You Would Have Thought I Would Have Learned By Now?

Olympus E-M1, 40-150mm f/2.8 lens w/1.4X matched tele-converter = 210mm (420mm ~e)
1/320th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 400 (click to enlarge)

On Saturday, since it was the first nice winter weekend day in a while and I had nothing planned that I needed to do, I decided to grab a camera bag and head out to roam around and see what I could see that might have been interesting to photograph.  On the way out I grabbed my Olympus E-M1 kit.

I first drove over to the Yorktown National Battlefield, where the last battle of our Revolutionary War occurred in 1781, to drive among the fields and exhibits, through the woods and among the small lakes that are in the park.

In one field, about 100 or so yards away, I spotted a small group of white-tailed deer feeding on the grasses.  I stopped and made several photographs, but even with my Olympus 40-150 f/2.8 plus the 1.4X matched tele-converter, I just didn't have quite enough reach to isolate on any one or two of the deer.  I thought to myself that I should have brought the Nikon D810 with the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 VR lens.  Darn.  Even though 500mm might not have been quite enough as well, with 36mp on a full-frame sensor, I could easily crop and retain all of the quality, texture and detail I desired.

Olympus E-M1, 40-150mm f/2.8 lens w/1.4X
matched tele-converter = 210mm (420mm ~e)
1/250th sec. @ f/5; ISO 400; 50% crop as well(click to enlarge)

As the day progressed, I found myself over near the historic Jamestown Settlement, the first permanent English settlement in North America.  I knew of several bald eagle nests in the area so I stopped at each one to see if I could see a bald eagle or two.  I planned just to watch them, if I could find one this time of year.  I did find one at the nest near the visitor's center so I stopped and made some images.  Again, I didn't have enough reach with my Olympus gear and wished I had brought my Nikon gear that I specifically bought for wildlife photography.  Darn.

That being said, these two are still very satisfying images.  Not the best, but satisfying.  I can't much complain about the performance of the Olympus gear.

Lesson learned:  I didn't set out to photograph wildlife, nor did I think I would see any so I didn't bring along the wildlife gear.  That was a mistake.  I assumed I wouldn't need it and and wasn't prepared so I missed a couple of opportunities. Don't assume and always be prepared.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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