Mono Lake Sunrise Panorama...

Click to see a larger version (much larger ;-)...

Mono Lake at Sunrise II...

Here's a few more shots from sunrise the other day at Mono Lake in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains...

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Just before sunrise...



Just after...

Acorn Woodpecker...

I went shooting at a local pond last week, hoping to photograph the wading birds I see there every time I drive by (Great Blue Herons, Egrets, etc...) Well it turns out that all those birds were perched in the trees which line the trail next to the pond, and as I walked along, I heard (but didn't see) them all departing one by one... I hung around about an hour and a half, but then I had to head for home - in that time they never came back, there are other ponds nearby they probably went to...

I did get to shoot some active Acorn Woodpeckers, so good practice with the tele rig (and I do need practice)...

All shots with the K-7, Pentax-F 1.7x AFTC, and Tamron SP 400mm f/4 @ f/8 (for f/14 as calculated by the TC).

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(looks like he's hiding in this one...)

Mono Lake at Sunrise...

Wild Skies...

Here's a few from last week. Very un-californian skies... Mammatus Clouds!

(click for a larger version...)

Lookin' for birds - found bugs instead...

Saw some ducks at the pond - they departed when I got within 200m... Saw a killdeer - it left when I took my tripod off my pack... Saw a splash when a frog jumped into the water and disappear (saw that a lot actually).

Luckily, some bugs showed up so the walk wasn't a total wash ;-)...

First the Mantis shots...


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DA* 300mm, f/10



DA* 300mm, f/8



DA* 300mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/22



Tamron SP 400mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/11





Now the Dragonfly...

Tamron SP 400mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/16



Tamron SP 400mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/16



DA* 300mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/14
(I sure wish I had avoided the foreground blur on the right of this one)



Tamron SP 400mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/16

Cliché Droplet Shots..

I know the whole water droplet thing is cliché, but I love 'em, and anyway I think there's enough uniqueness in these (the "rainbokeh") to make 'em worth sharing... I was watering this plant (ok, I looked it up, it's Oxalis Triangularis - purple shamrock) and watching the water bead on the leaves and I thought, "I haven't shot this cliche lately..."


click the photo to see a larger version...






it's got flowers too...







I noticed that from certain angles, the tiny droplets were refracting the light into tiny droplet rainbows - rainbokeh was born...








Two large planters provide the background color here...

Glossy Ibis at the Pahranagat NWR...

I took 45 minutes out of a recent drive through the Nevada desert to stop at the Pahranagat NWR. Armed with the K-7 / DA* 300mm, I went stalking the local bird population - mostly Glossy Ibis that day...

click a shot to see a larger version...


Prior to launch...



Liftoff...



Climbout...







Cruise...







Approach...



Short Final (and landing)...

First shots with the DA* 300mm...

Nice lens!
:D...

(click the photo to see a larger version...)

Bees...

w/ the -F 1.7x adapter...

A Damselfly...

A duck...(no TC for the following shots...)

not sure what these guys are, I think maybe bank swallows...

And a bumblebee video (somewhere in the upload process, the quality got a bit mangled, full size looks better...)

click the screenshot to link to the video...

Dragonfly Video...

My new Pentax K-7 (amazon link) shoots HD video too... I was playing with the video mode yesterday at Pahranagat Lake, Nv...