Trying To Survive The "Dog Days Of Summer"

Barn Swallow.  I've tried photographing these small, very fast birds before and was only successful once.  They land on these reeds for about a half second before flying off.  They fly so fast, continuously change direction and swoop in and out that I have no chance in catching on the wing.  Patience finally paid off with these images. (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 PRO lens + MC-14 1.4X tele-converter; 1/800th sec. @ f/8; ISO 640

This time of year is the time I like least.  The Dog Days of Summer.  Here is what Wikipedia says about the Dog Days of Summer: 

Dog Days of Summer...

The dog days or dog days of summer are the hot, sultry days of summer. They were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Sirius, which Hellenistic astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. They are now taken to be the hottest, most uncomfortable part of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.  

That about sums it up in my opinion—almost.  There is more.

This year we are having  extra special Dog Days of Summer.  To all that mentioned above we get to add the Covid-19 Coronavirus, stay-at-home orders, lock downs, people being furloughed and permanently losing their jobs, the economy in the tank, social distancing, life in general turned upside down and inside out, which in sum causes most of us an unusual amount of stress.  I'm not done.

"What are you looking at?" he says to himself.
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 PRO lens + MC-14 1.4X tele-converter; 1/1600th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 500
(click to enlarge)

In July here in southeastern Virginia, we had 28 out of 31 days over 90°F (32°C), most in the mid to upper 90s and four days in a row with temperatures that exceeded 100°F (38° C).  Some of you will say that is not bad.  It gets hot like that in a lot of places.  I agree its not too bad if the humidity is low.  But most of those days we experienced dew points in the mid-70s°F (~24°C) range, making the weather by definition tropical.  It wasn't unusual to look at my little weather station I have here at my home as see the temperature at 97°F and the humidity about 85%.  I don't know about you but I don't want to live in the Amazon Rain Forest.  But that is what if felt like most days.  The July temperatures this year broke all records and was almost 5°F above the previous record.  The heat index was between 100°-110°F (38-43°C) many days.  Do you really want to go out and photograph in that weather?  I don't.  But, I'm not done.

We've already had one tropical storm roll through this month and its still not the peak of the hurricane season.  I suffered some property damage and lost the tops of two of my mature trees.  Cutting up, grinding and removing those large limbs was another unintended expense.  Add that to having a major repair expense for my air conditioning system and, as a good friend said to me, there goes the money for your next camera and several lenses!  Oh well.  But I'm not done.

I was a bit surprised that both birds are in focus.  That reed on which both sit is not in a parallel plane with the camera but at an angle.  Using an effective 840mm provides minimal depth of field.  However, f/9 seemed to have done the trick.
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 PRO lens + MC-14 1.4X tele-converter; 1/1000th sec. @ f/9; ISO 640
(click to enlarge)

Did I mention there is very little to photograph this time of year?  The birds don't sing much this time of year.  Scattered thunderstorms roll through each afternoon and evening.  Some areas in the region have gotten as much as 8 inches of rain in a few hours and other areas aren't getting any rain at all.  The flowers have mostly bloomed and died, the lawn is wilting, the air is thick with humidity that, at times, its hard to see 5 miles.  I guess enough is enough.  I'll move on.

So, to counter some of this negativism and feeling the drudgery of these Dog Days, I still try to go out and photograph as much as I can.  I go out as a solo endeavor to socially distance from just about everyone and everything.  As I said there is not much to photograph this time of year, at least the things I typically photograph.  But, it still lifts my spirits to get out, concentrate on "seeing," find and photograph things of interest.

These scraggly flowers were off the side of the road in a swampy area.  They represented the only color to be seen, other than green.  They were backlit and, as I sat in my vehicle, I make a couple of images just for practice. (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 PRO lens + MC-14 1.4X tele-converter; 1/800th sec. @ f/9; ISO 320

The images here were made this past Tuesday.  I drove to a couple of my favorite haunts looking for Bald Eagles, Ospreys and things in general that would cause me to stop and make a few images.  Again, as with most of my work, nothing special.  Nothing to write home about.  Nothing to print or cherish.  Just the products of me going out and engaging in an activity that lifts my spirits, makes me feel better and changes my attitude about these Dog Days of Summer.  

Since I originally went to look for raptors, I took my Olympus gear.  I attached the 300mm f/4 PRO lens with the MC-14 1.4X tele-converter to my E-M1 Mark III and had it sitting on the car seat next to me.  That is the equivalent field of view of 840mm on a 35mm sized sensor camera.  All of the images shown here were made seated in my vehicle, the camera/lens combination handheld out the driver's window as I didn't even want to get out into the heat and humidity.  Nonetheless, I was happy with what I brought home.  Thinking about it, it hit me the other day that I seem to have more success with my Olympus gear than with any other gear I've owned.  Not sure why.  Hmmm.

As I made my way around the wetlands that surround the historic Jamestown settlement (1607), there are wooden plank bridges over the creeks.  If you happen to drive through at low tide, you'll see thousands of these Fiddler Crabs scurrying around the mud and into the shallow water looking for food. Its interesting to see that some are left-clawed, such as this one and others are right-clawed.  For perspective, they are only a few inches across.  Relatively small.  (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 PRO lens + MC-14 1.4X tele-converter; 1/1000th sec. @ f/9; ISO 2000

At the end of the day, there was a bounce in my step, a smile on my face and a song in my heart!  In fact, the rest of this week has been better because of photography.  How many times over the decades have I said that?  That's probably one of the reasons I've stuck to photography for five decades.

As you drive the back roads within the Yorktown Battlefield National Park, there is a swamp over which you cross.  It is not unusual to find Great Blue Herons, egrets, etc. "fishing" in the shallows.  For these images, I sat in my vehicle on the wooden bridge and just made some photographs as the egrets went about their business.  (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 PRO lens + MC-14 1.4X tele-converter; 1/800th sec. @ f/9; ISO 250

Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 PRO lens + MC-14 1.4X tele-converter; 1/1600th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200
(click to enlarge)

Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 PRO lens + MC-14 1.4X tele-converter; 1/800th sec. @ f/9; ISO 250
(click to enlarge)

Bonus Photo!  This beast of a man-eating critter, a Red Footed Cannibalfly, flew into my vehicle as I was driving on my photography outing.  Notice the word "cannibal" in its name?  That should tell you something.  It was almost 2 inches (5cm) long and was buzzing around my face as I was desperately looking for a place to pull over.  As this thing buzzed around at about 100mph in front of my face, all I could really discern while driving was the brown and yellow striped belly.  At first I thought it was some sort of bumble bee, yellow jacket or wasp species crossed with a cicada or even a small bird.  It was huge.  It could have killed me—picked me up and thrown me out of the car window!  After I found a place to pull over it took me almost 20 minutes to figure out a way to get it out from my windshield.  It kept going for the light through the windshield and wasn't interested in the open driver's door.  I then opened both front doors and the sun roof to try to attract it to the light.  I resorted to covering my windshield with towels so the only light would be on the way OUT OF MY CAR!  NOW!  Finally, I used my superior human intellect to defeat this monster and its intention to kill me on the spot!  R.I.P. 

Red Footed Cannibalfly sitting at the inside edge of my windshield on the A pillar. (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 PRO lens + MC-14 1.4X tele-converter; 1/160th sec. @ f/9; ISO 6400

I hope photography lifts your spirits as well.  If you know it does, make time for it.  Grab your gear and go out and just wander and look.  If you are like me, as soon as you see that first potential image, everything immediately changes.  For the better!  Its a remarkable transformation of your day.  Enjoy, my friends, and stay safe.

Join me over at my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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