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THE SECULAR & THE SUBLIME

Chance Conversations in a Cathedral of Redwoods

PART ONE: Two Women from Arcata

On a recent visit to a Redwood Forest in Northern California I encountered and amiably conversed with several locals who greeted me on the trail.

My video camera on was on a tripod facing the other way but inadvertently recorded snippets of our conversation. Sections of the audio remain unintelligible but I have managed to restore much of it to acceptable levels.

It occurs to me that there may be some sort of symbolism in juxtaposing mundane chat with a sacred experience. Maybe it’s a communion of sorts, a mingling of the human and the divine.

Hopefully elevating the human while not diluting the divine.

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Summer of Love

Uncle Sam was pointing at me.

So I volunteered.

But it was the summer of ’67. I wasn’t going to leave my peace symbols at home.

🙂 🙂 🙂

Drafted or enlisted, during war or peace, we owe respect and a huge debt of gratitude to all who served.

And none of us should forget that our former President was a draft dodger who taunted POWs as “losers.”

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Nikon Z8 Autofocus

The thing about Wildlife images is that photographers routinely hit the delete button if the eye is not tack-sharp. And trying to keep the tiny little focus point on the tiny little eye of an erratically moving subject is near impossible.

And yet, the eye is the one thing that can’t be out of focus.

The thing about Nikon’s new autofocus system – which is causing backflips and high-fives among wildlife photographers – is that the camera automatically locks onto that tiny little eye for you.

Take a look at what’s in focus on the Great Horned Owl below. (I took this image Tuesday, Tzuri’s last day, with her on a leash but stretched out patiently at my feet.)

See what’s not in sharp focus? The area on the body below the eye?

That shows how precise the focal point needs to be, and how well the camera finds it. Slip a few millimeters one way or the other and depth of field changes. But a little fuzziness elsewhere doesn’t matter as long as the eye is sharp.

What hoot, huh?

And speaking of hooting, that’s what this little guy in the nest was doing with his mouth open. Probably calling for his mom, who was out hunting.

Still lovin’ my new Z8!

🙂 🙂 🙂