Observing Night

This is Tom, a member of our club, looking at Venus as it was setting tonight, with his 8" Newtonian telescope. I got there earlier than normal so there would still be light in the sky, because I wanted to do a silhouette of someone observing. It was a gorgeous clear night, and we started by watching the planets Mercury and Venus set in the west, and Saturn was high in the southern sky. It was windy and cold, but we were still up for observing, at least for two hours. By then I was frozen, and headed home after having seen many wonderful things.

A Bundle of Sticks

A bundle of sticks, yes, BUT... These sticks are nearly 4000 years old! They were found in a monarch's tomb, 10A at Deir el-Bersha in Egypt back in 1915 when a group of archaeologists from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and Harvard University found it. The discovery of this tomb, and the archeological treasures inside, even though it had been looted back in antiquity, has been celebrated worldwide for yielding the largest assemblage of material ever found in a Middle Kingdom burial. This is part of a spectacular exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, and I spent hours there immersed in these treasures. The thing is, it was astounding to stand there in front of these objects, and to try and let it sink in that they were four thousand years old. The actual sticks are displayed in front of a photograph of them as they were found in the tomb. If you can get to this exhibit, do not miss it!

Shadows

I found a whole bunch of interesting photographs while in Boston, particularly at the Museum of Fine Arts. So I am going to be showing you photographs from there for a few days. This is the last photo I took - I had left the museum and was headed back to the parking lot when I noticed these shadows of trees on the side of the building. There are so many interesting things going on in this photograph - I love the reflection of trees and sky in the window, and the blue is mirrored in the upper right hand corner of the picture And in that corner are actual tree branches, which mirror the shadows of the branches. Of course, at this point I am over-analyzing things - in the viewfinder, I just include stuff until it feels right. Click.

House Tour

We stopped on the way home from Boston to visit Pat and Bethany, and to see their new house. When you see a new house, you get to take a house tour, which was fun. The light in the bedroom was really nice, late in the afternoon. I went over to the rocking chair in the master bedroom, and sat down. When I looked up this was the composition that I saw, and I stopped everyone and told them not to move. I love the composition of this, and the near-far arrangement of everyone. I didn't make the arrangement, I just recognized it in the moment.

"The Night"

I spent most of the day at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This sculpture, a giant baby's head, is called "The Night" and it is by Antonio Lopez Garcia. I was photographing the sculpture from several different angles when this young woman, who was there with a class, stepped in next to the head, and was posing to have her photo taken by a friend. I managed to shoot one frame before she ran out of the photograph. One frame, that's all you need!

The Lightning Show

I spent the day at the Museum of Science in Boston today. It is an astounding museum! So many interesting exhibits, on so many subjects, it was impossible to see them all. To add to the excitement, there was a fire alarm and we all had to evacuate the building while the fire trucks rolled up! This is a photograph of a "Lightning Show" that they present several times during the day. One of the highlights near the end of the show, is that this young woman presenter climbs into the "birdcage" and then is raised up by a hydraulic lift, close enough to the Van de Graff generators -those huge spheres which generate several hundred thousand volts - and then lightning bolts jump from the spheres to the cage, with resounding explosive sounds! Yikes! And all the time, the woman is in the cage! Wow! Very impressive.

I Have No Idea...

On the way to Boston, we stopped at a McDonalds for ice cream cones. I saw these planters, and they got my attention, for some reason, but I didn't stop to shoot them. Got my ice cream cone, and went back to the car, and then got the camera. Something about these things held me. They are painted these bright colors, I believe, less for advertising purposes, but as a method of marking the parking lanes. But there is something that feels just a bit looney to have the bright colors on a structure that contains a tree. I still don't know why it is that these things seem weird. You can all decide, and tell me!