First, some observations and notes regarding the new camera.

It’s an 8 megapixel camera as opposed to the S50 being 5 megapixel.  That means I can take larger photos with higher image density, and that in turn means I can more easily crop images to focus on the subject—without decreasing the quality of the photograph.

This camera has a 12x optical zoom.  I’m now able to get high quality pictures of subjects at distance.

The S5 IS has significantly improved white balance.  This provides for deeper, richer, and more realistic color.

Similarly, it handles focus with more granular control.  Part of this stems from the increased optical zoom, but another part of it comes from its improved handling of targets.  Like I did, you’ll find subjects clearly delineated by sharp focus while background information becomes a supporting palette.

I forgot to change the ISO setting from automatic to manual.  I never take photos at anything higher than ISO 100, even in the dark, so I rarely have the significant image noise generated by higher ISO settings.  Regrettably, the camera selected some of those higher settings yesterday which resulted in some of the most anticipated images turning out poorly.  Nevertheless, several are retrievable.  Oh, and I’ve since updated the ISO settings to keep that from happening in the future.  Hindsight and all. . .

Finally, there’s much to learn before I’ll feel comfortable with this new gadget, although having the same manufacturer reduces my learning curve since a great deal of the functionality is already familiar to me.  Still, I quite capably fouled up several shots while trying to learn.  Oh well.

But rather than bore you any longer with senseless gibberish regarding some of the photos I took yesterday, I figure it’s best to jump right in.  Here is a small sampling of the pictures captured yesterday.  While you’ll recognize several of the lake’s normal inhabitants and winter visitors, this time around you’re likely to see them in a different light.  I know I did.

A pair of American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
and a double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) preening
after their morning baths

More American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
preening in the morning sun

An American coot (Fulica americana) milling about
in winter grass looking for breakfast

A male white Chinese goose (a.k.a. swan goose; Anser cygnoides)
watching me closely (note the stunning blue eye)

A female domestic greylag goose (Anser anser)
facing me directly (again, note the stunning blue eyes)

After all that preening, and after the pelicans left,
this double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) turned
around and enjoyed a relaxing stretch

Despite the unnecessarily high ISO settings, these
ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) made for great subjects
as they flew around the pier

More ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) in flight

The larger versions of these photos offer far more than these reduced sizes can hope to achieve.  I hope you at least take a look at some of them.

[note this represents only a fraction of the pictures taken yesterday, and even that fails to include the photos I’ve taken of The Kids; you can expect to see more in the future; likewise, I can expect to overwhelm myself with a plethora of images as I experiment, learn, and bury myself in the joys of photography with this very capable camera]