Thought Experiment

I was headed off to the dentist today, thinking that I needed to find a photograph for the blog, before the end of the day. I started thinking about the possibilities. I was having trouble trying to come up with something. Everything I thought of, I had shot before. So much for thinking. Then I noticed raindrops making circles in the puddles alongside the road. I vowed to stop on the way back. I did, and spent time at several different spots. I tried the pond first, then two different puddles. The strange thing was seeing the giant bubbles. Turns out they are the result of big drops of water coming off the trees that were overhead. I was amazed how often the large bubbles formed. I shot a LOT of pictures, just to get one good one. I would never know where the next bubble would form, and it was hard to quickly focus in time before the bubble burst. I love all the different sizes of intersecting circles.

Parking at the Beach

Another late day walk. I saw this car parked at the beach, with its lights on. It was the lighting from the headlights that got my attention. So I used a telephoto lens to move in close. I just liked the feeling of the blue of dusk, the lights on the fence, and the streetlight. Seeing the car parked at the beach reminded me that as a kid, people talked about teenagers parking at Gulf Beach in Milford. They said they were watching the "submarine races." Cute.

Snapple

I always think to myself I need to find new subjects. It feels as if I am always shooting the same types of things over and over. Part of it is that I love to look for beautiful things. Anyhow, I always try to find other things even though I think I am not successful at it. I was down at church for a class tonight , and during a break, took a walk around the room we were meeting in, which is a combination auditorium and basketball court. The lights were only on at one end. I was just stretching my legs, and then noticed this bright light at the other end of the court. It was the Snapple vending machine, and I loved the strange light in a dark room that gave a sense of loneliness.

Old Timer

I went to a tag sale just because I wanted to see the house it was held in. There was a lot of junk that didn't tempt me at all. Just before I left, I went out to the garage, and saw this typewriter sitting on the floor. I cannot understand why it was even for sale, given that it is so far gone. It must have been out in the weather. And of course, since it is in a state of decay, I was immediately attracted to it. It seems so sad to see this magnificent machine in such a sorry state. My grandfather had a typewriter like this, and Amy bought one like this years ago. Because I have worked with so many writers over the years, and have family members who are writers, and know the power of words on a page, a once-magnificent machine like this seems almost sacred in some way, which makes it's demise even sadder.

The Regular Shot

Yesterday I spoke of trying to come up with a new way of looking at things, while walking the boardwalk on a rainy day. Of course first I had to look for the more traditional ways of seeing. I found this scene, but it was late in the day, and there was no one around. It felt as if I needed a person in the photo, even if they were a long way off. Lo and behold, way off in the distance I saw a person walking a dog, so I ran back to where the boardwalk began, and waited for her to walk toward me. I chose a picture where the person was in the distance, but still visible.

An Exercise

The taking of this picture was an exercise in composition. I saw a whole bunch of interesting things, being out in the rain today. and did a bunch of more "normal" photographs, but then I kept trying to find some new ways of looking at stuff. I noticed the raindrops on the railing, and then moved in close. Then I started playing with the composition - it is a three line railing, but I decided I only wanted two of the three pipe railings, to simplify things. What fascinated me was the distant shore which was right on the edge of being visible. What I like about this choice is that in the first second when you see the image, you are not quite sure what you are looking at. So that made the exercise fun.

Three In A Row

You may be tired of my astronomical photographs, but I had to add this one. I took it from the parking lot of the grocery store at about 6 PM. I have known that Jupiter and Venus have been together in the western sky, and photographed them before. But I had lost track of the Moon's phase, and was delighted to see the thinnest crescent moon in the sky at dusk, in a line with the two planets. It is a stunningly beautiful sight, with the rich deep blue of the sky as the background. This is a sublime thing to see. These three travelers will be in the sky for the next few days, with the Moon gradually having a larger and larger crescent, and moving closer to Venus and Jupiter. I hope you can get out to see it. Please click on this image to see it in a larger size.