The Kitty Can't Stand It!

I have to soak my toe twice a day - don't ask - and the kitties are absolutely fascinated by this.  Mainly because is when there is water around, they can't take their eyes off it.  So with my foot in the dishpan, Grace could not help watching.  Then she got closer.  Then, when she couldn't stand it any longer, she had to put her paw in the water!  These kittens are an endless fascination!

Epic Fail!

We had a wonderful speaker at the astronomy club meeting tonight.  His name is Dr Calder and he spoke about some of the things we have learned about Pluto from the New Horizon's spacecraft.  The planetary probe was launched on January 2006 and passed by Pluto 9 years later on July 2015.  It was a terrific talk and that is a photograph of Pluto's moon Charon.  I decided to try to do a portrait of Dr. Calder, illuminated by the digital projector.  Only thing is, that some of the surface detail of Charon fell on his face, and it ended up looking as if he had a skin disease!  Epic Fail!  I should know better by now.  This is the second time I tried this technique, and the first time it was even worse than this!  Man, when will I learn?

Boy, Was I Cold!

It was a cold, gray, rainy afternoon, so I went down to the harbor really late in the day, to see if I could find a photograph.  I saw these old posts embedded in a sandbar and they looked interesting because it was so dark out.  I used the camera on a tripod because the scene required a long exposure.  I actually "saw" the picture in black and white as I was shooting it, and so converted the color image when I got home.  I love seeing this image with its rich black and gray tones.  Oh, and it was COLD and windy down at the water, and then it started to rain.  OK, no more whining!

A Magnificent Staircase

When I got a tour of the victorian house that is being restored by my friends the carpenters, I discovered this extraordinary staircase on the second floor.  How amazing is this!  I can't imagine what kind of craftsmanship it took to construct this originally.  Certainly this will be a centerpiece in the restored home.

Harbor View at Dusk

I went over to visit the carpenters who built our addition, who are working on another house not too far away.  It was great seeing them, and they had a story to tell.  There is a house on the cliff, and a group of workers came in to make some changes to a retaining wall behind the house.  The workers did something wrong, because about 15 feet of the back yard gave way and slid down the cliff, all the way to the water!  So they said I should go down and see the mess.  I did that, and then noticed this scene.  The cliff is about one hundred feet above the harbor so it gives me a whole new perspective on the harbor.  And I love the subtle pastel colors of dusk.

The Guru

Today I got up early and drove out to Long Island MacArthur airport to attend an FAA safety seminar.  This seminar was a bit unusual in that it was called "AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY – the Beauty, the Problems, the Safety."  The really cool thing is that it was given by a photographer and pilot whose work I have followed in Flying Magazine for forty years!  His name is Russell Munson and he is a brilliant photographer of both airplanes, and the landscape from the air.  And he is a really friendly guy.  I mentioned that I was a photographer for the newspaper for 40 years, and he seemed impressed.  We had a nice conversation, and he signed my copy of his book which I bought back in 1989.  It was a really nice experience.

Kitty Cat

This is a portrait of Bebe, who is about fifteen years old.  I was sitting at my laptop which was on the dining room table, and she jumped up and was sitting on the table right in front of me.  What more could I ask for!  Originally she was looking right at me which made for a great picture, but I didn't have my camera right near me.  By the time I got the camera and the close-up lens, she was looking down more.  So this isn't perfect, but it's not a bad photo.  If you click on the photo you will be astounded with the amount of fine detail in the image.