היומן של mikaelb

I have an iPhoto library of over 13,000 photos, mostly in JPEG format. (I shot in RAW for a few months a couple years ago but switched back since JPEG was serving my needs fine.) iPhoto has served my needs nicely, with adequate photo editing, Flickr publishing that pushed subsequent changes made in iPhoto, and a pretty good workflow that let me zoom in and compare multiple photos of the same subject for sharpness pretty efficiently.

Apple is no longer updating iPhoto or Aperture. They have replaced both with Apple Photos, which improves photo editing, but does not have the Flickr publishing or comparison workflow features I've relied on in iPhoto for so long. So I have to move my photos to a library platform with a future, and Apple Photos isn't it.

Adobe's Lightroom seems to be my best bet. I'll get vastly improved editing, and I assume I can figure out an adequate photo comparison workflow and Flickr publishing. But how do I convert my iPhoto library to Lightroom? Does anyone have experience with this? I've read that Lightroom has a migration tool, and this blog entry seems to be one of the better resources for understanding it:

http://www.lightroomqueen.com/ready-move-aperture-iphoto/

I'll be spending some time this holiday weekend exploring Lightroom. Is sure would appreciate learning anyone's experience in this area!

To scout for the bio-blitz on October 10, I spent yesterday morning at the Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne, TX. I was concentrating on odonates since those are what I'll be finding for the bio-blitz. The biggest surprise was when a nearly three foot long coral snake appeared beside me by the creek. What a pretty animal!

Thanks very much to Donna Taylor for showing me around! Attached are the observations I made, and here are (mostly) the same photos on Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikael_behrens/albums/72157658219194769

This morning I was happy to be able to tour the Dahlstrom Ranch just south of Austin with Hill Country Conservancy's EPIC group. Here are a few photos I took:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikael_behrens/albums/72157659119977966

Bird highlights included seeing 5 species of hawks soaring overhead from one spot, including south-bound migrating Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Broad-winged Hawk. I also was happy to see my first American Kestrel of the season, a returning winter resident. Here's my eBird list:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25207475

There were many dragonflies in the air, mostly Common Green Darners and Black Saddlebags. There were also a few Wandering Gliders, Red Saddlebags, and Roseate Skimmers. By a couple ponds Twelve-spotted Skimmers were common, and I found one Blue Dasher.

A zebra was an exotic surprise at the end. You never know what you'll see on these central Texas ranches! (A couple years ago I saw a Wildebeest here!)

Attached are my iNaturalist observations.