Last night I was working on homework, when I noticed something walk by my window. It always scares the shit out of me, even though I know it's deer. For some reason, they walk about 2 inches away from the glass on my window, and sometimes take a peek. So I grabbed my camera and ran to the back door, where there were about 6-8 does. I bumped it up the ISO to 1600 and thought I could hand-hold it...but it wasn't working out as planned at 2-3 sec exposures. I didn't know how long they'd be there, so I grabbed my tripod, but couldn't find the damn head to it in the dark and tried to place it on top of the tripod, but still got camera shake. I finally found it and watched these does graze and brush up against this tree in the neighbors yard (no idea why either) for about 30 minutes. I am betting they were pretty hungry after the snowstorm and those strong northerly winds. It was probably the most peaceful thing I had watched in quite some time as they worked as a team, keeping an eye out for potential predators. It was almost as if they each had a role and worked in a pack. They finally left, but returned in about 20 minutes as they walked back through my yard and back down into the creek. After watching something like that, I am pretty sure I will never be able to shoot another one again. You could see the smaller does, were either in their first or second years of life, and were the most spooked. I stared at one 5 feet away, straight in the eyes, and she never saw me, but could sense something was wrong.
Yesterday,
Dustin Wilcox showed me a
camera and lens rental place, which showed great prices on lens rentals. After Dustin talked to the guy, he is willing to work with storm chasers who are wanting to rent lenses at any time, and offer GREAT discounts. Not only that, but he offers a one week free rental after you purchase three. So if you can't afford a lens and want a really nice lens for chase season, he'll work something out with us all, even for April/May/June, to make it worth your while. If you decide you like the lens, you can even buy it from him at a fair price, and he'll work out your rental payment to apply some of it, towards the lens. So if you were ever scared to buy a brand new lens and didn't want to pay the huge amount, you could try it first! This guy is very customer oriented and I think it's a great thing to cater to storm chasers. He's made mention if you want a lens he doesn't have (he just started up), he'll get it. I rented the 100-400L IS telephoto and a 2x TC for the Lunar Eclipse on Wednesday night. First totality, I believe, since 2004...and at a great time (9:53 CDT, I believe). If you wish to rent one, just let him know you know Dustin or I. He has a 15 percent discount right now, and is cheaper than any competitor.
Off to another great Monday, which is packed full of 8 hours of school and over two hours of driving.
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