This is what I saw last evening.  As the trees grow, and more are planted, I soon might not be able to see the Villas or the pond from my back porch.

I started evaluating cameras that I love to use, but with thoughts about what I hope to photograph in the future.  After having been playing with a micro 4/3 camera, the Olympus E-M5 III, I decided to try the new Pentax K-3 III after I was finally able to get one to try.

One of my potentially future uses will require pushing low light capabilities so I took the K-3 III with the 20-40mm limited lens for a walk in the evening as it was getting dark.  I was surprised to see and hear fireworks in the distance.  I captured a burst in the center above the horizon in the third picture.  In the last picture I liked the goose silhouette as well as the colors of the reflections, etc.  

The Pentax DSLR exceeds micro 4/3 camera capabilities under these lower light conditions.  Based on these results along with some other comparisons and considerations, I decided to return the Olympus camera and lens.

This was the first of several rounds of hail yesterday.  It wasn’t big enough to cause damage other than to lower the temperature 10 degrees F.

• 

• 

These were my first efforts today.  I like the dark mornings with rain, but I prefer it was warmer.  It was only 41 degrees F. when I went out to make these.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I took a walk along Plum Creek through the wetlands.  I don’t think I will be doing that again in the near future since the plants will be growing taller and the area has ticks.  And that meant that I had ticks on my clothes when I got home.

• 

• 

• 

 It is egg laying time.  This snapping turtle had buried hers and she was returning to the pond this morning.  It takes about 90 days for the eggs to hatch so I’ll be watching for baby turtles around the first of August.

• 

• 

This first Spiderwort blooms for this year in this morning’s rain.

• 

• 

While walking on Plum Tree Lane, I saw the turtle on parts of the old bridge over Plum Creek.  When I first saw it I didn’t have a camera with me so I went back with the longest lens I had.  I used the 18-135mm on the X-Pro3 camera.  It is not an ideal setup for longer lens work, but it worked with a lot of cropping.