jo's blog

262: #229 Paws

2009-11-22T21:11:00.002-05:00

Maybe this should have been "a boy and his dog".
Would you look at that puppy's paws! He's gonna be a big dog!

261: #115 Furry

2009-11-22T21:05:00.002-05:00

Apollo -- a worn-out 4 month old yellow lab.
He's ready for a nap after all the running and kissing and playing fetch the squeaky toy.

260: Free #19 A Boy and His Dog

2009-11-22T20:51:00.003-05:00

Gregory has a puppy!
A 4 month old yellow lab that weighs nearly as much as Gregory.
And he loves the puppy kisses.

259: #257 Regal

2009-11-22T13:01:00.002-05:00

This stag was watching me!

258: #093 Fashion

2009-11-22T12:19:00.001-05:00

Well, that's the fashion for a 6'3" elf, anyway.
My ex-Bob is a volunteer for the local Polar Express train trip.

257: #169 Leaves

2009-10-31T09:34:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm not going to try to catch up, but Autumn leaves are so pretty!

256: #250 Rainbow

2009-10-02T18:38:00.004-04:00

Rainy days are sometimes good!
I stood under the overhang by my front door for several minutes
and caught varying sunshine and rain.

255: #280 Shopping

2009-09-30T14:29:00.003-04:00

Holey smoke (or holey shoes)! Mom needs to take Gregory shopping for new shoes!

254: Free #18 - Change

2009-09-22T16:52:00.003-04:00

Well, Autumn is here and the leaves are starting to change color.

253: #244 Public Transportation

2009-09-21T10:41:00.001-04:00

Lolly the trolley is a tour bus for hire...

252: #222 Paint or Painted

2009-09-21T09:23:00.002-04:00

Nice paint job!
Another car at the balloon festival.

251: #327 Thrilling

2009-09-21T07:40:00.002-04:00

There were carnival rides to provide some thrills on the ground
at the balloon festival.

250: #331 Times Gone by

2009-09-20T21:51:00.002-04:00

I remember...
when white wall tires were the coolest!

Classic cars at the balloon festival.

249: #091 Fairs or Amusement Parks

2009-09-20T21:26:00.002-04:00

I went to a balloon festival today. This big balloon was partially inflated, but the weather was threatening rain and the balloon launch was cancelled. Too bad. There were lots of them in trucks and trailers all ready to go and it would have been a great sight to see twenty or more balloons in the air.

Maybe next year.

248: #215 Ornate

2009-09-20T20:57:00.003-04:00

This beaded lamp shade is ornate!
It wasn't a clear enough photograph so I used poster edges to sharpen it up.

247: #163 Kids These Days

2009-09-13T09:22:00.006-04:00

These kids just love performing in the marching band!
These shots were at the pre-game performance.
I didn't last for the half-time show and after the sun went down
I didn't get anything but blurry shots anyway.

It wasn't easy to spot my granddaughter from the stands. They're all dressed alike and the hats make it even harder to find her! From where I was sitting I needed her Mom to find her for me. One of the things I love about photography is that the camera can see what I can't with my aging eyes! I don't know if the flag-like sashes were just for 9/11 or if it's part of the usual uniform.

This football game was on 9/11 and they paid a little tribute to those who lost their lives. The trumpet player in the front stepped out and after a moment of silence he played "Taps".

246: #358 What's Inside?

2009-09-13T08:48:00.002-04:00

This praying mantis on my door screen is probably wondering
"what's inside?" and "how do I get in?"

245: #038 Button

2009-09-09T12:07:00.002-04:00

Gregory is in first grade now and he still has major problems with hand control so they (parents, therapists, and school, I think) are trying to teach him to touch the right buttons on a computer to answer questions.

Daddy set up a computer for him in the playroom with a special keyboard and a game to play for starters.

244: #047 Childhood Antics

2009-09-08T08:35:00.003-04:00

Well, if the slide has curves and a way to make a bridge,
that makes a new fun game for two!

