July 30 2008 - Photo Jottings

July 30 2008

7/30/08

If you want to go for an evening stroll in southern Arizona, you’ll have plenty of company.  Click here for more detailed pictures of your potential company.  I really didn’t go for a stroll, but I did want to see how my Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 lens works in near total darkness, so I decided to go out in the yard after dark and see what I could find as a subject.  Luckily, I had a couple of easy targets.  I used the Sony HVL-F56AM flash unit mounted, and off camera, to try and create the best lighting possible, especially for the Western Diamondback.  This method is tricky, as the snake seemed to get riled up at the AF illuminator from the flash unit, not to mention when the flash itself fires!!! The snake was a good sport though, and never struck at me.  He appears to be a youngin’ judging by the number of rattles.  I’d guess two years old.  He’s about 30″ long (.8m).
The Sony 70-200mm gets more impressive each time I use it.  Spot focusing is dead-on, even with little light (porch light in this case), I aimed at the snakes head or eyes and pulled the trigger.  This night I had the 1.4X TC on, but really didn’t need it.
See 11 images of snakes, spiders and other more visually appealing subjects on the bounce!
I’ve updated the “coming soon” page, deleting all the stuff that’s done, and adding more new items like the Sony 28mm review and a new review of the cheapskates macro, the “49mm Hoya close -up set” retailing for about $25. Do these cheap little suckers work?  Find out in a few days!

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