When I was at the races a couple Thursdays ago, a guy from Australia sat down next to me. He said he lived north of Melbourne. They love their dirt racing over there same as us here in Central PA. Anyway, what surprised me was he said he loved coming to PA because it reminded him a lot of where he lives at home. He was on a summer long trip to see auto racing all across the US.
That’s one of my favorite things about attending auto racing. Most people are really friendly and open to chatting about pretty much anything but it almost always starts with casual conversation about the event we’re attending.
I don’t watch soccer, but when I do I do so in huge crowds.
I was cleaning and testing our lenses and cameras out today, got a few interesting shots out of it.
One of our resident bush thick knees
Dat backlight tho
Ursa’s turn
Playing with the ball is serious business
Movie star
I agree with geggis. Beautiful pics. Excellent focus with narrow depth of field and great lighting. What kind of camera, @krayzkrok?
Thanks. These were all taken with a Canon 7D Mk2. Photos 1, 3 and 5 were taken with a Sigma 150-500 C, the other two with a Canon EF-S 18-135 STM. That wide-angle is a workhorse, I love it. The Sigma is my wife’s lens and I’m extremely impressed with it. It outperforms my Canon 100-400 LII on every level except focus speed, and yet it’s 1/3 of the cost. It is, however, extremely heavy. That curlew shot was a workout!
I even googled McNabs and I am none the wiser!
robc04
2912
Wooo, I really like that Panoramic shot!
robc04
2913
These aren’t taken with a good camera, or a good photographer,but I figured I’d share some…
From 1st observation deck of Eiffel Tower:
A hike above Grenoble…
The Douro Valley in Portugal is quite spectacular:
Oh wait sorry not McNab, meant to say Kelpie.
— Alan
Ah sorry, for some reason I thought this was a different thread and the change in context threw me. I’d never heard of the McNab breed before, interesting looking dogs. No, they’re Berger Blanc Suisse (White Swiss Shepherd). They’re an offshoot of the German Shepherd Dog, more like the working type with a straight back but mellower (and cuddlier!) in general.
@robc04 and @Jorn_Weines, nice pics…makes me long for more vacation time!
Oh yeah no problem. That’s nice though, would be interesting–working dogs that can be mellow would be right up my alley :)
— Alan
I can’t recommend them highly enough, so much so that we’re now registered breeders if we ever went down that path (our female is desexed now, but our male is not). Their history as a breed is… complex, though. If you’re interested, this is a decent summary. Basically today there are white-coated German Shepherds, and White Swiss Shepherds (BBS). It’s the latter that we recommend looking into. Unlike many GSDs they retain the earlier, flat-backed conformation, and suffer hip problems far less. They are very intelligent, active dogs, so they need plenty of time and space for play. We have a 5-acre block and they go nuts each morning chasing each other around the trees, and again in the afternoon when it’s playtime or a walk / run at the nearby lagoon and reserve. They’re also house dogs and extremely social, they want to be around you most of the time, and they reinforce their bond regularly with lots of affectionate cuddling. They do shed a lot though, so coat maintenance is necessary if you don’t want the place to look like a snowstorm came through. My wife and I just love them to bits though, best dogs we’ve ever had.
Yesterday Smaug told me in no uncertain terms that he really, REALLY wanted that chicken I was holding my hand. Whether I dropped it first or not was irrelevant.
So yeah, he looks a bit mean in these photos. But really, he’s quite sweet. The dust thrown up the first photo was scattering the late afternoon light in a quite satisfying way.
Anybody doubting our ancestors started depicting dragons after meeting Smaug’s kindred should be directed to this thread.
I suggest a new strategy, R-2. Let the wookie win.
geggis
2923
I love seeing these Smaug pics. Incredible creatures.