243: #267 Sandy

2009-09-07T20:13:00.001-04:00

242: #309 Summer Fun

2009-09-07T18:57:00.002-04:00

Labor Day stayed rain-free this afternoon and the kids went out to play.

241: #285 Silver and Gold

2009-09-06T01:38:00.001-04:00

A bracelet in stripes of silver and gold -- shiny and matte.

240: #353 Water

2009-09-05T09:35:00.002-04:00

Well, water lilies are in the water!

239: Free 17 - Gone Fishing

2009-09-03T09:55:00.002-04:00

This great blue heron was patiently waiting for a fish or a frog.
I think a frog is more likely in the algae filled canal.

238: #028 Blue

2009-09-03T09:07:00.002-04:00

There are red and blue berries on the Towpath Trail.
I guess summer is almost over...

237: #190 Multiples

2009-09-03T08:46:00.003-04:00

I have no idea what this lovely little wildflower is.

In post-processing I was equally charmed by the bokeh with hints of the colors of the plant itself.

236: #313 Swim

2009-09-03T08:13:00.001-04:00

Swim, little duck!
You're all grown up now!

235: Free #16 A Walk in the Park

2009-08-29T09:03:00.003-04:00

A walk in the deep woods of the park on a bright and sunny summer day.

234: #249 Rain, Rain, Go Away

2009-08-28T07:58:00.002-04:00

Quick! Run and get in the car! It's starting to rain!

233: #345 Upside Down

2009-08-27T07:37:00.002-04:00

Daddy gets his exercise lifting Gregory (65 pounds!)

232: #041 Canine Companions

2009-08-26T06:18:00.005-04:00

Luci is about the same size as Kayla's cat and she's such a sweet little dog!
Luci doesn't like to have Mike out of her sight -- definitely a little companion!

Lightroom does miracles with photos like this where there was way too much contrast between the backlight and the foreground!

231: #355 Weights and Measures

2009-08-25T05:52:00.002-04:00

I got my appetite back yesterday and went to the grocery store.
There's an Idaho potato in the scale.
I probably could have turned the scale around, but didn't think about it at the time.

230: #180 March to a different drummer

2009-08-24T10:04:00.005-04:00

After the 4th of July parade the drummers gathered into an oval back at the high school and put on a pretty good show!

Thanks for the hint on videos, Nan!
I'm trying an mpg file from Premiere Elements 7 and it's taking a long time to load into my blog.

This isn't much, but the kids in the high school marching band really impressed me with their "jamming" after the parade! It was the first time I tried taking video with my Panasonic p&s.

229: #176 Look Alikes

2009-08-22T10:36:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm feeling better. I probably won't catch up, but my hobby makes me happy so I'll keep my camera handy and continue to post when I find something to show.

I looked out my kitchen window and saw what looked like 2 big shells on the railing so I opened the door to the deck and saw these 2 birds sitting very still. The kitchen is to the left and I was looking at their backs. My neighbor says that all the small creatures try to disappear when a hawk is flying, so I'm guessing that was the case. They are look-alikes, right?

228: pause...

2009-08-21T18:19:00.000-04:00

I had a "vacation" this week at an expensive hotel known as a hospital and I've fallen behind.
I think I'll just stop for a bit and catch my breath before I start up again.

I might try to catch up, but then again I might just give it a rest for a while.

227: #361 Wholesome

2009-08-16T13:22:00.003-04:00

Well, sunflower seeds are wholesome...
It's getting harder and harder to find a theme!

226: #048 Childhood Favorites

2009-08-15T18:34:00.001-04:00

One of Kayla's favorite games is playing school.
She begrudgingly let Gregory be the teacher last week...

225: Free #15 Raptor

2009-08-14T19:18:00.002-04:00

I think it's a red-tailed hawk eating a squirrel for breakfast. It was on the playhouse roof and let me get within about 15 feet of it!

224: #183 Metallic

2009-08-12T16:52:00.001-04:00

A Metallic butterfly in the hydrangeas.

