Moon Messages

Thursday, January 28, 2021 (Tonight, a Full Wolf Moon!)

I howled at the moon. It howled back, and I went into action, shopped online and finally found a dreamed-for zoom camera. On its way to me is a Canon 70X, with a 65x zoom and an eye-viewer. Among a camera’s accoutrements, eye-viewing is essential. A camera body braced against a forehead helps to steady zooms and to stabilize distant images.

In late afternoon, after ordering a new camera, I went outside with the Canon 40x zoom. Its lack of an eye-viewer has hindered my captures. Now, I felt relaxed and like playing with the camera.

In these cold and snow-covered days, few living beings stir. Suddenly, I spotted a dove in flight. It landed in a juniper about 50 yards away, camouflaged among the branches but visible to my naked eye. However, finding that bird on the camera screen, across distance or with zooms-in, seemed impossible.

Knowing the bird was there, unmoving, I used the zoom to identify a nearby object, and then, an associated tree branch. Following these clues located my subject on the screen. I snapped a picture, a fun capture. The bird was watching me!

Those birds, so incredibly smart.

As my screen still held the dove, I snapped another photo, and got a real goodie.

Modern camera technology, regardless of brand, makes satisfying creativity possible. If I took time to practice, my 40x zoom would yield greater numbers of satisfying photos. A new camera won’t eliminate the challenges of capturing over distance, but an eye-viewer eases the job. Minus a tripod, bracing camera against forehead counters our naturally-shaky human fingers and hands.

Dear Friends: Tune in fully to our new moon, see and speak to it, and listen closely. Diana