Tag Archives: photography

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Digiscopy

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bosque eagleDigiscopy or digiscoping involves combining a camera with a (tele)scope for far-reaching zoom close-ups. The best shots probably involve a mechanism for mounting the camera to the scope. (Or one of Zeiss’ awesome but expensive photoscopes – not a product placement.) I just hold the camera up to the scope eyepiece and jiggle, twist, and zoom in or out until I think I see an image on the LCD, then shoot. As a result, these are my very best digiscope shots. Still, I’m intrigued by the possibility. (And would accept a nice scope as a gift.) I’m sure someone would prefer to crop these photos, but I actually like the shape of the scope. (No doubt, there is a Photoshop mask to “make you photos appear as if digiscoped.”)

  Guatemalan bird owlbuquerque

The owl photo was taken by holding the camera up to one part of a pair of binoculars. Very difficult. Ironically, this shot isn’t any closer than my normal zoom would get. Whereas, that eagle shot above is much closer than my zoom could get.

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Be Ready for Good Luck

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When I walk around the neighborhood, I take my camera. If I don’t, I’m sure to see a roadrunner, hawk, or merlin. I don’t know if there is ONE best photography tip, but this one is on my short list: Be Ready. Ready means camera in hand, on, lens cap off.

Four years ago tomorrow, I saw this hummingbird hovering just above a claret cup cactus, as I rounded a corner close to home. Imagine me standing in the middle of the street, stopping the dog in his tracks as I juggle leash and camera, frantic that I will miss this great shot, trying not to think of the cars that frequently roar around corners blindly. Fortunately for me, this was one patient hummingbird.

hummingbird and claret cup cactus

hummingbird and claret cup cactus -- cropped

On the other hand, I’ve missed a lot of great shots over the years, ready or not. And taken plenty of crappy shots with all the time in the world. I’m grateful for what I see. mjh

PS: Now, I wear a carabiner to hold the leash, so both hands are free. And the dog has learned to stop on a dime. Luke is a good photo-dog, as was Lucky before him.

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Other Photographers

bosque del apache, new mexicoI’ve developed a thing for photographers. If that strikes you as narcissistic, wait until I cover self-portraits and reflections. One reason I photograph photographers is I don’t want to take the pictures other people are taking – that’s my very narrow competitive streak and also why I don’t join photography groups or outings. Another reason is I’m shy and uncomfortable photographing people, except surreptitiously. Actually, as I look these over, I realize most are not surreptitious but straight on portraits of a knowing subject. In that case, perhaps it is the difference between a duel and shooting someone who is unarmed.

A couple of these are photos of famous, professional photographers: Jeremy Stein and Bob LeBlanc, with his son, Robert. (The senior LeBlanc died earlier this year.) One more and I’ll have to declare this a subset of my category. (Oh, but I also have a photo of Susan Weeks, a fabulous watercolorist who uses photos. I’m going to slip that one into the collection.)

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