Nature photography... my new lens, birds, and leafs

Okay..so the birds are the Atlanta Thrashers..and the Leafs blew down here from Toronto... but I DID get a new camera lens with my Christmas money and have some sweeeeet pics from last Friday night's hockey game at Phillips Arena in Atlanta.

Thashers defend

These were taken from the NEXT TO LAST ROW ... waaay up in the high-altitude seats. Pooky and I went with our friend Ben (Codename:Unglef) because it was high time we went on a good downtown adventure and $10 per seat was a pretty good deal. It was my first NHL game, not to mention Pooky's first time ever to ride the MARTA train in spite of having grown up in Atlanta.

I had just gotten my 50mm prime f/1.8 lens last week, and right up until Friday afternoon was planning to leave it home because I assumed cameras were banned from sport events. Turns out only movie cameras are banned, but still photos are perfectly okay...and had I known that sooner, I miiight have put my battery on the charger...but nooooo.

the pics are not quite up to Sports Illustrated level by any stretch of the imagination, but considering it's 50mm from about a half-mile away from center ice and my hands were still shaky from the cold outside (13*F that night), I think I done right well. The pic above is early in the first period about half a minute before Toronto scored.

Watchful ref

BTW the reader will note that the intrepid photographer was PROUDLY wearing her Maple Leafs jersey and was one of a teeeeeny minority of Leafs fans in the arena. A daddy and daughter sitting behind us were also rooting for Toronto so we decided to form a cheering section. Thrashers fans around us were not amused, but we had a good time.

This was the last pic I took before my battery croaked....about half a minute before the Leafs scored.

Incidentally, Atlanta woke up in the second period and ended up winning the game in sudden-death overtime..4 to 3.

Said the daddy behind us to his daughter, "Being a Leafs fan is kinda like being a Cubs fan."

For what it is worth, I think the lens did well, though I will have to take care not to let the AF area pick up on the wrong subject such as the safety netting around the rink or any low-flying aircraft that might be passing between the cheap seats and the action.

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Oh...and since it is still 18 January for some of you... HAPPY WINNIE-THE-POOH DAY!