Thursday, October 10, 2024

Walking the Trails

 While my granddaughter has soccer practice, I like to go for a walk on the trails located just behind the practice fields. The area is full of wildlife because there is a year-round stream that runs through the property. My only problem is her practices start at 6:30PM, just when it's getting dark. The last week or two, I've needed to bring a headlamp with me so I can see the trail. 
Some sections of the trail are wide and fenced on either side. I turned my headlamp off before taking this photo. I was using my cellphone and was surprised to see that it wasn't a blurry mess. It was dark out, but somehow my phone's camera lightned things up nicely and steadied the shot. Impressive!! The photo properties tell me the exposure time was 1/13th of a second. With my DSLR, there is no way a hand-held shot would come out sharp at 1/13th second. Not sure how the iPhone camera manages to pull this off.
 
Hello Moon!
 

iPhone 12 mini, f 1.6, ISO 500, 1/25th second (no tripod).
 
After taking this photo, on my hike back to the soccer field, a large coyote crossed the trail in front of me and stopped and looked at me, as if trying to determine if I were a threat (or perhaps a meal?). I was in total darkness and never would have spotted him without my headlamp. He was larger than the desert coyotes I'm used to seeing, closer in size to a German Shepherd, and his fur was darker. With my headlamp shining towards him, his eyes glowed. Solitary coyotes in the desert never bother me, but this guy spooked me a bit. For the rest of my hike, I found myself turning around and facing backwards from time to time to check for glowing eyes. Maybe this helps explain why I've never seen anyone else hiking in the area after darkšŸ«¢.
 
Thanks for stopping by!!
Linking with Skywatch Friday.
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4 comments:

  1. Mariette VandenMunckhof-VedderOctober 10, 2024 at 11:41 AM

    Dearest Peter,
    WOW, that coyote was a scary encounter on your trail!
    Love the way the trail is fenced or wide enough for enjoying its nature.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  2. John "By Stargoose And Hanglands"October 10, 2024 at 11:56 AM

    Excellent photos with your phone. My brother sometimes takes a shot on his phone when we're out together and I'm often amazed at how well it copes with scenes with difficult lighting. Isn't it great that young women can nowadays enjoy a full range of team sports?

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  3. Yogi♪♪♪October 10, 2024 at 12:32 PM

    You know my cheap version Iphone does a great job dealing with difficult lighting situations. Sometimes I wish the cameras came with options like the phone does. It would be nice to be able to upload camera apps to the camera to not only help take the photo and then edit it. We're close to that now with the wifi file transfer capabilities that phones have to send photos to the phones.

    The city coyotes are a lot bigger and fatter than the country coyotes. Lots of plump dogs and cats for easy meals is what I am guessing.

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  4. Liz A.October 10, 2024 at 12:56 PM

    I'm sure the iPhone has software to steady the shot. Or it takes a short burst of video and picks one of the images? A programmer would probably know.

    That's the thing about this time of year, as it gets dark so much earlier. The last week or so I keep getting surprised at the time. I think it's later, but no. It's just dark earlier.

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