Settings: KODAK DX6490 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA, ISO 80, f/6, 1/253 s, 9 mm.
We arrived at Yosemite National Park late one evening in 2008 and did not see the valley. Today we went hiking to Bridalveil Falls. Since this trip took place in the summer, the water was not flowing over the falls as well as it does other times of the year.
Monday, 04/25/2022: Posted photo — Camp Curry.
Settings: KODAK DX6490 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA, ISO 400, f/3, 1/147 s, 8 mm.
This is where we camped, Camp Curry. We occasionally had a visitor near our site. Yosemite bears will open your car doors to get food. All your items that have odor were to be placed inside a bear locker. Yosemite bears are the only bears in the National Park system that will open your door for you.
Tuesday, 04/26/2022: Posted photo — El Capitan.
Settings: KODAK DX6490 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA, ISO 80, f/4.8, 1/434 s, 6 mm.
The famous El Capitan. We saw some climbers on the side of the cliff. It is interesting at night to see their flashlights as they are setting up their sleeping ledges.
Wednesday, 04/27/2022: Posted photo — Half Dome.
Settings: KODAK DX6490 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA, ISO 80, f/8.5, 1/274 s, 18 mm.
Also next to our camp is Half Dome. We did some hiking around Half Dome but did not have the time to climb it ourselves.
Settings: KODAK DX6490 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA, ISO 80, f/4.8, 1/360 s, 18 mm.
Here is Yosemite Valley. One of the most picturesque placed that I have visited. We drove in at night and did not see the valley. When we did see the valley later in our visit, we were not disappointed. As I stated above, this was the start of me taking photographs daily. I have an inexpensive camera and did not have much experience with post processing my images.
Friday, 04/29/2022: Post photo — Vernal Falls.
Settings: KODAK DX6490 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA, ISO N/A, f/3.2, 1/350 s, 28 mm.
Another hike, another waterfall.
Saturday, 04/30/2022: Post photo — Yosemite Falls.
Settings: KODAK DX6490 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA, ISO N/A, f/3.2, 1/500 s, 11 mm.
Since our trip was in the middle of the summer, upper and lower Yosemite Falls were not flowing. Would be nice to get back to Yosemite National Park in the spring to see the water flowing.
“A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people.” — Annie Leibovitz
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
This week we visit the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
Sunday, 04/17/2022: Posted photo — Bison outside the Park.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/6, 1/500 s, 300 mm.
This week I am posting from a trip we took to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Not many people go to the north rim since it is not near any population area. To drive from the north rim to the south rim of the Grand Canyon takes about 8 hours from closest entrance to closes entrance.
Before you get the sign for the north rim, you go past a bison farm. What a majestic animal to see up close.
Monday, 04/18/2022: Posted photo — North Rim Entrance.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/60 s, 32 mm.
Here is the sign for the north rim. I have signs from all the national parks that I have entered. It is a good way to remember what parks the following photos were taken. I also like to take photos of signs along the trails.
Tuesday, 04/19/2022: Posted photo — View from our Campsite.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/8, 1/100 s, 55 mm.
This is the view we had when we woke up the few days we were at the north rim. Not a bad view!
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/100 s, 20 mm.
We were walking the Transept Trail to Bright Angel Point to head into the canyon. We saw a sign for ruins that were used 1000 years ago by Pueblo people. There are many historical ruins in Grand Canyon National Park and other parks in the area.
Thursday, 04/21/2022: Posted photo — Western Tanager.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/320 s, 300 mm.
As we were approaching the trailhead area, I spotted this colorful bird in a bush. I like how colorful it is. I have sold a few prints of this photo during some of my gallery showings.
Friday, 04/22/2022: Post photo — Lightning.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/10, 1/400 s, 70 mm.
We did not go down into the canyon because of storms in the area. There was tornado and severe thunderstorm warning in the area. When this storm was approaching, I took out my camera and started to take photos. I did not see the second bolt of lightning until I looked at the photo on my computer.
Saturday, 04/23/2022: Post photo — View of the Canyon.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/8, 1/125 s, 40 mm.
As we were leaving the canyon to go from the north rim to the south rim, we stopped an looked at the temples.
“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.
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.
“I wish that all of nature’s magnificence, the emotion of the land, the living energy of place could be photographed.” — Annie Leibovitz
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
Quick posts this week.
Sunday, 09/26/2021: Posted photo — What is It.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/13 s, 67 mm.
When I posted this photo, I did not expect someone to identify the object as quickly as they did. This is not a common item. Only people that have seen this object before could possibly identify it. I was surprised when someone knew what it was within an hour of my post. It happened to be on the first guess!
The object is the foot pedals of an organ. This is the organ at my church. I played the organ for many years when I was younger. I have not played on for a great while.
I will have to post a harder photo next time.
Monday, 09/27/2021: Posted photo — Vacancy.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 1600, f/5, 1/50 s, 55 mm.
The previous occupant of this web has vacated the property.
Occasionally I see a great spider web at this location. I took this photo before the web was destroyed by the wind.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/6 s, 62 mm.
Quick photo Tuesday.
I needed a photo for today and looked at the wood pile as I was getting out of my car after work.
Wednesday, 09/29/2021: Posted photo — Third Quarter.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/16, 1/125 s, 300 mm.
Handheld photo of the third quarter of the moon. I took this photo about three hours after the official time of the third quarter.
The eight phases of the Moon in order are (according to NASA):
New Moon: This is the invisible phase of the Moon, with the illuminated side of the Moon facing the Sun and the night side facing Earth.
Waxing Crescent: This silver sliver of a Moon occurs when the illuminated half of the Moon faces mostly away from Earth, with only a tiny portion visible to us from our planet.
First Quarter: The Moon is now a quarter of the way through its monthly journey, and you see half of its illuminated side.
Waxing Gibbous: Now most of the Moon’s dayside has come into view, and the Moon appears brighter in the sky.
Full Moon: This is as close as we come to seeing the Sun’s illumination of the entire day side of the Moon (so, technically, this would be the real half moon).
Waning Gibbous: As the Moon begins its journey back toward the Sun, the opposite side of the Moon now reflects the Moon’s light.
Last Quarter: The Moon looks like its half illuminated from the perspective of Earth, but really, you’re seeing half of the half of the Moon that’s illuminated by the Sun ― or a quarter.
Waning Crescent: The Moon is nearly back to the point in its orbit where its dayside directly faces the Sun, and all that we see from our perspective is a thin curve.
Thursday, 09/30/2021: Posted photo — Color.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/400 s, 50 mm.
The colors of the leaves on the trees are starting to turn. This seems later than normal this year. Could be because of all the rain we have received over the summer.
Friday, 10/01/2021: Post photo — Starlight.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/50 s, 290 mm.
Sol. The nearest star to the earth.
I have been looking for my solar filter for a while. There was a partial solar eclipse a few months ago and could not find it. I was looking for a framed photo to bring to my uncle for his birthday last week and found it amongst my photos.
I took it out today and took a photo of the sun.
Saturday, 10/02/2021: Post photo — Angels.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/13, 1/500 s, 52 mm.
I went to visit my parents today at the cemetery. They are buried next to the clergy section of the cemetery. When I looked over to the clergy section, I saw these angels under a tree. Looking at what is on the sign, it seems that there are other’s in the cemetery.
I liked the foliage next to the monument, so I took this picture.
“The camera makes you forget you’re there. It’s not like you are hiding but you forget, you are just looking so much.” — Annie Leibovitz
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
Enjoy this week’s rambling mind of a mechanical engineer and photographer.
This week’s post is short. I spent most of the week doing final preparations for my mother’s funeral and relaxing after.
Sunday, 07/17/2021: Posted photo — Roses.
Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 100, f/1.7, 1/60 s, 4 mm
Yellow is bright and conveys happy thoughts, so it is no wonder that yellow roses showcase positive feelings of warmth. The yellow rose meaning is often considered that of friendship.
I am posting this photo to thank all the people that have supported my family during the last few months when my mother was ill. She passed in her sleep, at home, last Saturday at the age of 95. I would like to thank family and friends, her doctors and caretakers, and anyone that had her in their prayers. She was playing cards up to the end. Raising seven boys was not easy. She did it lovingly.
As my mother said in the hospital last Tuesday, she did live 95 wonderful years.
Mom — may your rest in peace. Until we meet again. Love you.
Monday, 07/18/2021: Posted photo — Ten Commandments.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/160 s, 37 mm.
This monument is on Mountain Road in Princeton, Mass. It is very easy to drive by since it is small and not near any landmark. It has been on the side of the road since 1927. The monument was produced by S.D. Sargent in Gardner Mass. The monument starts with “God Sake All these Words I the Lord thy God”.
I had the history of the monument once. Now I cannot find out any information about why this monument was place where it located.
I took a similar photo last week on the way back home from my mother’s house and did not like it enough to post. I took this one today as I was returning home from finalizing the funeral arrangements. The arrangements were easy to finalize since my mother was supposed to pass last March. She was a strong French woman that had many card games left in her.
Tuesday, 07/19/2021: Posted photo — Blue Vervain.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/640 s, 85 mm.
“Blue vervain is a flowering plant that belongs to the vervain family, Verbenaceae. It has purple flowers and simple leaves with double-serrate margins. The scientific name of blue vervain is Verbena hastata and it is also known by other names like American vervain, simpler’s joy, and swamp verbena.” — Organic Facts website
Wednesday, 07/20/2021: Posted photo — Turkeys Through Windshield.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/5.6, 1/600 s, 135 mm.
Turkeys this morning on my way to work. Took this through my windshield.
Thursday, 07/15/2021: Posted photo — Mass Card.
Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 160, f/1.7, 1/60 s, 4 mm
The mass card from my mother. We had her wake and funeral today. I will always love you mom!
Today my wife and took a trip up north to Maine to get away and relax. Here are some photos from Perkins Cove where we had our lunch and photo of the Nubble Light where we ended out day before driving home.
Saturday, 07/22/2021: Post photo — View from the Trail.
Settings: FUGIFILM FinePix XP70, ISO 100, f/4.7, 1/350 s, 12 mm.
The view from Old Indian trail looking down the Look Mom ski trail on Wachusett Mountain.
Photo by Joseph Ciras 