223: #136 Hair

2009-08-11T19:42:00.002-04:00

Well, hair and eyelashes...

222: #270 Seasonal

2009-08-10T01:20:00.000-04:00

Fragrant, ripe tomatoes at the farmers' market.

221: Free #14 Fireworks

2009-08-09T01:12:00.006-04:00

I finally got a chance to try shooting some fireworks!
Friday nights after an Akron Aeros game.

Manual, ISO 100, F16, 4 seconds, 28mm with my 28-135 lens on a tripod.
My remote shutter release battery died, so I used a 2-second delay to minimize shake when pressing the shutter button.

Most of these are cropped because my camera was aimed wrong. It's kind of hard to guess where the fireworks will be in the viewfinder when you have to press the shutter button as soon as you hear the pop, but part way through I decided to use "live view"...

Next time I'll use the XSi kit lens at 18mm.

Skyrockets in flight...

A nice burst or two...

The next one's a little blurred because I adjusted the angle during the 4 second capture -- but I think I like it. Click on it for the big version.

My favorite of the lot...

I caught a couple with Children's Hospital in the background
and this next one shows a parking deck as well...

"the bombs bursting in air..."
Well, the flag is off to the left and out of the picture...

220: #114 Fruits of the Season

2009-08-08T01:05:00.000-04:00

Mmmm -- softball sized peaches!

219: #206 Occupation

2009-08-07T01:53:00.001-04:00

The tooth fairy had a job to do last weekend.

Tooth fairy-ing is definitely a night shift job and her only payment is the pleasure she gets from seeing the toothless smiles the next day.

218: #308 Summer

2009-08-06T01:05:00.001-04:00

A big heap of zucchini says "summer" to me!

217: #143 Harvest

2009-08-05T10:35:00.002-04:00

216: #086 Environmental Portraits

2009-08-04T02:24:00.000-04:00

Well, my '95 Toyota with 137,000 miles on it passed the e-check.
I'm good to go for another 2 years.

215: #322 The Staff of Life

2009-08-03T02:02:00.001-04:00

This may be the biggest stretch I've used for a theme!

These parking lot gulls (too far from a big body of water to be called seagulls!)
found some slices of Wonder bread. The dark one is being pretty possessive!

Not what I was hoping for today, but I had to stop the car and take their pictures!

214: #054 Closed

2009-08-02T10:57:00.002-04:00

Queen Anne's Lace
a bud still closed, but starting to open

213: #161 It's Saturday Morning

2009-08-01T14:08:00.002-04:00

There's a farmers' market every Saturday morning in the summer on the south side of Indigo Lake. Tourists can ride a steam train through the valley with a stopover on the north side of Indigo Lake.

212: #029 Bodies of Water

2009-07-31T02:19:00.003-04:00

Indigo Lake on a sunny day -- looking south.

211: #027 Black and White

2009-07-30T02:11:00.001-04:00

I rarely take a photograph that I think would be better in black and white, but this log cabin and barn at Hale Farm (Akron's historic village) seemed like a good candidate. I thought a touch of sepia suited it better than stark black and white.

210: #264 Rolling

2009-07-29T02:01:00.003-04:00

There was a "carriage" competition in the valley last weekend.

This Sunday event was a marathon. They drove around the lake, to Hale Farm, and on the way back did some weaving in and out of markers that were placed in a circle. There were a couple of other events on Saturday, but I missed it.

209: #218 Out to Lunch

2009-07-28T01:58:00.001-04:00

I locked myself out of my car so I had lots of time to look around and take photographs while I waited for AAA to rescue me.

If I vary from my normal routine I'm in trouble.

This time I decided to clean my glasses before I got out of the car, so I put my keys on the passenger seat and forgot to pick them up again. One of the old cars I had in the past made you lock the driver's side door with the key. Good idea! You never lock yourself out that way.

"Out to lunch" in more than one way!

208: #126 Graffiti or Mural

2009-07-27T00:10:00.001-04:00

The whole west wall of this video store is painted.

