Friday, January 25, 2008

We got a new toy!!!


Check out our new toy - a Canon 30D with a 300mm lens and a 1.4x extender... ooh... aahh... Here I am grinning evilly in anticipation of taking many wonderful bird pictures for this blog. I need to tame that eyebrow. Also, note my growing and soon-to-be-shaved "Official Birding Beard (TM)" and my donning of the NY Rangers red, white, and blue in honor of last night's emotional Brian Leetch Night.

19 comments:

John B. said...

You should have a lot of fun with that toy. I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures!

birdchaser said...

Man, that's pretty sweet! Beard's not bad either.

Anonymous said...

Right on, Patrick. Now you're ahead in the fancy camera arms race... time to go shopping.

Owlman said...

Congrats, that is awesome. Did you get the F2.8 or F4.0? You're gonna take aswesome shots with this package. The body you bought is phenomenal!

P. Ollig said...

Oh, come on! Shaving off your birding beard so soon?!? Give it at least another month.

And I am insanely jealous. I so want one of those impressive looking white lenses. In fact, I think I've got my eye on the exact model you are holding! I am already planning how I'm going to spend that $1200 check from Uncle Sam they just announced. Of course, I haven't run that by Sonja, yet, so we'll see.

Patrick B. said...

I went with the F4.0.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'll hold on to the beard for a while, but it doesn't fill in to o well so I need to keep it trimmed.

birdchick said...

So jealous! About the camera...not the beard.

Dave Dorsey said...

What beard? :) Nice camera. I'm a Rangers fan also. Scotty Gomez is from Anchorage.

Beth said...

You're just so darn cute!

Patrick B. said...

Dave, he is indeed! I guess he's pretty famous up there. He's doing great for the team.

Birdchick, you could start a female birder beard trend...

Anonymous said...

very cool new toy!

Julie Zickefoose said...

Hey! I thought I started the trend of female birder beards!
PB--you planning to haul that thang up a volcano?

Patrick B. said...

Julie,
Probably not! I'm bringing a smaller camera for general scenery shots and stuff.

Anonymous said...

First, that is one serious camera you've got there my friend! Congrats and much envy.

Second, as a senoir member of the RSPB (Royal Society for the Promotion of Beards) I would like to offer my unqualified moral support for your adoption of our hirsute practices. Grow it out, wear it long, and be proud.

Patrick B. said...

RSPB... too funny! I think it'll take me a while to grow something as substantial as your face-warmer.

Patrick B. said...

Hi Island Rambles Blog,

It's the F4 lens.

dguzman said...

ooooh, I'm so jealous!

Owlman said...

Patrick, I'm looking into upgrading my equipment too. How are you finding the 300mm? Do you use a 1.4 extender with it? How's the focus time with it? I'm looking for something sharp and fast and this seems to be a good setup you have here, so I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Patrick B. said...

Owlman,

So far, so good. The focusing seems fast, but then again, I don't have a lot of experience to go by. Sometimes it searches a bit, but I haven't had a time where it's been a real problem. I do use the 1.4 extender. I haven't tried taking a photo without the extender to see if there's a difference in sharpness or focus time.