Around the Neighborhood – Another Heron

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On Saturday’s I often pass by the pond in Law Park, Briarcliff Manor while walking the dog. However, since catching the green heron fishing for tadpoles (See:Attempts at bird photography part II: Fishing for Tadpoles) I haven’t seen many birds. I have a theory that since they turned on the fountain (See:Film Camera 2019/4 – Olympus IS-3 – Results – Fifth picture) the birds have stopped coming.

However, this time the fountain was off. Still no birds, or so it seemed at first. On closer examination I came across this heron. Of course I was, as is often the case, woefully unprepared. The only camera I had with me was my Sony RX-100 M3 – not exactly the best camera for taking pictures of birds. Still, I gave it a try. Inevitably as I approached the bird flew off to the other side of the pond, but I was able to get a couple of shots before it did so.

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I’m no expert on identifying herons, but this looks to me like an immature Great Blue Heron. I believe it is immature because it lacks the long orangish-yellow bill and black crown and head plumes of the adult. It also has the dark streaking on the neck, which is absent in the adult.

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.

A Dragonfly

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I was walking the dog along Lake Shore Road when this small dragonfly flew by and alighted on the branch of a nearby fir tree. I approached it slowly taking pictures as I went and fearing that it would fly off at any moment. But it didn’t. It let me get as close as I wanted.

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.

Ducks and Ducklings again

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Ducks and ducklings on the “Polly Pond” in Downing Park, Newburgh, NY. If you’re interested in comparing film and digital I also took a digital picture of these same ducks using my Sony RX-100 M3 – See: Downing Park, Newburgh – A Duck and her ducklings.

I think I prefer this one (i.e. the film version), but not necessarily because it’s film. I like the composition more. The digital version is, to me, a little too “formal” with all of the ducks in neat lines travelling in the same direction. It’s almost as if it’s posed. On the other hand the film version is more chaotic. There’s more going on: two of the ducklings have their heads in the water; one looks as if it has just lifted its head out and has weed dripping its beak; another one looks as if it’s about to dip its head in.

Taken with an Olympus IS-3/3000 and Fujicolor Superia X-TRA400.

Film Camera 2019/5 – Olympus IS-3 – Results

by Posted in Film, Flowers, Landscapes, Nature, Olympus IS-3000, Statues, Things, Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment

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Boat passing under the Broadway Bridge over the Harlem River, New York City.

You can find this camera for a very low price. I can understand why. It’s quite large, quite heavy and it’s impossible to put it in a pocket. It has a fixed lens, so no opportunity to changes lenses if you need to. The power zoom might be off-putting to some. The lens (f4.5 to f5.6) could be a little faster, but I don’t do much low light photography so I didn’t have a problem. All in all it’s a rather odd camera, the precursor to later generations of bridge cameras.

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Iris in Law Park, Briarcliff Manor

However, I found that I rather enjoyed using it. Yes, it’s large but I found the ‘heft’ to be reassuring. I feels like it’s well built and I found it comfortable to hold. I did find the power zoom switch to be uncomfortable at first, but it didn’t take me long to get used to it. Yes, you’re limited to a fixed lens but I found the 35-180mm focal length to be useful and at least I didn’t have to cart around additional lenses. As my eyes worsen with age I found the autofocus to be helpful, as is the use of easy to find AA batteries. The lens is excellent. Any problems with sharpness in the pictures are probably because of me rather than the lens. I tended to forget that at its long end this is a 180 mm lens, and that consequently I should make sure that my shutter speed is at least 1/250 of a second. I suspect that this caused some lens shake problems, but surprisingly not too bad.

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Bull statue outside a Ben and Jack’s Steakhouse in New York City.

I had one problem that was specific to my particular camera. There’s some kind of LCD bleed in the viewfinder that makes it hard (at times impossible) to see the aperture and shutter speed settings. I can always look at the rear panel for this information so it’s not much of a problem.

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Two mallards in Downing Park, Newburgh.

So I’m happy to have this camera and I’m quite impressed with the results delivered. Since the one I have is “cosmetically challenged” and has the LCD bleed problem I’m considering getting another one – in better condition.

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Fountain in Law Park, Briarcliff Manor.

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Statue in our garden.

For more pictures taken with this camera see:

A Woodland Path
The Chrysler Building
Another view of the Polly Pond
Ducks and Ducklings again
The train now arriving…
Lifeguard on duty

Pictures taken with Fujicolor Superia X-TRA400