Circle B Bar Ranch Reserve field trip

Two months ago there was a video clip played on several news outlets showing a gigantic gator walking along at the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland Florida. He is a 13 foot, 1000 pound monster of a gator. Here is a link if you missed it

http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/229379128-story

Yesterday the Space Coast Audubon Club had a field trip to that sanctuary. We spent five hours walking on a three mile trail that was populated by massive amounts of birds and other forms of wildlife including a raccoon about the size of a cocker spaniel and the first armadillo I have ever seen in the wild (well first live one, there are plenty of road kill armadillos in Florida). This trip was like dieing and going to heaven. Saw a bald eagle and it's nest, osprey, hawks, egrets, herons and a multitude of other species. The biggest treat of the day was two Bitterns out in the open and photographable. I have seen several Bitterns in the past they they are always too well disguised to get a decent shot. I also got a shot of a Black-bellied Whistling Duck. Both are new additions to my photographic life list of bird species bringing the total up to 271. I haven't added any new birds to it in a long time. The link to the new photos is below in my signature. Thanks for looking.

The first photo of a gator's head is about an 8 foot gator. The second gator shot is a baby gator about a foot long. He is standing right next to a snail. The third gator shot is about a ten footer. Notice the algae that is covering his body from old age. I think we saw the monster gator but could not be positive since we weren't able to see the entire gator at once, just pieces of him. But the pieces we saw were huge.

I have not shot BIF (birds in flight) in five years and I was rusty. I must practice some more. Fortunately the two Audubon clubs I have joined go out on several field trips a month. Most of the members make me feel like a beginner. They are all much better at spotting and identifying birds than me. But that just means I have a nice group of bird dogs to travel with. ;D

Tom, you were about 1/4 mile from my CG. I've ridden my bicycle several times through that preserve.

Rene T said:

Tom, you were about 1/4 mile from my CG. I've ridden my bicycle several times through that preserve.

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I wish I would have known, we could have had lunch. Next time I will give you a heads up since I will be back there.

Great photos again Tom. Taken with your phone?

It is heartwarming that there are still areas with so much wildlife living in harmony with humans.

I saw an Armadillo in the wild on Honeymoon Island at Caladesi State Park, awesome!

Thanks Jackie. No none of them were taken with my phone. All were taken with my Fuji S1 bridge camera with a 50 to 1 zoom lens. We are still a few years away till we have long zooms on camera phones. Until then I must use a 'real' camera. ;D

And there I was thinking you were a hotshot with that phone getting so close to those animals and birds 

Hey Tom, what's your thoughts on this? (other than a high price!)

https://www.motorola.com/us/products/moto-mods/hasselblad-true-zoom

The MotoZ already has a 21 megapixel camera on it and one can add this to it.

kdbgoat said:

Hey Tom, what's your thoughts on this? (other than a high price!)

https://www.motorola.com/us/products/moto-mods/hasselblad-true-zoom

The MotoZ already has a 21 megapixel camera on it and one can add this to it.

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I don't really have an opinion since I have not used it and I don't know anyone who had used it. In general adding a lens in front of a lens usually adds image degradation that is usually unacceptable to me. Considering the size of the cell phone and the add on it seems like a regular bridge camera would be the same size. And it is only ten times a zoom. My Samsung S5 had an eight to one zoom as a standard feature so I think you might be better off with one of those.

SeilerBird said:

In general adding a lens in front of a lens usually adds image degradation that is usually unacceptable to me.

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Actually, it doesn't put a lens in front of a lens. I've read it has aperture limit problems, but that's over my head. Just didn't know if you had researched it or not.

No I have not researched it. So you are saying it doesn't put a lens in front of a lens? Then it is just a camera that bolts onto a cell phone? I don't get the point. I don't know what the aperture limit problems would be. But I would guess it doesn't open the lens as much as a normal camera which would mean it would not work very well in low light.

kdbgoat: I just researched it and found a bunch of user reviews on Amazon that will tell you a lot more than I can:

https://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Hasselblad-Camera-Droid-Force/dp/B01J9SSQZY

kdbgoat said:

Hey Tom, what's your thoughts on this? (other than a high price!)

https://www.motorola.com/us/products/moto-mods/hasselblad-true-zoom

The MotoZ already has a 21 megapixel camera on it and one can add this to it.

Click to expand...

Not Tom, but in reading other reviews from many of the camera review sites there are too many negatives to justify this camera at this point. Basically you are strapping a very limited point and shoot camera onto your phone. Throwing the Hasselblad name on it will sell some, but I have a feeling most of them will end up in a drawer somewhere and people will just continue to use the phone's camera. For the price, one can purchase a fairly decent point and shoot that will have more features, won't drain your phone's battery in order to use it, will have faster shutter lag, and likely will have better image quality especially in low light situations. While it's nice to have true optical zoom, that can only do so much toward image quality.

Here is a link to my Google search. Look at all of the fairly low review scores just on this first page of the search.
https://www.google.com/#q=hasselblad+true+zoom+aperture+problems&*

That is my take on it. Buy a nice bridge camera instead.

Thanks guys. From what I read, I believe a stand alone camera would be better. I did take some photos with my Moto Z Force at a company function and forwarded them to one of the guys I work with. His Dad was getting a 35 year award. I told him I wasn't expecting a request for pics so he could put in the company flyer, and they weren't the best pics. He said they were great, and he could use his photo editing program to fix anything wrong with them, such as I was quite aways away etc.I'll have to ask him what he uses for editing.