Rubicon3

A Morning Walk in Old Town

 

 

   

Spring Pansies in the Rain

They've come back very nicely from the way they looked a few months ago, after an ice storm squashed them flat:

Cayman Slideshow

Grand Cayman

Made with Panorama Composer

Cool

You know they way they have 360-degree panoramic photographs?  How about a 360-degree panoramic VIDEO?  

It's called, "immersive video."

Forbidden Pictures

Pictures taken in places where photography is not allowed.

Ice

   

My poor pansies:

The ice created serious problems for some yesterday. Many had difficulties getting out to vote.  The evening network news had cameras aimed at pedestrians in Northern VA, and practically everyone was slipping and falling on the black ice. This morning, school opening in my area was delayed 2 hours.  Taking daughter to school late meant missing my art class. 

Contrast

Taken less than an hour ago:

 

 

 

 

 

Taken this past spring and summer, same location:

 

 

Windows to the Soul

...in a range of colors.

Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2007

More pictures accompanied by lots of interesting commentary.

Also: Some very nice astronomy wallpaper here. I change my background periodically.  Right now, I am using the picture of the Andromeda Galaxy on the left.

Has Photography Lost its Soul?

Has photoshop killed photography?

Did plastic kill leather?

Seasons

First snowfall of the season, a few minutes ago:

A Walk Around the Lake

Yesterday afternoon, Halloween. Very few people around. The forest was a bit spooky.  Well, more than a bit. I stayed for 1/2 an hour, then had to go pick up daughter from school. I wondered, if someone murdered me and left my body in the woods, what would she do to get home?

I watch too much CSI.

Obviously up to no good.

The Twins at Three Months

Was up in Rhode Island visiting family this weekend. Had a blast playing with, feeding, and photographing my nephews:

This Morning's Pictures

A couple are backyard foliage, the rest are of the Potomac River and Old Town, Alexandria:

 

 

 

This Morning's Pictures

Went for a walk this morning before class:

Potomac Ducks

Note to self: Next time, find potty trained birds to photograph.

Guess Whose Eye That is?

Finally figured out how to photograph it.

Kitchen Flowers

New Camera Arrived Today

Effective Photographic Technique

Check out these pictures, taken with flash and without.

What A Fabulous Shot!

Shirl captures the moon.

Take Me Away From the Ballgame

My family knows I have no interest in baseball, but they like it when I go with them to ball games every so often.  I usually go to one or two baseball games a year.  This past weekend I did my duty, closed my eyes, thought of England, and went.   We had great seats which might have been totally wasted on me, except that I came up with an idea to keep myself busy.  I took pictures.   

Oh, this was going to be fun, I thought as I snapped the mascot:

But then I discovered a problem.  There was netting in front of us which was there to protect the crowd from getting hit by the ball.  My camera loved that damned netting and only wanted to focus on it, instead of the action behind it:

If I zoomed back and shot from a distance, there was no problem:

But when I tried to zoom in more closely, the same thing would always happen. Nice looking net, but not what I really wanted to photograph:

I finally figured out that the camera didn't notice the net right off and that if I snapped the picture very quickly, I could get off a zoomed-in shot while it remained focused on the players:

It took a bit of messing around with things to figure out how to wait for the pitch AND get the focus right as well. Notice, I was paying zero attention to the game. The Nationals were playing the Padres, by the way, for those who are interested. The score was 6-0 by the time I realized anyone had scored, or even where the scoreboard was:

Look! You can actually see the ball on this one. I was so pleased to have caught this wonderful and amazing thing.  Well, I had to get excited about something, didn't I. To me, when baseball is on TV it might as well be a screen filled with static.  (I deeply apologize to the baseball fans out there for being such a killjoy):

Wow, look.  The pitcher has the ball:

Next, a picture of the players watching the game:

Oh, an interesting t-shirt:

Back to the game.  My that umpire has broad shoulders, doesn't he.  Not bad for an older...oh, yeah, baseball:

I caught the ball:

And then caught it again.  My but he has a nice...uh...stance:

Oh, what's this? 

No explanation, the presidents just showed up, without a word, accompanied by a lizard from the other world, no doubt. Did anyone interview them about the situation in the Middle East?   

