A
couple weeks ago I decided to buy my own "Nifty Fifty",
Canon's 50mm f/1.8 lens that is highly regarded as one of the
best values for its price. I had resisted purchasing this lens,
as I didn't do a lot of portrait photography, but decided to give
it a shot after seeing some nice landscape photos, and reading
about how well it does in low light situations. My test subjects
were our cats, and so far I am really excited about the potential
of this lens. The details in optimal situations are just spectacular.
Here's a few photos of Tigger and Monkey.
Tracy aided in getting her to hold still and look somewhat towards
me
Tigger doing her chirping, click the photo for a larger version,
and click
here for full size - Awesome Detail!
This is a non-zoomed just 100% cropped version of the photos with
this lens. The details are amazing.
Here's a photo I captured of Monkey Cleaning with her baby tongue.
Its
definitely going to take some time to get good with this lens,
but the good news is that electrons are free, so I will be clicking
away. I will be posting more photos of the cats soon in my
flickr cat gallery.
RIT
Hockey December
25TH, 2011
This
fall/winter we went to several RIT Hockey games. Fortunately for
us, RIT won the majority of them. At one of the games, against
AIC (American International), I brought our camera to take a few
hockey pictures. As I've mentioned before, I think hockey is a
difficult sport to photograph, because you kind of need to anticipate
the action otherwise you get photos of guys skating around looking
at where the action is. I took photos at this particular game
because I liked the AIC Yellow Jackets team logo. Here's a few
shots, there are more
in my flickr gallery.
RIT Goalie Shane Madolora
AIC Goalie Ben Meisner
Cameron Burt, discusses the game with Referee Foote
RIT Goalie Shane Madolora directing the defense from the crease
RIT
Hockey has a long layoff from home games until the end of January.
They are playing in a tournament in Vermont this month.
Thoughts
about guns November
29TH, 2011
If
I told you, I thought the nation's gun laws might be too lenient,
would you say I was probably one of those anti-gun nuts trying
to ban all weapons? Maybe? But, I was thinking about guns and
people earlier this year, when congresswoman Giffords and several
others were shot by a gunman in Arizona. Now I know guns don't
kill people, people kill people, but hear me out. The man who
shot the congresswoman, injured 13 people, and killed 6 was using
a Glock 19 9mm handgun, with an extended magazine. The magazine
of a standard glock can hold 15 rounds, but the extended magazine
Jared Loughner used could hold 33 rounds. So I asked myself, what
possible reason could a gun owner have to need to hold 33 rounds
of ammunition, instead of 15? I mean, could you get by with "just"
the 15, instead of 30 or more? Too much trouble to reload at the
firing range? I don't really know.
This
article states that the extended magazine's were illegal,
but the law expired and was not renewed. So I decided to ask a
friend of mine, who is a hunter, and knows more about guns than
I do, if he supported the legality of extended magazines, and
what they were necessary for. It seemed to me that a responsible
gun owner would have a valid reason for requiring extended magazines
to be legal, and a valid use for them. When I asked my question,
all I got was a frown, a bit of a furrowed brow, and a reply of
"It's my right.". Well, yes, I agree, it is your right
to bear arms, but what do you need a 30 round magazine for, it
seems like only harm can come from that. Wouldn't you support
a ban on extended magazines, or do they serve a valid purpose?
The reply again, was a bit more frustrated, "It's my right,
and you can't take that away from me.". It seems to me that
most people aren't using a pistol to hunt animals with, and is
30 rounds needed rather than 15 to take out today's big game animals?
I quickly realized I wasn't winning this argument, and abandoned
it.
Why
bring this up now, almost a year later? Well, driving down the
road the other day I saw a street sign with what appeared to be
bullet holes shot into it. Now this isn't the first sign that
I have seen with shotgun or rifle rounds pumped into it. I'm sure
you've seen a few yourself. So consider this... Was the individual
that shot the street sign acting in a responsible manner? I would
venture they were not. Is it responsible to destroy public property?
Is it responsible to endanger motorists who may be driving by,
or did the shooter consider what may occur if they missed or a
bullet were to ricochet? I would submit to you that they were
not responsible, and assuming the person that shot the street
sign acquired the gun legally, this would mean to me that irresponsible
people can legally obtain firearms.
So
what do we need to do about this? I would say that either the
laws regarding firearm sales either need to be toughened, or more
training needs to be required. I'm not saying we need to go crazy
here and ban guns and such, I'm just saying there is a problem
when I go to parks, and drive down the road, and see signs pumped
full of lead. It seems irresponsible. So if you are a gun owner,
and have some thoughts on this subject, I'd love to hear them.
