This isn't the Pennsic entry; this is the "you can see nice things when there isn't city build-up in your way" photo post. :-) Mostly sunsets, interesting clouds, and the full moon. Read more…
Blog: Photos
Most of these posts were originally posted somewhere else and link to the originals. While this blog is not set up for comments, the original locations generally are, and I welcome comments there. Sorry for the inconvenience.
We had a storm around dinner time. It passed, and I was treated to a really nifty sky right around sunset. I've never seen that shade of purple, and the "condensed puff" of the clouds is pretty neat.
I took these pictures over a span of about five minutes, starting ten minutes after nominal sunset. There are still bright spots in the sky, where it looks like the sun might be shining through, which I assume is caused by some sort of atmospheric refraction or something. Just...wow.
These pictures are straight off my cell phone, no alterations. Read more…
We recently visited Living Treasures Animal Park, right off the PA Turnpike. It's nearby for us, but we'd never heard of it until we got a recommendation. It's a family-run cross between a small zoo and a petting zoo, with care for the animals being a top priority.
They have typical domesticated animals that kids (and others) can interact with. I call this first one "pet me!" and the second one "feed me!": Read more…
Remember this tomato plant from the end of May, when I thought the cage was overkill but they didn't have the next size down? Read more…
When choosing a floor tile, it's important to consider contrasts with key components:
During Chanukah I tried taking some better pictures of the candles, as I mentioned then. Here are a few more successes from later days. Read more…
When I've taken pictures of the chanukiyah in the past, I've usually been disappointed by how blurry the flames look. Photographing flames in a darkened room is apparently challenging -- it's not just me. I asked a question about it a while back on the Codidact photography community and got some interesting advice.
I've been experimenting this season. Here's one from tonight that came out decently well:
The camera settings were:
- Shutter speed: 1/90
- ISO: 1600
- Exposure: 0 (I don't know what this means; it's a scale from -2 to +2)
The other settings I have available are named:
- White balance: (scale of pictograms of sun, light bulbs, etc)
- Interval(s): scale from 0 to 60
- Focus: picture of flower, 25/50/75%, picture of mountain
I left those set to "auto".
I can make guesses (based on the scales) about white balance and focus, but "interval(s)" has me stumped.
On Tuesday I hit peak tomato, harvesting 22 (!) cherry tomatoes. There were several more that were almost ripe that I expected to pick the next day.
But the next day they were gone, all of them. I found the half-eaten carcass of one green tomato on the ground. I couldn't tell what ate it. I wonder if it was the rabbit I saw when I went out Tuesday evening to harvest some basil.
There is a new Outdoors site on Codidact, and they are run a series of (monthly) photo contests. The theme for May is birds, and there are some really striking pictures there. (I did submit one, but really, most of the others are way better!)
It occurred to me that some of y'all would enjoy these. They also have a bunch of questions about birds. (In case you're wondering about the low scores, data was recently imported and it all came in at score 0, so until people browse and vote on the imported data, even good questions and answers will show with low scores.)
The next site to launch will be Photography, coincidentally.
Day 1:
Neis gadol hayah sham. (A great miracle happened there.)
Day 2:
'Al hanissim v'al hapurkan v'al hagvurot v'al hat'shuot v'al hamilchamot sh'asita l'avoteinu bayanim hahem lazman hazeh. (translation)
Day 3:
Mi yimalel gvurot Yisrael,
Otan mi yimne?
Hen be'chol dor yakum ha'gibor
Goel ha'am!
Shma!
Ba'yamim ha'hem ba'zman ha'zeh
Maccabi moshia u'fode
U'v'yameinu kol am Yisrael
Yitached yakum ve'yigael! (translation)
Day 4:
Ma'oz Tzur Yeshu'ati, lekha na'eh leshabe'ah.
Tikon beit tefilati, vesham toda nezabe'ah.
Le'et takhin matbe'ah mitzar hamnabe'ah.
Az egmor beshir mizmor hanukat hamizbe'ah. (translation and more info)
Day 5:
Ra'ot save'ah nafshi, beyagon kohi kala.
Hayyai mereru vekoshi, beshi'abud malkhut egla.
Uvyado hagdola hotzi et hasgula.
Heil par'o vekhol zar'o yaredu ke'even bimtzula. (continuation of the previous day)
Day 6:
Barchuni le-shalom malachei ha-shalom malachei Elyon,
mi-melech malachei ha-melachim ha-qadosh Baruch Hu. (translation)
(Lighting and posting before Shabbat, so you get Shabbat text today.)
Day 7:
לֹא בְחַיִל, וְלֹא בְכֹחַ--כִּי אִם-בְּרוּחִי, אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת.
Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6, from the Shabbat haftarah reading for Chanukah)
Day 8:
What is the memory that's valued so highly
That we keep alive in that flame?
[...]
We have come this far always believing
That justice would somehow prevail
This is the burden, this is the promise
This is why we will not fail!
Don't let the light go out! (From "Light One Candle" by Peter Yarrow; elision was to fit in a tweet.)
Eight nights of lights follow in photos:
Read more…