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Quick Report on Canon EOS 5D Mark II Battery Performance

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After four days photographing – in sometimes stunning conditions – in the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite, it seems odd to make my first post about a technical issue. But, here I go.

People wonder about the LP-E6 battery performance of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera. While I haven’t conducted and “scientific” tests of battery performance, what I have observed thus far is quite encouraging. Over the past three and a half days or so I made 533 exposures plus a few more that I deleted in the camera. I do a fair amount of “chimping” and I used the live view feature just a bit. After all of that the battery life indicator still showed two our of four bars.

All in all, I think this seems like great battery life. Many 5D II shooters will find that one battery is sufficient, and very few  should need more than one spare. (I currently have one spare. Because of some unusual use patterns – including backcountry pack trips of one to two weeks duration – I’m considering one more spare.)

If you are purchasing a 5D II, an extra LP-E6 battery for your 5D II, or other camera gear, doing so at B&H Photo Video via links at this site helps support this blog.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Andrew’s Clintonia

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Andrew's Clintonia

Andrew’s Clintonia. Muir Woods National Monument, California. April 11, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Newly emerging spring Andrew’s Clintonia (Clintonia andrewsiana) plant at Muir Woods National Monument, California with immature flowers.

I hope I have correctly identified this plant – with the help of a few people who contacted me after I posted the photo along with a request for plant ID help on my dan’s outside blog. The flowers are the tricky part. All of the photographs of this plant that I could find during my search for identification look different – but the plant apparently doesn’t actually blossom until a few weeks or a month after I made the photograph, so here we’re just seeing the early buds. The leaves look right. It grows in the right place – in the redwood forest and Muir Woods. And I found one online example with mature flowers that has the same single leaf near the top of the flower stalk. So I’s sticking with Andrew’s clintonia until someone comes up with a better idea!

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: Andrew’s Clintonia, Clintonia andrewsiana, andrews, flower, plant, stem, leaf, green, stalk, forest, woods, grove, redwood, floor, bud, bloom, nature, foliage, spring, muir, national, monument, park, golden gate, recreation, area, travel, scenic, stock

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Fairy Bell Wildflowers (Disporum hookeri)

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Fairy Bell Wildflowers (Prosartes smithii)

Fairy Bell Wildflowers (Disporum hookeri). Muir Woods National Monument, California. April 11, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring Fairy Bells flowers among the plants on the forest floor at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This plant grows on the forest floor beneath the Redwoods at Muir Woods National Monument and, no doubt, in many other similar places on the west coast. This is a rather subtle flower – its color is not that different from the color of its leaves, it grows in areas where the light tends to be somewhat dim, and the flowers hide beneath the spreading leaves. It isn’t a flower that I spot right away – unlike, say, trillium – and it is a bit tricky to photograph.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: Prosartes smithii, Disporum smithii, Fairy, Bells, flower, wild, wildflower, leaf, green, yellow, wihite, plant, foliage, nature, forest, floor, insect, bug, muir woods, national, monument, golden gate, recreation, area, park, marin, county, california, usa, stem, bud, bokeh, stock, Disporum hookeri

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Red Alder Leaves, Spring

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Red Alder Leaves, Spring

Red Alder Leaves, Spring. Muir Woods National Monument, California. April 11, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring red alder leaves branch out above the creek at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

More red alder leaves from Muir Woods National Monument. I’m fascinated by the delicate patterns of the branches of this tree – in fact I have photographed these very same branches (yes, the same tree) a couple of time previously.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: red, alder, leaf, leaves, branch, twig, green, spring, new, growth, delicate, bokeh, nature, tree, forest, grove, muir woods, national, monument, golden gate, recreation, area, marin county, california, usa, redwood, foliage, creek, stock, green