New Lens, First Day

(If this isn’t animating by itself, click on it.)

I’m not that much into photo gear. I’ve mostly been shooting with the convenient and versatile 18-135mm kit lens that came with my Nikon DSLR 3 years ago and occasionally with the nice 10mm fisheye Tony got me or my old 50mm lens from my film Nikon (that doesn’t meter). But, the other day, I stopped into the Ritz Camera close to my house (all the Ritz’s are going out of business :() and got a deal on a 55-200mm Nikon VR (Vibration Reduction) lens.

I am into special effects, though, so forgive some of the possibly silly ones you will see here. I was just going to do a couple but it got out of control.

The new lens did make it a lot easier to sneak up on my little hummer friends from the cover of a nearby tree.

Strawberry Fields Forever…

I was at the nursery buying some pots and flowers yesterday and saw this cool plant. I don’t know what it is but these 2 guys that work there were riding around in a cart and started singing Strawberry Fields Forever when they saw me taking the photo.*

Okay, this one above may be the hokiest of the special effects here but I kinda like it. It’s a rare bird.

And, lastly, this tiny butterfly was no more than 1/2 an inch. Although 200mm was still not close enough to get a good shot, I wouldn’t have even attempted it with my 135mm. I can’t ID this butterfly, though…can you?

*Noelle, the AZ Plant Lady identified the strawberry fields as red gomphrena. Apparently they really are nicknamed Strawberry Fields.