Sheer Sunday, Aug 3 2008

2 August 2008
Saturday. Marita Beth is in Wisconsin and I…I spent my Saturday working. I met with Terrill and the crew out at the airport where we were finalising and implementing a long-awaited completion of a project. The only unfortunate things were the HEAT and the fact that it was a Saturday. Normally, I’d have spent my Saturday in the cool of a movie theatre or perhaps at No Frills playing trivia with friends…in air conditioning. But, this Saturday I spent sweating my arse off in the outdoors, where even in the shade, the temperature was nigh-unbearable. By the time we were sure the implementation was going to go well enough, I was pretty well spent. By the time I’d driven home I was completely spent and holed myself up in the house for the remainder of the day. But, I did manage a photo or two. This is the sheer that hangs over the French doors to the backyard. A much thicker, heavier curtain hangs over the sheer to prevent heat & light leakage, but I realised as I let the dogs out that an appropriate focal length might just make a good photo. I wasn’t so wrong.

Today, I will go play trivia with friends.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 3 August 2008 )

Listening to:
Valerie’s Friend by Gazpacho
from Night

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.1 sec (1/10)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Software: picnik.com

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Eyeball Bender – sorta Thursday, Jun 12 2008

10 June 2008
Epiphany. Last night, my wife said, "Hey, I found a GAMES magazine we haven’t looked at yet, wanna play Eyeball Benders?" I realised right then, that my love of macro and extreme close-up photography probably stems from that crazy game from GAMES magazine. I’ve been a nearly-but-not-quite-constant subscriber to that magazine from age 12 and Eyeball Benders, while not a regular in the magazine has long been my favourite game. So, here I am 28 years later creating my own Eyeball Bender photos on a regular basis:

Cheers.

~KR (Written on 11 June 2008 )

Listening to:
Reel Around the Sun by Bill Whelan (Composer)
from Riverdance

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

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Lamp Texture Monday, Sep 17 2007

16 September 2007
Nearly caught up am I. This is my last photo of the sequence of "catching up." After a lazy day in which MB and I saw a movie, had lunch & went grocery shopping, it was bedtime before I realized I hadn't a photo to my day. I grabbed my trusty Canon and took this just before I turned off all the lights for a peaceful sleep.

The camera is resting on the hem of the shade with the focal point on the texture in the centre of the image. I tilted the camera just a little to get a corner-to-corner line with the seam. In truth, I kind of like it.
Cheers.

~KR (16 September 2007)

Listening to:
Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden
on Superunknown Camera:

Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: LAMPSHADE, TEXTURE, SOUNDGARDEN, BLACK+HOLE+SUN, PHOTOGRAPHY, PHOTO, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

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Up a Tree Friday, Aug 24 2007

23 August 2007
This day was done. I was done. Completely shattered and not wishing much in the way of company. I was nearly relieved when Terrill decided not to join me at the bar (that doesn’t happen very frequently). With no company, I decided to go home and spend a quiet evening at the house. I pulled into the driveway, got out of my little Mitshubishi and walked to this massive Black Oak that resides in my front yard. I placed the camera against the bark and shot upward not even bothering to compose. I took four shots that way, moving the camera a little each time to achieve a different view. I like this one:

It sort of composed itself with the ivy moving to a vanishing point that exists at about the spot that the overhead branches diverge. I might very well have even composed the shot that way. On the left hand side there is a fuzzy little blur. That is a web-worm, or tent-caterpillar, or whatever you call those vile little parasites. I killed it.
Cheers.

~KR (23 August 2007)

Listening to:
Coverville-051018 by Brian Ibbott

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: PHOTOBLOG, OAK, TREE, NATURE, PHOTO, TEXAS, COVERVILLE

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The Stack Friday, Aug 24 2007

21 August 2007
Tuesday, and I’m home. What a wonderful last few days this was. One of the best trips I think I’ve ever had to Wisconsin. Weather was great (I love the rain, thank you very much), many good times and laughs were had and shared. Could it have been more grand? The only sad part is that there now exists some 800+ miles between my family & friends in Wisconsin and myself. That, and this stack of mail!

That’s four days worth of crap that filled my mailbox. A handful of bills, some Netflix videos, a few magazines & catalogues, but the majority of it will end up in recycling in the very near future. It’s so very, very wasteful. But, I have my dogs back (thanks again, Ron & Family) and that pleases me. So, I’ll continue on my merry way here in Texas while some of my dearest friends, and my wife, continue to enjoy their lifes & lifestyles in Wisconsin.
Cheers.

