Nightscape

Funny how during the day, most gas stations are not that interesting looking.  At night, however, some of them, like this one, with the illuminated portico over the gas pumps, take on a whole new feeling. Something about the light from above makes it seem other-worldly.  I think I need to look for more nightscapes.  I haven't explored the world at night in a long time.

The Judging

I was asked to be a judge for a photo contest at a local library.  It was the "Young Adult Digital Photo Contest" for  kids from about 11 up to 20, I think.  There were three of us as judges, and I brought my camera, of course, hoping I could fine a blog photo.  I was immediately taken by the hands of this judge, how she was holding her fingers while she contemplated the photographs.  There were a lot of really interesting photographs, and so our job required a lot of thought.  We ended up all being in agreement for the winning photographs, which was nice.  No fistfights!

Looking For Spring

It is only the end of February, but I have desperately been looking for any signs of Spring for the last several weeks.  Foolish, of course.  It IS February after all.  Coming back from my bike ride at the end of the day, I happened to glance over at the leaf-covered garden next to the house, and was stunned to see these Crocus stalks emerging!  This early?  I don't know, because I know nothing about gardens at all, even though I love to photograph them.  So whether or not the Crocus are early, I don't know, but it sure was wonderful to see this glimpse of green!

Night Lights

I was on the way home from my astronomy club meeting, and feeling guilty that I hadn't found a blog photo yet.  I glanced out of the car window as I was driving along the harbor, and saw the reflections of the lights from across the harbor on the water.  Usually there are waves of some size or another, and so it is rare to see the harbor this calm, such that it serves as a mirror.  Then the trick was to make some kind of composition that worked.  I hope you think that this is it.  

The Things That Surprise Me

It has been a bit difficult these days to find subjects.  I decided to look for close-ups today, and started examining these Hydrangea leaves outside the dining room window.  I was looking for texture and design in the image.  I was taken by the vein structure of the leaves in the center.  What I did NOT see was the bluish tint to those leaves.  I was photographing in late afternoon in the shade, but there was no hint of blue.  It was a surprise to find that color in the final image.  You may have to click to see a larger image to see the subtle colors.

Found Photo

I have been working on organizing my photos, little by little.  I found this image from the year 2000 when I was working on stories on the environment in Africa.  These two 11-year old boys are Richard Gede, and Ezera Mataiu, in the village of Chankele, near Kigoma, Tanzania.  Their village is learning environmentally friendly agricultural techniques through Jane Goodall's TACARE program.  Some of these techniques involve techniques for planting on hillsides to avoid terrible erosion, which is the case in a lot of villages.  Entire hillsides in many communities have lost all their topsoil because they were not planted with contour methods. What I love about this photo is the very open way both boys are looking at me.

Archaeology

I went down to the beach late this afternoon, to see if I could find an interesting photo in the rain.  Man, it was cold!  So I looked around and the only thing I could find was this bit of archaeology.  Apparently years and years ago there must have been a bulkhead here, which has since rotted away.  The level of sand on the beach was way down, exposing this.  Usually it is much higher - I don't ever remember seeing this before.  When the prevailing winds change, I am sure that this will once again disappear beneath the sand.