You know the drill if you’ve been reading my blog, I go to the bathroom, watch out the window which faces my backyard as I’m, well, you know, and see what I can see. Today I saw the two big babies and their mom! Right in plain sight. So I get done, grab the camera, and they’re out of sight except for part of this one (taken from far away through the sliding glass door):
Some days I think I’m not going to blog because I have nothing of interest to say, but then these opportunities present themselves. Gotta love nature, always keeping us humans on our toes.
Last night I had dinner at Mom and Dad’s (mmmmmm) and then we went to see Fiddler on the Roof at Roberts Wesleyan College. I love that play, it is just a very long time to sit in theatre seats! I couldn’t wait for intermission to get a good stretch in (I didn’t think the guy behind me would appreciate me stretching in the middle of the play) and some fresh air.
My seat was good except it was kitty-corner to the sound guy and I could see his mistakes – it drove me nuts to watch him and the play, too.
Today I started reading my camera’s user guide – what a concept, huh? So far I found a few mistakes I was making. I didn’t have the compression set to Superfine so my images haven’t been making me totally happy. Now that I did that, my flash card only allows 154 photos. Amazing how I used to think 36 photos would do me on a film camera. Now I know 154 won’t be enough at all because I can run through 154 photos real quick, especially when I’m on vacation!
Okay, before that, I learned how to do continuous mode (yeah, I know, it’s a *real* easy thing, I just never tried it) – I think some people call it sports mode. I can see a good use for this while trying to capture birds. Here’s some shots I captured of some birds on Animal Planet – I had to test the camera on the spot, you know:
Now to find some real live birds to use this mode on.
And last for today I learned how to make movies. First I set it at the highest resolution and got about 11 seconds on my card (yes I ordered some bigger cards) and captured an elephant on Animal Planet. But then I figured I shouldn’t upload it to YouTube. I lowered the resolution per YouTube’s suggestion and captured it snowing. Oh, how exciting, I know. I made it quick. I have to learn to stop my living processes while I try to capture movies. Hmmmm.
I have so much more to learn about this camera! I can envision taking movies of the Gambel’s Quail or whatever else moves itself in front of me here or in Arizona.
Nature Woman 
I need to figure out the options on my camera too! I’m usually pretty slow at learning new features. I’m impressed with your movie!
Pam! Shoot me your email address- I have a question for you! 🙂
Lynne – Yeah, I’ve only had the camer for, let’s see, 2.5 years, I figure it’s about time, especially since I’m finding it really difficult to shoot birds in motion. I just have to learn to stop breathing and moving while shooting the movies! And I can’t justify buyer a higher pixel camera until I learn all of the features of this one. Then maybe I’ll know what I want for sure.
Email coming at ya!
Hey Pam, you are not alone! I haven’t even touched the surface of features on my camera. Once in a while, I’ll leaf through the book and learn something but I’m the type that would rather “guess and shoot”.
Loved the clip of snow. If I get snow, I’ll break my neck getting outside to get a photo or video.
Something we have in common… When I am sitting in the bathroom, I can look directly ahead of me into a large mirror that reflects my feeders in the backyard through a window. Cool, huh?
You call it “potty birding”.
Mary – that’s good that I’m not alone! Julie got me thinking about my camera and all of its features I haven’t even touched yet. Yeah, I’m the same way, I love to play with things and figure them out instead of reading about them.
The video clip – I opened the sliding door, leaned on the door frame and angled the camera up towards the trees. Still it’s wiggly.
LOL!! That’s great – “potty birding” – I was trying to come up with something good to call it – I see some of the best things when I’m in the bathroom – the best being a cougar but I can’t prove it because I didn’t have the camera with me. People just look at me like I’m lying when I tell them. I think I know what a huge cat looks like!
Don’t guests wonder when you bring the camera into the ladies’ with you?
😉
Great deer shot and can’t wait to see what pictures you are able to capture with the new settings! Keep up the great work!
Laura – LOL! That’s good! 🙂
Thanks Mon@rch! Please don’t expect grand things – yet! I have a lot of studying to do still!
I guess I’m a potty birder too. Out of our four bathrooms, only the master bath has a window. It looks out on the backyard, and one of our maples is right outside. It’s a little weird to be doing my business while a chickadee or cardinal is watching.
It’s amazing how much a camera can do when you read the manual, huh? I love the “sports” setting. I have captured quite a few good shots I would have missed just doing them one by one.
That movie was riveting.
Susan – Yeah, it is weird to be doing your business with the wildlife looking!
Yeah, it is amazing – I even went on the Canon website to check some things out – your camera is the later version of my camera – I love the Power Shot, they’re equated to a DSLR – whatever the heck that means!
Oh yeah, I can see that sports setting getting quite a bit of use. My friend told me to use it last summer and I ignored him.
Riveting movie – LOL! It was the only thing moving besides my laundry in the washer! Now that would be a movie.
You saw a cougar? My husband was telling me about a show he saw on Saturday about them. Guess the used to be everywhere. I just looked at the cougar network and saw that New York has had lot of sightings. Of course, they say the most likely came from Canada, but that is what they say about everything.
http://easterncougarnet.org/northeast.html
I have lots of shots taken while standing in the tub shooting out the window. The bathroom has one of my better views!
Sandy – thank you for the link! Yes I saw a cougar – I was so amazed and it was pretty early in the morning and I couldn’t get to the camera. It kind of freaked me out for a while to think I garden where it was. I’ve heard that cougars are in the Adirondacks. We also had a moose come down from the Adirondacks here in my area and someone did capture a photo of him. What happens is I’m surrounded on the north and the west by water, so they wander around this area until they figure out where to go from here.
That’s cool – I can imagine you in your tub taking photos!