For me, those visits are also an opportunity to visit with my friend and kennel partner Janece Rollet and our mutual friend Dr. Lynn Witter. As frequent visitors to the blog probably know, Janece is a certified canine behaviorist. Lynn is a pharmacist by profession, and also a KPTC certified training partner. Although we didn't have a lot of leisure time to share, when we did you can be pretty certain the conversation involved lively discussions about dogs and canine behavior.
It was a good visit overall, though the weather helped prevent boredom in a big way. My first three days in Kentucky was during a record setting heat wave, with temperatures climbing to over 100 degrees F (37.7 C). To claim I was sweltering would be a major understatement.
That was followed by the arrival of the remnants of tropical storm Lee, marked by gloriously wild thunderstorms, torrential rainfall and temperatures climbing no higher than 60 degrees (15 C). Talk about going from one extreme to the other - it certainly did that.
I always enjoy the time I spend running with GSCEMS. They get some really good calls down there, and their crew of experienced medics are great to work with. They understand my goals and are willing to help me achieve them. We share many common off-duty interests as well, so it's never dull.
Bless her heart, Janece gave me a somewhat delayed birthday gift that is truly delightful. For the past couple of years I've been thinking, and apparently talking about, replacing my pocket camera. When I purchased it some six or seven years ago, my Kodak "Easy Share" camera was highly rated as a bridge camera, better than a typical pocket camera, but not quite on par with professional grade equipment. It was provided excellent service but like any camera small enough to easily carry around while doing active things, it also had some significant limitations.
I didn't realize how signficant until I started learning about my new Panasonic FH25. HOLY SMOKES - This thing ROCKS, especially in low-light or high-speed applications, both of which are pretty important while trying to capture images while running a team of sled dogs in the interior of Alaska. I'm rather amazed at all the nifty keen features they've been able to pack into such a small package. It truly is half the size of my old camera, has many, many times the memory capacity, much higher resolution, and the capacity to take time lapse photos that may even allow me to capture images of the northern lights. Can you imagine that? NORTHERN LIGHTS captured by a POCKET CAMERA???
I haven't had a chance to try that yet, but I did get a chance to play with the macro and low-light functions to capture an image of a pair of yellow and black garden spiders that turned out very nice considering my lack of experience with the equipment.
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| Black and yellow garden spiders doing web maintenance after a thunderstorm |
The zoom function works amazingly well. A touch of a single button brings distant objects "up close and personal", such as the clock tower on the Scott County Courthouse, the most prominent structure in downtown Georgetown.
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| Clock tower on Scott County Courthouse, Kentucky |
Flying home last night, I had an opportunity to shoot the top of a sunset, so figured I'd give it a try. I've never before had much luck shooting anything out the window of an airliner, but with some of this camera's auto-focus "tricks", I think it came out pretty well.
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| Top side of sunset |
This morning Ted (our handler) came over to introduce me to his new Siberian husky puppy. Though I should have used the red-eye reduction mode (oops), he nonetheless is a pretty photogenic little guy.
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| Ted and Clare's Newest Addition |
Well, I need to try to get some stuff done around this place, so I'm going to sign off for now. You can bet I'll have more images to share as time goes on, though.
Swanny
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