207: #354 Water's edge

2009-07-26T02:00:00.004-04:00

A very windy day at Indigo Lake.

Inspired by Janet to try a little video on my Panasonic FZ18 - and try to learn how to use PE4.

Listen to the wind blow! Here's a 19 second video -- maybe it should have been shorter...

206: #122 Girl

2009-07-25T03:51:00.007-04:00

Kayla just lo-o-oves to spend a day at a spa getting her hair cut,
having a facial and a professional makeup job -- being pampered!

It's a girly thing...

205: #104 Folk Art

2009-07-24T02:00:00.001-04:00

A counted cross-stitch my daughter made for me.

204: #013 Architectural Details

2009-07-23T02:00:00.000-04:00

A church in downtown Akron

The arrow slits in the towers make me a little nervous...

203: #009 Advertisement

2009-07-22T02:00:00.000-04:00

When I took the shot I was thinking "clock"
(5 minutes before the game starts)
but the photograph said "advertising"!

202: #325 Things That Go

2009-07-21T02:00:00.000-04:00

A little selective coloring to highlight the bright colors of the train.

201: #302 Steeple

2009-07-20T02:00:00.000-04:00

The steeple is usually on the roof of the church, but this one is on the roof of the sheltered entrance and driveway.

200: #295 Something Missing

2009-07-19T02:00:00.000-04:00

The something missing is the buds.
The deer are feasting now on my daylilies...

199: #233 Photographer

2009-07-18T02:00:00.001-04:00

Look at that lens!

198: #237 Polka Dots

2009-07-17T02:00:00.001-04:00

At the baseball stadium...

197: #304 Stop the Action

2009-07-16T02:00:00.002-04:00

Thou shalt not steal!
The ball is inches from the first baseman's glove!
Click on the image to see the ball with a bigger view.

And in the pic below the ball just got whacked!

196: #031 Box Offices

2009-07-15T02:00:00.001-04:00

Akron's baseball stadium

195: #119 Gatherings

2009-07-14T02:00:00.004-04:00

Here's Derek at the ball game again -- with Daddy, Grandma, and Great-grandma.

This was "adjusted" with Jessica Sprague's techniques from the "frame-up" class.
The lesson was for a burnt edge technique using a radial gradient on a mask.
Lightroom does it easier, but there's more control this way -- more subtle, I think.

194: #258 Relaxation

2009-07-13T02:00:00.001-04:00

Remember the very pregnant mother-to-be in the photo I used as "boy"?
Well here's that beautiful baby sleeping through all the noise at the baseball game!
His onesie proclaims him as the Aeros' littlest fan.

193: #192 Musical Instrument

2009-07-12T02:00:00.003-04:00

My granddaughter plays tenor sax in the marching band.
Marching in football season uniforms is hot work on the 4th of July, even if it's a pleasant day in the mid-70's -- so that bottle of water is definitely welcome!

And this cello is one of the 8 instruments she plays -- at least I think it's 8 now.

After the parade she changed into shorts and a tee shirt and went back outside to run.
Her tee shirt says:
"Our sport is your sport's punishment.
Cross country"

192: #214 Organized

2009-07-11T01:30:00.002-04:00

I love a parade!

The high school marching band is definitely well organized and disciplined!

191: #012 Antique

2009-07-10T01:30:00.001-04:00

I love a parade!

The antique and classic cars were well represented...

190: #067 Costume

2009-07-09T01:30:00.002-04:00

I love a parade!

You didn't think that was really a firehouse dog, did you?

There must have been all the town's fire department vehicles in the parade with sirens blaring and lights flashing. We were in a small shopping center at a side street and one of the ambulances made a turn down the side street and left the parade. Must have been an emergency call.

189: #305 Street Scenes

2009-07-08T01:30:00.002-04:00

I love a parade!

Even the street cleaner flew a couple of flags, joined the parade, and threw candy to the kids!

188: #154 Humor

2009-07-07T01:30:00.006-04:00

I love a parade!