Before I had a chance to yell out, "When do you think the troops should leave Iraq?" they were gone. Just like that:

Party's over.  Back to this monotonous game er, I mean, entertainment:

It had reached the point where I had to find something else to do.  I was beginning to feel like I was in an episode of the original Star Trek where, on a certain prison planet they put prisoners in front of a whirling vortex which would empty their minds of everything and they were so bereft of thoughts, it was torture.  There are other things to see and think about here.  There must be.  Let's explore strange new life and civilizations, and go boldly where no baseball fan has been been before. 

Lights!

Hmm.  Interesting in close up, are they not?

I call this next one, "A picture of a picture behind a net"

   

Oh, what's this?  Here's a diversion!  This man is going to film us.  He wants us to say hi to him, and to wave:

Ah, seems a willing fan has been found:

One last picture before putting the camera away:

And that's a wrap until next season, folks, when I am forced to undergo  um, I mean, when I joyfully attend another delightful sporting event.

Great Falls, Virginia

Sunday school ended for the year this past Sunday at noon.  Husband was working straight through the weekend, so was oldest son.  Middle son was feeling lazy and just wanted to vegetate.  I had time on my own and it was a beautiful day.  I finally decided to do something I'd been thinking about for a while and drove up to Great Falls Park to take some pictures.  Great Falls is an amazing piece of nature to view and capture.

From the Great Falls Park website:

The falls consist of cascading rapids and several 20 foot waterfalls, with a total 76 foot drop in elevation over a distance of less than a mile. The Potomac River narrows from nearly 1000 feet, just above the falls, to between 60 and 100 feet wide as it rushes through Mather Gorge, a short distance below the falls. The Great Falls of the Potomac display the steepest and most spectacular fall line rapids of any eastern river.

The early American history of the Falls is pretty interesting.  Involving both Maryland and Virginia, their free trade deal helped pave the way for further interstate cooperation culminating in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 :

Few ventures were dearer to George Washington than his plan to make the Potomac River navigable as far as the Ohio River Valley. In the uncertain period after the Revolutionary War, Washington believed that better transportation and trade would draw lands west of the Allegheny Mountains into the United States and "...bind those people to us by a chain which never can be broken."

"The way," Washington wrote, "is easy and dictated by our clearest interest. It is to open a wide door, and make a smooth way for the produce of that Country to pass to our Markets ...."

As a waterway west the Potomac River could be that "door." It was the shortest route between tidewater, with access to East Coast and trans-Atlantic trade, and the headwaters of the Ohio River, with access to the western frontier. But both political and physical obstacles had to be overcome.

Opening the Potomac required cooperation of Virginia and Maryland, which bordered the river. In 1784, Washington convinced the states' assemblies to establish a company to improve the Potomac between its headwaters near Cumberland, Md., and tidewater at Georgetown. The Patowmack Company, organized May 17, 1785, drew directors and subscribers from both states. The office of president, Washington wrote in his diary, "fell upon me." He presided over the project until he became the nation's chief executive.

Delegates from Virginia and Maryland, meeting at Washington's home in 1785, drew up the Mount Vernon Compact, providing for free trade on the river. Virginia and Maryland legislators ratified the compact and then invited all 13 states to send delegates to a convention in Annapolis in 1786 "to consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations may be necessary to their common interest." The Annapolis Convention led to a general meeting in Philadelphia the following May. Thus, George Washington's lobbying for interstate cooperation on the Potomac helped prepare the way for the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

The small red thing in the lower part of the picture below is a person, just to give some idea of size and scale.  Also in the one below, I played with the color saturation which you can see makes it look a bit different from the picture above:

I saw a couple of guys climbing around the rocks. They were carrying kayaks.  While I waited for them to get in the water and head down the rapids, I took the opportunity to play with the camera's zoom.  These were taken from fairly far away from the subjects. In the second shot, I knew about the wasp because I'd seen it buzzing around and was actually aiming for it, but I was very surprised to find the ladybug when I blew the picture up to full size - it was undetectable from that distance:

There were several people watching the guys in the kayaks along with me, and we were all freaked out when the one in the blue boat completely wiped out.  I didn't catch that on camera - it happened too fast. He just righted himself and continued on his merry way.  The water must have been icy cold though - we're having what seems to be a cold spring this year, at least as far as my perception goes.

Look closely and you'll see a bird that blends in very well with the rocks:

Photo Blogging

The Viaduc Race

In this photo released on Sunday by Sport Evasion and VO2 Magazine, the race's organizers, an aerial view shows competitors running across the Millau viaduct during the 'Viaduc' race, a 23.550-kilometer (14.633 miles) run from Millau back to Millau, southern France, Sunday, May 13, 2007. The Millau viaduct is the world's tallest bridge. (AP Photo/Sport Evasion/VO2 Magazine/HO)

More images here.

