A Long Two Weeks

It's been two weeks since my last blog entry. That Saturday in Michigan was followed by an all day drive back to Upstate New York followed by an overnight at a hospital emergency room with a long time family friend with a myriad of health conditions and then eleven days in a patient room followed by a homecoming for hospice care two days ago. None of these situations is conducive to getting out and making images.

As things settle in a bit I may be able to get out and about more often. Until then, I'll update the gear in my ThinkTank Photo Airport Commuter backpack, which has changed a bit since the last time I did this back on March 11th.

While the camera bodies remain the same, two 5D Mark III's and a 7D Mark II, there are some lens changes. Having sold the Tamron 45mm lens, that spot is now taken up by a Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM lens. I picked up this lens primarily for nighttime field sports with the 7DII where it will have the field of view of a 320mm lens with a wide enough aperture to stop action under the lights at an ISO low enough for good image quality.

In place of the 24mm pancake lens paired in a compartment with the 50mm f/1.8 STM via an OP/TECH Double Lens Mount Cap, I now pair the 50mm lens with an EF 85mm f/1.8 USM lens. I also have Canon hoods for these two lenses.

In place of the filters, which are now in one of the outside compartments, is the hood for the 200mm lens with a Canon 270EXII flash beneath it.

These are the three Canon L lenses in the bag. EF 17-40mm f/4L, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS and EF 200mm f/2.8L II.

Jet Ski Looping the Loop

At Lake Orion, Michigan this afternoon. Canon 7d Mark II and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens.

Niagara Falls, Canada - Part Two

There were a couple of hours of decent weather yesterday morning before storms swept in. But a couple of hours is plenty of time for revisiting the falls and visiting Queen Victoria Park and Oakes Garden Theatre right across the street.

The gallery at https://trulandphotography.com/niagarafalls now contains 50 photos.

Niagara Falls, Canada

Yesterday saw a quick over night stop at Niagara Falls, Canada, arriving a couple of hours before sunset. Luckily, the rainy weather had passed and there was enough late sun for some decent lighting.

I did forget to put a UV filter on the front of the 24-105mm lens and had to wipe accumulated mist off of the front element once with a clean handkerchief. I have a 30 image gallery located at https://trulandphotography.com/niagarafalls. Here some downsized samples.

Dragon Boat Races

Apparently Dragon Boats are a thing. And there's a company that organizes events, mostly benefit type events, where local teams race the boats and they make a day of it.

Today, such an event was held in Waterford Harbor to benefit breast cancer charities. I spent a little over an hour at the beginning of the day making photos. I saw three heats from three different vantage points.

There's a 64 image gallery located at https://trulandphotography.com/dragonboats2019. Here are a few downsized samples.

The Backyard Bee Balm Studio

The approximately five by five foot patch of Bee Balm I annually use as a studio ended up about half that size this year after a couple of thunderstorms flattened about half of the plants.

I haven't seen a hummingbird moth this year but I did see an actual hummingbird. My photos were not useable. My shutter speeds were too slow and I had set a wider selection of focus points which didn't seem to want to choose the hummingbird.

But here are some results with the always reliable Swallowtails of the Giant and Tiger varieties.