Shirley’s blog. Stardate: 09-13012013. Mission: to photograph using only the SX50 HS

As I said yesterday, Mrs. Ha produced some amazing shots with the super zoom. I have taken the liberty of showcasing some of her images here. I have done a little post processing but not a great deal – just cropping to ensure alignment and sharpening for web. A little vibrance added on one or two. These were jpegs though and so do not lend themselves to extensive manipulation.

This is just a small sample from a couple of days.

This next one drives me nuts. I could not get even remotely close to these Antarctic Terns with my 400mm. Get the birds, I shouted. And she did. By golly she did 🙂

This is a fascinating perspective shot. I have a couple similar but Mrs. Ha was angled better than I and had the chinny against a clean background where as in mine the chinny is directly against the zodiac team.

And then finally…. yawn

Yes, Shirley unilaterally decided to shoot video. Now why didn’t I think of that……

Seals

If I ever get above myself and think I’m beginning to get somewhere photographically it doesn’t take long for me to realise how wrong I am. Mrs. Ha and I were going through a slide show of her Antarctica photos tonight. She only shot in jpeg mode. This meant that she (or rather I) could download the lot on to an iPad when we returned and see a slideshow within an hour. I on the other hand am still ‘sorting’ 2 weeks after our return. She has also nipped over to FotoMax and printed a load off the flash card whilst I haven’t even thought about printing yet. And here’s the real rub. Looking at the slide show (again) I realised that her Superzoom has produced shots I can only envy. My limited repertoire of lenses and heavy DSLR bodies meant I missed shots Mrs. Ha could nail in a trice with her camera. And the quality is pretty darned good too.

That led me to look again in desperation at my files to see what I hadn’t touched yet. There must be something ok in there somewhere. Aha! I don’t think I have put up any seal shots yet. So here then is a small selection of shots to make you go “aaaahhhhh!” – I hope.

These white seals are, if I recall correctly, called blondes or leucistic. They are not albino as they don’t have pink eyes.

I dread to think what the gunge is……….

I only have eyes for you-ooo

Curious pup

Haven’t you seen a seal having a bad hair day before?

This selection was from just one beach so I’m afraid there may be more to come. And then of course I shall have to start on Mrs. Ha’s images. You have been warned.

All good things must come to an end

January. Half the month in the frozen South, half the month blogging about it. With a few days birding thrown in here at home. Blog stats off (my) scale. Thank you penguins.

There is good news and alas, as always, bad news. I leave you to decide which is which. February will start a period of reduced output from the resident scribe. The dog may substitute now and again as she has in the past. We are still in contract negotiations. There are lots more holiday snaps to show but retirement and blogging bring in no money so I have succumbed to the temptation of filthy lucre and agreed to do some work over the next quarter. Who knows it may pay for the next big expedition. Mrs. Ha has whispered both Arctic and Galapagos in my ear since we returned. The only condition set by Mrs. Ha is that I do turn up for daughter number 1’s wedding. I think I shall manage that.

And so to today’s offerings. Three black and white landscapes, one of which was given a sneak preview on Flickr yesterday to rave reviews. Well…..six to be precise. Thank you all. And today there is a quiz attached. Because one of them was taken by Mrs. Ha and you are invited to guess which one. Can you tell the difference between a canon 5D3 shot and a Canon SX50 HS? Here’s your chance.

 

 

And that concludes January 2013. Thank you so much for following me as I meander through the almost 6000 files we shot. I feel I should have presented things in a more organised and coherent matter but I didn’t and I apologise. Maybe next time.

Happy February everyone.