Jeff Nolten wrote:
Thanks PetKal, on my death bed I'm going to say two things, "I wish I'd spent more time at the office" and "I wish I'd taken more pictures of spray cans"!
Great humor, Jeff! Thanks for the laugh.
I find it too heavy to hold in your hand or on a strap around your neck. I put mine with body attached, lens shade reversed, in a long, narrow, cheap REI back pack with my own padding inserted between it and my back. With a carbon fiber Gitzo over my shoulder, I can hike up mountains for several miles each way. With weight evenly spread over two shoulder straps, the weight is O.K.
Don, every time I've seen big horn though, its just white rumps heading over the hill.
You just have to let them know you're their buddy. In Yellowstone, I hike up to their favorite area, approach very slowly, and lie down in the middle of the herd and sleep with them for several hours. Once on a knife edge ridge, while I was photographing one sheep, another wanted to pass by me, and walked within 30" of me. I could have leaned over and run my fingers through his fur!
Thanks for the info Don. I routinely carry 11 lbs of camera gear and I figured it needed a custom sleeve down the length of the pack. I'd definitely be carrying a G10 as second body.
Wow, the Yellowstone herds are that habitualized to people, or your secret herd? I've been hiking the San Diego mountains for decades and we have decent populations in the mountains above the desert, but I've rarely seen them and never heard that they are approachable. Maybe I'll PM you before my next Yellowstone trip for suggestions on where to look.
Jeff Nolten wrote:
Gene, I love this shot of the snapping turtle. Is it heavily cropped or extension or teleconverter or all of the above? Very reptilian eye!
If I recollect, not cropped much at all. It was crossing the road and I layed down face down on the road to get the shot. It wasn't very far away.
I thought I was content with my gear to date except for maybe a 28-300 L IS but these are giving me a serious case of lens lust. With the exception of Peters test shot those are some mighty fine photos and even though we could all set up Peter's target his is "bang on".
