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Here and There…Now and Then |
Hannah
It would have been better if we had a bit more room but this evening Dorothy’s good friend Hannah was doing one-hand cartwheels and I took a few pictures. I think this is the best of them because it looks as though she is standing still on one hand. She’s actually moving from right to left in this picture.
Night Sky
After picking Dorothy up at Julia’s house this evening, I set my camera on the roof of the car, told Dorothy to sit still, and fired off a 30 second exposure. The clouds were moving fairly quickly so they have ended up blurred and covering more of the sky than was apparent when I took the picture. Also, the spinning of the earth turned each pin point star into a little line segment. I think it’s really cool that here at a latitude of 39° we’re moving at over 800 miles per hour as we spin around the earth’s axis. For course that doesn’t count the 66 thousand miles per hour we’re hurtling through space as we orbit the sun. Anyway, during a 30 second exposure the earth turns one eighth of a degree. Hopefully that doesn’t make you dizzy. If you prefer, you can think of this as a pretty picture of the night sky. That works for me.
Christmas Lights
I stopped in front of a house with lots of Christmas lights on the way home this evening and took a bunch of pictures. Some of them were taken with fairly long exposures and I moved the camera around a bit to see what patterns I’d get. In this one, there are two lights that stand out from the rest and you can see the pattern that was made by my movement. What do you see? I showed it to Dorothy and asked her what she saw and she said the same thing that I saw.
Note: This post was originally titled What Do You See? It was quickly pointed out by my brother that, given the season and the reason for the lights maybe the title should be, Do You See What I See? He is right, of course, and I changed the title. I only wish I had been so clever from the start.
Stop Light
I was waiting at this traffic light on the way home from work and realized that I really liked the rich colors of both the light and the sky. In the picture the light has washed out just a bit and turned slightly orange, but it still works well with the deep blue evening sky.
Then the light changed to green and I moved on.
Foggy Morning
It was a foggy drive to church this morning but I headed into the mist without fear. Alright, perhaps that is a bit dramatic. Still, visibility was significantly reduced, particularly in low lying areas, like here as I headed down toward the creek. I like fog, actually, and wish we had it more often, although it does not do wonders to traffic around here. I remember leaving for school in the fog in Cambridge years ago. I honestly don’t remember if that was a happy memory or not, but it is now. So there.
Hannah On Ice
Some Of Hannah’s Fans
Dorothy’s friend, Hannah, has been skating since she was seven years old. Dorothy has seen her skate before but I hadn’t, so when she announced that she’d be performing today, I thought it would be good to come. Dorothy wanted to be there, as well, and we heard that a bunch of other friends from school were planning to be there. The first picture for today is one of quite a few that I took of her on the ice. I don’t have a lot of experience with photographing skating. Also, it’s not all that bright in the indoor rink (and it was dark outside in any case). In order to get a fast enough shutter speed I needed to set my camera’s ISO to 6,400. That let me shoot at f/3.5, so I had a little depth of field and 1/800 second. I got a few pictures that I’m happy with and a bunch that are not very good. Sorry it is so grainy, but that’s life. Hannah, on the other hand, was lovely throughout and all her fans were happy to cheer for her when she was finished.
The second photo is some of those fans. This is actually probably about half the people who came specifically to see her. They are, from left to right, back: Jessie, Libby, Dorothy, Cat, Louie, Hannah, Abagail, Brandon. Front: Tyler, Alex, Kyle, Connor, and Garrett.
Window Reflections
Negative Space
Marsh Reflections
Three pictures today, all featuring reflections. The first is a picture of the sun and clouds reflected in an office building. I had to walk over here to pick something up today and, as I sometimes do, I brought my camera with me. The sun was reflecting brightly in the windows and along with the clouds, I thought it looked nice. I had to be careful to have the sun not quite in one of the windows or it was way to bright. Actually, it’s a bit blown out in parts as it is. Still, and interesting photo.
After that I walked down into the woods between my building and the one with the reflections. The stream that runs between the two buildings has a fairly strong flow here and I was looking for patterns on the surface. This one is a little interesting because where the tree is reflected on the water the reflections are absent and you can see down to the rocky bottom, where I focused. It’s almost hard to tell that the shiny surface is water, because it is ever so slightly out of focus.
The last picture is from a little pool of water that lies just above the stream and yet somehow separated from it. In the summer it is a place of dragonflies and skimmers but it has a very different feel now that the cool weather has come and the insect life is not apparent. I’ve come down to this pool a few times when it is very busy at work and I need a few minutes of quiet solitude. It’s a good place to sit and think.
St. Mary’s Church
The old St. Mary’s Church, shown here on the left, was built in 1817. It is the first brick Catholic church in the county and the oldest church still in use in Rockville. The new church building, on the right was built in the 1960, but fortunately the old church was saved from demolition. Cathy and I were in Rockville for some business this morning and this is the view from the office we were in.
Maylandia estherae (Red Zebra)
I picked up Dorothy at her friend Julia’s house this evening and stayed long enough to take a few pictures. Julia’s mom, Maureen, has a tank with African cichlids and this, I believe, if a red zebra (Maylandia estherae). It certainly looks right and it’s from the right lake (Malawi). The picture is a bit soft because it is by necessity photographed through the aquarium glass. Still, it’s a pretty fish and shows up pretty well.
