A time together now forgotten.
The crescent Moon floats in evening twilight, beautiful end to a summer’s day.
The crescent Moon floated low in the late twilight above the neighboring rooftops. It was a beautiful scene. I was unprepared to capture the scene photographically. If I’d have expected such beauty tonight, I’d have most likely loaded my gear into the car and headed for a better vantage point; but all I had was the view from my window and a couple of minutes remaining before a photograph would be impossible. I grabbed my trusty 50D with its exquisite telephoto lens, braced myself on the window frame, and shot through the window glass. The first shot was the best and what you see here. Goodnight, Moon!
Summer Job: Waiting for Bike Rentals at Century Cycles, Peninsula, Ohio.
I had trouble getting motivated and inspired to do anything today, picking up the camera and heading out into the cloudy, cool, and gray day was just the right thing. As I looked around and discovered quiet beauty and interest in so many places, I became energized. Ironically, it took what many would have considered a gloomy atmosphere to lift my feelings. Sometimes a cloudy day is just the right thing.
A bee probes a thistle flower searching for food in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Brecksville, Ohio.
Dragonfly finds a fine resting place on a hot summer afternoon.
I’m trying out a new theme here at WordPress. I’ve long felt my photos were too small on the page so I’m employing (at this point, anyway) a theme that allows for “flexible” sizing including full-size display of images. Don’t know if I’ll stay with this but, since my blog has evolved into largely a photo-blog, it’s perhaps more appropriate.
The river looked like wavy glass and fat raindrops like bullets hitting it.
Layers of cumulus clouds billowed over the region this Sunday.
We had a late breakfast, did a quick shop at Target, watched a little TV, and tried to figure out what to do. It was a muggy day, dawning overcast with a high chance of rain. We didn’t want to be too exposed to the weather but really didn’t want to spend the day indoors, either. Saving us from a boring, “wasted” day, She Who Must Be Obeyed came up with the brilliant idea — visit the Lorain Metro Parks’ Columbia Reservation. I had been there by myself a couple of times recently but She had not. It was a splendid idea.
Damselfly male Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis) had better watch himself, there’s a fish perhaps watching him!
We took the same hiking trails I had taken late in June. I could serve as a sort of guide but also see what changes have ensued since my last visit in this, so far drought-plagued summer. Some of the flowering plants have been spent, fulfilling their reproductive mission. The water levels in seasonal wet areas have dropped dramatically, some of them scarily! But some other things showed little change. We both took plenty of photographs this afternoon and, while I shot a variety of subjects, I found myself drawn back to one of my favorites… dragonflies! In one pond I spotted not a dragonfly but a pretty little damselfly posing on a bent stick protruding from the still water. Shooting several frames to try and get focus and lighting right, it wasn’t until I reviewed the images later that I discovered a sunfish lurking beneath the surface. I don’t know if the fish was watching the insect or me; in this little pond, the sunfish follow people as they walk back and forth on a small platform over the water!
Finally got a nice shot of a Twelve-spotted Skimmer (male) dragonfly.
In the final portion of our nature walk I was finally able to fulfill my goal of photographing a beautiful dragonfly I’d spotted there back in June. My first time there, I’d spotted the dragon but didn’t have the focal length to capture its image. I returned another time equipped with the right optics but saw none of its kind! Today was perfect: I had the optics, the dragonfly was cooperative, and the lighting and scene were nearly ideal. And my portrait of a male Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) was my pic of the day! Third time’s the charm!
Sunspot group AR1520 with improvised camera attachment (handheld).
Hosting a group of kids from a local church camp this morning, we were treated to the best views of sunspots I’ve ever had. Sunspot group AR1520 is absolutely enormous, dominating the face of the Sun and observing conditions were very good. We viewed the Sun at about 30X and, later, at about 120X through Stephens Memorial Observatory’s 112-year-old refractor fitted with a white light solar filter. After the campers left I hauled out my camera and discovered I had the wrong direct-focus adapter with me and could not focus at all! So I removed a piece, focused as best I could, and hand-held the camera for a direct-focus image. The resulting image (above) is soft, not doing justice to the telescope or the sunspots, but the view is impressive, nonetheless; it’s a representation of what we saw which was truly amazing!
Whole disk image of the Sun using 400mm lens and white-light filter, Thursday, July 12, 2012.
True recycling here.
Visiting the Hubbard Valley Park of the Medina County (Ohio) Park System today, we walked the woodland trail. The woods were lovely, dark, and deep, as has been restated by many. Among the beautiful sights was a rotting log hosting sun-spotlighted fungi. Philosophers, have at!
One of many lightning bolts in a dry thunderstorm the night of July 4, 2012.
“Oh no,” I said, “here comes another storm!” It showed up as “small” on radar and I didn’t think much of it. What arrived, however, was one of nature’s natural fireworks shows, and in time to close out the July 4th holiday; the small thunderstorm came through dry and full of lightning. Most of the lightning was cloud-to-cloud and there were plenty of what I call “crawlers” — discharges that appear to move in branches across the bottoms of the clouds. I was caught by surprise! I love shooting photos of lightning, or, at the very least, trying to capture those images. This was the perfect opportunity — no rain to get in the way or ruin my lenses — but all my gear was stowed! I quickly gathered camera and tripod and headed to my sheltered observing post. It was a great show though, with a storm this active, I didn’t know where to aim for the best shots. Out of maybe 150 exposures, I got a good number with at least some streaks of lightning; out of those, I’d managed to get a couple of good images. Displayed here is the best of tonight’s bunch.
I see you! A damselfly clings to the side of a reed away from the photographer.
Thinking to avoid the hot sun of midday but wanting to get out, we decided to take a nice, leisurely walk in shady woods somewhere. We paid a visit to the Carlisle Reservation of the Lorain County Metro Parks. The woodland trail turned out to be a good choice for avoiding excessive sun in the 90-degree heat and moderate humidity but woods are very good at blocking breezes; we wound up pretty sweaty by the end of our little hike. Of course I carried a camera –in this case my trusty old Canon Digital Rebel XT– always on the lookout for picture possibilities. I checked each of the several ponds we encountered for the usual subjects: birds, snakes, frogs, and dragonflies: No (wading) birds at all! No snakes seen. Lots of quick little frogs. And a nice selection of dragonflies! I’d decided to carry a “walking-around” zoom lens with modest telephoto abilities and it was both fun and frustrating to use that lens’s limits and capabilities to best effect. My favorite results are shown here. We left Carlisle ready for cool beverages but happy for the quiet walk.
Sometimes keeping your distance makes for a better view!
PhotonStopper 