It is no secret that I take a lot of photographs of the wildlife around the Bayou. That is one of the whole points of this blog. I want to be able to keep a history of what life is like here for my grandkids that rarely get to visit and for anyone else who just enjoys nature at its best. Wildlife here abounds as this is one of the few places left to be wild (as life should be). Most everyone that knows me has an inkling of my passion...especially Son. Since he spends about as much time outdoors as I do, he has been witness to me climbing trees, crawling through the underbrush or simply "waiting" for the right moment for a critter to emerge from the marsh. He has seen it all. This led up to a series of photographs that are rather remarkable because of a single factor.
It was midmorning when a Great Blue Heron decided to perch itself high on a dead pine tree that sits at the edge of the marsh. With nothing between the bird and my position on the board path leading to the pier, it was the perfect photo opportunity. Of course, that meant that at least a dozen pictures had to be taken even if it was with the old camera that I kept in the yard as I worked. (The new camera comes out only when the weather is clear and when I am not liable to forget where I put it when working!) Finally, the bird tired of my antics and flew off over the marsh but I was happy with my efforts.
Then the big discovery! As I made my way up the hill, I noticed Son coming from near the greenhouse. He had a big grin AND...the new camera! It seems that he had seen the heron and knew that I would want some photographs. The bird was being doubly photographed! Later, when we viewed both sets of pictures, we realized that they were eerily similar! He and I both took pictures of the bird as it changed poses but our respective cameras must have been clicking at the same time! Now I have two sets of photographs of the same bird but slightly different angles.
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This all did bring one thing to light, however. Like I said, I was using the old camera and he was using the new. My old one is from 2007....the new one is from 2020. You would think with all of the "upgrades" with modern technology, the new camera would produce far better photographs. Personally, I think the old does. Son is far steadier than I am and has much more knowledge of the buttons and gadgets on the camera. His photographs should have been far clearer. The old camera stayed on one setting, I was using a driftwood post as a tripod and I was actually farther away from the bird. When we were examining the photographs, Son finally could see what I have been saying about the new camera's pictures being "grainy" when they were enlarged. He had a technical explanation for it but did agree that I should use the old camera as long as it is still working. Just to be certain, we swapped cameras and experimented and had the same results. The old camera had clearer pictures regardless of who was using it. IT IS BETTER! Maybe being old is not so bad after all. (In each set of photos above, the first ones were taken with the old camera.)
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