Keepin' on keepin' on

Another hard day. Went to CMO to water and service feeders. Sweating and not carrying my big Canon. But from time to time I'd get it from my pickup and play with the settings. I'm still not sure the problem with it isn't me. Don't want to send it back unless I'm sure. Today I discovered that by stepping down the exposure compensation I can get a decent photo in Av setting. So maybe I'm the problem. I didn't think I should have to step it way down, especially with my extender on, but what do I know? Here's a photo I took today with Av. I still haven't got the trick to getting the camera to do a fast shutter speed in Av. My thought is that instead of  the camera making an overblown image, it should make the shutter speed faster. But it's not working that way.

This one was taken with the camera setting the speed to 1/500. Too slow for a sharp handheld shot. I had the ISO at 1600 and F/8 with the exposure down -1 step. But distant bird shots don't present the overblown problem I have with closeups.

Elf Owl

When I set the camera so that it won't be overblown on Av doing a butterfly at about 6 feet away, the camera sets the speed at 1/180. This Vesta Crescent shot couldn't possibly be sharp at that slow a speed. I had set the ISO at 400, F/8 and -2 exposure compensation during my experimentation on this shot. I just don't think I should have to set the EC that low. That's a pain to have to do so many adjustments when you switch from birds to butterflies. And while I got it so it's not overblown, that's meaningless if the shot is blurry. I just can't get it right. The irony is that with an extender you lose light, yet I'm trying to get the picture darker all the time. I don't know if it's me or the camera, but my shots aren't as sharp as they were with my Rebel in Av mode. I get very discouraged trying to sort all this out. Tomorrow I'll try again.

Walking around moving hoses today my foot kicked up a stick somehow and a big splinter went through my sock and deep into my ankle. Still don't have it out.

Then I got to town and my husband informed me a tenant is moving out with two days notice. My body still hasn't recovered from scouring the floors from the last vacant house (which now has new tenants in it). Don't see how I'm going to manage all this with the hummingbird festival and the photography workshop coming up in two weeks. And if I ever get a big rain I may have to pump water. That's always priority. Guess I'm just exhausted tonight and things seem overwhelming. Bedtime.