Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Seeing 2011 (#27)

For your consideration: a gift from my loving wife -- a trip to my beloved Arizona Sonora Desert over the Presidents' Day weekend, specifically to allow me time in solitary communion with my soul's natural habitat.

Despite unexpectedly harsh weather (winds up to 50 mph, ever present threat of rain, and a bit on the cold side) I relished the too-brief return to my roots . . . and a much needed spiritual balm.

I took nearly 300 images in the three hours of remaining daylight on the Saturday. As I was giving my newly acquired 70-300mm lens its first serious field test the results are mixed -- too often I found myself making erroneous decisions regarding depth-of-field vs. focal point (frequently choosing sky rather than the silhouetted foreground). Over attention to the lens handling also lead to some mismanagement of my exposure settings: at least 30 shots, meant to be burst/bracketing, did not execute in bracketing mode (thus I have many identically underexposed scenes).

Even so, I can report that on the whole the lens performed beautifully (beyond expectations, really) and I did come back with more than a few photographs worthy of posting, and eventual printing.

Thus, the first offering . . .




Late Afternoon, Sonora Desert, #9825

© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: February 19, 2011; Canon 20D; f/9 @ 1/8000 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 400; 115mm.

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