Capturing Spring Before it's Gone

Today was a perfect day for pictures

   

   

Fun With Pictures

Doctored with Adobe Photoshop Elements "Stained Glass" effect:

Original photo:

Gotcha

Finally was able to photograph an elusive birdie this morning.  The few birds I saw were all hanging out high up in the trees - the one in these pictures was about 25-30 feet over my head.  He was making an incredible amount of noise. Same bird, two views:

Young Preppy Guy...

...turns into Salvador Dali in front of you very eyes on video.  

Actually, it's an 8 year photo project and it's very well done and quite interesting to watch. I've seen others like this, but this one tops them all.

The Woods of Northern Virginia

Yesterday started out gorgeous weather-wise.  I'd been hearing birds chirping in the morning and spotted a bluebird from my car recently.  It seemed a good time to take my camera out into the backyard and search for spring birds to photograph.  Not much luck finding any, unfortunately.

Aha!  Evidence.  But not a bird in the sky nor anywhere to be seen.

I did find this little guy, though.

A maneuver designed improve his tricep definitition so he can entice the lady squirrels, I presume.

I imagine he must be reading Jimmy Carter's latest which accounts for his look of disgust. She's probably carrying cheesecake, pecan pie, carrot cake, chocolate donuts and creme brulee, and I don't think it will be long before she rips the cover off the basket and chows down. (I've been dieting for the past several weeks - it's what I'd do.)

Well, these were the only birds I found yesterday, across the street on my neighbor's lawn.  They hang around our neighborhood all year long, pooping all over the sidewalks and walking across the road very slowly and blocking traffic, thanks to another neighbor who feeds them.  We discovered why she takes such good care of them one day when we drove by and saw her with a huge net, running after one of them.  If she invites us for dinner, I am going to be busy...

Running From the Camera

Being somewhat camera-shy, I can relate:

The rules are simple: I put the self-timer on 2 seconds, push the button and try to get as far from the camera as I can.

The results are amusing.

Flower Studies

A tip I read in a photography book: If you want to photograph flowers and there aren't any around, go to a florist and buy some. I was in the grocery store and, spying some daffodils, I remembered the tip and brought home a potful.

 

 

Autostitch

If I am reading this right, this looks like a fantastic photography program and the Demo version is free. You can take multiple pictures of a site, load them into the program, and it will "stitch" them together seamlessly into a full panorama.  There's an example on the website, where 57 pictures were loaded, and 25 of them were used to make an incredible wide angle mountain scene. When I have a chance, I am going to give it a try. It looks idiot proof - right up my techno alley!

The Second Edition of the JPix Carnival

It's at Bagelblogger, and I have to say, I was blown away by the great pix from sites all over the world. My poor pitiful pix plainly pale in comparison.  Take a look.

Snow Photos

All taken within the past hour. The snow continues to fall heavily.

 

Experiment in Sepia

Cameras are Nifty

I love the close up lens.  Instant gratification - this took minimal effort:

I call it, "Colored pencils on glass."  Mainly 'cause that's what it is.

Tried out the tripod last night and the polarizing and density filters and the wide angle lens today. The night shots were nothing special - hardly worth the time it took to schlep the tripod outside and expose them.  Below is the sun surrounded by blurry details.  Eh, very so-so.  I'd give it an F+, with the plus only given for effort. I have some practicing to do:

First Shots

First ever pics taken (by me) using a new close up lens attachment (a magnifying lens) on a Sony DSC-H5:

 

Close up of the lens storage bag, in case you are curious.

So far, I love the camera except for the problem that many have mentioned with it - very short battery life.  Carrying an extra set of charged batteries will solve that, though.  I took some pics in my bedroom early this morning before it became completely light.  It was incredible - the camera compensated (it was on auto - I had nothing to do with it) and the photos came out looking like they were taken in broad daylight.  Next experiment: Taking pics using only ambient light and no flash.

Coupla Inches Snow

Barely a dusting really, but enough to cancel school.  

Oh, the life of an indoor plant.

Soon

Turn on sound.

Amazing and Disturbing Images

Link

Times Square Panorama 2007

For Malibu: 

Click here

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !
And surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin’ auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
frae morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin’ auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
And gies a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie-waught,
for auld lang syne.