My ability to travel is somewhat limited these days – my mobility is good, but my camera rig only works on the heavier chair I use for the backyard. I’ll have the solution to that problem soon, but for the meantime any kind of photo Safari I can make will have to be in the backyard. Luckily it is a beautiful place, crowded with gorgeous plants, many types of birds, and lots of wild critters. The rhode featured at the top of the post is an example of the flora, and the bunny shown below are typical of the fauna. Deer are numerous as well, as all the nipped stems will attest.
We have a fair number of these plant destroying animals bouncing around the neighborhood the days; more than we had in the past I think, primarily due to the absence of many predators. Oh, we have plenty of domestic cats that roam the neighborhood, and occasionally a dog gets off the leash; but the days are gone when the coyotes, bear, bobcat, and even cougar used to visit the early property owners in the sub development on a regular basis. Nowadays we only have very occasional visits from these four. (Lucky Bunny!)
I took a spin around the backyard today, and gave my new camera a serious workout. I am still trying to get comfortable with both the camera and the gimbal, and I’m very pleased with the progress I’ve made so far. It seems strange in some ways - I've known my way around cameras for so long and have a veteran approach to the medium; yet in many ways I feel like an absolute Newbie.
The software is so much a key aspect of it all, let alone the gear. I am working with three programs right now: Image App, the Panasonic camera software; ACDSee, the catalog and development program; and Affinity, the PC users answer to PhotoShop. In principle I am familiar with the last two, as they are very much like Lightroom and Photoshop, which I have worked with for decades. But the Image App program is new to me, and using remains a bit of a stretch.
There's the learning curves on the Lumix camera and the Zhyiun gimbal to factor into the situation as well, although they are far less complex than the software and don't take as long to get familiar with. Learning how to become proficient with these new "toys" should keep me busy and growing for most of the summer. I'll be less than a journeyman with any of them for longer than that. And that's what it's all about, really, "busy and growing."