Still getting the hang of the new macro lens. And the camera, for that matter. It's high time that I sat down and read the manual, cover to cover. Painful but necessary. There is a saying used by professional photographers when a greenhorn makes a stupid mistake: RTFM. Read the #%&%$ manual. So that's what I'm doing, every night before bed. I've never been so eager to shut off the light and try for sleep.
Back when we lived in Orange County, I was not a fan of the roving hordes of parrots. Seattle has a few flocks, mostly escaped house pets, that roam the city but the cold winter months usually temper their numbers. No so in Orange County. I would never acquire a parrot, despite my general admiration of birds. They are too loud and they live far too long. And when you have a flock of them sitting outside your window at 5 am on a Saturday morning, well, you're not sleeping for long.
A cactus. Notice the very narrow band of focus in this picture. It's actually a little closer (to the viewer) than it should be. Ideally, it would be a few centimeters further back so it could encompass the spiky projection. Reason #548 why I need to start using that tripod.