I suppose its possible that shooting signs is in the safe gun
handbook. I don't know, I haven't read it. And if that is the
case, I would withdraw my claim, and submit to you that the handbook
needs to be amended to recommend against shooting signs. But I
doubt this is the case. So there you have it, I think its a simple
question I pose to you, "Are our nation's gun laws preventing
irresponsible people from obtaining and shooting firearms.".
If you have ever seen a sign with bullet holes in it, I would
say no, they are not.
Florida
2011 October
2ND, 2011
This
fall Tracy and I traveled to Orlando Florida for vacation with
Craig and Heather. We had a really good time. Monday we went to
Discovery Cove, and all inclusive resort where we swam in a huge
artificial reef complete with rays and a variety of fish, we visited
the bird aviary and fed many friendly tropical birds, we floated
around the lazy river, and swam with the dolphins in the cove.
It was a lot of fun, and included admission to Sea World, which
we visited on Thursday.
Tracy feeding the birds with Craig at the Discovery Cove Aviary
Tracy feeding the birds at the Discovery Cove Aviary
Tracy feeding a bunch of parrots at the Discovery Cove Aviary
Tracy pets Captain Jack, the friendliest bird in the Discovery Cove
Aviary
Craig made friends with a whole bunch of these birds at the Discovery
Cove Aviary
Ray in the Discovery Cove Reef
More Rays in the Discovery Cove Reef
Florida
2011 October
2ND, 2011
On
Tuesday we visited Universal Studios Orlando, and went to Islands
of Adventure to visit the amusement park rides. We did the new
harry Potter coasters, Jurassic Park ride, Flume Ride, Spiderman,
and Incredible Hulk Coaster. We also did the ET Ride, Simpson's,
Jaws, The Mummy Returns, and Twister.
Wednesday
we traveled to Crystal River Wildlife reservation to do a manatee
tour with Fun2Dive. It was really great. We snorkeled around in
the many coves of the reservation and saw many manatee. We also
visited a few of the natural springs that feed the area. Tracy
spotted a crab on the bottom. We saw many fish, and were visited
by still more manatee. Heather brought her underwater camera,
and we were able to get some really neat photos.
Ready to swim with the Manatees with Fun2Dive Tours on Crystal
River
Manatee eating in Crystal River
Swimming with the Manatees in Crystal River
We saw this crab in with the fresh water springs
Friendly baby manatee in Crystal River
This little guy circled and circled around me for 5 minutes
He was very curious and friendly
Crystal River Manatee, Fun2Dive Tours
If
you are in the Orlando, Florida area, and want to swim with the
Manatees, we highly recommend Fun2Dive.
They specialize in small group (1-6 people), all day excursions
to view manatees in a non-threatening natural environment.
Travers
Weekend 2011 August
30TH, 2011
Well,
we had a great weekend at the Travers Stakes in Saratoga. We beat
Hurricane Irene out of Albany, and even took some money from the
track. I had a fantastic time, met some fantastic people, caught
up with a few friends from days past, saw some awesome racing,
and got some great photos. The first race we saw featured a jockey
losing his whip, and using his goggles to whip the horse instead!
Jose Lezcano, the jockey on the right is whipping his horse with
his goggles.
Friday
afternoon we were able to see Kentucky Derby contender To Honor
And Serve in an claiming race of all places.
To Honor and Serve wins the 8th race at Saratoga 08.26.2011
Mark
made friends with one of the track photographers, Connie Bush,
and we ran into her Friday afternoon. She was able to get Mark
and I visitor's passes Saturday morning, which was great, a once
in a lifetime experience. It also meant that my day started around
4am as I got up, had a shower and headed to the track to photograph
morning workouts. We were able to spend some time at the Oklahoma
training track, and the backstretch for breakfast. It also meant
for a heck of a long day.
Robby Albarado works out a horse on the Oklahoma Training Track
Saturday Morning, 6:45am.
We
got to see great racing all day. I found a horse shoe which must
have brought Tracy some luck as she did quite well on the day.
We saw the return of Uncle Mo, almost a year to the day that we
saw him win his maiden race over this same track. Unfortunately
he lost by a nose in a photo finish, but it was an awesome race,
and he did so good after a long layoff. He lost his back right
shoe, and I was able to capture that with my camera from my spot
on the rail. He's an awesome horse.
The King's Bishop field at the top of the stretch.
Uncle Mo gallops by, dislodged shoe and all. I thought he had
it won at this point.
Then
to cap off the day, Mark and I ran into The Mig, retired Hall
of Fame jockey Richard Migliore! He was a really nice guy and
even posed for a few photographs. Mark maintains he bares a vague
resemblance to myself, and I must say I think he is right!
