Erich's Photo and Travel

 Yes, I bought a new camera.  The new and improved Fuji XT-4.  The XT-4 is FAR superior than it's predecessor (XT-3) in all aspects.   You can blame Michelle for converting me to Fuji. Now, I must say, I didn't' blatantly spend money on this camera without having a plan. I sold my Nikon Z6 and associated lenses which more than paid for the Fuji.  I can honestly say that I feel good about buying the new camera.  The only regret that I have is that I didn't ask for more money on the Fuji "kit lenses" that Michelle and I had (27mm).  Fuji has NO stock on any of their lenses and I could have made a killing on the lens.  They both sold within minutes of posting them on eBay.  Dammit! So, you may be asking yourself what the fuck that this has to do with the RMANWR?  A test drive on the new camera.  Michelle was kind enough to let me "borrow" her Fuji 100-400mm lens.  Possession is 9/10 of the law.  It is now my possession. ...

Another attempt at Astrophotography gone up in smoke.   Thank you California for the ruining our Wyoming weekend.  Don't worry, we will be visiting soon and will definitely leave a mark on your ass. The smoke was so bad in Wyoming.  Thick, grey and disgusting. Of course, this didn't stop people from going to one of our favorite spots in Wyoming.  Medicine Bow National Forest.   We dressed for 60 degree weather.  We didn't expect 35 degree weather with fog and blustery wind.  Glad we packed additional clothes (hats, gloves, scarfs etc). I am ahead of myself.  The day excursion to Medicine Bow was the second day.   We spent the first day at the Wyoming Territorial Prison to visit relatives.  Ha...the prison is now a park.  The prison's most famous prisoner was Butch Cassidy.  The only prison that Butch was incarcerated in.  Pretty good for career criminal. We spent most of the day at the prison.  Historical Prisons will...

 Armed with out cameras and big ass lenses, we set out to take a few morning shots of wildlife at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and Wildlife Refuge in Aurora, CO. The refuge is FREE.  Woo Fucking Hoo! We managed to catch a few shots of Blue Herons, Egrets, bunny rabbits and even a fisherman (extremely rare in the wild).

 Finally, due to the ease of the COVID19 restrictions in Colorado, we were able to attend a photo workshop for photographing birds of prey. Mike's Camera in Denver, CO puts this annual event on their calendar and we quickly signed up. Hawk Quest is a non profit company that takes in injured and sick birds of prey and nurses them back to health.  Unfortunately due to their injuries, they will never be released into the wild. Both Michelle and I have tried our best to get close to the various eagle nests in our immediate area without success. Today, success was made, photographed and logged.   American Kestrel American Bald Eagl Owl Harris Hawk We Rule!

 Denver has officially lifted its Mask Mandate for fully vaccinated people while outdoors!  I still feel a bit weary about this especially since this mandate is based on the honor system. Well, what do we have to loose right?  Head outdoors to the Denver Botanic Gardens for a bit of sunshine while it lasts today. We got to the gardens at 0900 and the really wasn't a lot of people there.  That soon changed.   People everywhere.   Just because the mask mandate has been lifted doesn't mean you can block the sidewalks, or social distance to some extent.   After just three shot hours, we got sick of the people and headed home.   Most of the above photos were taken using my Olympus 12-100mm lens (which totally kicks ass by the way) and my 60mm macro lens without a tripod.  I rule.  You know it so you don't have to verbally acknowledge it.

 We only get one good day of weather this weekend so we took advantage of the day and took a walk along the Platt River to shoot some wildlife.  Of course, this entailed lugging our telephoto lenses. We found an eagle's nest situated about 100 yards from the trail last week when we rode our bikes along the trail but didn't have our cameras at the time. The nest has a chick!  The mother wasn't around but we figured she was out hunting so we ended up waiting about 20 minutes for her to come back with food. This is as close as we could get.  I took this photo with my 100 - 400mm Leica Lens.  Not too bad.  Wish I could have been closer but a fence was there to keep people like me out. There were egrets and geese, and other birds that I have no idea what they are called.  I asked them their name but cheep, cheep doesn't translate well in my brain. We even spotted a prairie dog who immediately alerted his troop to our arrival! As always, it was nice to get o...

 Now we both have at least one shot of the Pfizer Vaccine, we decided it was time to take another road trip.   Louisiana sounded good! A quick check on AirBNB and we found a nice two bedroom two bathroom home on Algiers Point.  Algiers Point is a short ferry ride across the mighty Mississippi River from Bourbon Street.   Did I forget to mention that New Orleans, LA is an eighteen hour drive away?   As always, we got up butt ass early to hit the road.  We felt we could make it to Wichita Falls, TX and stay the night at a hotel. Not a lot of stopping on the way due to the mileage we have to endure.  We did stop in Memphis, TX for a quick photo op and bathroom break: We still didn't feel safe eating in restaurants so we went to a local grocery store and picked up some heat and serve meals from the deli. Up and at 'em early the following morning to make it to New Orleans... We arrived in New Orleans around 6pm and found a small restaurant a block or so fro...