11/11/11

Hmmmm…. back in 2011…. At least that is what my file says. … in the days before selfies. My cousin scored a set of passes to the chocolate show. Free samples!! I kid you not! No no! you don’t get to taste the underwear. It was a display to show how chocolate can be molded as you like into anything you might like. Cousins and generations, we were there. I estimate I sampled my way around the show eating about two pounds of chocolate that afternoon. And then, we went out to eat dinner.

Lighting for the group shots could have been better. You sometimes settle for what you get. Overhead light gives harsh eye shadows. Backlighting is not good. Fluorescent lighting has poor color characteristics. Ahem, the lighting was not so good as the chocolate was fun.

Reluctant

Willow is clearly not a willing participant. He’s wondering when he can be free to go about his routine again. But he’s a good sport. You never know what will happen when you do a family group shot. Loosen up the crowd. And they did – point, and smile. The crowd is clearly into it. Smiles one and all. Except Willow.

Dawn

Great beauty. I see It from my window on some days. It’s a gut feeling that comes from deep down somewhere. I am humbled to see such a sight and to witness nature in its glory. Have I gotten that across to you?

Digital cameras – are there film ones left? – can still be fooled by a scene. They will under or over expose the scene in low light such as dawn. My trick is to meter down at the horizon. It lowers the exposure to enhance the rich orange and reds of the dawn sky. Pointing upward gives too little exposure. And the camera cannot focus. There are no sharp lines. So pointing the focus at the tree line gives an edge for the camera to focus. It is a matter of bending the camera software to your need. Meanwhile I did not have to waste time switching to manual mode.

Deception

It used to be that advertising had some truth. Who? Politics? State your party. Democrat or Republican. There are two. There is a smattering of others like independent, but there are two major parties. Anyway, wouldn’t you like an affiliation stated? Or is it just name recognition? It is too incendiary to state party? Ah! The times we live in.

Shooting from the car is tricky. Colleen hates it when I do. I can dance and chew gum. I can drive and think and shoot my camera.

Cloudy

I am in an introspective cloud period. White clouds are so stark against a blue sky. They are never the same or repeated. Cumulus clouds are there many times over. Shoot? Admire or ignore? One never knows. I shoot clouds. Then again I have a camera at hand most times.

Surprise

I’m about as surprised as you. Not surprised at you, but surprised to see this image. Yeah, yeah, I took it. But actually…. we were stopped in traffic and I was trying to read the sign behind the woman in the bus shelter. We could not make out what was being advertised. I don’t think we are more informed now. I shot the image to enlarge so as to read the print better. The woman stubbornly stood in front of the sign and did not budge. She was just standin’ there… but I guess she moved as I pressed the shutter. A moment later traffic was moving and I did not see this shot until the next morning. Funny! She wuz looking for her bus. I wuz looking at the sign. I’m not sure that either of us were happy. Nice scowl, lady.

Moon

It was the supermoon. I can do moon shots. I do it in manual. It’s pretty easy to get a shot of the moon into my camera. Super moon – full moon when the orbit is closest to earth. The moon is 250,000 miles away. It looks better/closer in my mind. Meanwhile, I got moon shots. And clouds. And the moon in the clouds. And the moon covered by clouds.

The settings are critical to the exposure. Automatic actually does a fair job. But the moon itself is too bright and the craters and mountains are washed out if you go with automatic. So there is a bit of tweaking needed too. It ain’t perfect. But I got some shots and can show you. I learned and was surprised that the camera could capture the moon thru the clouds. Clouds have few enough details in daylight. The house and trees provided some sharpness for the eye to focus upon.

What?!

Selfie? Did I do this to myself to myself? Early morning? I can’t tell. But by evening I am usually showered and dressed. It looks like I still don’t have a shirt. What?

Does the picture work? Focus is ok. Soft but sharp enough. Surprise? Surprised? What? There is a story here. Who knows? It’s fun. It catches you off guard. Just move on. Not much more to report here. Laugh. Smile. It’s up to you. Critical? In almost any other context this would be in the discard pile.

Lightning

Bucket list of images. I have never shot lightning. I have never gotten that lightning bolt in the night. Nope. I have rainbows…. So, it was a night of continuous lightning bursts in the clouds. And I missed every one! I would press the shutter as the lightning lit the clouds. I would be just a bit too slow. I got nothing. Nothing! Slow shutter finger. I could not anticipate the next burst. Nada! Nothin’!! Well, once, sort of. My record stands I have not shot a bolt of lightning. Lightning in the clouds? It doesn’t look much like anything at all.

Correlated

We have a beach cam in town. It has a view west toward my house. and out my window I have the same clouds on views. How neat!