My second time shooting this show. The first time through I was zooming in too closely and “chopped the blades” too frequently. This day, I used the 70-300 (instead of the 100-400) which had the side benefit of eliminating the monopod. I also switched to the X100V/TCL combination as the skaters got close — As I did here.
Some would argue that I switched prematurely to get this shot of my niece’s jump. There are plenty of close-ups from the day too, but I like the space and mood of this composition.
Uncle brag: While her true passion is being part of a competitive Synchronized Skating Team, and this particular shot is from an ensemble performance, Zoe’s a USFSA Gold Medalist for her solos too.
Visited The Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Inside the main church is always interesting but the Spanish Chapel had what I thought was the nicest deigns and painting on the walls. Here is a small segment, a combination of 3 panos vertically arranged in PTGui.
The bus then headed north to Tuscany with a stop at Michelangelo Square for a panoramic view of the skyline of the city. A panoramic view deserves a hand held pano of 7 images.
We did stop at Pisa and the tower is very impressive but most of you have seen it too many times for another image post. After the visit we ent for wine tasting under a severe thunderstorm but after a few glasses most did not care. The lineup of the family owned winery in Tuscany was quite nice but the star of the show was the homemade Lasagna..... the best I have ever eaten. And it washed down easily with one of these little buggers:
Bob
PS.... tomorrow to Venice but it is supposed to rain. 😩
It was our first trip outside the U.S. specifically for birding and it was brilliant. One minor correction to my post: I said the Orange-breasted Falcon is endangered, but it is officially listed as “near threatened.”
We added almost 100 species to our life list. Many good photos, many not so good.