BACK IN THE ROCK PIT

Man - this stone quarry is a test of my endurance.  The morning started fine until the wind picked up and created wave action that beat Shade and I nearly apart.  Add that to trying not to hit a rock pile and you sort of have what it was like out there.

The sky was pretty.  Pretty bad when I gotta look at the sky to find something pretty.

The Cherokee landscape would be a good place to do final checks on this 400 mm lens because the landscape is so varied.  There are distant mountains as well as islands with lone trees, shale and rocks that would reproduce in different ways.

Had to photograph this blue heron for practice.  It's a task to find wildlife on Cherokee Lake.

I had sent this big lens back to Sigma Lens Co. three years ago to have the focus calibrated.  I think they did a good job as I can't find fault with it.  I hope this thing holds together because I have no more back up lenses on the shelf.  If this one breaks, I gotta spring for another one.

I'm satisfied after looking at these scenic shots.  I think the 400 telephoto will suffice.

Shade and I took a break at 10:00 AM to get away from the beating waves.  She wondered close by and took a swim.  That dog will not go far away from me when we stop for these breaks.  She's totally tuned in to me.  What a great friend!

She went for a swim and dried off by rolling -- IN THE DIRT!  Oh No!

I don't care.  She can do whatever.  Another swim at the end of the day will wash her off clean again.
The gulls were swarming just ahead and that meant that a large school of shad was near the surface.

A lot of empty tummy's are getting filled.

The lens is doing fairly well here.  There isn't as much light as one would think by looking at the photos.  I think I was using 1/500th of a second on the shutter speed.  It should be faster but, gotta work with what I'm given.

I noticed a movement that proved to be a group of deer on an island.  They were instantly alerted to the sound of this loud two cycle engine.  Critters hate that noise.  I had to photograph them at great distance and the shutter speed was somewhere around 1/250th of a second.  Way too slow but, the pictures are usable.

And, I couldn't drive past the loons without trying a shot or two.

It had just occurred to me that I've never seen a loon in flight.  Not once!  They always dive beneath the surface and re emerge a hundred feet away but, they never fly.  Me thinks that is interesting.

So, that's the morning in a nutshell.  Not much happening on Cherokee Lake.  I think I'm off tomorrow but, the day is to be cold so I don't know what I'll be into.  Have to wait and see.