Another late start this AM – got going around 6:20 in a very pleasant 58 degrees. The sky had a strange haze to it that filtered the sun but didn’t kill the light. I don’t know if the haze is a result of a reported wildfire west of the park or if it a Saudi dust cloud that is currently encircling the earth. Whatever the source it rendered Pikes Peak unseeable today.
Though I saw a number of birds and critters today I was not focusing (if you like this pun then it was intentional) on them. I elected to use my Panasonic GX-85 today to allow me to grab a few shots of the Summer foliage that is now firmly established in the park. To give me as wide a field of view as possible I was shooting with a vintage Olympus 14-54mm zoom that I purchased in 2004 along with an Olympus E-1 camera. This lens can be fitted onto the GX-85 with an adapter and it retains its full functionality though the autofocus is limited to AF-S (single shot) and it is very slow to acquire focus. The lens has no built in stabilization function but the GX-85 has an in-body system which works fine. Today’s featured image (above) and the scenic (below) are the result of this camera configuration.
For readers interested in photography nuts and bolts I will delve into the settings that I employed today. I tried out the Panasonic iAuto setting on the camera mode dial which is supposed to be able to select both the optimal shutter speed and f-stop combination for your shot based on the camera’s evaluation of the scene. I paired that with the iISO setting that “intelligently” selects the “correct” ISO for the scene. I have to admit that this combination worked out quite well for the chosen subject matter though, full disclosure, the images presented here were edited in Google’s Snapseed software.
Sightings:
Birds: Starlings, Swallows, Cormorants, Canada Geese, Barn Swallow, Robin, Flicker, Mourning Doves, Great Blue Heron, Oriole, Kingbirds, Eastern Kingbird, Ducks, Turkey, Meadowlark, Blue Jay
Critters: Mule Deer, Cottontail Rabbit
Gear: Lumix GX-85, Olympus 14-54mm
