groups

I have a picture of a yellow-headed blackbird that mirrors this image. I have no idea where it is, but it was taken on the Mississippi river in Minnesota.

I am constantly amazed at the way humans will interpret a scene in the same way regardless of their environment or culture.

Yes. We humans are birds of a feather.

“So that’s what a thrush looks like?” he asked anecdotally.

Skeeter, do you have a zoom lens to give us a bit more detail for this speck of a bird?

I like the photo as soon as I saw it. And I like the imaginative name of the photo you have teased us with.

Keep on truckin’, pardner!

Paddy

view link

Thank you, Paddy. I used your little trick machine on this one. Was it yours? Inpaint?

Anyway, just paddled across from from the Aquatic Center because it was late. Should have lots more to show on Sunday.

For those who care about this stuff, these photos were shot today at 1:00 p.m. with a small underwater camera in my very shaky hands: can't even see what I'm shooting. Had I my SLR along I would do much better!

But not about to take that particular camera out in the kayak ... my apologies to all.

Off to dinner. Crab Cooker....ummmm!

: = )

.

Nice job Skeeter! I like both photographs although the second photograph is more visually satisfying to me because of the rich colors and composition. The first photo really shows nature's protective camouflage in action. The presence of the thrush is so subtle in that first image that it seems surreal. BTW, no need to apologize for the camera you use! A great photograph can be achieved on any camera. It is the eye of the beholder that contributes significantly to the appeal of an image.

oh, i apologize because i have this awful tremor and can't use the small cameras properly. if i get off a clear shot it's only by accident. there's no eyepiece to see what you are shooting: the LED screen is impossible to see out on the bright water. it's "point and hope." i do much better w/ my full-sized SLR and wish I could take it out in the kayak, but can't risk it.

The large image you posted is very satisfying to the mind and eye. And now I'm left with the hint of steamed crab on my tongue! Picture that; a word image.

Paddy

Skeeter, if you put the camera into a plastic bag with a hole cut for the lens and a rubber band around the opening, it will keep the camera dry and protected.

Unless of course, you capsize.

view link

Thank you for your kind compliment on my photograph, Paddy. I used the Inpaint program to remove a little chickling to the right, only halfway in the photo. I also used a Soap clone brush to cover a little rivulet at top of the pic which couldn't be removed by cropping.

It's cloudy, cold and windy today; can't imagine I'll want to go out tomorrow: we shall see. The photo at link shows my Keowee kayak at the N.B. Nautical center, aka "Northstar Beach." This one is straight from camera set on "automatic" with no manipulation at all.

For whatever reason I can't fit my actual photographs within the space allotted to these messages. Therefore I've decided to post a cropped version w/ link below for those who wish to see the actual photo.

In this case, the photo reveals the island I paddled over to at lunchtime yesterday, just across from Northstar Beach and to the right in the frame. If I go out again tomorrow I'll start in early morning and head past the bluff to our left in the photo, where there's much more wildlife.

A strong ocean wind blows against you on return from that trip, so you really don't want to be coming back to Northstar Beach much past noon from that direction.

* * *

Thank you for your kind suggestion, TJ. Last night at the Crab Cooker a gentleman at the next table advised me that his firm, Medtronics, makes a device that would control my "Parkinson's." My tremor is so bad that everyone thinks I have Parkinson's. But it's a so-called benign tremor which was aggravated by my stroke some years back.

I had heard from my neurologist about the device, which requires a battery implant under the skin near a shoulder, connected to two wire implants in the brain. With something like that there is no way I could continue to bodysurf The Wedge, which is my only sport these past 45 years:

NEWPORTWEDGE.ORG
view link

So, I won't be putting my SLR into a plastic bag while in my kayak. With the underwater camera (a Canon Power Shot inside a waterproof plastic case)...with this camera if I should happen to drop it into the bay, it will float.

.

They seek him here, thry seek him there...........