9/30/2024
Well, I certainly knew it had been a while since I posted anything. I did not realize quite how long it had been. I have not been sitting idly. I have made it out just about every weekend in September. The weather this last weekend was not great, and I am gearing up for another trip. So, I stayed home. I have a couple other projects, non photo related, that have been keeping me busy, too.
The big news is that I bought a new camera. I have been shooting with the Canon R5 since it released. It has been my go-to camera for just about everything. The new version of the Canon R5 (the Mark II) just released, and I got it at the end of August. I primarily bought it for the improved autofocus, and I am really enjoying it. I will be putting it to work during my upcoming trip to Cape Town.
While I made it out the first three weekends of September, they were not overly productive at times. I spent every weekend at Eagle Creek Park. The first weekend was very birdy, but most of the activity was pretty high up in the trees. We got a lot of movement through the state. The fair weather and warm temps kept the birds flitting at the tops of the trees. I found one area where birds were feeding low and had a bit of fun. I seemed to always be a half-step behind the Golden-winged Warbler, though. Nothing too unusual that weekend. The following weekend was pretty poor. Not much movement, and things were still fairly high up in trees. The third weekend was much better though. Mid-September is usually good for migration here. While it was still pretty warm, the colder nights must have pushed bug activity lower. The birds were pretty active in the honeysuckle and dogwood bushes lining the roads to the marina. Canada, Wilson's, Golden-winged, and a Black-throated Blue were the highlights. Other than that, it was the usual suspects of Tennessee, Nashville, Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, and Bay-breasted. We even had some of our first-of-season Yellow-rumped and Blackpoll moving in. A sign that things are moving toward the end.
While I like the new camera, it did come with a bit of a learning curve. I am not even talking about the eye-focus, which I am still figuring out. Photo processing is a lot different. The color balance is night-and-day. This is probably due to the fact that I set a color temp vs. setting the white balance to auto. I had watched a video by Jan Wegner on how he recommended the camera be setup, and the color temp was one of the things I adopted. I am not sure I am crazy about it. It is all easily fixed in post-processing, but it does take a bit more effort. Anyway, here is what I got for the month of September. You will have to let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading,
Mike
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