Dave with "The Mig", Hall of Fame Jockey Richard Migliore.
It
was a great summer at Saratoga, and all in all I was able to take
in three race weekends. The Jim Dandy, The Whitney, and The Travers.
There won't be a summer like it for a while. View all my photos
from this summer at Saratoga in my flickr gallery:
I'm
going back in time here, trying to catch up with some posts for
the exciting summer we've had. Saturday August 20th I went to
the Radio Control
Club of Rochester's R/C Air show in North Hampton Park. I
wasn't sure what to expect, but I had a fantastic time, and saw
a lot of really neat planes. The club has an airstrip at the park,
that I haven't used because I found a field a lot closer to fly
in. They have four flight stations, and they were pretty much
going non-stop. I saw a variety of planes from World War 1 bi-planes
to futuristic looking jets. The majority of the planes were battery
powered, which I think is good for the hobby. There was one plane
they called a 43% scale plane. It was huge! They all flew and
did loops and tricks. Here are a few photos and videos.
Habu Turbofan Jet
Plane for Sale
Large 43% Model Bi-Plane
Variety of planes, including WW1 Bi-Plane
Nose Art on
a R/C Plane?
Acrobatic Display
I had a great time, and plan to go back next year.
Adirondacks
Vacation August
30TH, 2011
The
last week in July and first week in August, while the stock market
was tanking, I spent an enjoyable week in the Adirondack region
of New York on vacation. I was able to do a lot of swimming, some
hiking, star gazing, sailing, kayaking, trespassing, and pretty
much everything you can think of that is fun. I got to spend time
with my entire family, which is really special to me. Even my
Aunt Paula came out from St. Louis, she took some great loon photos.
Here's a sample of some of my photos, the full
gallery is visible on my flickr page.
Loon in the
Adirondacks
View towards
Tupper Lake from my hike up Mount Morris, Big Tupper Ski Area
View from the
summit of Mount Morris, looking towards Whiteface Mountain
Mount Arab
Infrared Image
This
was a really fun vacation, and all the photos I took can be viewed
on my flickr page.
Jim
Dandy Day - Saratoga August
30TH, 2011
In
the midst of my week in the Adirondacks, I ducked down to Saratoga
for a great day of racing on Jim Dandy Day. I saw a lot of great
horses, had a great time with Mark and Melody, and even got to
see Stay Thirsty win the Jim Dandy on his way to the Travers Stakes
4 weeks later. Here's a few photos on the day, more
photos are available on my flickr gallery page.
Giant Surprise's maiden win for Repole Stables
Sebago Bay with Corey Nakatani on top gets cooled down in the
winners circle
Jim Dandy Contender Moonshine Mullin
Jim Dandy and eventual Travers Stakes winner Stay Thirsty for
Repole Stables
We
had a really busy July, and on Saturday the 16th we braved 90
degree heat to attend the Rochester ESL Airshow. The Blue Angels
were in town and we were both really excited to see them and the
rest of the planes. We got to see a lot of cool planes, talk to
a lot of neat pilots, and walk through a lot of large transport
planes. You can view
the full gallery on my flickr page, and a sample of some of
the photos here:
P-51 Mustang and A-10 Warthog Flight
Canadian Sky Hawk Aerobatic Team
Navy C-130 Faaaaaat Albert
Soldiers Watching the Blue Angels from Atop a Blackhawk Helicopter
After
rekindling our interest in racing, this year Dad and I decided
to head out to Limerock Park in Connecticut to take in the American
Le Mans Series Racing. It didn't take us too long to figure out
the way the camping worked. We even got some rain, even though
I didn't bring any rain gear. The racing was great, and its a
really neat track. We got to see a lot of different types of cars
racing, and the access to the track and pit area can't be beat!
Its practically wide open. We camped at the track for 3 days,
and had a great time. Here's a few photos from the weekend (close
to 1,000 photos taken). View the rest of them in my
flickr gallery.
Dyson Racing LMP1 Car
CORE Autosport LMPC Car - Gunnar Jeannette
Team RLL BMW - Dirk Werner, with race damage
Corvette Compuware GT Car - Beretta / Milner
Flying Lizard Motorsports - Bergmeister
One of mine, and my dad's favorites - Risi Competizone Ferrari,
Toni Vilander
Jaguar RSR - Bruno Junquera and Christiano Da Matta
My
father and I went to Watkins Glen International Racetrack Tuesday
to witness the Mobil 1 Seat Swap. The Seat Swap was an event where
Lewis Hamilton, world champion Formula 1 driver, and Tony Stewart,
a NASCAR driver each took turns driving each other's cars around
the race track. Tuesday's forecast was for partly cloudy 65 degree
skies with a 30% chance of rain. Instead we got 52 degrees overcast,
drizzle, and a stiff breeze. Despite this, between 8,000 and 10,000
people showed up to the event. It was really fun, and fantastic
to see a Formula 1 car in person.
