Dooley was acting a little off so I took him to the vet to get checked out. First time to the vet in over 20 years, so it was time. He’s fine. Just a bit of skin allergies due to molting. He did have a full work up since it had been so long. Including x-rays which the vet let me have copies of.
Happy Holidays From Dooley The Parrot!
Dooley The Parrot Slash Duck
Apparently, while I was traveling to New Orleans, Cynthia took the time to teach Dooley how to quack emphatically like a duck. And Dooley appears to REALLY enjoy quacking like a duck. In this video he not only quacks, he emulates my sneeze and makes the ring sounds of the phone we have now and a phone we had over 8 years ago.
Parrot Portrait Shoot
[slide]
A slide show of some pictures I took of Dooley using the Minolta 100mm f/2 lens and the HVL-F58AM flash. I recommend the full screen option for optimal viewing.
Minolta 100mm f/2
Just beginning to play with my recently acquired Minolta 100mm F/2. It’s an amazingly sharp lens and the IQ is on par with anything I have ever shot with. Considering this lens was made in 1987 it holds up well when used with the modern day digital Sony Alpha 700.
I would go so far as to say that this lens is easily as sharp wide open as my Sony Zeiss 135 f/1.8 is when stopped down to f/2.0. Similar in focal length (100mm vs 135mm) this lens is considerably smaller and more light weight. That means it’s easy to carry around in my small bag with a few other lenses where the Zeiss requires a bit more of a commitment to lugging around some heavy gear. A huge plus.
I can easily see this lens becoming one of my heavy rotational favorites, espeically for low light portrait work
Parrot Portrait
Bird Angles
Dooley Dooley Doo!
As I was pondering our possible fate when IKE approached I considered a “worst case scenario” in where I was holding the pet carrier with Dooley cowering inside high above my head while the water rose up and destroyed my material possessions. I am glad that it did not come to that.