How often do you see a patriotic port-a-potty rolling along the street?

I think every local organization and political group -- and businesses as well -- marches in this parade! The port-a-potty followed a septic tank cleaning truck.

The girls with the baskets (and most of the other paraders) are tossing candy to the kids watching the parade. It's like trick-or-treat in July. The kids bring goody bags to collect the candy. And there are people handing out free chilled bottled water and popsicles from freezer bags. That town loves its Independence Day parade!

187: #155 Imperfect

2009-07-06T01:30:00.007-04:00

I love a parade!

Here are 2 of the odd/imperfect bicycles at the parade.

The one on the left has an eccentric front wheel -- the hub is off-center and as he rides, the bike has an up-and-down motion.

The one on the right is just short.

And the one below is definitely odd!
Is that one of Tammy's boys on the bicycle?

186: #144 Hats

2009-07-04T23:56:00.004-04:00

I love a parade!

There were people riding "unusual" bicycles up and down the parade route before the actual parade made it to where we sat. This tandem is one of the more ordinary ones!

So maybe "hats" is stretching it a little...but not a whole lot!

185: #228 Patriotic

2009-07-04T19:40:00.001-04:00

I went to a medium-sized town's Independence Day parade today.
This is the first of a series...I love a parade!

184: #303 Still Life

2009-07-03T01:00:00.005-04:00

That farmer whose corn fields I photographed before has been picking corn for a week already! It must be an early dwarf variety because the corn cobs are pretty close to the ground and the stalks aren't very tall.

But the corn is delicious! so much better than what you buy in the grocery stores. The old farmers' rule for freshness is that you go out to pick corn when you're ready to put the ears in the pot. If you stumble and fall, go back and pick some fresh ones! Well, it isn't quite that fresh, but if you're lucky the corn wagon pulls up when you get to the parking lot.

This farm used to grow tomatoes and cucumbers etc. but now they just grow corn and buy the rest of the fruits and vegetables either from other local farmers or from the big farmers wholesale market.

183: Free #13 Healthy Choices

2009-07-02T03:00:00.003-04:00

I wonder how many other 4 year olds give their McDonald's order as salad and chicken nuggets. This girl loves her salad! Good to the last drop of dressing! She licked the bowl clean! She was disappointed that you don't get a Happy Meal toy with salad and chicken, though.

These photos were all cropped to square because I couldn't decide which one to use, so I chose 4. And here's one more...

182: #052 Classic

2009-06-30T20:10:00.002-04:00

A rose...
a classic thank-you gift to Kayla's family for rescuing a neighbor.

The more complex story is that a neighbor a few houses away went out on her second-story deck and the door closed behind her and locked. The deck has no stairs so she was stranded. She saw Kayla outside playing and tried to get her to ask her Mommy or Daddy to come out and talk to her but Kayla just finished the pre-kindergarten "safety town" classes and one of the lessons is "don't talk to strangers". Kayla took this very seriously and wouldn't talk to the lady. Her Daddy finally came out in the yard and the woman hailed him and got him to bring a ladder and rescue her. She gave them some roses as a thank-you.

I took several pictures and liked this angle the best. It was shot as landscape, but I cropped it to portrait. Otherwise it's pretty much out of camera.

Oops! I meant to schedule this for tomorrow.

181: #056 Clouds

2009-06-30T04:00:00.004-04:00

I see a circus elephant in the sky. What do you see?

and I think the 2 people in the picture below are looking up with open mouths at the circus parade...

Can't see the faces?
Look here

180: #043 Celestial Bodies

2009-06-28T22:55:00.003-04:00

Well, I was turning off the lights and headed for bed when I looked outside and saw the moon in a clear sky. Naturally I grabbed my cameras and gave it one more try to capture a decent moon shot. This was taken hand-held with my Panasonic at full zoom in manual mode -- raw. I set the XSi up on the tripod and took a couple of shots, but this one actually turned out better. Still not great, but better. And I cropped it a little but not a whole lot, either.

