Remembering PRESTAGS

Saturday Morning Horse Riding

The rain is fantastic for the farmers, and we need lots of it.

We had a very convenient one hour respite exactly when we were at Badgerys Creek for horse riding.

I tried out the Nikon B700 bridge camera for 4K videos and the results were excellent. Also took some nice photos with the B700 , including using the super zoom.

Because we left early we skipped breakfast. After lots of fresh air we returned with a very healthy appetite. A nice brunch (shot taken on the mobile):

 

Camera Practice at Badgery's Creek

I took number 3 daughter horse riding at Badgery's Creek, and it was a good chance to play with my camera and some of the new lenses. Just my luck, it was a grey and wet day. It's weeks since I had my camera in bright sunshine.

The trusty 70-300 mm lens is still my favourite. It took the best shot of the day, a horse grazing in focus in the middle of the photo, with nice bokeh in both the foreground and the background.

Nearby at a small lake, I did a test shot of the same scene, shot first at 70mm and then at 300mm

Lot's of action in the 70 mm shot, with an almost 3D effect. I like the swans on the lake. I think I stuffed the focus on the 300 mm, with focus on the tree just behind the lake rather than the horses.

At the zoom end, the shots are very nice when you focus on a particular subject, as in the two friendly horses, and a mangy dog.

Nice clear focus on the rocking horses as well.

In this shot the 70-300 mm at 300 mm proves it can handle a bit of macro with the flowers. This is cropped out of a slightly wider shot.

I tried the Tokina 11-16 mm wide angle lens, and it worked well. This is at 16 mm. This will be a good landscape lens, especially with more sunshine.

The 50 mm f1.8 lens had a run and also performed well, although it will be better for portraits. I took a shot of kids playing dress ups and it captured what colour there was on a grey day.

I also took some good shots with the 18-200 mm lens. This is an excellent 'walk around' lens and I can't see myself using the 18-55 mm kit lens now that I have the 18-200.

My new Opteka fish eye did not work at all. The camera gave an error message 'no lens attached'. I need to check whether I was doing something wrong. Lucky I didn't spend too much on this lens.

 

Of Horses and Blimps

On Sunday I traveled to Camden with daughters #1 and #3 for horse riding. There were more than horses out there, as a blimp sailed directly over the horse riding centre.

My trusty Nikon did a pretty good job with the zoom lense, but also achieving focus because it was somewhat unsteady holding the camera above my head.

The Nikon Zoom

The photograph below is of the girls on their beach horse ride. To my naked eye, I could just make out the yellow of their vests but this is not in the photograph. The horse trekkers are right at the end of the beach about to turn around the bluff.

This photograph was taken a second later using the Nikon's optical zoom at about 38x:

Robert E Lee

Today is the anniversary of the death of Robert E Lee (19 January 1807 to 12 October 1870).

Lee was the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War (1861-1865) and one of my favourite generals.

An Interesting Start

On the eve of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, through Secretary Francis Blair, offered Lee command of the Union Army. Lee was opposed to secession and considered slavery evil. However, Blair’s offer forced Lee to choose between his strong conviction to see the country united and his responsibility to family, friends and his native State of Virginia. After a long night at Arlington, searching for an answer, Lee finally came downstairs and told his wife Mary that he could not lift his hand against his own people. Lee replied to Blair that “…though opposed to secession and a deprecating war, I could take no part in the invasion of the Southern States.” He resigned his commission and left his much beloved Arlington to “go back in sorrow to my people and share the misery of my native state.”

Always Outnumbered and Outgunned

The website of Stratford Hall, a home of the Lees of Virginia, has a great little summary which captures the reasons why I admire General Lee: On June 1, 1862 Robert Edward Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia in the Confederate capital of Richmond. Not until February 1865 was he named Commander in Chief of all Confederate forces, but the leadership throughout the war was undeniably his. His brilliance as a commander is legendary, and military colleges the world over study his compaigns as models of the science of war. That he held out against an army three times the size and a hundred times better equipped was no miracle. It was the result of leadership by a man of exceptional intelligence, daring, courage and integrity. His men all but worshiped him. He shared their rations, slept in tents as they did, and, most importantly, never asked more of them than he did of himself.

Battles

The victories achieved at the command of General Lee included the famous battles of Seven Days, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Cold Harbor, Spotsylvania  and The Wilderness. The losses included Gettysburg, and Antietam (in which Lee  fought a much larger army) was inconclusive although a strategic union victory.

General Lee (nicknames The Grey Fox and Marble Man) had the benefit of two outstanding corps commanders, James Longstreet (nicknames Old Pete, Lee's War Horse and Bull of the Woods) and Thomas Jackson (nicknames Stonewall, Old Jack, Old Blue Light and Tom Foot).

Credited his Troops

General Lee always gave credit to his troops. On 10 April 1865 when Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia he issued General Order No. 9 to his army which  was his farewell address: After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources. I need not tell the survivors of so many hard fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to the result from no distrust of them. But feeling that valour and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that must have attended the continuance of the contest, I have determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen. By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can return to their homes and remain until exchanged. You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you his blessing and protection. With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your Country, and a grateful rememberance of your kind and generous consideration for myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell.

General Lee had a horse called Traveller, who survived the war and remained with him. Lee on traveller is a well known monument that was erected at the Gettysburg battleground.

A Great Eulogy

In an address before the Southern Historical Society in Atlanta, Georgia in 1874, Benjamin Harvey Hill described Lee as:

... a foe without hate; a friend without treachery; a soldier without cruelty; a victor without oppression, and a victim without murmuring. He was a public officer without vices; a private citizen without wrong; a neighbour without reproach; a Christian without hypocrisy, and a man without guile. He was a Caesar, without his ambition; Frederick, without his tyranny; Napoleon, without his selfishness, and Washington, without his reward.

We will ride there!

Father and Daughters Time

Certainly more sedate than PythonMagus' father and son time, this afternoon was father and daughters time.

Unfortunately #2 is in HSC lockdown studying mathematics and history, so it was only #1 and #3. What does Sunday afternoon fun time mean? Horses of course.

There were no weapons and no simulated fighting, so the military analogy is more difficult. I can only claim preservation of the ancient art of cavalry, and some fresh air and sunshine. I cannot claim participation either, other than as official photographer. I like to learn from my mistakes, and the pain I suffered after a previous trail ride was sufficient deterrant for me.

And what was the best part of the horse riding afternoon? Arriving home and smelling roast lamb in the oven. Long weekends, you have to love them.