Another Stupid Ken Trick

So tonight I was part of an outreach event with another astronomy club on Long Island, along with ASLI, our club.  One of our members got the idea of a giant outreach event where 30 amateurs and their telescopes from both clubs would have an event where we would show the Moon and Saturn to whoever came to Robert Moses State Park.  The event was sponsored by LI Cares an organzation which supplies food to needy people.  All you had to do was to bring some non-perishable food to the event.  Anyhow, I arrived at the state park and decided that I would walk over to the rest room which was 400 feet away.  After I came out of the restroom I walked down to the beach and saw THIS photograph.  Notice the tiny moon rising.  And I did NOT have my camera!  My car was too far away to try and run back and get my camera an run back to this spot.  The Sun would have been long gone! What is wrong with me that I would not take my camera to the men's room!  What a dolt.  I did, of course have my iPhone so I used it to shoot this.

Then I turned around to photograph the setting sun. I saw this woman doing the same thing so quickly went over closer to her and managed to get this photograph!  I had to crop into the wide-angle photo that my phone took to make it more interesting.  I usually carry my toy camera with me and that version of the camera I now have zooms out to 200mm.  I wish I had that with me at this moment.   At least I got something!  But. come ON!  Always bring your camera, even to the men's room!

 

A Beautiful Moon, A Very Strange Tree

I came out of the grocery store this afternoon and saw the nearly full moon in the sky and I saw the tree in a slightly different spot.  So I went to my car and got my camera out with a telephoto lens.  Then I started walking over in the direction that would align the tree and the moon.  The Moon was way above the tree but if I moved toward the tree the moon appeared closer.  Finally I found my spot and took a few images.  I was standing by the left front of a parked car, holding my camera down by my waist, looking at the image on the back of the camera I had just shot when a woman carrying a bag of groceries came right to her car - the car I was standing hear.  "Can I help you?" she asked.  "Oh, I am shooting pictures of the Moon."  She looked at me and screwed up her face into a quizical look, and then continued walking!  I am sure her thoughts were "Why would ANYONE want to take pictures of the Moon?"  That look just cracked me up!  Of course all of you here know that I have produced some really lovely photographs, photographing the moon over the years!  Please click on this to see it closer.  It is really beautiful, if a bit strange.

 

I Do Not Want One of These Cars!

I was slowing for a red light and as I got close realized that this brilliant yellow car was something completely different!  It is a Ferarri 296 GTB.  So you probably wonder what a car like this might cost.  Hold on to your seats: Base price: About $343,000–$351,950.  BUT...  With optional extras: Potentially considerably more; expensive paint, carbon-fiber components and performance packages can add tens of thousands of dollars or more.  And imagine the cost of insurance.  Years ago a doctor in our astronomy club who is a friend bought one and he said that a Ferarri had been in an accident and totalled, and my friend's insurance went up because there are not that many of these on the road!  Honestly, if someone gave me one, I would sell it right away for the money, and never drive it.  Who wants that much attention when driving it.  I would curl up and hide being embarrassed by being seen in one of these.  OH!  And I forgot to mention that believe it or not, it is a Hybrid!

 

 

Blue!

Look at all the blue sky!  Just glorious!  Such a beautiful blue!  We went to the beach for Dunkin' today, and then after having our drinks and one donut each we got out of the car, and sat on a park bench at the beginning of the beach and just took all of this scene in.  Wall to wall blue sky.  It makes you feel so good to just look at and enjoy this scene.  It did for us.  Oh wait, what is going on with this photograph?  It looks out of focus?  What's going on?  What's going on is that I AM A DOLT!  Really!  I used my iPhone to take three exposures of this scene.  I never checked the first photo to see if it was OK, I just shot two more and put the camera away.  Imagine my shock to look at them on my computer this evening to see that all three were out of focus!  Completely blurred!  Obviously the camera couldn't find anything to focus on, in the sky!  I am crestfallen that I blew this shot.  I am hoping the weather will be the same and I will go back tomorrow and do this again, and do it right!  After 70 years of taking photographs, starting when I was a teenager you would think I would have learned how to take a simple photograph and make sure it was in focus!  I guess I could say that I meant for this image to be "impressionistic."  But you would not buy that excuse, I am sure!

 

The Moon in The Trees

I was out looking at the moon with just my unaided eyes, to see how high up it would be.  In the summer the sun is really high in the sky, and it is low in the winter. The Moon is completely opposite and it is low in the winter and high in the summer. We have trees all around us so it is hard to find it.  I did spot it through the branches of some trees in other people's yards up behind us.  I was going to shoot a closeup but like this wider view with all the dark shapes of trees around it.  I think it is a really beautiful scene.  I did post a larger image so please click on this to see it larger.

 

Before The Snow Arrives

I thought I should post this photograph which I took nearly a month ago. September 22, to be exact.  It has been sitting on my desktop while I shoot other things and if I wait any longer it will not be relevant to the season!  These blossoms are long gone, of course but they were a joy to look at this fall.  There is a funny thing when photographing flowers with a digital camera, that the colors never seem true.  I promise I did not enhance this at all.  But in real life it is not quite this bright.  But it is so beautiful.

 

Oh No! More Ghosts!

I took a run over to the grocery store and as I was coming back I saw these ghosts fly by out of the corner of my eye!  So I pulled over, got a camera out of the trunk with a telephoto lens on it because the house was set way back.  Then I stood on the sidewalk and did this shot.  What a beautiful, stunning ghost in the middle of the photo!  Wow.  And she is mainly made up of "netting."  So I had to look up the name of the fabric.  It is called "Tulle":  "A very fine, lightweight, net-like fabric with tiny hexagonal or diamond-shaped holes, commonly used for wedding veils, tutus, and dress overlays."  I love Wikipedia!

I decided that this ghost is so well done, I should include a close up photo of it so you can see more detail.  So beautifully done!