Picture of the Week

Well, this past Saturday Rick, Sarah and I headed for the Arboretum near the UW.  There's not much blooming yet but it was a beautiful, sunny day so we had to go somewhere.  We ended the day down at Seward Park again and the big white Aflac duck is still there.  This time I used my 75-300mm lens so I got some better stuff.

I got a lens a while back with image stabilization (IS) and have been experimenting with it.  Seems it's messing up most of my stuff, I gotta be more selective as to when to use the IS feature.  It has a motor in it that somehow compensates for camera movement when you're shooting in low light or in a motion (i.e. a car, boat, etc) setting.  But when motion isn't an issue it seems to add motion, such as when you have your camera on a tripod.  It's so frustrating when you go out with other photographers on the same level as you and their pictures are all far better even though you have the "superior" lens.

Anyhow, somehow I did get a few good shots, here's one from the arboretum.  This is a witch hazel blossom called Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise'.  I love the bright contrasting colors!