Turkeys
Thanksgiving is over and the decorations are being put away. These are three turkeys that Cathy gets out every year. I’m sorry to say that I’m not as supportive as I should be when it comes to seasonal decoration. I’m not really a scrooge but I’m not necessarily affected by the decorations. Still, there’s no real harm in them and decorating makes some people happy. When “some people” includes your spouse, you really should make an effort. Sorry, Cathy. I’ll try harder for Christmas.
And yes, that’s Edgar Allen Poe in the background.
Bell Peppers
There are not many foods I don’t like and as I get older, the list gets shorter. Bell peppers are probably at the head of that list, though, along with licorice, perhaps. Unlike licorice, however, I think bell peppers are beautiful, in all their amazing colors. As long as I don’t have to eat them.
Iris, Tsai-Hong, Ralph, Maya, and Stephen
After two days of Thanksgiving, we had a somewhat unexpected extension into a third day when Stephen and Maya invited us to their new apartment for brunch. They have a nice apartment not too far from their work and close to all of us, which is nice. Here’s a picture of them with with the rest of the family.
Beaver Moon and Jupiter
The full moon in November is called the Beaver Moon. We got to see it with Jupiter above it. You cannot see it in this picture, but to the right of the moon was a very bright star Aldebaran. So bright, in fact, that until I looked it up, I assumed it was a planet, as well. I thought that the brighter object was Venus and slightly less bright was Jupiter. So I have them both wrong, although I at least thought that one was Jupiter. It was quite lovely, especially when it was first coming up over the horizon.
Camellia japonica ‘Lady Clare’
Azalea Leaves
Old Allium Blooms
We had Second Thanksgiving today. If hobbits can have second breakfast, I don’t see any problem with Second Thanksgiving. There were sixteen of us at mom’s house this year, which is pretty close to the limit for her dining room table. There was more than enough food, of course, with plenty of leftovers for everyone to take home.
I took a little time in the afternoon to go out in the yard and enjoy some Thanksgiving-season color. First up is a Camellia japonica ‘Lady Clare’ in the back yard. There is currently just this one bloom on it but it is absolutely covered with huge buds and before Christmas it will be in full bloom. How can you not love a plant blooming this time of year?
The second photograph is not of a flower, although it certainly competes with flowers on color. It’s a little roseate of leaves on an azalea bush in the front yard. Many people think of azaleas as a one-season shrub, blooming for a few weeks in spring and doing nothing the rest of the year. That’s certainly true of some but many of them have leaves that turn all sort of shades of red for the winter. To my way of thinking, those are to be preferred over those that simply stay green. Look at all the color in those leaves!
For our third and final photo, we have something that is flower-related, although not a flower itself. These are the pedicels from allium umbels, or, in layman’s terms, the flower stalks from the ball of flowers on an ornamental onion.
Night Sky
As we were putting things in the car to head home from our day of Thanksgiving I set the camera on top of the car and took a few long exposures. This is a 30 second exposure at f/4 with a 24mm lens (which is equivalent to a 38mm lens on a 35mm film camera). It was taken at about 8:15 PM. Can you tell which direction I’m facing?
Thanksgiving, 2012
Although less thankful that we should be, we are nonetheless thankful. It’s true that we should be and indeed are thankful every day of the year, it is right that we set aside one day specifically for the purpose of being thankful. We were fortunate, this year, to have guests with us as we celebrated and gave thanks at Cathy’s mom’s house. On the left are Josh, Diana, and Jake. On the right are Kendra, Dorothy, Marge, and Cathy. Margaret is at the head of the table.
Kendra and Dorothy
Cathy and Dorothy picked up Kendra and I met them at Cathy’s mom’s house after work. They helped cut bread for stuffing, peeled potatoes, and made jello for tomorrow’s meal. When they were done working, Kendra and Dorothy sat at the piano and made up songs. You won’t hear any of them on the radio any time soon but we enjoyed their efforts (for the most part).
Ripples
It was a beautiful day today, cool but not cold. I went out and took some picture, mostly of ripples in the stream that flows through the empty lot next to my office building. I could sit and watch flowing water for a long time. Of course, during a work day I don’t have any long stretches to spare, so I make do with short stretches, instead.
Ceramic Dogs
Once upon a time, Cathy collected ceramic (and glass and whatever) dogs. She still has the collection, although she doesn’t actively collect them any more. A few of them are out in various places in the house. These are on top of a small set of bookshelves in our bedroom. I sort of like the terrier-like dog on the left but decided to focus on this pitiful looking hound in the foreground instead. Sorry the picture is so “grainy.” I still had the ISO set to 3,200 from yesterday and didn’t notice until later.
Ben and Trish
Two of my favorite people were leading the singing together this morning in church. Do I describe a lot of people as “of my favorite people?” If so, then I guess it just shows how fortunate I am! I don’t know if it is Ben that picked the songs or if they are picked because he’s leading. Either way, I especially like having Ben lead because of the songs we sing when he does. Thanks, guys (and the rest of the team, as well).