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In the interests of balance, here's a right of reply from someone who got taken to the "English seaside" as a child.Devon and Cornwall can be superb (though I rarely bother with the south coastlines)I have dismal memories of days at Littlehampton and other "beaches" along the Channel.I don't think anyone should base their opinions of English beaches soley on these (the sea is usually grey, rarely much sand and almost never any decent waves) Here's some Bottlenose Dolphins I was watching on the West coast of Wales yesterday D500 300mm PF plus TC1.4
No worry for Fairbanks. There are some areas near the Elliott highway north-east of us that was ordered to evacuate. Alaskan wildfires in summer are pretty normal, it is just a matter of how bad it gets and which way the wind drives the smoke. It is currently reported that there are 132 active fires in Alaska, but only 14 of them staffed. Fires that do not have the potential to threaten structures are just allowed to burn its course; it is a natural part of the cycle. The image above was from yesterday afternoon. I managed to get a shot of one of the water scooping planes today - interesting location of the engines high on top of the wings. (Propellers stay pretty straight with the Z8 ). Here is a link to a photo of what it looks like on the ground https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10167228 and another one scooping https://fireaviation.com/2017/05/15/scoopers-on-lake-chatuge/aero-flite_262_cl-215/.
Down with a flu these days, so photography takes the backseat. Still, nice to try out the more unusual stuff; like the B.U.G. filter which combines UV with strongly modified visual colours. You'll need a UV-capable lens to make the most of it, but that's no problem with the Coastal 60mm f/4 APO.Ruth's bed of Bidens ferulifolia flowers have an all-yellow appearance to the naked eye, however in UV the large UV-dark patches are very much evident.
great sense of speed with your panning technique Bent!
Impossible to upload by iphone! Sorry!
Files are probably way too big ....