Daily Archives: July 29, 2014

Starry Night

Starry Night

Starry Night

The last photo from another busy day. This one isn’t as spectacular as the thunderstorm photo from last night, but I’m still pretty pleased with it. Dorothy suggested that I go out and take some pictures, because the southern sky was so clear and the Milky Way was clearly visible. Well, clear is relative and this was clear if you are used to the east cost of North America, anyway. This was taken with settings similar to last night’s, with the ISO set to 640, f/3.5 and 30 seconds. The lens was a 10–20mm zoom, at 10mm, so a fairly wide angle (that’s equivalent to 16mm on an old 35mm camera, for anyone who actually remembers those). This picture was harder to deal with in terms of “noise.” If I reduced it enough to matter, I lost a lot of the detail in the Milky Way. So, here’s an even better reason to want a full frame SLR. And a trip to the dry, much clearer and darker parts of the country, preferably on the top of a mountain. Still, it’s the best Milky Way picture I’ve ever taken (though that’s not saying much).

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Ocean Isle Pier

Ocean Isle Pier

Ocean Isle Pier

Shortly after I took the picture of the little sandpiper, on the same walk down the beach, actually, I took this picture of the Ocean Isle Beach pier. I can’t actually remember the last time we’ve gone out on the pier, actually. I guess I don’t see much need. It does add a point of reference when you’re on the beach, though, and give a handy turning around point when walking.

I like the drama in this picture, of the crashing wave. It’s nothing to the waves in the surfing destinations around the world, but it’s a good enough wave for riding and no so big that you are in any danger when out, particularly on days as calm as this.

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Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Here’s another bird photo. I’m not sure but I think this is an immature sanderling (Calidris alba). There are quite a few little sandpipers and they all look very much alike. When you throw in variations, it’s quite hard to tell them apart. Anyway, this is one of them. I love to watch them run around, avoiding the incoming waves, and then running back down where the sand is wet and soft, looking for things to eat.

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A Very Different Sunrise

A Very Different Sunrise

A Very Different Sunrise

After the dark, deeply colored sunrise I took on July 28, today’s was very different. There wasn’t a lot of pink, orange, or red in the sky, just a little around the sun. But the clouds were quite pretty and nicely reflected in the water washing up on the beach. Also, after two days of 90°F plus heat, I woke up to about 70°F this morning. It warmed up later in the day but never really got above about 82°F. It was much less humid, as well. Beautiful.

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