~KR (21 August 2007)

Listening to:
There You’ll Be by Faith Hill
on Pearl Harbor Soundtrack

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.8 sec (4/5)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: MAIL, USPS, VACATION, JUNK+MAIL

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Through the Screen Thursday, Aug 23 2007

18 August 2007

Some would call Marita Beth’s life glamorous, or full of adventure. Some are even jealous of her travelling schedule. I think if those folk knew the truth, they might think otherwise. Certainly there are aspects of her life that are to be envied or emulated. But, when you recall the specifics of her living arrangements, perhaps it’s not so grand.
This photo is taken from inside her living quarters. It spans across the catwalk that she must traverse every time she wishes to leave her space; the photo continues on to look over the roof that she must walk on to get to the stairs; there we get a view of the rail that prevents her from falling off the roof in the middle of the night. The photo is taken through the screen, which causes a little bit of fuzziness to the photo and a cool star-pattern from the lights, but ultimately is there to keep out the dog-sized mosquitos that litter the air. Yes, there is much to admire about Marita Beth and her lifestyle, but at times, I don’t envy it so much. All I can say is that I miss her terribly when she’s gone.
Cheers.

~KR (18 August 2007)

Listening to:
Post Script by Gary Burton & Chick Corea
on Native Sense

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.3 sec (3/10)
Aperture: f/3.1
Focal Length: 21.3 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: Bristol, Renaissance, Faire

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The Cone Flower Tuesday, Jul 10 2007

10 July 2007
I should’ve known what kind of day it was going to be when I took my first step outside the door this morning and almost immediately dropped my coffee cup shattering the lid and spilling coffee all over everything. Frustrating. The rest of the day was spent trying to debug and isolate badly written code and get some routes submitted.
Not to be completely dissuaded however, by the coffee-cup incident, I went ahead grabbed my camera and took the photo that I had intended to take this morning.
We have several beautiful cone flowers that have been flourishing in our front garden for a number of years now. Most recently we’ve had, what the media termed a Web worm attack, although I believe they were actually tent caterpillars rather than web worms. These so-called web worms, destroyed all of the softwood foliage in both front and back yards and all of the neighboring houses; including the cone flowers. This beautiful one however, somehow survived. The brilliant orange and pink on a background of green just really spoke to me and I decided to use it as is the photo of the day. I took other photos of the coneflowers, but typical of the way the day started, the first couple of photos were obscured by this crazy layer of condensation that had formed on the camera lens when I stepped outside. I was dealing with near 100% humidity on an 80 plus degree day making it pretty darn miserable, but it did lend a really nice soft focus filter quality to the image. I’m now home to spend some time with the dogs, and to change clothes before I head back out to a bar to join some friends of mine. You see, it is after all, dollar beer night.
Cheers.

~KR (10 July 2007)

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 7.5 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

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Pride Monday, Jul 9 2007

8 July 2007
It’s interesting, really. I spent most of the day in and around
Arlington, but I didn’t take very many photos. Two total, in
fact.

This one I chose primarily because of my heritage. However, I
do also like the composition. The white on blue is striking. The flag itself hangs proudly on the front of my residence loudly proclaiming the fierce pride with which I hold my heritage. As a point of fact, there is no official Pantone number for the blue in the flag. The Flag Institute recommends Pantone 300 for the Scottish Flag, but many different shades have been used and are perfectly acceptable.

My soccer game this evening was canceled, which I suppose is
probably a good thing considering my hamstring is not quite yet up to
par. I would have played. I likely would have injured myself again.
So, instead, Jill, Brett, Kyle, Brian and myself had dinner and drinks
at no-frills grill. It really is a good way to wind down the day.
Cheers.

~KR (8 July 2007)

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 31.4 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

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More Medicine Thursday, Jul 5 2007

4 July 2007
A bit of a theme is creeping into the posts here, I’m afraid.

Yep, more medicine. This bunch of vitamin goodness is that glorious get-well wonderdrug, Vitamin C. As sick as I’ve been for the past 6 weeks, I’ve tried most everything, prescription & non, herbal and man-made. This stuff is the best and I’m doing my best to continue to take it, even as I heal myself and get better.

I went to see Transformers today. Transformers is a very typical Michael Bay movie and a very typical summer blockbuster flick. If you want to see some absolutely blow-you-away special effects or some frenetic, high-octane chases, then this movie is for you. If you want anything remotely approaching cerebral or containing a storyline that is actually a plot rather than just a vehicle for spectacular explosions, then choose another movie.

Cheers.

~KR (4 July 2007)

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.2 sec (1/5)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.9 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

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Alka Seltzer Deux Tuesday, Jul 3 2007

1 Julye 2007
How exciting. Photos of Alka Seltzer two days in a row. What a life I lead. As I mentioned, I am still under the weather. I’m not full blown stay-at-home sick, but I am uncomfortable and dealing with a variety of issues and symptoms. Some of those symptoms can be chased away with Alka Seltzer of various kinds. This is Alka Seltzer original.

This time around, I knew I was going to take a photo of the ol’ “plop, plop, fizz, fizz” and set up before hand. The camera didn’t behave. I could not get the focus to work either manually or auto. As you know, there is limited time during which a photo of Alka Seltzer fizz is worth anything, so this is what we get.
Cheers.

~KR (1 July 2007)

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.1 sec (1/10)
Aperture: f/3.1
Focal Length: 10.3 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

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