Sinister Moon

As lovely as it can be, tonight's moon was more than a little ominous. I was in the middle of the city when I spotted it. Had I been alone on a walk through the park, I think I might've quickend my step just a wee bit.

Shot at 200mm, f2.8, 1/25th sec, iso 400 - handheld.

Read!

This shot represents a common theme in my wife's classroom.

Get the books out.

Exercise the imagination.

Travel to far-off lands.

Learn something new.

The little guy was a gift from someone who recognized her gift of teaching reading.

I just wonder what good book he's got there, he hasn't been able to put it down for years...

Shot with 85mm at f2.8, 1/200th, iso 100 with two speedlights. One bounced off the ceiling as the primary source at full power and another with a DIY gridspot at 1/64th to provide the shadow.

Alone.

It was my turn to provide the theme this Sunday and I chose "Alone".

I don't (yet) know what it's like to be without a home. I do remember what it's like to wonder how the bills are going to get paid, and if there'll be enough left over for food at the end of the month. I am aware of how isolated we can be from each other in the same room, or even an elevator. I remember middle school and high school and how it felt to be left out. I can imagine what it might be like to be down and out and have the world pass me by without a glance.

Even so, I have no real concept of what it must be like to be on the street and I doubt this collage even gets close...

Shot multiple images at 17mm, 1/5th sec, f11, iso 1600 - sitting on the cold, hard pavement.

Fork? Take It!

Yogi Berra said: "When you come to a fork in the road, Take it". Well, on my walk home this afternoon, I came to point where I had a choice to make: straight route home, or scenic route?

I chose the scenic route this time...

Shot with 17-35 tamron at 21mm, f8, 1/400th, iso 400 - cloudy skies overhead.

Ding Dong - Cookies!

It's that time of year and the Girl Scouts are out selling cookies again. They knock on the door and ask you to support them and how could you refuse? So, you buy four boxes when one would do. And the next day too when the next troop comes through - my wife is a teacher and all the kids know she'll buy some.

Well, I thought I'd make something of all the extras we have around the house now. Tim has been doing an interesting experiment with a Twinkie that thought I might do a variation on.

I found a quiet, usually undisturbed corner of the kitchen where I'm going to leave these cookies and see if their preservatives are as potent as those used in Twinkies.

I'll post again when time passes and we can see if ... hey!

Shot at 50mm, f5.6, 1/125th, iso 100 - with a single 430ex bounced off the ceiling.

Backyard Glow

My wife has a collection of various lighting things around the outside of our house, all powered by batteries and recharged by the sun. Some cast a soft glow near the driveway, others hang like a constellation from the trees in the back yard. I wondered how well their meager glow would record, which resulted in today's photo.

Shot at 200mm, 1/10th second, f2.8, iso 400, on a tripod.

The New Fore!

I happened upon a few intrepid souls out taking advantage of the weather today playing Frisbee Golf. I didn't hear the word fore being hollered, though I suspect some other warning might have been in the offing had I wandered blindly across the coarse.

I think I'm gonna hafta try this game...

Shot with a 70-200 zoom at 165mm, 1/60th, f4, iso 400, in the shade. Aren't Image Stabilized lenses grand?

Don't See These Anymore

Not many playgrounds around that still have a merry-go-round. I'm guessing a few kids hadn't yet got a good grasp on physics (or the hand rails) and found out the hard way. Next thing you know some over-protective parent (like me) gets involved and the thing is in the dustbin of history.

With no one else at the park today to see me crash, I climbed on for a short dizzy spell to see what I'd been missing. I decided that I'm happier watching it spin as a bystander.

Shot at 17mm, f22, 1/3 sec, iso 100 with a 0.9 (3-stop) ND filter.

Bare Trees

I took a walk across the street to the park today hoping, again, to lower my BP - this walk being more about state of mind than strenuous exercise. While there I chanced to look up into the bare limbs of some large trees lining the driveway into the park. It was hard to tell from this angle whether or not the branches reached all the way to the clouds.

Shot at 17mm, 1/250th, f5.6, iso 400 - lying flat on my back staring straight up into the sky all the while listening for oncoming traffic.

Mental Health Food

Today's theme is "Different perspective" - thanks Tim.

Shot at 17mm, f5.6, 1/6th, iso 400 - under the kitchen lights.