Another Rocket Shot

Was fortunate enough to shoot another rocket launch for a technical publication.
Here is the link to the launch pictures and some surrounding shots
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/09/gallery-the-successful-launch-of-the-antares-rocket/

I will post some shots here of the surrounding wildlife shortly.

Recap from the trip: Day 2

 So our second day starts right proper and early, off to the New River for jungle exploration and wildlife watching, and then to the Mayan ruin, Lamanai. Along the way we'd see all kinds of exotic birds (who are darned hard to catch in flight with any degree of clarity),  reptiles of all shapes and sizes, strange new plants (I now know where air plants come from), and plenty of mammals, like the wild monkey pictured here. 

We stopped at a midway point and had a traditional lunch of jerked chicken with red beans and rice. I would soon learn I was going to be eating that dish a lot over the vacation. No matter, I loved it.

One of the other things we saw, were people fishing on the river for, well anything they could catch, colourful houses, Mormon enclaves and John McAfee's summer house (for sale for merely 1.25 million US.) Along the way our wonderful tour guide pointed out to us (there were a number of other people on the boat, including some wonderful Canadians, who I took pics of later) the hidden wonders of the river that we traveled. Bats dozing in the sun, termite mounds in trees, cactus plants that looked like tree pythons ready to pounce, and he kept up a steady stream of very bad puns (It's Unbelizeable!)

Wild Wild Life

Lots of wildlife (no, not fratboys) casually sauntering around Colorado, including foxes, rabbits, sheep and deer.

This doe was untroubled by me getting really close, and as such, I got some great shots of her feeding.

Snort!

One of the many interesting things about the Nikon F4s film camera, is that the DX lenses on my Fuji, give me a wider view than designed for. This, for example, is the 17mm I use. It's designed for a dSLR and as such, is actually about a 15mm on a film camera. Suits me fine, allows me to get lumbering behemoths like this rhino on film. Still not all of it mind you, the rhino is just too big, but better than on the Fuji.

Side note, ever wonder how they get the rhino to the zoo? Car carrier maybe? Flatbed? Walked it there? I may never know.

Classic

Naturally, with my love of old things, I still shoot film. In this case I've gotten my hands on a pristine Nikon F4s and ran a roll of film through it.

Too much history to the F4s to post here, but suffice to say, this is a lovely camera. I will be shooting much more in film in the months to come.

Giraffe from the zoo, one-hour processing at the local pharmacy. Kodak 400CN film.

Difficult

A Rhino, if it wasn't obvious. Rhinos are big, very big. You see them on nature shows but until you get right next to one in person, it is difficult to convey the size of these animals.

As such, it's even harder to get a good shot of one, especially with fences and whatnot in the way, so I had to settle for the eye and first horn.

Even so, the texture of the skin makes it an interesting shot.

Squawk

Penguin detail. Unlike most of the animals there at the zoo, you could get almost nose to nose with the penguins. They didn't seem to mind, and indeed, several 'posed' for the camera. Unfortunately I'd run out of space on my memory card, so one shot of a penguin was all I got, but it's a pretty good one in my opinion.

Fat

I think these are gophers, but I'm not positive. In any event, just inside the zoo is a large collection of them, and a feeding station where you can buy food pellets to give to the gophers.

I'm fairly certain gophers aren't supposed to be this fat, but I suppose if I was given yummy treats all day, and didn't have to work for my food (other than looking cute) I'd be fat too.

All pics taken with my Fuji S2 Pro and my walking around lens, the Nikkor 35-70 f/2.8

Busy

The weather is been great for this time of year, these past few weeks, so I have been out with the gear. My internet connection has been broken at home (more correctly, absent) so I've not had a chance to upload things until today.

I will start with pics from the local zoo. Not great pics, but I had much fun taking them. The tiger here is somewhat photoshopped, as I was behind a rather filthy window and couldn't get a good clear image, but you get the idea.