No luck today!

[robertwgross]

I was heading out to a national wildlife refuge about 100 miles from my home. I watched the weather forecast and chose a day when it would be sunny. I got there, and it was foggy and cloudy. RATS! I could use a long wildlife lens to try to capture the marshes full of waterfowl, but the light was so poor that absolutely nothing looked sharp. One hawk here, one heron there, and a coyote. There was even a herd of about fifty Tule Elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes), but by the time I found two bull elks lining up their racks, a mist was hitting my camera equipment. It's tough to get a shot at 1/30th when the focal length is 800mm.

There's always next time. <sigh>

---Bob Gross---

[Moppie]

Bad luck, did you manage to get anything at all?

How about some landscapes of the mist?

And at least you got out of the house and saw some of your country :)

[robertwgross]

If the light is just gray and foggy that way, I can crank up the contrast of the image (a lot) and it will be viewable, but not first class. Of the 60 frames I shot, many were good enough to identify the animal, but not good enough to sell. The only good experience was learning exactly where to go, and I can return there with other photographer-friends on a sunnier day.

The only good shot was one of a coyote looking directly at me with the attitude of "What do you want? I'm here for the duck dinner."

I have another national wildlife refuge within 25 miles of my home, so I hate to drive the longer distances unless I know I'll get something good. Then there are two or three bird sanctuaries within 15 miles, and one has the Western Burrowing Owl. That is always good for a few grins. The male owl stands by his burrow. The female owl stands by her burrow. Then they each fly over to a third burrow and stand there, bobbing up and down, as they check each other out and do mutual preening. They disappear into the third burrow together. Several minutes later, they emerge and go back to their respective burrows.

---Bob Gross---