More Trees, Another Golf Course

I was running a few errands today, driving around in the rain when I drove by this golf course.  It was really only a quick flash of a view, through some trees along the side of the road, but what jumped out were the fences and the tree trunks all in a line.  I actually hadn't realized that it was a golf course.  I had to make my way through some bushes, but the scene opened up with the greens, and the pond, and the road and the trees.  Pretty scene on an otherwise gloomy day.

Portfolio Reviews

I had the coolest experience today!  About three years ago I signed up with an organization that connects business people to students in the classroom.  Some of the programs involve teaching, and in my case, I reviewed student portfolios.  These are high school students that, believe it or not, have to submit their portfolios to the College Board!  Yikes!  You know I never use names on the blog, so all I will say that they are located somewhere in Utah.  The student work was simply amazing!  I can not believe how accomplished they are as creative photographers - so much further ahead than I was when I was in High School.  We had a great time together discussing the photographs.  It was a VERY cool day!  What you are looking at is my laptop on the dining room table where I did the video conferencing.

Observing Night!

Tonight at the astronomy club meeting, we finally had the first clear night for observing the stars in about nine months!  This is my friend Dave, who does the planetarium shows, looking into the eyepiece of his 12" Newtonian telescope.  We had really clear skies, but the bad news was that we had a fairly strong wind out of the north, and before long we were freezing to death.  Well, not exactly to death, but it was REALLY uncomfortable.  But it was nice to be using our telescopes again.  The white blob just above the telescope, by the way, is the crescent moon.

The Fog and Trees

It was a bit after suppertime when I went out to do an errand.  I drove by this golf course - it's a place I drive and cycle by almost once a day.  But this time it was raining and late in the day, and the light was fading, and there was this light fog in and among the trees.  I think it was the darkness and fog that got me to stop.  The killer is that the golf course is surrounded by a chain link fence and there are bushes growing up above the fence.  So the problem is to find a place where I could see over the fence and through the bare branches.  I had to hold the camera above my head, and push my arms through the branches and then shoot in the blind.  Then I would bring the camera back and look at what I had shot.  Then I would make a pointing adjustment, and shoot again.  Well, it worked, but this is photographing the hard way.

A Portrait

This is Deacon Frank, who is a friend of ours at church.  We stopped to talk with him after Mass and I though that the light was interesting so I did what I always do - I got out my "toy camera" which is always on my belt, and started shooting.  I think I got something interesting, but I don't think I got something great.  I like the shadow down in the lower left and the bright areas in front and behind Deacon Frank, but I didn't feel that the picture doesn't quite measure up to what I had hoped for.

I Can't Make Up My Mind...

OK, so this story is wild!  This old building has been abandoned for years and years.  I just went and checked previous blog posts, and I photographed it back in June of 2007.  I will re-post that post at the bottom of this post.  (All of my editor friends will no doubt be bonkers at that last sentence...)  Anyhow, I drove by the building late in the day, and was surprised to see that was finally being demolished.  Apparently because the building had some historical significance, the town would not allow its destruction until now.  Anyhow, I grabbed my camera and started taking photographs.  Only problem is, I can't decide which of these photographs I like best.  They all show slightly different aspects of the scene.  It is hard to pick the one image that represents the scene best.  So scroll to the bottom and see my post from 10 years ago.

So here is the photograph from June of 2007.  And here is what I wrote:

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2007
I had to photograph two real estate agents today at a property they had bought. They are going to demolish this building which has been here for a long long time, and move a more modern house onto the site. I was told that it was a cabinet makers shop for many years but it has been vacant at least 25 years. I found the building so interesting, that I went to work photographing it right away, and this is the result. 

Doggie Den

I went out to buy some Canolli and some Napoleons as a surprise.  Did you know, by the way, that "canolli" is plural, and the singular of cannoli is "canolo?" Thus it's "vorrei un cannolo" (I'd like a cannolo).  Don't you love all that you learn here when you visit?  Anyhow, on the way back I drove by The Doggie Den where people board their dogs.  I have passed this place a billion times, but today the light was striking as the late afternoon sun raked across the side of the building.  What is really nice is how they have decorated this long building to make it bright and sunny with the colorful doghouses and flowers.  What a nice thing to do to what would have been a long, plain, boring building.