this statement. At least the focus part.

For the contrast, much depends on what kind of film you're using -- assuming you can even get it anymore! Kodachrome slide film has excellent contrast, but quite unforgiving on exposure latitude. So, in that regard, much also depends on what your subject matter is.

But if the conversation is about "analog" vs. "digital", I submit to you that there are "ways" of increasing contrast with digital that don't really have a counterpart in film (unless of course, you digitally scan first). PhotoShop and HDR come immediatly to mind -- though I don't personally care for the HDR look & feel.

=A0 =A0 =A0 ...Jim Thompson

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Or,... How about a roost, with lots and lots of sticky tape. Then you can bring him indoors and shoot still lifes all day! - well, almost "still" anyway. :)

-mpm

PS: I thought the photos looked fine. Not National Geographic or anything, but certainly acceptable for a backyard impromptu photo-safari.

Have you ever played around with the GigaPan software? I did a few test shots with pretty good results. If you're reasonably careful, you don't have to use their expensive robotic mount.

How about a 35mm SLR with a 70-150mm telephoto and a polarizing filter (eliminates window reflections). Manual focus, so the window won't confuse it.

It uses this stuff called flim to store pictures. Back in the lod bays, it worked pretty good.

krw wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

but it's really nice to be able to download the digital pics into your PC and view/print them right away,and to adjust color,contrast,crop,etc. Also,Kodak is not making Kodachrome anymore. :-(

Best to buy a digital camera that takes interchangable lenses. Too bad they don't make a digital back for my Canon AE-1. I already have a fine set of lenses for it.

One thing digital cameras could really use is a spot meter mode.They all seem to use averaging and are too easily thrown off the proper exposure.

Yes, especially the focus part. A manual focus camera wouldn't have been fooled by the glass.

Any B&W film will blow any CCD camera off its feet.

Nope.

The "free" HP stuff doesn't need any fancy hardware (not even a scanner ;-). Sometimes it needs a little help aligning things but usually not if it came from the scanner.

There isn't any Kodachrome 64 anymore, but I thought they were still making the 100, 200, and 400 ASA versions. I bought some, and had it processed, fairly recently anyway.

I have a bunch of FTbs I bought off eBay. I didn't like my AE-1 at all. It was some comedown from my original FTb so when I noticed them on eBay I bought a bunch. Not everything on eBay is in pristine condition. ;-)

My Olympus has a decent meter but it certainly doesn't like focusing in low light situations. It most assuredly wouldn't have helped Jim.

=A0 =A0 =A0 ...Jim Thompson

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=A0 =A0 ...Jim Thompson

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We have about 20 turkeys pass through our yard every day or so. They are on the porch and roof trying to figure out how to get to the bird feeders. Will come up to the sliding glass doors and look in at you, and casually move away if you go outside. Very few deer around this year. Hawks, owls, and coyotes keep the rabbits down.

Kookaburra on our back chair:

Dave.

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