Shutter speed: 1/30 sec
Aperture: 4.2
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Spot
ISO: 100
Focal length: 82.8mm
Focal length: 504mm (in 35mm film)

Maybe some day I'll get it right with the XSi, but for now here's my Monday blog.

179: #179 Magical or Mystical

2009-06-28T00:14:00.002-04:00

Sometimes my mind is taken over by the aliens --
the photoshopping aliens that is...

178: #059 Colored Glass

2009-06-27T09:02:00.002-04:00

My daughter loves bright primary colors!

I had to take out the glare from the sliding glass doors with photoshop. This would probably have been better if I used a light box, but I haven't tried that yet.

177: #110 Free

2009-06-26T05:46:00.002-04:00

St. John's wort
Free photoshop action called "reflections" from http://www.panosfx.com/index.php

176: #130 Grin

2009-06-25T04:30:00.005-04:00

Brother and sister grins.
Kayla is really sprouting up.
But Gregory will probably always be taller standing up than his little sister.

How they have grown!
3-4 years ago:
She has always been his helper...

and his playmate...

and she managed to grow some hair, too!

175: #323 The Wild Side

2009-06-24T11:52:00.008-04:00

This is one of those wild orange daylilies you see along the rural roadsides.

But this particular one is planted next to my house.
The shot was taken from the shade of the house looking up toward the bright sunny sky. My first reaction was that it was too dark, but I decided I liked the contrast between the shaded daylily and the bright sky with the bright sky's sunshine sort of shining through the flower.

Click on it to see the effect of the daylight.

174: #095 Favorite Things

2009-06-23T04:30:00.003-04:00

Daylilies are some of my favorite things.
They just grow and bloom without much fussin' by me!
I like that spot of sunshine at the base of the flower.

173: #268 School

2009-06-22T04:30:00.003-04:00

School for sale -- or maybe to rent, I'm not sure. The sign says "available".
At any rate the school system doesn't use these buildings any more.
The children go to newer schools in the system now.

172: #001 One Hundred

2009-06-21T04:20:00.001-04:00

A boy can never have too many matchbox cars!
This is the upstairs collection. I think he has just as many downstairs.

171: #092 Famous Authors

2009-06-20T04:30:00.000-04:00

Dr. Seuss
More of Gregory's summer homework...

170: #260 Rest in Peace

2009-06-19T04:10:00.000-04:00

Rest in peace
or else!

169: #171 Letters

2009-06-18T08:23:00.003-04:00

Magnetic letters for the whiteboard easel.
I considered the post office for this theme, but decided to use this instead.

168: #125 Government

2009-06-17T04:30:00.001-04:00

The post office in our little village.
That's a branch of government in the USA, right?

167: #231 Perfect Alignment

2009-06-16T04:30:00.000-04:00

The small pine trees at the Christmas tree farm are in perfect alignment.
Nice neat rows of trees that get shorn to encourage a nice shape for trimming.

166: #329 Tilt!

2009-06-15T16:38:00.002-04:00

Johnny has been pushing up daisies since the late 19th century.
I guess he's working on the grave marker now
(or maybe the tree roots have done the damage).

165: #330 Time

2009-06-14T04:30:00.001-04:00

Flashcards to help Gregory learn how to tell time before school starts in the Fall.
His parents want him to be in 1st grade in September and he has some catching up to do this summer.

164: #039 Candlelight

2009-06-13T04:30:00.004-04:00

A gloomy rainy day is perfect for playing inside.
I tried both cameras and a couple of lenses and different settings on the XSi.
I had the best luck with the XSi and my favorite 28-135 mm lens with ISO 1600 and Av mode.

163: #359 Wheels

2009-06-12T04:30:00.002-04:00

I stopped at the bird feeding store yesterday and look at this bright fellow outside the window! I didn't stop to examine it closely enough to see if the wheels are pinwheels or if the whole thing might be a windsock -- or maybe it's just a bright and colorful outdoor decoration.