FIGHTER JETS OVER OUR HOUSE…THE SOUND OF FREEDOM

By 7:45 this morning we knew it was going to be a hot day as we made our way around the block.  Seemed to be the pleasant aroma of orange blossoms in the air.  We pass the old Cowboy gate leading to the desert but know we cannot take a chance walking Pheebs out there now because of active Rattlesnakes.  Too bad because I really miss those quiet walks on a waking desert morn.  Not likely we’ll do any more desert Jeep jaunts before we head out next week either.  Time to install the tow gear back on the front of the Jeep.

SOON TO BE COLORFUL CACTUS BLOSSOMS

Not much I can blog about today.  Kelly was off to Wickenburg to check out a ‘going out of business sale’.  Same place we bought much of our furniture this past winter.  Pheebs & I hung out inside staying cool.  Think we hit 80F today.  Still working on our going home Sunseeker packing.

  

THIS WILL BE OUR SUMMER YARD CREW

For you photography buffs out there wondering how to take better photos & tweak your camera settings for better quality photography I recommend this fellow’s site.  KEN ROCKWELL.  I bought my Nikon D90 through the ADORAMA link on this fellows site back in 2011 after dropping my D50 DSLR on a concrete slab:((   Ken Rockwell’s site is the only place I go for anything to do with photography.  One stop & you’ve got it all.  Personally, if you are seriously interested in photography I wouldn’t settle for anything less than a DSLR camera.  (Digital Single Lens Reflex) I especially liked Ken’s take on, THE BEST CAMERA FOR EVERYTHING.  And be sure to read on down that page to, ‘Forget Resolution and ISO’ plus ‘Best Pocket Camera.’(it’s a Canon)  Now, If I could only do what it is he tells me to do as well as he tells me to do it………

 

And in case any photo folks missed pro photographer Gordon W’s note in the Shout Box, he says…. ‘I usually underexpose by 1/3 stop, Al, mostly to reduce blowing out highlights, but nothing’s free. By underexposing, image noise is increased when increasing brightness to compensate for the underexposure and it lessens shadow detail and dynamic range, so one doesn’t want to overdo underexposing’.  You can catch Gordon’s superb photography here at GORDON WOLFORD.  You can check out Gordon’s personal blog site here at NORTHERN NEWS

 

WAS SURPRISED THIS MORNING TO LOOK OUT & SEE A GROUP OF 17 BIRD WATCHERS SHUFFLING BY ON THE ROAD 

Tammy from IT'S GOOD TO BE US had a few questions about photographing birds in flight.  There’s the right way to do it & then of course there is my way.  I use an older Nikon D40 DSLR with a 75-300mm lens.  All my birds are taken at 300mm.  I set my ISO setting on the camera to 1600 in order to give me a fast enough shutter speed to stop the wing action.   I also have that camera set to focus only on the center portion of my screen.  It’s called spot metering.  I sit myself in a lounger about 30 feet away.  The sun is generally behind the subject or off to one side a bit.  That way the sun shines through the feathers giving the wings that transparent angel like look.  I pick a spot either on the bird feeder or on a branch where the birds have a habit of landing & pre-focus on that spot.  Make sure your camera is off Auto focus so it doesn’t have to waste time trying to focus itself because you only have a mili-second to hit that trigger when a bird flies into your target zone.  Now begins the waiting game.  Watch your birds & you will soon see they have their own little routes, habits, & flight plans.  Try to anticipate a birds flight into your pre-focused target zone.  Your probably going to end up with a number of blank frames at first because your reaction time will start out slow.  But, with a little practice & improved reflexes you will soon be catching birds in flight.  A better way to do this is to use a tripod but I’m kinda lazy & do most of my stuff hand held.  The Pros would use a tripod for sure.

 

OUR FRONT YARD OCOTILLO IS BLOOMING

One of these days I hope to get myself disciplined enough to once again get all my photo albums (birds, critters, people, flowers, artsy, etc.) updated & re-organized in my SMUG MUG account.  No small task considering I have countless thousands of photos.  No point in trying to make any sense out of my scattered Picasa Photo Albums anymore since Google stepped in & messed with all that a year or two ago.  Just don’t have that kind of patience.

 

PHEEBS & HER DUCKY 

Sure don’t know what I would do without my music.  I would just be a lost soul adrift in a gray void of nothing.  At home in our Bayfield sunroom & here in my nice southwest Congress bedroom my music is always beside me as I type my post each & every day.  I wake up with music & I go to bed with music.  When I am out working around the yard, walking or hiking somewhere it is the music in my mind I listen too.  And it is me my very self I listen to as long as no one else is close enough to listen to me:))

 

A YEAR AGO TONIGHT ASLEEP IN THE MOTORHOME

I’ve heard folks here in this country say the sound of military jets in the air overhead is the sound of Freedom.  I couldn’t help but think of that today as I watched two F-16 fighter jets high overhead twisting & turning in mock combat.  Those folks are right.  If it wasn’t for the young people training in those planes, ships, tanks, & armies, it’s very likely none of us RV folks here in the United States or Canada would be enjoying the lifestyle freedom we do.  With the goings on in North Korea right now I watched those planes in their tight training maneuvers thinking how soon their lives could be on the line for my lifestyle & my freedom.  And I haven’t even met those young folks…..

 <<< TURKEY VULTURE

GROANER’S CORNER:((    Grandma had never been sick in her life, so she didn't take it kindly when a bad case of the flu sent her to the hospital for observation.
By the time she was tucked into bed, she had managed to complain about everything: the temperature, the lights, the skimpy gown, the food and the mattress - especially, the mattress.
Suddenly, she spotted a small plastic item with a button, attached to a cord. "What's that?" she demanded with great suspicion.
"If you need anything in the middle of the night," said the nurse, "just press that button. It will turn on a light in the hall for the nurse on duty"
"A light in the hall?" responded Grandma. "I'm the sick one around here. If the nurse needs a light on in the hall, she can get up and switch it on herself."

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.