Shots Taken While Waiting for the June Full Moon

Not 100 Percent Yet

 

 

Technically, the full moon is scheduled to appear tomorrow night.

Living on a tropical island, it's best to shoot it whenever you can.

There's no telling, when some rain squalls might come along and, ruin a night's fun.

Using the Sigma Bigma

 

That's a nickname for the Sigma 50-500 zoom lens, I used on the Pentax K1.

Coupled with a 1.4 converter, it became a 70-700MM lens.

The moon hadn't appeared over the horizon and lower marine layer of clouds.

After standing in an observation tower for awhile, I wanted to start shooting.

A boat, sailing by the Ikei Island bridge, caught my eye.

So, I figured it would make a colorful animated GIF and, shot several frames of the action.

 Next, I turned around, facing north and, decided to take photos of some clouds.

 The sky, was a rich blue, most of the day. My kind of weather.

Some people, see things in the shapes of clouds. Not me. My imagination ran away.

Name this cloud and, I can email you a better copy of it.

 Way before the moon made an appearance, this bird showed up.

Later, I will look back through my files and, get its scientific name, which I can't recall.

After a few hours, in that tower, I may have gotten 15 photos of the, almost full moon.

And, 200 more photos, of stuff, I shot to keep from getting bored !

Checkout this Iridescent Bird: Common Kingfisher Striking Poses

They Brighten Up a Dreary Day

 

 

 

The bird was drying feathers, preening and, watching the stream below. 

It had made a few dives but, came back without any fish after each attempt.

Perched on a dead tree that had fallen over the waterway, it didn't notice me, sneaking closer.

The camera was equipped with the Sigma 50-500mm but, I wanted some close up images.

A Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) isn't much larger than a sparrow.

They are probably the most colorful bird on this island.

Whenever the opportunity comes along, it's a good idea to shoot some gigabytes of them.

A series of 8 photos were used in compiling this animated GIF.

Now, it's time for me to go celebrate with a cold beer.

Learn more about the Kingfisher at ARKive

Related Post:  Territorial Bird -- Common Kingfisher

A Plains Cupid Butterfly Photo (GIF)

This ragged winged character isn't really as large at it appears in the image.

The butterfly is just a tad bigger than a thumbnail. 

The insect was staying fairly still. But, the wind was raising a ruckus with it.

So, I spot-focused to try and catch the colors and action.

Using the Sigma 50-500 lens at 420mm and Pentax K3, I took a series of shots.

Then, uploaded them into that Auto Awesomenator thing.

There aren't any butterflies like this in my Yanbaru Field Guide so, I searched online.

Plains Cupid, Cycad Blue and, Chilades pandava are the names I came up with.

Butterflies of India lists them as Oriental Plains Cupid.

Learn About Butterflies says they may be found in Thailand, Malaysia and Borneo.

Butterflies of Sri Lanka has a few photos of them, too. 

Over on Flickr there's an awesome macro shot taken in Kuala Lumpur.

The good old boys at Wiki, confirmed these critters are in India and Singapore. 

Do you suppose, we should tell them Okinawa, Japan, has them, too ?

Flower Photo: Pink Hibiscus in the Rain

Rainy days, trapped indoors, drive me crazy.

So, I took the Pentax K5 with a Sigma 50-500mm lens out back.

They have more of these hibiscus flowers, on this island, than anywhere else I've ever been.

I shot this pink one in the wind and rain just for the flower lovers.

Something I haven't been able to figure out is why the deigo, is Okinawa's state flower.

It should be the hibiscus because they bloom everywhere, all the time.

If I ever decide to become the emperor, vote for me.  OK ?

Editor's Picks for Month of November 2012

The Honors All Went to the Birds

Grey Face in Flight

On the Prowl

Raptor in Flight

Rock Thrush on the Rocks

To view these photos at higher resolution and see camera specs click on the titles.

All my Editor's Picks, this month were taken with a Sigma 50-500mm Lens

Location: Okinawa, Japan.