Here's
a couple photos from the event. Lewis Hamilton turned some fast
laps in the stock car, and even treated the fans to a burnout
and a donut on his last lap. That really gave the crowd something
to cheer.
Lewis Hamilton in Tony Stewart's Chevy Impala, leaving behind
some rubber.
Tony Stewart drive's Lewis Hamilton's McLaren F1 car.
Airport
Fun June
16TH, 2011
While
in Washington DC, I happened upon this park, Gravelly Point Park,
just outside Reagan International Airport. When the flight plan
is just right, the planes fly right over the park on the approach
to the airport. Here's one of the videos I took while I was there.
I think I could watch planes land all afternoon. Really excited
for the air shows this summer! You can see the Washington Monument
in the lower right corner of the video.
Busy
Weekend May
30TH, 2011
Went
to my parents house for dinner this memorial day weekend which
also meant I got to do a little bird photography while I was there.
I was very happy to see the pileated woodpecker show up and saw
three orioles, although they all decided to show up when we were
inside eating. Also caught a glimpse of a humming bird as well
as several other birds.
Blue Jay
Female Cardinal
Pileated Woodpecker
Chipmunk
Super
Sunday? May
30TH, 2011
This
weekend I finally had time enough and good enough weather to break
out my HobbyZone Super Cub LP model airplane. I bought this guy
last fall along with a flight simulator to use to learn to fly
over the winter. This was the first weekend I wasn't too busy
and had good enough weather to try it out. I can tell you this
is one durable little plane thank god!
After
assembling, binding, reading the instructions (though not all
of them apparently) and watching the instructional video a few
times I took the plane out for a flight. First flight I let the
thing go and it lurched hard to the right. I tried to correct
by pulling up and trying to get it straightened out, but instead
I lost lift and nosed it into the ground. I lost a few pieces
off the tip of the wing at this point too.
I
gave it another shot and got it into the air a bit longer, but
was still suffering from severe control issues. Ultimately I crash
landed again. At this point I realized that the tail was not in
a neutral position which was causing the severe pull to the right.
In retrospect, the chipped left wing was now also pulling it left,
so things were in quite a crazy state at this point. I tried to
straighten the tail using the fine tuning on the transmitter.
Then gave it a third ill fated flight where I didn't throttle
up enough for some reason and nosed it into the ground.
Flight
four was a success as I got it airborne and flew it for 7 minutes.
I even executed a loop. Kind of lost a little control a few times,
but it was at this point I realized that the plane had a pull
to the left. The same left wing that had a chip out of it. I'm
going to find out from the hobby shop this week if the chip was
enough to cause the pull to the left, or if I still had a tail
alignment issue, or if I had the wing on off center. After flying
for a while I tried to land and managed a controlled crash landing.
With
not much damage I made flight five. Did a loop and some circles
before the throttle seemed to sputter a bit. I knew I was probably
close to being out of batteries so I decided to try and land the
plane. It was headed my direction and I briefly thought I could
just catch the plane out of the air. I thought better and dodged
out of the way in time to perform my second "crash"
landing.
All
in all the plane still appears functional, and I did have a successful
7 minute flight, so I'd call it a success.
Where
Did The Rest Go?
Where
are the rest of the stories? Well, they are in the archives
page. See the bottom section of the Menu at right. Periodically,
the older stories on ScaredyCatFilms will be moved to the archive
section. Moves like this will occur periodically as the content
on the home page becomes too great..
If
I told you, I thought the nation's gun laws might be too lenient,
would you say I was probably one of those anti-gun nuts trying
to ban all weapons? Maybe? But, I was thinking about guns and
people earlier this year, when congresswoman Giffords and several
others were shot by a gunman in Arizona. Now I know guns don't
kill people, people kill people, but hear me out. The man who
shot the congresswoman, injured 13 people, and killed 6 was using
a Glock 19 9mm handgun, with an extended magazine. The magazine
of a standard glock can hold 15 rounds, but the extended magazine
Jared Loughner used could hold 33 rounds. So I asked myself, what
possible reason could a gun owner have to need to hold 33 rounds
of ammunition, instead of 15? I mean, could you get by with "just"
the 15, instead of 30 or more? Too much trouble to reload at the
firing range? I don't really know.
