There is a movie theater we go to on opening nights of blockbusters such as Star Trek, Angels & Demons, and Terminator Salvation. The reason is there is never a line. We don't know why. The screens are big, there's plenty of free parking, and good restaurants are nearby. Maybe the folks of Chestnut Hill don't go to the movies on Friday nights. In any case, it is our first choice when we know tickets will be hard to get or the lines may be long.
Another bonus with going to the Chestnut Hill theater is that it abuts Hammond Pond. Instead of waiting in the theater, we stroll around outside until it is time to go in for the show. On a typical evening, there are all kinds of wildlife out and about... especially during feeding time.
Our favorite are the ducks. They are always friendly. Ok, they are always hoping for a free meal. Most of them will come right up to anyone approaching the edge of the pond. While they won't eat out of your hand, they will definitely do a "swim-by" to see if there is anything yummy to be had.
On this particular night, we had our Nikon D90 with us and decided to play around with the "Sports" mode. The vibration-reduction feature of the Nikkor 18-200VR lens made it possible to hand-hold all the shots and to quickly go from taking close-ups to grabbing a take-off in the distance.
The detail and sharpness was pretty surprising considering all of the factors (long lens, moving subjects, twilight). A monopod or some other supporting device would have helped, but the results were still acceptible.
The wildlife were friendly up to a point. Once they realized that we were not going to feed them they swam off to work some other folks who were approaching the other side of the bank. We didn't care. It was time for us to go get a seat for the movie anyway. [Permalink] - Hammond Pond
|
