I have entered the lair of the enemy and lived to tell about it. How is that for a dramatic intro? So truth be told, for the last three days I have been in Iowa. Specifically, I have been in Iowa City, the home of black and gold and a dreaded enemy of Chief Illiniwek. Why would I subject myself to three days of Herky Hell? What would bring an Orange and Blue die hard to subject himself to an arch rival? Actually, the answer is pretty simple. Linda had the opportunity to benefit from their fine medical facilities at the University of Iowa and for that I will gladly swallow my pride and express my gratitude. I think we are now on a good path to getting some issues under control and if it takes a little humility to make that happen – well, bring it on. Just for the record, I’ll still root against them in any sports competition… although since the Illini once again suck pond water it will be done with more of an inside voice.
One impact of this is a significant reduction in available blogging time. With Project Auuuunold in full bore, another half at the end of the month and taking care of the other issues it doesn’t leave much time to tickle the keyboard. It is too early to throw in the towel, but need to warn you the focus will probably be on photography related topics since the post processing work is actually faster than the prep work for the other types of posts. As a start, here is a set taken off my porch one dreary day a few months back. There is a lot still to learn about the Beast and a little low light practice is never wasted. The Beast is a VRII 4.0f end to end glass . With the 1.4 Teleconverter on, it drops to 5.6f which thirsts for light out in the field. It was time to try out some different settings and modes to see how best to shoot birds when the light is not ideal. One bi-product of the drizzle caught me by surprise. See anything interesting in this shot?
Nothing catch your eye? Hmmm, how about another shot in a more traditional crop… hint, you might not associate this as a typical BoaS?
Hit the jump and I’ll zoom you into the subject.
Thought I would just throw out a couple of quick observations over the last week or so. My favorite so far has to be something overheard during the Jan 1st Outback Bowl featuring Iowa Hawkeyes vs. the S. Carolina Gamecocks. Iowa is a heated rival in my household since my wife is from the state of Iowa and I went to the land of Chief Illiniwek (you can strong arm it out of our weak university governing boards, but you are not removing it from the hearts of those who attended there and understand the difference between a mascot and a revered symbol). However, since the Illini didn’t pull out the juicer at the end of the year, we were stuck watching from the comfort of our living rooms where Hersey was cheering from the sidelines in Tampa. It was basically playing in the background as I did some odd work around the house when the game must have hit a low point. This forced the announcers to look for something else to talk about. Once again, I failed to set up my PVR on delay mode in order to review or capture things that catch my attention. This happens all the time with headline news and I keep promising myself I’ll get that set up.