A Hint of Sunset

I spotted this orange glow in the west after I got back from my bike ride late this afternoon. Wow, hints of a sunset! I am tired of overcast skies. I hope we end up with some more sunshine this coming week. I know it is not dramatic, but I actually like the more subtle colors of this photograph.

Yesterday's Snow

After the snow ended yesterday I went to the beach to see what I could find. I had hoped to walk down there when it was still snowing, but I took too long to get there and the snow stopped. Just as I started to photograph, the sun came out. That was a nice thing to see, if only for a few minutes. First thing I noticed was the shadow of the railing on the snow. Then I noticed the wonderful storm clouds in the distance. I made about 6 exposures, and the sun went behind the clouds again, where it stayed. Maybe it was OK that I came here when I did.

Snow Day

There was a forecast for some snow, and yesterday it rained all day, so I thought it would only be 4" of snow or so. When I awoke this morning there was 10" on the ground. And that turns out to be nothing, compared to New York City which received more than 20 inches. They are calling it the 4th worst storm in the city's history! Wow! This is the first picture I took today, and I decided I liked it best. I photographed the "usual suspects" and went to the beach and did some things - maybe I will post one of those tomorrow. But this feels as if it is a different subject and a different picture than the kinds of things I usually shoot.

It Ain't Over 'Till its Over

I spent a while photographing that Chinese lantern branch outdoors. I was satisfied that I had something useful when I was done. I brought the branch in to the house and as I walked through the back room, I noticed sunlight coming in through the west window. So I held the branch in the sunlight, and because of the light from the side, which gives texture, and the really dark background made this a much more dramatic picture. So the lesson is, you are never not looking, you are never done trying to find a better picture.

Foggy Night

It was a very foggy drive back from my astronomy meeting tonight. As I neared Sea Cliff, the fog got thicker - closer to the water, I guess. So instead of going straight home, I decided to check out one of the parks in town that I know has a number of trees - trees disappearing into fog is always an interesting subject. First I found a picnic table, and that was interesting. The thing is, when I find a subject, I go into "tunnel vision" mode and just focus on that. After I thought I had it, then I looked around, and saw this tree with the light streaming around it. In the end, I thought that this was a stronger image. I shot it in color, but then felt the color was distracting, and so you are seeing it in black & white.

A Bleak Day

We have had blue sky and sunshine for a number of days now, so I have no reason to complain that this morning we woke up to a gray and rainy day. I looked out the bedroom window at the bare trees in the distance and thought how pretty they were in their bleakness. Then I noticed that right in front of my nose, there were raindrops on the window pane. I stopped the aperture of the lens down really small to try and show both the raindrops and the trees in the distance.

Pasta World

"Pasta World?" What? What does this photograph have to do with pasta? It looks like one of the satellites of Jupiter. Well, I'll tell you... We had pasta last night. After the pasta and water were poured into the strainer, the pot was put back on the stove to cool. I picked up the pot after dinner to wash it, and saw a flash of color. Color? What? So I carefully studied the bottom of the pot, and was astounded at the brilliant colors. These colors are "dichroic" - A dichroic material is one which causes visible light to be split up into distinct beams of different wavelengths (colors) which you see here. I think it has to do with microscopically different thicknesses of the left over starch. In any case, it looks like a phantasmagorical planet. In any case, I was thrilled to see a whole "world" in the bottom of a pot! Here is a photograph of the pot, in case you don't believe me.