Photos of Birdies on the Golf Course

And a gator who was kind enough to pose for me near the 11th tee. These shots are minimally cropped, though I had a 300mm lens that helped me get close.







I even had a birdie using my golf clubs. How about that?

You can see more of my photos at PHOTOQUIST.COM

Perfection

Or as close to it as I get. The three photos below were consecutive frames taken at — say it with me — Tampa Bay Downs yesterday. I had actually gone Saturday and didn't like what I brought home, not to mention going 0-for-2 on my first two bets of the year.

These are NOT cropped. The first one may be the best action shot I have ever captured. It is certainly my current favorite.







Now the slide show:



Oh, and I even won my only wager of the day. The $3.60 payout means I'm down only $2.40 for the year.

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Still More Tampa Bay Downs Photos

This is becoming a habit, I know. One of the jockeys walking back to the jocks' room after a race passed by and said, "you're always out here taking pictures." Not as often as she's out there riding horses but, apparently, often enough to notice.



Most of these are cropped at least a little bit but I did consciously shoot some tighter shots trying to capture expressions, either human or equine.

See more of my work at photoquist.com.

Tampa Bay Downs Photos

Like the zoo, the local horse racing track is a frequent venue for my photography. Strangely enough, I rarely gamble and can't remember the last time I bet on a race. But I visit the track fairly regularly to try to capture the action of a race. It's not easy.



See more of my work at photoquist.com.

Lowry Park Zoo Photos

It was $5 day at Lowry Park Zoo but temperatures in the 30s (yes, Fahrenheit!) kept the usually massive crowds away despite the discounted price. I went with several other brave (? -- you may have another adjective in mind) members of the Brandon-Riverview Photography Group.

Some of the animals were out but many had more sense than we did. I had my 2x magnifying extender on, which means that I had to manually focus all of the shots while wearing two gloves on my left hand because auto focus doesn't work with my extender.  Photo below by Roger Moran.



That's not to make excuses for the lack of brilliance. Just sayin'.

I also think that I need to quit being lazy and use my tripod to get better focus on some of my shots. Handheld is adequate for posting on a blog but for print quality photos, I need to take the time to set the camera on something solid.



See more of my work at photoquist.com.