Testing the 100-400mm f/4-5.6 L

We took a little ride tonight with the intention of testing a new lens at the various focal lengths.  We basically were looking for any subject that would be a good test to check sharpness through the range of the zoom.  The local elk seemed to be eager to be the subjects of our tests.  As I set up to do my testing I spotted old blue eyes.  I wish this cow was just related to Frank Sinatra but sadly is blind in one eye.  We were happy to see that she came through the winter and appears to be strong and in good health.  Not only is she blind but the eye is bulging quite noticeably.

I've never thought about calling an elk "smug"  but this young cow is definitely "smug".

Not sure if these are Bulls or Bullies!

We saw over a hundred elk today but pretty much accepted we weren't going to be photographing any big bulls this day.  This was fine because of the large number of elk we observed.  Let's just say that all changed as we headed toward home.  We ran into a group of 7 large bulls all of which wanted to flex their muscles and show off their size and power.  We saw countless sparring and antler locking.  We did determine one thing for certain, those racks aren't ready to drop just yet.  As I was looking through the viewfinder I was amazed to see this one big fella rise up on his hind legs just as I pressed the shutter.  This show of power seemed to scare the other fella and he backed down from the fight.  We never tire of observing these majestic animals.

At Walker Gardens vibrant colors abound!

This was our first visit to Walker Gardens and we sure weren't disappointed.  This place is alive with color.

Quack, quack, quack!

We took a ride to Warren today to check out the new Allegheny Outfitters outdoor store.  The store was fantastic and we couldn't pass up a couple cool items.  We couldn't believe how high the river was.  Part of the new waterfront was actually under water.  The current was so swift that even the ducks were hesitant to get too far from dry ground.  Poor things thought we had some food for them.

Allegheny Outfitters new store in Warren Pa.

To delete or not to delete, that is the question!

I would suppose I'm not too different from other amateur nature photographers in that I'm my own worst critic.  I take loads of images and when I look at them the delete button is never far from my fingertips.  As you scan through the images one's too dark, one's too light, this one is not composed very well and that one is crooked and I can go on and on.  Sometimes you just plain screw up and have the wrong lens on or the wrong settings or the animal or the weather wouldn't cooperate.  Hey, I have a million excuses.  Okay occasionally even a blind squirrel finds an acorn and I get some shots that even I think are pretty decent.

The picture below is an image I took on a cold, miserable and rainy March afternoon.  As I was setting up for the shot I noticed that the fog that was rolling in front of the tunnel would change in intensity so I waited until it was low and heavy and snapped the shot. Of course when I got home and looked at the image I immediately shot it over to the recycle bin.  For some strange reason I restored it to my album and opened it up in PhotoShop and did some fooling around with it.  The end result was something that I sorta' liked and it no longer made me want to throw up in my mouth.  Hope you enjoy it!  This is the old tunnel in Sabula.