That wasn't actually so hard.
There are several different species of flying fox in Malawi. I've tried to find an estimate of how large they are online, but have given up after minutes of strenuous googling. From the ground, they look larger than a crow, but not as big as a housecat. I'm trying to come up with a better comparison but drawing a blank.
I tried to give a sense of how big they are by making sure the moon made it into the shot, but I don't think that really helps much.
I would say their wingspan is somewhere between 18 inches and two feet. Anyway, they're big.
I would say their wingspan is somewhere between 18 inches and two feet. Anyway, they're big.
I've not seen the bats at the new house, although there are more birds than we saw in town. And there are occasionally giant snails in the yard.
Somehow, that's not quite as exciting as giant bats. But it is interesting. The largest snail I've seen was about eight inches long, including both body and shell.
Somehow, that's not quite as exciting as giant bats. But it is interesting. The largest snail I've seen was about eight inches long, including both body and shell.
I've made friends with one of our neighbors down the road--Grace, a secondary school student. Grace said she would come visit Sarah and me this weekend, which should be a challenge to the language skills of all three of us.
4 comments:
So is your ability to get fast flying things in darkness in focus a result of mad foto skillz, or a really good camera?
It's a combination of the camera, persistence and luck. Manual focus on a moving object in the dark, esp. at that distance, is definitely beyond me. So you have to trust to autofocus, which is sometimes ok, more often terrible. I had to take a lot of shots and I have been trying to get these stupid animals in a clear picture since October.
For the lighting, you need at least 800 ISO. That depends on the camera in digital and your choice of film in analog. And actually, 800 is not that fast. I could do way better if I had 1600, or even 3200, which is what I hope my next camera will be.
Most cameras only go up to 400 ISO. In general, 200 will do you for bright daylight outdoors, 400 is your default indoor/outdoor speed, and 800 is your bare minimum for night time and indoor shots with no flash.
But higher speed film/light sensitivity also means a grainier pic.
You probably knew most of this already, but what the hey.
Nope, pretty much totally new to me. Now I have to wiki ISO, and waste more time...
Just remember, all advanced photography uses really stupid math. Although the ISO calculations are a lot more logical than f-stops, which I still don't understand.
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