The Wandering Photographer

Photo Friday: What a Difference a Day Makes, Signal Hill, St. John's Newfoundland

Boy, what a difference a day makes.  After a 2000 mile drive, including five hours on a ferry and a good night’s sleep, we awakened to a fog shrouded St. John’s, Newfoundland.  We decided to go ahead and do some sightseeing anyway.  We made our way up to Signal Hill and its iconic Cabot Tower at the entranced to the harbor.

Nikon D1x, Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 30mm, ISO 125, 1/250 @ f/9

Here is a view of Cabot Tower hidden by the fog.  We spent some time inside the tower talking to the Parks Canada rangers and learning about the hill and tower.  It was here in 1901 that Guglielmo Marconi received the first ever transatlantic wireless transmission (the Morse code for the letter S sent continuously).  

When we departed from the tower and returned to our car, we found a man holding a television camera marked with the logo of the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC).  It seems that he noticed Dominique’s bright yellow Pontiac Aztek with the Michigan License plates and wanted to interview us.  He asked if, after driving so far, we were disappointed about the weather.  Of course, we told him that we were having a great time and that we knew that Newfoundland weather was unpredictable and changeable (we’re used to that here in Michigan).

Nikon D1x, Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 24mm, ISO 200, 1/160 @ f/14

The weather did change and the next day we went back and re-toured the historical site.  We had a chuckle with the ranger when he told us he had seen us the night before on the news.  Unfortunately we hadn’t gotten a chance to see the news that night and missed our TV debut.

Thanks to Debbie of Delicious Baby for organizing Photo Friday and spreading such wonderful images across the Web.

© 2009 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Photo Friday: Sandhill Cranes

Earlier this week I mounted my 150mm macro lens to my D300 and went out the Kensington Metropark to practice my close-up photography.  Little did I know that the best pictures of the day would be wildlife shots.

Nikon D300,  Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro,  ISO 200,  1/500 @ f/5.6

As I entered the nature study area of the park I noticed a fellow photographer pointing his camera at a spot down the walkway that runs in front of the nature center building.  As I rounded the corner I saw what was interesting him.  About 20-30 meters away was a family of four Sandhill Cranes.  I had seen Sandhills in the swampy areas of the nature study area before, but only at a distance.  This was the first time up-close.

First I cursed the fact that I had brought only one lens, and then I started shooting.  The lighting wasn’t particularly good but I was getting a number of what I thought would be pretty good images.

Nikon D300,  Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro,  ISO 200,  1/500 @ f/5.6

We were being very quiet and stealthy in an attempt to avoid scaring the beautiful birds away.  All of a sudden we were in for a very nice surprise.  All four of the cranes started walking right toward us.  They showed no fear as they walked between us and headed to the other side of the center’s courtyard.  At one point a crane was so close I would have needed a wide angle lens to get the picture.  The birds were not begging for food but simply ignoring us as we snapped away.

Thanks to Debbie of Delicious Baby for organizing Photo Friday and spreading such wonderful images across the Web.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved