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December 12, 2021

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2021

“Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure.” — Tony Benn

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 12/05/2021: Posted photo — Second Week of Advent.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 125, f/1.7, 1/60 s, 4 mm

Advent, (from Latin adventus, “coming”), in the Christian church calendar, the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas and the beginning of the Christmas season.

The four weeks of Advent are broken down into the themes: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. The three purple candles on the Advent Wreath represent the preparation and repentance. During the third week of Advent, or Gaudete Sunday, a pink candle is lit to indicate rejoice, the time of waiting is almost over.

This photo was taken from the choir loft at our church. My wife and son sing with the folk group, and I joint them for the celebration of the Mass.

Monday, 12/06/2021: Posted photo — Color “fish” Photo.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 125, f/1.7, 1/60 s, 4 mm

I cancelled the Monday night hike, for safety reasons, due to the high winds and rain we were experiencing. Since there are inexperienced hikers in the group, it was not safe to be on the mountain. We would have hit the summit just at the bad weather was peaking. Because I did not hike tonight, I went grocery shopping tonight instead of my normal Tuesday evening.

When I am grocery shopping, I look for some food to photograph. I do this more in the winter since I do not have much opportunity to go outside in daylight to take my photo. Today, I saw these Goldfish crackers that are Goldfish Colors. I thought it would be punny to post a title of “Color ‘fish’ Photo”, instead of “Colorful Photo”.

https://www.campbellsoupcompany.com/newsroom/campbell-history/6-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-snack-that-smiles-back/

In 1962, Pepperidge Farm founder, Margaret Rudkin, launched Goldfish crackers in the United States.

Here are some things you didn’t know about Goldfish crackers:

While on vacation in Europe, Margaret visited a Swiss cookie manufacturer that had a similar product, and together they reached an agreement to bring the salty, fish-shaped crackers to the U.S.
Oscar J. Kambly, the original Swiss creator of the cracker, created them as a birthday present for his wife whose astrological sign was Pisces — which is often represented in Greek mythology as a fish.
The first five flavors of Goldfish that were launched were Lightly Salted (Original), Cheese, Barbecue, Pizza and Smoky, and it wasn’t until 1966, four years after the crackers were first launched, that the Cheddar Cheese flavor was introduced.
Willard, Ohio is the Goldfish capital of the world! Our bakery in Willard, a town of 6,000, can produce more than 50 million Goldfish crackers a day.
The Goldfish signature smiley face was added in 1997, and about 40% of the crackers feature the smile!

Tuesday, 12/07/2021: Posted photo — Anchor.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/9, 1/1600 s, 18 mm.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941— a date which will live in infamy— the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” — FDR. Thus started the United States entry into World War II.

This photo is from my second visit to Pearl Harbor. It still amazes me that there is oil floating out of the USS Arizona. Looking back, I posted the same photos a year ago. This is from that post — “’This anchor was recovered from the Arizona. The ship had three anchors. The crew used one in calm seas and two in foul weather, the third as a spare. Each weigh nearly 10 tons.’ This are the words on a placard near the USS Arizona Anchor at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Hawaii. The sacrifice these men and women made to make our country the great country it is today.” See my original post on Pearl Harbor, and more photos from the National Monument, by clicking on this link, https://wordpress.com/post/photobyjosephciras.wordpress.com/568.

Wednesday, 12/08/2021: Posted photo — Wood Stove.

Settings: FLIR i5, ISO n/a, f/na, 1/30 s, 7 mm.

Some of you may know that I own an infrared camera. This camera takes photo of heat signatures of object. I use it to look at insulation in houses and efficiencies at power generating plants. Occasionally I use it to take artistic photos. Some of these photos are of footprints, handprints, car engines, warm tires, and even have used it as a stud finder.

Once or twice a year, I use it to check out my wood stove. My wood stove is old and not as efficient as some of the newer stoves. It is just a steel box with an exhaust pipe. One item that I often check is the temperature given on the stovepipe thermometer. This is a thermometer that has a magnetic backing and just sticks to the stove pipe. To my surprise, that thermometer and my thermal camera normally show the same temperature. The 518°F (250°C) temperature reading is the maximum temperature my camera can detect. The brand name of our stove is Nashua. You can just make out the name near the center of the photo next to the pointer.

Thursday, 12/09/2021: Posted photo — Footprints in the Snow.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1000 s, 25 mm

It snowed last night. Well, I would not call it a storm, just a little more than a dusting. No need to shovel or plow. The roads were snow covered in the morning, so driving for some was not easy due to black ice. Black ice, sometimes called clear ice, is a thin coating of glaze ice on a surface, such as a road. As the name implies, you do not always know when it is present, and it is very dangerous.

I like footprints in the snow. They seem so mystical for me. I wonder where the footprints lead, where was the person going, or where did the person come from. I know this is not the first footprint photo that I have posted over the years. I liked the way the sun caused shadows in the prints.

Friday, 12/10/2021: Post photo — Sunset from Office.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/80 s, 38 mm

Came out of a meeting to this. Took out my camera before it was past. The colors at sunset disappear quickly so I was quick to the camera. During the meeting, I could see the light through the windows was changing as it does at sunset. I did not expect much when I went back to my office. Then I saw the red clouds just getting end of the sunset. Reminds me of the saying of always have your camera with you, you never know want photo opportunity you might have.

Saturday, 12/11/2021: Post photo — Star on Tree.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/5.6, 1/15 s, 33 mm.

The star on our Christmas tree. This star was created by my brother-in-law for our family. Check out more of his work at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068315455341 or https://www.etsy.com/shop/PolyhedralPlayground.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.

Please note that I have not been able to post to my Weebly page for over a week, so the photos are a little behind there. Weebly technical support is still working on the issue.

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December 5, 2021

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Photographic Thoughts — 11/28/2021 to 12/04/2021

“The camera is an excuse to be someplace you otherwise don’t belong. It gives me both a point of connection and a point of separation.” — Susan Meiselas

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 11/28/2021: Posted photo — Summit of Mt Norwottuck.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 50, f/1.7, 1/268 s, 4 mm

Mount Norwottuck or Mount Norwottock, 1,106 feet above sea level, is the highest peak of the Holyoke Range. It was the first stop today. The second one was Long Mt at 920 feet. Not tall mountains, but the hike was 9 miles in length. Mount Norwottuck received its name from Edward Hitchcock, a former professor of geology at Amherst College. Hitchcock coined the term “Scenographical Geology” in 1841 to describe the dramatic geologic landscape of the Holyoke Range. Originally called Hilliard Knob, Hitchcock applied the Native American name Norwottuck to the mountain. Norwottuck is the Indian name of the village of Hadley.

Reference mark at on the summit of Mount Norwottock. The reference mark points to the summit.

An interesting fact about the Holyoke Range is that it is a Transverse Range. The mountain range runs east to west. There are two other major mountain ranges that are transverse in the United States. They are the Transverse Ranges in California and the Uinta Mountains in Utah.

Today would have been my mother’s 96th birthday. She passed away July 17 this year, so this is the first birthday without her. She is with my father who passed in 1993 and my daughter who passed in 1992. They get to meet their granddaughter together and celebrate their birthdays together for the first time in 28 years. My father would have turned 99 a few days ago.

Hiking clears your mind. Hiking with friends is very therapeutic.

Monday, 11/29/2021: Posted photo — Poles Against a Tree.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 1000, f/1.7, 1/10 s, 4 mm

Monday nights is hiking night. I hike with a Meetup group on Mondays for a few months now. It is a good group to hike with since the pace is a little faster than other groups that I have hiked with in the past.

My poles at the junction of the Jack Frost and High Meadow Trails on Wachuestt Mountain

Tonight’s hike was in the cold and dark. The temperature was in the high 20s (F). It was the first time that I used my microspikes to hike with this year. I did not need to use them, but I did not know the trail conditions on one of the hills on the hike and I wanted to get ready for possible ice. We did get snow last week and the trails were snow covered the ground was frozen.

Why do I hike at night? I hike at night for the peacefulness of it. Even with a group, your senses are challenged, and you are more aware of your surroundings. As a leader for the hike, I keep my eyes and ears open for the less experienced people in the group.

As you can see from the photo, it was cold. I wore my gloves and not my -30 F mittens for this hike. Dressing is layers for winter hiking is also important, so you do not overheat or become too cold. You should have at least three layers. A base layer (underwear layer) that wicks sweat off your skin, a Middle layer (insulating layer) that retains body heat to protect you from the cold, and an outer layer (shell layer) that shields you from wind and rain. Here is a website that describes layering, https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/layering-basics.html.

Tuesday, 11/30/2021: Posted photo — Yes, We Have No….

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 80, f/1.7, 1/120 s, 4 mm

“Yes! We Have No Bananas” was written by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn and was published March 23, 1923. “The story goes that one day in 1922, songwriting duo Frank Silver and Irving Cohn were on their way to work in New York City when they stopped for a snack. At a greengrocer’s, the Greek immigrant owner told the tunesmiths in his broken English, “Yes! We have no bananas today.” The reason the grocer had no bananas? A blight in Central America had caused a shortage.” (https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31253/music-history-3-yes-we-have-no-bananas)

I thought about titling this photo “Going …” after the expression that has its roots on American college campuses in the 1960s. It is believed that the term going bananas is a term that evolved from the idiom going ape, which also means to go crazy, to explode with anger or to erupt with enthusiasm.

Wednesday, 12/01/2021: Posted photo — Just a Cloud or is it?

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/22, 1/6 s, 35 mm.

This could be just a cloud. Or it could be a winged buffalo tilting down to the left.

I have posted in the past what seeing objects in clouds is called. Pareidolia is a sign of creativity. I took this photo today, not because I saw an object in it, it was because I needed a photo for today. I did not see the object until I was post processing the photos.

What do you see?

Thursday, 12/02/2021: Posted photo — American Bison.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 80, f/1.7, 1/120 s, 4 mm

This photo was taking at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. I have a feeling that I have posted this photo in a previous post. If I did, I am sorry for the repeat. I like this photo.

Wind Cave, one of the longest and most complex caves in the world. Named for barometric winds at its entrance, this maze of passages is home to boxwork, a unique formation rarely found elsewhere.

Here are a few more photos from Wind Cave National Park.

Friday, 12/03/2021: Post photo — Star Trail.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/3.5, 9 s, 18 mm

I took a star trail photo today. It was great to take a star trail photo earlier in the evening and not after 10 p.m. The photo I posted was a composite of 437 photos stacked together. The secondary photo that I am posting in this post is a composite of 637 photos.

There is a lot of airplane activity north of my house at night.

Saturday, 12/04/2021: Post photo — Sunrise at the Pier.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/22, 1/4 s, 62 mm.

I took this photo a few years ago on Jacksonville Beach. This pier was damaged by a hurricane a few years after I took this photo. This is one of my favorite photos that I took that morning. I took this because I liked the way the heron was silhouetted against the pier and the ocean.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.

Please note that I have not been able to post to my Weebly page for over a week, so the photos are a little behind there. Weebly technical support is still working on the issue.

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November 28, 2021

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Photographic Thoughts — 11/21/2021 to 11/27/2021

“Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.” — Yousuf Karsh

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 11/21/2021: Posted photo — Snow on the Trail.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/1000 s, 26 mm.

When on a hike this afternoon to complete my mapping of Wachusett Mountain. I am taking the bearing, elevation, and GPS location of all the trail intersections on the mountain. There are 23 marked routes on the mountain. This includes 18 hiking trails and the five internal service roads with close to 60 trail junctions. Some trail junctions have multiple readings, that is way I said close to 60 trail junctions.

This section of Old Indian Trail is closed during the winter since it crosses for ski trails. There were making snow on the mountain so I did not know if I could cross. This was one of the last two trails I needed to triple verify.

The mountain tries each year to open on the Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday. Most of the years the do so. Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a “snow gun”, also known as a “snow cannon”. Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. They just might make the desired opening date this year.

Here are a couple more photos from the hike. One is Balance Rock, a glacial erratic that I may have posted a photo of previously, and the other is a bridge over a brook on Old Indian Trail.

Monday, 11/22/2021: Posted photo — The John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/11, 1/500 s, 18 mm.

President John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the Unites States was assassinated on November 11, 1963, less than a year before I was born.

The eternal flame at the burial site of John F. Kennedy was First Lady Jackie’s idea, supposedly inspired by a similar grave flame that she’d seen in fashionable Paris. She lit the flame herself, with a gas-soaked rag on a stick, at the conclusion of JFK’s burial. Read more about the eternal flame here: https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Monuments-and-Memorials/President-John-F-Kennedy-Gravesite.

When I first entered Arlington National Cemetery, it brought tears to my eyes. I could just feel the patriotism and the honor of those entomb there. Going to the eternal flame and watching the changing of the guard are the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are two things, among many, that everyone should experience. Here is a photo of the Tomb of the Unknown.

Tuesday, 11/23/2021: Posted photo — Christmas Cactus.

Settings: Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/5.6, 1/8 s, 62 mm.

Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) is a popular, winter-flowering houseplant makes a great addition to nearly any indoor setting. It is not only easy to care for but propagates easily too, making it an exceptional candidate for holiday gift giving. (https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/christmas-cactus/advice-for-christmas-cactus-care.htm)

This plant is in an office at work. I was looking for some information and I was drawn to the flower. I know a few people with this plant and know how hardy of a plant it is. Not much more to say about this photo today.

Wednesday, 11/24/2021: Posted photo — Round Meadow Pond.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/22, 1/6 s, 35 mm.

We were let out of work early today because of the holiday tomorrow. This gave me the opportunity to take a photo in daylight. I like this location, so I took this photo.

Thursday, 11/25/2021: Posted photo — Sweet Potatoes.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 80, f/1.7, 1/120 s, 4 mm

The terms “yam” and “sweet potato” are used interchangeably, but they are completely different vegetables. Yams are starchy and have a rough, brown exterior. They can grow up to 45 feet long and are eaten in parts of Latin America, West Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia. Sweet potatoes are a New World root vegetable, have a softer, reddish skin, a creamier interior, and often, a darker interior.

Friday, 11/26/2021: Post photo — After Thanksgiving Hike.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 100, f/1.7, 1/120 s, 4 mm

I am currently an Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) leader and today was an AMC after Thanksgiving hike. The hike was six miles long from Crow Hill to Wachusett Mountain along the Midstate Trail.

Saturday, 11/27/2021: Post photo — Snow Fall.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/160 s, 20 mm.

We had the first measurable snowfall of the year. Here are some photos.

We also did a 4.5-mile hike with relatives this afternoon. Here are some photos.

Now much to say about the photos the last couple of day since relatives were in the area. Spent more time with family and friends then with writing this blog.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.

Please note that I have not been able to post to my Weebly page for over a week, so the photos are a little behind there. Weebly technical support is still working on the issue.

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November 21, 2021

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Photographic Thoughts — 11/14/2021 to 11/20/2021

“When I say I want to photograph someone, what it really means is that I’d like to know them. Anyone I know I photograph.” — Annie Leibovitz

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 11/14/2021: Posted photo — Turkeys.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/60 s, 39 mm.

I was going to post another photo today. I will post it at the end of today’s commentary.

I was getting ready to go on the hike I did not go on Saturday and looked out our window and saw some turkeys on the road. As I watch, more and more turkeys arrived. I was just watching, and since there were so many of them, I decided to take out my camera to attempt photographing them. At one time I counted a dozen turkeys on our front lawn and about six or seven turkeys across the street. It has been a while since I have seen a rafter of turkeys this large.

Sorry about the quality of this photo. It was taken through my front window. The window is dirty and there is a screen on it.

Now for the second photo. The photo that is did not post is one of a pile of backpacks. Why backpacks you may ask. Well, these backpacks are meant for the homeless. Our church has been collecting backpacks for the homeless for a few years now. The go to Our Father’s House, a shelter in Fitchburg, MA. Our Father’s House is a private, non-sectarian agency providing shelter and related services to homeless men, women, and children. These backpacks are filled with food, shelter, and love for those who are in need.

Monday, 11/15/2021: Posted photo — Clouds.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/640 s, 24 mm.

This is the time of year when it is getting harder to take photos. It is getting harder because I go to work in the dark and leave work in the dark, not leaving much opportunity to take photos.

One of my duties is as the company photographer. Normally I am a mechanical engineering, but they know that I am a semi-professional or advance amateur photographer, so I take photos of produce for various reasons. I am not a product photographer, and these photos leave the company or are used for promotional purposes. As I was walking between buildings, I saw the sun reflecting off the clouds. I was just going to take a photo of the clouds, but I decided to add the flag and flagpole into it for scale and to break up the monotony of a photo of just the clouds.

Always keep your eyes open for a photo opportunity.

Tuesday, 11/16/2021: Posted photo — Movies.

Settings: Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/5.6, 1/8 s, 62 mm.

The Twilight Zone was a television show that ran from 1959–1964. This show, created by Rod Serling, is about “ordinary people finding themselves in extraordinarily astounding situations, which they each try to solve in a remarkable manner”. The show won nine awards and was nominated for 14 more.

This was one of my favorite shows as I was growing up. It stopped airing the year I was born, but I would watch in in reruns. Some of the shows are silly to watch and some of them cause nightmares. They would always keep you guessing.

I saw these DVDs a while ago and purchased them so I could watch the episodes again. This was before all the stream services currently on the web. I like the first season of a show since you can see the development of the shows format.

Wednesday, 11/17/2021: Posted photo — What am I.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 64, f/1.7, 1/60 s, 4 mm

I am an Aloha pepper.

Also known as Enjoya and Aloha, Striped Holland bell peppers are a new variety that was discovered as a surprise variation in a garden in the Netherlands and have been developed over time to showcase the bi-colored traits. This pepper was developed by the Sunset company (https://www.sunsetgrown.com/our-produce/peppers/aloha-peppers/) and have only been shipped to select retailers since 2018.

I do not like peppers, so I cannot describe what they taste like. I took this photo since I thought the pepper had a personality crisis and I liked the look.

Thursday, 11/18/2021: Posted photo — Focus Test.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/5.6, 1/125 s, 135 mm.

I have a lens that is 18–135mm. Today it decided not to focus if I had it past 50 mm. Need to send it out to get fixed again. It was already repaired once. This is a test of the focus range. This was the one and only time it focused in at 135 mm. I think put pressure on the side of the lens to get it to focus.

Found out that the version of my lens is out of service life, there are no longer any repair options available for it. I can purchase a discounted lens using Canon’s Upgrade Program. Something I need to investigate doing soon so that I can have a lens for the upcoming holidays. I purchased the camera in 2014.

Friday, 11/19/2021: Post photo — Partial Lunar Eclipse.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 250, f/16, 1/50 s, 300 mm.

The Beaver Moon was full at 3:58 a.m. Four minutes later, at 4:02 a.m., a partial lunar eclipse occurred. The Beaver Moon was a micromoon. A Micromoon is when a Full Moon or a New Moon coincides with apogee, the point in the Moon’s orbit farthest away from Earth.

The moon was in the Earth’s shadow for just over six hours this morning, the longest lasting partial lunar eclipse in 580 years. The moon was only visible for about a half hour during those six hours in my area due to cloud cover. The rule around here seems to be if there is an astronomical event, there would be cloud cover. Really, it seems, there is a clear sky for such an event.

I set my alarm for 3 a.m. to watch the eclipse moving to maximum. It was cloudy. I took a half hour nap to see if the clouds would clear. It was cloudy. Took another half hour nap and the moon was still hidden by the clouds. I went back to bed for another half hour to get up at my normal time. When I got out of bed, I looked in the direction of the moon expecting to see it in the clouds once more. This time I saw it. I gathered my photo equipment, jumped in my car, and then went to an area where I could see the moon clearly. My house is in a wooded area, so I saw the moon through the trees.

When I got to a photo spot, the clouds were moving in. I quickly setup my camera and took a few shots blind. Set my camera on my tripod and took some shots as the clouds were starting to cover the moon once more. Not the best-case scenario for taking a photo of this historic event. I would have liked to set up my camera and do some test shoots to get my settings correct. Not enough time to do so.

Photo tip of the week — Baseline setting for a photo of partial lunar eclipse: 14-1000 mm, f/5.6–f/8, ISO 100-800, 1/250 s. Set you camera on a tripod and turn off image stabilization.

This morning I attempted to use my “moon” lens at 1250 mm but it was too windy for the lens. None of the photos were too my liking so I posted this photo I took with my 300 mm lens.

Saturday, 11/20/2021: Post photo — Woodshed.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/10 s, 25 mm.

Last week I posted a photo of our last wood delivery. After I posted that photo, someone wanted me to post a photo of the wood all stacked up. Here it is.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

Please note that I have not been able to post to my Weebly page for over a week, so the photos are a little behind there. Weebly technical support is still working on the issue.

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November 14, 2021

Posted under

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Photographic Thoughts — 11/07/2021 to 11/13/2021

“If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.” — Jim Richardson

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 11/07/2021: Posted photo — Pratt’s Falls.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/15 s, 22 mm.

Pratt’s Falls, a 137 ft ribbon or cascade style waterfall located in Manlius, NY. The site was originally a sawmill and was the site of Onondaga County’s first mill operation in 1796. The hike out to the falls is only a half mile long (one-mile round trip) and could be step for some. There are stairs that take you down to the lower viewing location.

We stopped by the falls on the way to my nephew’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor.

Photo tip of the week — Lessons learned from taking waterfall photos.

Set you camera to manual with a slow shutter speed. I use between 1/4 sec to 10 sec depending on the lighting.
Set your aperture to a value between f/16 and f/22. I sometimes open up, or close up, my aperture depending on the light and how I am taking the photo (with a tripod or handheld).
Use a tripod with image stabilization off. If you do not have a tripod, find a tree or other object to hold yourself steady.
Turn you ISO to the lowest setting. I use ISO 100 for my shots.
Use a ND filter if you have one. I use from a ND3 to a ND10, depending on the lighting.
Take time to get your composition the way you would like to have it. Try both portrait and landscape photos of the falls.
Pick a focal point, such as a rock or a tree near the falls. It is difficult to focus on the water.
Lighting is important. Take your photo in the morning or in the evening when the light is not on the waterfall. If it is on the waterfall, use the appropriate ND filter.
Use a remote, or your camera’s timer, for your shot to cut down on camera shake.

Monday, 11/08/2021: Posted photo — Tinkers Falls.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/32, 1/6 s, 79 mm.

Tinkers Falls in the Labrador Hollow Unique Area and is about 50 feet tall. The Labrador Hollow Unique Area is a 1,474-acre (5.97 km2) conservation area located in Cortland and Onondaga counties, New York, and was the first property to be designated as a Unique Area by New York. A unique area, according to the state New York Department of Environmental Conservation, is “land owned by the state that was acquired due to its special natural beauty, wilderness character, or for its geological, ecological or historical significance.”

When I took the photo of these falls, I did not use my tripod. I was practicing my handheld long exposure photography. I was either leaning against a tree, sitting on a log, or using long exposure breathing techniques. The hike to these falls is very short, only about a quarter mile, and the trail is relatively flat.

Bonus photo tip — how to breathe and hold your camera for long exposures.

The way you hold your camera can have a big effect on the amount of blur caused by your own movement. Hold the camera with two hands close to your body and make sure your feet are shoulder-width apart. Being conscious of your breathing can further minimize shake. Inhale or exhale and then take a gentle half breath in and hold it there in a relaxed way.

Tuesday, 11/09/2021: Posted photo — Peas.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 125, f/1.7, 1/60 s, 4 mm

A pea is a cultivated climbing vine having compound leaves and edible seeds enclosed in a green, elongated pod. The seed of this plant is used as a vegetable.

Shopping night tonight. Instead of taking photos of flowers, I took a photo of some peas. Why did I do that? I did it for variety. I often wonder who the first person was to eat peas and how they knew that they could open the pod to get the seeds out.

Some information about the health benefits of peas according to WebMD (https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-peas#1) are:

Eye Health
Digestive Health
Immune Health and Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Blood Sugar Control
Heart Health
Nutrition

You can look up the health benefits yourself for details on each of these benefits.

Wednesday, 11/10/2021: Posted photo — Bryn Mawr Glacier.

Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/25, 1/30 s, 48 mm.

Bryn Mawr Glacier flows southeast for about 4.5 miles (7 km) to Harvard Arm of College Fjord in northwestern Prince William Sound, about 45 miles west of Valdez and 44 miles northeast of Whittier, Alaska (61° 15′ 13″ N, 147° 49′ 29″ W). As you travel into College Fjord, the glaciers on the left are named for women’s colleges and those on the right are named for men’s colleges. The names are Amherst, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Harvard, Smith, Vassar, and Yale). Harvard Glacier is the biggest – its face is a mile and a half across.

Alaska is such an amazing place to visit. The landscape keeps getting better and better as we headed north from Vancouver on our cruise. Here are a few more photos taken in College Fjord.

Thursday, 11/11/2021: Posted photo — Veterans Day.

Settings: N/A, scanned photo.

The Allied powers signed a ceasefire agreement with Germany at Compiégne, France, at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918, bringing the war now known as World War I to a close. President Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day the following year on November 11, 1919, with these words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

In 1954, Congress passed the bill that President Eisenhower signed proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day, changing the name from Armistice Day. Veterans Day is the day set aside to thank and honor all who have served, living, or deceased, but particular the living veterans among us.

In the past, I have posted photos of Arlington National Cemetery, American flags, and other memorials for Veterans Day. Today am posting a photo of my father from 1944 when he was serving in the Navy during World War II. My father entered service in the Navy on November 30, 1943 and was received his Honorary Discharge on February 26, 1946. He was discharged as a Fireman First Class. He was stationed at NTS, Sampson, New York; NTS, NOB, Norfolk, Virginia, and the University of South Carolina Columbia South Carolina.

Friday, 11/12/2021: Post photo — Cashews.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/5.6, 1/20 s, 106 mm.

Cashews are low in sugar and rich in fiber, heart-healthy fats, and plant protein. They’re also a good source of copper, magnesium, and manganese — nutrients important for energy production, brain health, immunity, and bone health.

I needed a photo; I had some cashews in the house, so I took this photo.

Saturday, 11/13/2021: Post photo — Last Wood Delivery.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/13 s, 24 mm.

The last three cords of wood arrived this morning. No hiking today, just yard work. My son stacked some of the wood. He has friends coming over later tonight if the rain stops. Five cords total for the winter.

It was a great day for a hike, but I did not go just in case we did receive our wood. Also, the yard need raking. All the rain we had lately took most of them down.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.

Please note that I have not been able to post to my Weebly page since last Monday, so the photos are a little behind there. Weebly technical support is working on the issue.

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Photographic Thoughts — 10/31/2021 to 11/06/2021

“I love the people I photograph. I mean, they’re my friends. I’ve never met most of them or I don’t know them at all, yet through my images I live with them.” — Bruce Gilden

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 10/31/2021: Posted photo — Bells.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 320, f/1.7, 1/10 s, 4 mm

These are the bells that are rung at Saint Denis Church. I rang the bells this week since the deacon was on vacation. Brought me back to the days when I was and altar boy.

Bells were rung to alert the people to what they could not easily see or hear, so that they could attend to the important and solemn action at the altar. In the past, due to the architecture of a church, the people were physically separated from the altar by the choir — and in some cases a significant number of faithful were impeded from seeing the altar during Mass. So, a little before the consecration a server rings a bell as a signal to the faithful.

Monday, 11/01/2021: Posted photo — Pu’u’ula’ula.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/9, 1/100 s, 32 mm.

Pu’u’ula’ula (Red Summit Hill) at Haleakalā National Park Makawao, HI on the island of Maui. This is the highest peak on the island at 10,023 feet. “The road to the cinder cone is paved and holds the world record for climbing to the highest elevation in the shortest distance. Starting from Kekaulike Avenue, the ascent is 34.11km (21.2 miles) long via 28 hairpin turns. Over this distance the elevation gain is 2.011 meters. The average gradient is 5.89%.” (https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/3509-pu-u-ula-ula-red-hill.html) I did not mind the ride. I think the crazy people were the ones that rented bicycles and drove down the hill.

We attempted to get to the peak for sunrise since our initial plan was to spend the night on Maui. We had our tickets in hand to get into the park before it officially opened. Due to Hurricane Lane, we were only on Maui for one day since our cruise ship left Honolulu two days late due to the port being closed. We were able to drive up to the summit later in the day to take in the view. The view was wonderful. It was great to be above the clouds.

If you go to Maui, you should go to Haleakalā National Park for the sunrise. I hear it is spectacular.

Tuesday, 11/02/2021: Posted photo — Foliage Again.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/320 s, 32 mm.

I took a photo of these set of trees a few weeks ago. I did so since I liked the brightness of the sun against the past colors of the tree. We are now past the colorful foliage season and into the fall browns.

Before long, all those leaves will “fall”, and someone will need to rake them up. Fortunately, it will not be me since these trees are not on my property.

If you cannot tell, this photo was done with an HDR, or High Dynamic Range, process. This is a single photo that I made into an HDR photo. I took the photo and processed it by stepping up and stepping down the exposure to blend into an HDR photo. The proper way of creating a HDR photo is to take three or more consecutive shot with your camera at the different exposure levels and then blending them together. HDR is a technique used to reproduce a greater range of luminosity than that which is possible with standard photographic techniques. This is done when the lighting is not that great for a single photo.

Wednesday, 11/03/2021: Posted photo — Stacked Wood.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/7.1, 1/50 s, 42 mm.

We had two of the five cords of wood I ordered delivered to the house on Monday. My son did a great job stacking over a cord in the woodshed. I stacked the remaining wood in the woodshed last night. This stack of wood is what is remaining from last year’s supply. We have been burning some in the last weeks to get the chill out of the house. When we get into the burning season, we will be mixing the old with the new wood to get a more efficient heat output.

This photo is a yearly photo that I take of our wood. It serves as documentation to when wood was ordered each year. It just happened that this wood was delivered 364 days after my last wood delivery.

Three cords of wood will be delivered to the house sometime soon and I will all need to be stacked in the woodshed. My woodshed is designed to hold four cords. A cord of wood is four feet wide, 4 feet high, and eight feet long. It has a volume of 128 cubic feet. The wood that I get is cut at 18 inches long to fit in out wood stove.

Thursday, 11/04/2021: Posted photo — Orion.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/11, 15 s, 18 mm.

“Orion is the brightest and most beautiful of the winter constellations. Some of its stars, including Betelgeuse and Rigel, are among the brightest stars.

Orion is clearly visible in the night sky from November to February. Orion is in the southwestern sky if you are in the Northern Hemisphere or the northwestern sky if you are in the Southern Hemisphere. It is best seen between latitudes 85 and minus 75 degrees. Its right ascension is 5 hours, and its declination is 5 degrees.

There are several versions of the myth of Orion, but one of the more common iterations is that Orion proclaimed himself to be the greatest hunter in the world, much to the dismay of Hera, the wife of Zeus. She had a scorpion kill him, and Zeus put Orion into the sky as consolation. In another version, Orion is blinded for raping Merope, a granddaughter of the god Dionysus. He has to travel East to seek the sun’s rays to recover his sight.” (https://www.space.com/16659-constellation-orion.html)

I saw Orion yesterday morning when I was going into work. Today I decided to take a photo of the constellation. I knew at the time that I took this photo that I would not be the best one of a constellation since I was going to take it in the parking lot at work. (For your information, this is the third constellation photo that I have taken.) Today is the new moon so the conditions would be better to take this photo. I should have taken it in a darker location. Look in the bottom near the center. You can see the belt clearly.

Looking at the setting for my shot, it seems that I did not change the aperture setting that I used from my last moon photo. The f/11 setting is too small. I should have used a setting of f/3.5 to get more light in my photo. With a larger aperture setting, I could have reduced my ISO value taking noise out of the photo.

Friday, 11/05/2021: Post photo — Mouse Eye View.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/13 s, 18 mm.

This is what our yard might look to a mouse. I put my camera down in our lawn and took this shot. I will be cleaning up these leaves soon. There are still more to fall, so I just wait a day or two.

Saturday, 11/06/2021: Post photo — TBD.

Settings: TBD.

I have not decided what to post today. Come back later today or tomorrow to see my updated post.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.

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Photographic Thoughts — 10/24/2021 to 10/30/2021

“You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.” — Joan Miro

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 10/24/2021: Posted photo — Ashburnham Community Church.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/640 s, 18 mm.

The Ashburnham Community Church is now home to the New Dawn Arts Center.

Information off the New Dawn Arts Center website (www.newdawnarts.org). The church was constructed in 1834, the steeple houses a church bell cast by a former apprentice of Paul Revere, and the 1886 pipe organ was installed by Boston organ builder George Hutchings. The church was part of The Underground Railroad.

The Community Church was sold to the Arts Center a few months ago. The congregation of the church was getting smaller so they could not afford to keep the church in operation. The Arts Center is allowing the church to hold services there and all other outreach services are still running at the church, such as a food pantry.

New Dawn Arts Center at the Ashburnham Community Church

I just like the look of churches with their steeples and stained glass. When I was going to church, I was drawn to the contrasting white church and the clear blue sky. The foliage looked to be past, but it did show well in this photo. The church that I belong to is across the street from the Community Church. I have taken photo of this church before and will again since I like its architecture.

Monday, 10/25/2021: Posted photo — Mountain View.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/80 s, 39 mm.

What a great view from the summit today! As you can see, the summited was fogged in. I had to use my map and compass to find my way down part of the trail. Using a map and compass on Wachusett Mountain is not very common since the fog has not been this dense in a very long time and people look at me strangely when I use them in good weather. I could see the trail ahead of me tonight. I was just verifying the bearings at each trail junction just so I did not head back up the mountain. It was good practice for me.

Over the past few months, I have been taken the bearings at each junction and verifying elevations and coordinate locations with my trail map program and with the paper trail map of the mountain. I am in the process of putting together a detailed map of the mountain to help new and experienced hikers. Map and compass skills are essential to survival. Using these tools on a well hiked mountain is great for learning this skill.

The error most people will make is not accounting for magnetic declination (14° West on Wachusett Mountain). Magnetic declination is the angle between true north and magnetic north. Remember “West is best and East is least.” You add the declination to your reading if the declination is to the West or subtract the declination from the reading if it is to the East. I can adjust my compass for declination prior to use so I do not have to do the math if I am in a dangerous situation. Not all compasses can be adjusted. I would suggest spending a little more money on a compass that can be adjusted. It could save your life. Remember to always practice this skill in a known location prior to any “big” hike. Do not rely on the GPS on your phone.

Tuesday, 10/26/2021: Posted photo — Flowers.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 80, f/1.7, 1/60 s, 4 mm

Part of the opening paragraph from the novel “Paul Clifford” by Edward Bulwer-Lytton states, “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents …” It was a dark and stormy day today. Heavy rain, high winds and fog were the norm. I was going to post the following photo for today, a photo of wet foliage.

I went grocery shopping before I posted my photo and saw the flowers that I posted. I thought of how flowers put smiles on people’s faces and wanted to brighten up this gloomy day. Here is another photo of some more flowers that I took today during my shopping trip to brighten your day.

Wednesday, 10/27/2021: Posted photo — Reflection.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/3.5, 1/25 s, 18 mm.

I was not intending to take this photo. I was intending to post a photo from either my trip to Alaska, or my trip to Hawaii, since the weather still is a little gloomy.

While on my way home from work, the reflection of the trees on Round Meadow Pond caught my eye. The lighting was iffy, but I made the quick decision to go to one of my favorite photographic locations and see if there was an opportunity for a reflection photo in the smooth water.

I first took a photo of the island and its reflection. I did not quite like it lack leaves on the tree. It made the island look unattractive and scraggly. Then I took a photo of the trees along the shoreline. Trees along the shore usually take a good photo. I was happier with this photo. I was not excited about this photo, just happier than I was with the island photo.

Sometimes it is better to post a bad photo from that day, then a good photo from the past for historical reference.

Thursday, 10/28/2021: Posted photo — Weather Front.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/800 s, 36 mm.

A weather front is the transitional zone between two different air masses. An air mass a body of air with horizontally uniform temperature, humidity, and pressure. The high-pressure side of the front is the side with no clouds. In a high-pressure system, the warmer air is flowing downward. The low-pressure side of the front is the one with the clouds. In a low-pressure system, cold air is flowing upward causing condensation around dust particles in the sky, forming clouds and often precipitation. In this photo, the low-pressure system is moving out of the area. As the high-pressure system is moving in, the air temperature will be slightly higher that it was yesterday. A simple fact in physics is that if air pressure increases, the temperature must increase and if the air pressure decreases, the temperature will decrease. This explains why the air gets colder at higher altitudes, where pressure is lower.

Friday, 10/29/2021: Post photo — Footbridge Over the Virgin River.

Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/9, 1/200 s, 18 mm.

“In the summer of 1909, President of the United States William Taft declared the area as federally protected and officially named it Mukuntuweap National Monument, deciding to go with the Paiute name rather than the one chosen by Utah’s early pioneers. State residents were not pleased, to say the least, with President Taft passing over the name they had originally chosen for the area. In 1918, after almost a decade of grievances, the assistant director of the recently formed National Park Service, Horace Albright, changed the name of the park to Zion National Monument.” (https://zionnationalpark.com/zion-national-park/zion-national-park-history/)

Footbridge over the Virgin River in Zion National Park

Here is some information about the Virgin River. The Virgin River and its tributaries run through Zion National Park causing the erosion that continues to carve and shape Zion National Park. The North Fork of the Virgin River begins north of Zion National Park at Cascade Falls, near Cedar City, Utah, where it drains out of Navajo Lake in Dixie National Forest at 9,000 feet above sea level. The East Fork of the Virgin River originates above Long Valley in western Kane County, Utah. Both the North and East Forks of the Virgin River run through the park and empty into Lake Mead at about 1,000 feet above sea level, where it joins the Colorado River.

Our time at Zion National Park included camping and hiking. We also had one of the better star filled night skies on our trip. One of the hikes we did was in The Narrows. A great place to hike in the heat of the summer. The Narrows is the narrowest section of Zion Canyon. The gorge has walls up to a thousand feet tall and the Virgin River is just twenty to thirty feet wide in some locations. The hike through The Narrows requires hiking in the Virgin River. The river when we hiked was a milky color so you did not know how deep the water would be in your next step. You need to be very careful of flash flooding in The Narrows since there is little to no room of escape due the height of the gorge walls.

Saturday, 10/30/2021: Post photo — Maple Leaf.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/60 s, 100 mm.

Last week an oak leaf, today it is a maple leaf. A sugar maple leaf to be precise.

More rain today. I took this photo in my driveway while I was on my way to do some shopping.

Once again, a short and sweet Saturday post.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.

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October 24, 2021

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Photographic Thoughts — 10/17/2021 to 10/23/2021

“I think good dreaming is what leads to good photographs.” — Wayne Miller

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 10/17/2021: Posted photo — Gear Shifter.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/160 s, 135 mm.

Not much to say about today’s photo. I have not taken an abstract, or still life, photo in a while so I took a photo of the gear shifter in one of our cars.

For your information, the “B” of the shifter is for breaking. It is an electronic means for mimicking engine braking in a traditional transmission.

Monday, 10/18/2021: Posted photo — Ready to Hike.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 200, f/1.7, 1/16 s, 4 mm

Monday night is my main hiking night. There is a hiking group that I joined a few months ago that I hike with on Mondays, and I try not to miss a hike. I call this group a group of hikers that like to socialize versus another group that I call a social group that hikes. I do not hike with the social group very often. Only when I need a hike for the week.

I set a goal this year to hike 100 peaks. I set the same goal last year, but I fell well short of that goal last year due to COVID an the many people that were on the peaks. I did not want to hike with a great number of people because they just did not follow any protocols. Last year I took many hikes along the Mid State Trail since there is a trailhead about a quarter mile from my house. I obtained my goal of 100 peaks earlier in the year, so I am just adding on to my peak count. Next year’s goal is to finish my 48 four-thousand-foot mountains in New Hampshire. That is an achievable goal, weather permitting.

I took this photo at the start of tonight’s hike. I did not take any photos for myself yet today and took this photo. The group was hiking around sunset time and I was hoping to get a photo of the sunset. Unfortunately, I did not get a sunset photo tonight since the group was still on the trail in the woods at the time of sunset. We made it to the summit between Nautical twilight and Astronomical twilight.

Tuesday, 10/19/2021: Posted photo — Blue Sky.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/320 s, 52 mm.

I did not realize that today’s information would be so educational.

What a beautiful blue sky we had today. Why is the sky blue? It has to do with wavelengths of light. Here is some information that has been backed up by NASA (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/blue-sky/en/).

As white light passes through our atmosphere, tiny air molecules cause it to ‘scatter’. The scattering caused by these tiny air molecules (known as Rayleigh scattering) increases as the wavelength of light decreases. Violet and blue light have the shortest wavelengths and red light has the longest. Therefore, blue light is scattered more than red light and the sky appears blue during the day. When the Sun is low in the sky during sunrise and sunset, the light must travel further through the Earth’s atmosphere. We don’t see the blue light because it gets scattered away, but the red light isn’t scattered very much – so the sky appears red.

Now, why did I take this photo. I liked the blue sky and I wanted to do my periodic senor check for dust.

A camera’s sensor dictates the quality of the images it can produce — the larger the sensor, the higher the image quality. Bigger image sensors have bigger pixels, which means better low-light performance, reduced noise, good dynamic range, and the ability to obtain more information.

You can quickly spot dust on your camera’s sensor by doing the following:

Set your camera on Aperture Priority Mode.
Set your metering mode to Matrix/Evaluative Metering.
Set your camera ISO to the lowest number such as ISO 100.
Turn off Auto ISO.
Turn off autofocus and set your lens on manual focus.
Set your aperture to the largest number available for your lens. For example, the minimum aperture on my Canon 60D is f/22, so I set my aperture to f/22.
If you are outside, point your camera up at the clear blue sky and take a picture (purpose of his post). If you are indoors, find plain white paper, zoom in all the way so that the paper fits the whole frame, then make sure that the lens is completely out of focus and take a picture. If you are in front of a computer, open a text editor such as Notepad, maximize it to the screen and then get as close to the monitor as possible so that only the white color is visible in the frame. Make sure that your focus is way off (completely out of focus) – that way only dust particles will be visible.
Zoom in on the image (rear camera LCD), scroll from left to right and top to bottom all over the image and see if you can find any dark spots. Sometimes it is hard for me to see the dust in the LCD screen, so I look for dust when I zoom into the photo on my computer.
If you cannot see any, your sensor is clean. If you see dark spots like in the above example, then your sensor has dust on it.
If you see dust, you can either purchase a senor cleaning kit (if you are brave enough to clean your sensor, I am) or send your camera out to get your sensor professionally cleaned.

Enough for the education. Thank you for reading today’s information and hope that you learned something this week.

Wednesday, 10/20/2021: Posted photo — Hunter’s Moon.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 125, f/11, 1/125 s, 300 mm.

Once again, I am posting a photo of the full moon. This one is handheld, and I used the Loony 11 rule to capture it. I can never take enough photos of the moon. It is very difficult to capture because it is moving so fast, and it is very bright. Some people criticize my moon photos since they are just photos of the moon with nothing in the foreground. I challenge those people to show me their moon photos. I have been taking photos of the moon for over 12 years and am still experimenting with my settings. The moon is my primary subject matter, and I am still learning how to do it. I did mean to ramble on and to criticize others. It just upsets me when people criticize my photos and do not give me any tips to improve. Sorry for that.

This is October’s full moon. The name of this moon is the Hunter’s Moon. According to popular belief, the moon was named the Hunter’s Moon because it signaled the time to go hunting in preparation for cold winter months.

This chart shows the initial settings for using the Loony 11 rule.

Moon Phase	Light from the Moon	Aperture Value	ISO	Shutter Speed
Full Moon	Moon is 100% lit	f/11	100	1/100 second
Half Moon	Moon reflects off less light – about 50% compared to full moon	f/8	100	1/100 second
Quarter Moon	Moon reflects off even lesser light – about 25% compared to full moon	f/5.6	100	1/100 second
Thin Crescent Moon	Very less light reflected off the moon	f/4	100	1/100 second
Fully Eclipsed Moon	Moon is shadowed	f/2.8	100	1/100 second

Enjoy my moon photos, there will be more.

Thursday, 10/21/2021: Posted photo — Wachusett Mountain from Echo Lake.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/30 s, 18 mm.

Today was my biweekly hike with colleagues from work. It was a wonderful day for a hike.

We started the hike about a half hour before sunset and I took a trail that I was faster to summit. We did not make the summit at sunset. The hike normally takes about 45 minutes to complete to get to the summit and we hiked as fast a safely possible. Before the hike, I thought about changing the trail we hiked to a quicker way up the mountain. The trial was already choosing and Hike Safe and Leave No Trace both say that once a route was picked, you should not veer from the plan. On the way to the summit, the trail passed Echo Lake along the Echo Lake Trail and I saw this great view of the side of the mountain. The light was hitting the mountain in a way that I wanted to stop and take this photo.

The hill is not the summit of the mountain but the intersection of two or the trails, High Meadow Trail and Jack Frost Trail. I like the foliage on the hill in the background and Echo Lake on the foreground.

Friday, 10/22/2021: Post photo — Yew.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/320 s, 113 mm.

This Yew is at the entrance to work. I keep passing it and wanting to take a photo of it. Today I did. Here is some information about the Common Yew.

The Common Yew is an ornamental tree. While they are considered conifers, yew trees and shrubs don’t produce typical cones but rather modified versions of cones that look more like small red fruit. The taxine alkaloids contained in yew berries, needles or bark are poisonous. The lethal dose for an adult is reported to be 50 g of yew needles. Patients who ingest a lethal dose frequently die due to cardiogenic shock.

Saturday, 10/23/2021: Post photo — Oak.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/50 s, 92 mm.

Peak time for foliage: The color and intensity change quickly, but your best bet to see peak colors is from mid-October to early November. This oak leaf is past peak along with most of the other foliage in my area. I took this photo today when I was raking my lawn today.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.

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October 17, 2021

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Photographic Thoughts — 10/10/2021 to 10/16/2021

“Today everything exists to end in a photograph.” — Susan Sontag

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 10/10/2021: Posted photo — Lakeside.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/125 s, 32 mm.

Today we took the dock out of the water at the cottage. The water was cold when first going into it, and then it did not feel so bad. We need to go into the water to lift part of the dock off its foundation to bring it in. Many years ago, the tires on the bottle of the support legs on the dock fell off so we manually need to lift the dock out of the water.

Before the dock was removed, I went out on it to enjoy the foliage from out in the water. I took this photo shortly before the dock was removed from the water.

The day is always a fun filled day with family and friends.

Monday, 10/11/2021: Posted photo — Trees in the Sun.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/125 s, 50 mm.

This is the backside, or inlet side, of the falls at Round Meadow Pond. You have seen a few photos of the water flowing over the dam since that is one of my favorite spots to photograph. I took this photo because of the bright colors of the foliage, and I liked the way the light was reflecting off the trees.

Tuesday, 10/12/2021: Posted photo — More Foliage.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/160 s, 50 mm.

Not much to say about this photo. The foliage is starting to get to peak in this area, so I am taking as many foliage photos as I can.

One thing I can say about this photo, and my other foliage photos, is that they look very bright. The histogram looks good for these photos, but the photos look bright when viewing on some screens. It might be because I use calibrate monitors to edit my photos and the other monitors are not calibrated.

Time to do some research into this issue. Maybe I should get one or two of them printed to see how the colors come out.

Wednesday, 10/13/2021: Posted photo — Morning Dew.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/250 s, 72 mm.

I was going to post another foliage photos today but decided to post a photo of the morning dew. This photo was meant to show the dew and to break up my trend of foliage photos. Too much of a good thing is not always good.

I attempted to capture the light off the dew on the grass. Please leave a comment to let me know how well I captured the light and to give me some tips to improve.

Thursday, 10/14/2021: Posted photo — Lightning at Sea.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/5.6, 15 s, 48 mm.

15 second exposure looking out to see in Jacksonville Beach, FL a few years ago.

During a past vacation, my family rented a condominium on Jacksonville Beach. My wife has relatives that live in both Jacksonville Beach and Neptune Beach, so we travel to the area relatively often. Most of the time we rent a house or condo not on the beach.

A common occurrence in Florida is a storm out to sea at night. It is such a great sight to see the lightning in the distance. On this night, I decided to put my camera on my tripod, set the exposure time to 15 seconds, to capture the storm. After looking at the photos, my only regret was that I did not leave my shutter open for 30 seconds.

There will always be another trip back to the beach.

Here are a few camera settings for photographing daytime and nighttime lightning that I have picked up over the years:

Camera settings tips for photographing daytime lightning photos:

Set up camera on a sturdy tripod.
Turn off any image stabilization you might have. If image stabilization is on, the camera will think it is moving when the shutter engages, even though there is not camera movement.
Focus camera lens on infinity or on an object in the distance.
Set the aperture of the lens to f/16 or smaller. This will close the iris inside the lens, allowing a longer shutter speed to be used.
Set ISO to lowest it will go, for example use ISO 100.
Take a test exposure using the slowest shutter speed allowed to see if the image is exposed correctly and your focus is correct.
Set your camera on manual or bulb.
Use a remote timer/intervalometer to fire the shutter continuously.

Here is an example of a daytime lightning photo. This photo was handheld since the storm arrived quickly. For your information, we did not hike down into the Grand Canyon that day.

Camera settings for photographing night-time lightning

Set up camera on a sturdy tripod.
Turn off any image stabilization you might have. If image stabilization is on, the camera will think it is moving when the shutter engages, even though there is not camera movement.
Focus camera lens on infinity or on an object in the distance.
Set the aperture of the lens to a medium value, such as f/5.6 or f/8. This will allow a longer shutter speed by bringing in more light and improve image quality at the same time by allowing the use of a lower ISO value.
Set ISO to lowest it will go, for example set your is to ISO 100. You may have to increase your ISO to ISO 200–ISO 400 depending on the lighting in the area. I prefer my ISO set at ISO 100 for all my lightning shots.
Set your camera on manual or bulb.
Set the shutter speed to between 5 and 20 seconds. You can set it up to 30 seconds if you are in a dark area.
Take a test shot to see if the scene is exposed correctly, remembering that if a strike does happen in the field of view it could light up the scene considerably, depending on how big the strike looks in the photo.
Use a remote timer/intervalometer to fire the shutter continuously.

Friday, 10/15/2021: Post photo — Clouds.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/1250 s, 37 mm.

Today I am posting a photo of a cloud. I took many photos today, but this one was the only one that I liked.

Saturday, 10/16/2021: Post photo — Aster.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/320 s, 106 mm.

I went to my mother’s house today to make sure everything was fine at the house. I also collected some of the wood from the tree that fell on her house about a year ago to bring home to burn. Earlier in the day, I took photos at Leominster State Forest. I went hiking at Leominster State Forest last night and went back today to get some more photos. I will be posting the photos I took in this blog for you to see what I did not post for my 365 project.

When I was at her house, I noticed a lot of asters. I also saw that there was an abundant number of bees flying around the asters. What a great photo opportunity. The aster flowers (Aster spp.) add color to the autumn landscape while offering beauty with little work when caring for asters.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com/ or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.

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photobyjosephciras

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October 10, 2021

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hiking, Nature, Travel, water

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Photographic Thoughts — 10/03/2021 to 10/09/2021

“I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse.” — Diane Arbus

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 10/03/2021: Posted photo — Reflection in the Fog.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/80 s, 113 mm.

Driving into church this morning, I notice fog off the lakes in the area. The location of this photo is one in which I take many practice photos. It is a difficult location to take a photo since I needed to stop on the edge of a busy road.

My initial thought on this photo was to get a picture of the mist rising from the surface of the lake with the foliage behind it. When I arrived at this location, the mist was thicker than I would like. I did see the reflections of the trees on the water and thought that that would take a good photo.

Monday, 10/04/2021: Posted photo — Western Tanager.

Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/320 s, 300 mm.

Fact from All About Birds: “The oldest Western Tanager on record—a male originally banded in Nevada in 1965—had lived at least 6 years and 11 months by the time he was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Oregon in 1971.”

We were walking the north rim at Grand Canyon National Park when I spotted this male Western Tanager in a conifer tree. The color contrast between the bird and the tree caught my eye.

The range of the Western Tanger is the western parts for the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Again, from All About Birds: “A clear look at a male Western Tanager is like looking at a flame: an orange-red head, brilliant yellow body, and coal-black wings, back and tail. Females and immatures are a somewhat dimmer yellow-green and blackish. These birds live in open woods all over the West, particularly among evergreens, where they often stay hidden in the canopy. Nevertheless, they’re a quintessential woodland denizen in summertime, where they fill the woods with their short, burry song and low, chuckling call notes.” (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Tanager/overview)

Tuesday, 10/05/2021: Posted photo — The Gathering.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/7.1, 1/100 s, 135 mm.

On my way home from work today I saw this rafter of turkey. I have seen them many times before on the property and did not feel the need to photograph them. Today was different.

When I was approaching them today, it looked like it was a group of workers getting ready to clock out of work and were planning what they were going to do tonight. Just the way they were gather in pairs and it looked like they were talking to each other.

Also, I thought it would be a good picture to take.

Wednesday, 10/06/2021: Posted photo — Cattails.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 800, f/5, 1/800 s, 52 mm.

I had a choice of photos to post today — a photo of an island or a photo of cattails. I decided on the cattails for the photo to put in my 365 project because I liked it just a little bit better than the photo of the island. I will be posting both in this blog for you to compare.

Cattails are a type of aquatic plant, approximately 5-10 feet tall. These plants have long, slender, branchless, and upward-growing leaves and a distinguishable brown, cylindrical flowering head at their apex. The grow around ponds and other wetland areas.

What is the difference between a pond and a lake? Here is something I found in my research: “To help determine the difference, both the depth and surface area must be considered. Lakes are normally much deeper than ponds and have a larger surface area. All the water in a pond is in the photic zone, meaning ponds are shallow enough to allow sunlight to reach the bottom. This causes plants (sometimes too many) to grow at the bottom of ponds as well as on their surface. However, sunlight can’t reach the bottom of all areas of lakes. Lakes have aphotic zones, which are deep areas of water that receive no sunlight, preventing plants from growing.” (https://lakes.grace.edu/ponds-vs-lakes-whats-the-difference/)

I took the cattail photo with a shallow depth of field (DOF) to blur the background and the make the cattails “pop”. As you can tell by this photo, the cattails are starting to spread their seeds.

Here is the photo of the island that I took and did not like as much as the cattail photo.

Thursday, 10/07/2021: Posted photo — Sunset Through Trees.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/160 s, 100 mm.

After a week and a half, I was back on the hiking trail today. It felt good to get back. I hiked 4.3 miles on Wachusett Mountain after work with some colleagues. I took a series of photos along the way to determine what one to post. I decided on this sunset photo. I had another sunset photo that I took from the summit, but I accidently deleted it. Rookie mistake.

The other choices of photos were a glacial erratic called Balanced Rock or a burl on a tree at a trail junction. Just a reminder that a glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. And a burl is a strange-looking collection of tree cells, which are called callus tissue. Normally, callus tissue is formed by a tree in response to an environmental injury such as a pruning cut, disease, or insect damage. If you have a piece of wooden furniture, such as an end table, it was most likely made with a burl.

These are the photos that I did not post for my 365 project.

Friday, 10/08/2021: Post photo — Pareidolia.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/10, 1/250 s, 21 mm.

Pareidolia is the defined by Merriam-Webster as the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern. I have posted about this tendency in the past.

Today I am posting a photo of a cloud. I see a couple items in this photo. I see an opera singer hitting a high note and I also see a ships figurehead. It is amazing how one can see an object when one is not there.

What to you see? Do you see what I see, due to the power of suggestion, or do you see something else. Please respond in the comment section.

Saturday, 10/09/2021: Post photo — Iris Bouquet.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 100, f/1.7, 1/60 s, 4 mm

From The Old Farmer’s Almanac: “The tall, beautiful iris, named after the Greek goddess who rode rainbows, comes in many magical colors. Despite its divine origins, this June bloomer is rugged, reliable, and easy to grow. Learn all about planting, growing, and caring for iris flowers.” (https://www.almanac.com/plant/irises)

Today was a shopping day from me. Saw this iris bouquet in one of the stores that I shopped. I like the colors.

Saturday’s posts are normally short because of the time between I take the photo and the time that I post my blog.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com/ or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.