Victory Lap

Talk about being caught with your mouth wide open!  I spotted this osprey last night slowly flying into the wind with this substantial catch at the Gulf of Mexico. I don't know what kind of fish it is; but, it seems to have an of air of surprise frozen on its lips, doesn't it?  I captured this shot with my new 18-270mm lens.  It's really cropped, and I'm rather pleased with the clarity.  I haven't had a chance to use the lens very much yet, but so far, so good!  Hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend.

Happy Mother's Day

 

How could I not post this photo for Mother's Day?! I spotted this doe giving her fawn a bath early yesterday morning at Myakka River State Park in Sarasota. What a treat to get a peek into Bambi's typically private bath time.  While I'm quite certain Mom was aware of my presence, she was so focused on her morning cleaning ritual, she didn't pay any attention to me.  In fact, bath time went on long enough I had an opportunity to shoot some video with my DSLR (click HD in the viewer for optimum quality):

 

So precious!  By the way, this is the first time a video has been posted on SDP.  Occasionally, the SDP Editor-in-Chief likes to shake things up.  

Big news here on the still photography front:  the SDP Purchasing Department signed off yesterday on the acquisition of a new lens -- a Tamron 18-270mm. Very exciting  -- I can't wait to take it out for a test run!  Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

SDP is 3!

SDP is 3 years old today!  I'd like to say we're celebrating this achievement by proudly strutting around the SDP Headquarters with our heads held high (sort of like that baby sandhill crane), but the activities here are rather subdued.  We've been on hiatus for the past moth due to computer issues.  Now that we're fairly certain in which direction we're going to move (as far as purchasing a new computer, photo software etc.), I anticipate we will be back up and running by next month.  (The issue currently at hand is that we really don't have a mechanism to archive photos.)  As anyone who maintains a daily photo blog can understand, the past three years with SDP have been a labor of love and a blur.  I'm looking forward to posting once again on a regular basis and seeing everyone in the blogosphere.   Now, about this photo:  I went to a state park early Sunday morning in hopes of capturing some wildlife (with my camera only, of course).  Well, I saw zip, zero, nada.  Only when I was leaving a busy shopping center did I spot some wildlife --- a family of sandhill cranes enjoying Sunday brunch at a condo complex.  When I realized one of the birds was a juvenile, I had to stop.  Look at the size of those legs and feet!  Hope everyone has been doing well.

Soaring Again (Sort of)

Like the bald eagle, SDP shall soar again!  That's right...we're BACK!  Okay, that was a bit dramatic. We're actually limping along; however, it seems all our digital photo files have been recovered. Hip-hip-hooray!   I lost the corresponding data (names, dates, places etc.), but I have the files and that's what's important, right?

I think have a good course of action going forward: (1) never, ever, ever use iPhoto again for so many files (2) invest in a new computer and photo software (3) set up a raid backup system.   I have a lot of work to do...transferring tens of thousands of files, doing more research etc.  In the meantime, the Editor-in-Chief has given the order to resume posting whenever possible.

Thanks everyone for your kind words, thoughts and input about your computer systems. If you haven't chimed in, I'm still gathering information, so please let me know what works for you.

Regarding this photo, I snapped it just over two weeks ago in N. Ft. Myers.  (Rumor has it the SDP Editor-in-Chief had an uncanny resemblance to Harriet screeching when she learned about the computer crash.  WHAT?!)  So happy to see these guys on my computer again!

Still Searching

It's been just over two weeks since my photo library crashed and there's nothing new to report except that I've been spending all of my free time manually transferring 24,000 files.  It seems the problem is the iPhoto application.   Apparently, it cannot handle that many files (especially from an external hard drive).  I wish that someone -- anyone -- at the Apple Store Genius Bar had informed me about this issue with iPhoto the dozen or so times I've visited them over the past several years.  Instead, each employee just commented that I have a lot of photos and sent me on my way.

A few questions:

(1)  Do you use a Mac or PC?  Why?
(2)  What software do you use to edit your photos?
(3)  How do you store your photo files?
(4)  How do you backup your files?

Please Standby

I would like to report that SDP's absence from the blogosphere is solely due to a busy spring schedule; however, that's not the case.  After returning from a glorious whirlwind trip to Key Biscayne (mandated by the SDP Editor-in-Chief) for the Sony Open, I downloaded 600+ photos of the tournament:  Serena Williams, Richard Gasquet, John Isner, and more. Good stuff. Then, my photo storage crashed.  (Read:  CRASHED)  Of course, having 24K+ photos, I have a good backup system.   After days of work, though, my Mac repair guy and I have been unable to restore my photo library.  While cautiously optimistic, SDP is now reluctantly preparing for catastrophic crisis mode.   Please keep us in your thoughts.

Play Ball!

Welcome to JetBlue Park in Ft. Myers, the winter home of the Boston Red Sox. The ballpark opened last year and this was the first chance I had to attend a game here. We sat on the outfield berm for a chilly night game but, I must say, compared to other stadiums in the Grapefruit League, this place seems to lack ambiance.  (Gosh, Red Sox fans...please don't think less of SDP for this review.)  It was quiet, with few vendors...overall, it just didn't seem to have much character. Perhaps you have to be a diehard Sox fan to fully appreciate it.  Nevertheless, we had a great time. Well, the good thing about being so busy recently is that I have lots of photos from the past few weeks stockpiled:  owls, eagles, beaches...oh my!  I prefer to post pics shortly after I take them (it's the old news hound in me constantly considering timeliness), but, with the SDP Editor-in-Chief's blessing, some of them will be rolled out over the next several weeks.  TGIF...and I'm linking to Skywatch Friday.