***MAY PHOTO CONTEST: Comments thread***

[CaliforniaPeggy]

For any comments on the entries, or questions about the contest, please post them here!

NO COMMENTS IN THE SUBMISSION THREAD! THIS IS IMPORTANT.

[SheltieLover]

1. Peggy! All is right with the world! You are back!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My entry was taken at the rehab hospital I was in after my surgery.

I happened to look up and spotted this view; the rest is history! I could not believe my luck.

[2naSalit]

3. I would have sat this one out...

But, since it was my idea and I have this shot for all time, had to submit it. I have waited for this to be the theme for a long time and nobody else offered it, so...

Thanks, Grumpy Old Guy for deciding on it and California Peggy for hosting!

[George McGovern]

6. 2naSalit - Not only is yours a perfect shot for the theme, your title is hilarious. Excellent equation!

[niyad]

4. Yayyyyy. A wonderful theme. .Great entries!!!

[mnhtnbb]

5. I was going to sit this one out, too,

but I remembered this shot taken from my downtown high rise apartment some years ago. Turns out--when I went looking for the shot in my archives--that it was taken TWO DAYS before I moved out of the apartment! And the day I moved out? January 6, 2021. While the world was watching the insurrection at the Capitol Building in DC, I was telling movers where to put furniture in my new house.
Although I saw a lot of beautiful sunrises from my high rise apartment building while I lived there, I had never seen anything resembling the mysterious and other-worldly qualities of this scene.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. It's a great shot! Thanks for sharing it,

[bif]

8. Lixkin' Good!

My sweetie HRH Lizzie loves yogurt. So after I polish off a cup of it, I let her lick out the container. Invariably she gets some on her little snout. I just happened to have my phone handy and caught her licking her chops! Quelle chance, as they say in France.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. That was definitely a great shot, my dear bif! Perfect timing!

[bif]

10. Thank you CP!

[HAB911]

11. I know this is TMI, but...........

The backstory

In support of my contention that the most important thing contributing to a great photo, more than equipment, sometimes more than planning, is “being there”. If you are not there, you are not there. My submission came about as a result of being where I never would have been, had it not been for my cancer treatments.

2/9/2023 I was near downtown for a treatment at Tampa General Cancer Center and Joe Biden was the University of Tampa speaking on SS and healthcare. As we left downtown, I knew there was a slim chance to catch AF1 as it departed, and I knew not to go near the airport, so my wife watched ADSB while I looked for a spot on the causeway to pull over safely. I finally had to just pull over on the side of road as the plane departed to the south. I had my Nikon Z6ii and brand new 200-500mm lens but no teleconverter so 500mm was it. As is my nature, I was disappointed to not have a larger lens. Sometimes my nature excludes some potential great photos. In this case the background sky ended up being as important as the subject. I think lesson learned, we shall see.

The screenshot of ADSB shows my location, the second photo is the RAW file of today’s submission. Yes, I had to strangle every pixel to come close to an acceptable image, almost made it. This is one of 165 shots of the departure, one of those I entered in the April 2025 contest “Aspirations”. To see 21 representative samples of the 165 RAW shots go here: https://jamesdevore.smugmug.com/Joseph-Robinette-Biden-Jr/n-7L6HHQ

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. I think your entry is fantastic and highly appropriate, my dear HAB911! Thank you for entering it.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

13. I'm in!

I had a hard time making up my mind. I'm definitely hoping for second entries. I may change this one out too.

What do you think?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. My god, my dear Grumpy! This is one very spectacular photo! I mean it.

Ya done good! I'm watching to see if we'll need second entries. We might.

But this one is just phenomenal. Keep it!

[Grumpy Old Guy]

15. Thank you my dear Peggy.

I value your opinion.

[HAB911]

16. perfection

framed in flowers, exceptional

[Grumpy Old Guy]

17. BIG OOPS!

Mnhtnbb reminded me that I can't enter the contest since I chose the topic. Oops! Sorry about that, I forgot. I'll be deleting it. Sorry for messing up the count Peggy.

[Walleye]

18. That's OK, I did the same thing when I chose the theme and had to delete it. Glad we got to see your picture.

[Walleye]

19. I substituted the squirrel picture. The one of the hummingbirds wasn't very good quality.

I was lucky to have that nest in the tree over my head. But it was in the dark spot and it was pretty far away. I only had a 400 mm F4 canon lens. It was magical, watching her, build her nest and seeing the birds fledge

[George McGovern]

20. Whoa You caught a magical moment Walleye! Your Canon done good!