Snazzy

I am finding the AF settings that I like best on the z8 - in this case small Wide with animal eye detection.  I used a slower shutter speed than what I usually use with hummers because the day was heavily overcast and I needed more light to get the exposure.  I've been using manual shutter and aperture with auto ISO a lot lately and finding that it does a good job about 90% of the time.  Auto ISO is great when I'm shooting in conditions where the light is changing a lot as it saves me the time of constantly shifting the ISO manually to achieve exposure.  Not great in really bright conditions, in my opinion.  

Last evening as Jax and I were sitting on the sofa, we heard some commotion on the deck ...and found a medium sized black bear leaving with my suet feeder.  Jax was out of his mind, barking and growling and hackled from head to toe.  I managed to slip out and blast the air horn at the bear who was in the woods by that time and seemingly not bothered by the air horn (sigh).  Anyway, not surprisingly, Jax was on high alert all evening.  He's at day care today which means I am without my guardian in the garden.  I put a suet feeder out for a brief time while I was outside and while I was hanging it, one of the downy woodpecker fledglings landed on my arm as she apparently couldn't wait.  Fortunately, I had long sleeves on because woodpecker toenails are VERY sharp.  For now, the suet feeder won't be outside unless I'm out with it.  And hopefully the bear will move on.  

Hubs had a rare day in the office today so the house is very quiet without he or Jax.  Fortunately, Hubs is on his way home.  He's very lucky to be able to work remotely 95% of the time - he has a dedicated office and hi-speed internet access here which makes it very efficient.  And he's one of those people who probably puts in more hours than if he was commuting, so it's a win for his everyone.

I had a square of dark with almonds today.  And a small spoon of dark chocolate tahini.  

xo
Debbi