e-510 300mm 1/200 f/5.6 iso 100

I have to admit since getting the big zoom I’ve become a bit of a birder. Except that when trying to identify this bird I found at Esquimalt lagoon this afternoon I dug out my Audubon handbook to western birds I bought last summer, which means I also have to admit i seem to have taken a closet interest in the subject a bit before getting the glass that can really capture it. And I’m sure it’s in that book, but so are 500 other birds and I can’t with any ease find it. I do know it’s a species I’ve never noticed before.

I suspect in birding this is a lousy shot, what with the branch in the way of the bird’s middle, but as a regular photographer I kind of like that element. Really, I have no idea what sort of bird shot would make the bird-obsessed happy. Gonna have to look into it.

e-510 50mm 1/160 f/2 iso 100

the love affair i have with manfrotto began last spring when i bought one of their flash brackets. turns out it wasn't foolishly cast affection; this particular configuration might look mighty odd, and it's one i never even dreamed of, let alone dreamed i'd need and want, but it's changing forever the way i shoot macros.

addendum: the bird is probably just a european starling, and i've certainly noticed those before, but maybe not since my guide makes no mention of the orange wing bars about half of them sported, and which was what first caught my attention.