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September 19, 2021

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2021

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” — Elliott Erwitt

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

Sunday, 09/12/2021: Posted photo — Trail Mix.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/10 s, 135 mm.

Trail mix is typically a blend of cereals, dried fruits, nuts and often sweets, trail mix can be a mixture of crunchy and chewy, salty, or sweet. My trail mix is a mixture of different types of M&Ms, nuts, and Chex mix.

I snack on trail mix off and on the trail. I like the mixture of the different textures and tastes of the food. Trail mix may not be the most nutritious food to eat, but it does cut down on my hunger and keeps me energized on my hikes.

Monday, 09/13/2021: Posted photo — Sunset from the Summit.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/3200 s, 135 mm.

Every sunset is different, and none disappoint. Some are more spectacular and colorful than other. The anticipation of how the sunset will look is one of the great things about them.

This is why sunsets are so colorful according to Brian Resnick in an article in Science and Health “Sunset colors are created by a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. It is the same phenomenon that makes the sky appear blue during the day.

Sunlight contains all the colors of the rainbow. But not all the colors reach the ground in the same concentration. Nitrogen and oxygen molecules in our atmosphere act as little mirrors for blue and violet light. That means not as much blue or violet light reaches the ground. Instead, it bounces around in our atmosphere, creating the blue dome of sky we’re all so familiar with.

At sunset, light must travel through a greater distance of atmosphere to reach our eyes — so even more blue light, and even some green and yellow light, gets filtered out. That leaves us with the warmer hues of the visible light, the reds and oranges, and it’s why many sunsets look like fire.”

Tuesday, 09/14/2021: Posted photo — Maggiore Fun Flame.

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

A Maggiore Fun Flame is a stunning dahlia with huge, fiery red and yellow flowers. Its tall stems are perfect for cutting. It Reblooms effortlessly all season long. The dahlia is an eye-catching, fuss-free summer accent for containers, beds, and borders. The flower needs to be watered regularly — twice-weekly, or more often in extreme heat or containers. It also is good at attracting butterflies.

I saw this flower on my shopping trip this evening. I took a photo of it because I just liked the way it looked. The colors and textures caught my eyes.

Wednesday, 09/15/2021: Posted photo — Tent.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 1600, f/7.1, 1/160 s, 26 mm.

A tent is an important piece of equipment if you are going on an overnight hiking trip or just camping in general. This is the tent that I use when hiking and/or camping when I am not using my roof top tent. This tent is lightweight and very easy to set up. It is well ventilated when the rain cover is not installed. My son was camping the last two weekends and borrowed my tent. All my hikes in the White Mountains were either day trips or I stayed in my brother’s condo. Setting up a tent is not as easy as one my think. You need to be aware of your surroundings to make sure that you will not get washed out in case of rain, or have blood rush to your head if you are setting up on a slopped surface.

Thursday, 09/16/2021: Posted photo — Mount Hancock.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/400 s, 47 mm.

This photo was taken a few years ago when I hiked Mount Hancock (4,403′) along with Mount South Hancock (4,278′) for the Flags on the 48 event. The event was sponsored by the Worcester Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club. I was the peak coordinator, while senior members of the AMC were leading and sweeping the hike.

Hancock Mountain is a 4,380 foot mountain in the Pemigewasset Wilderness area of the White Mountains between Franconia Notch and Crawford Notch. The mountain is named after John Hancock, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The mountain used to be the most remote and inaccessible peak in the White Mountains, before theKancamagus Highway was finished. Today, the trail begins on the well known hairpin turn on the Kancamagus Highway at the Hancock Overlook Parking area.

When I hiked it for the Flags on the 48, I hiked with the person who blazed the original trail up to the summit, Hancock Notch Trail. He showed us photos of the trail being blazed and would tell us stories of how they decided to make the trial were it is located. There is a landmark rock in the woods near the summit. We did some exploring to see if it was still there since it had been many years since he blazed the trail.

The weather is looking wet for my hike on Saturday. If I do not make it to the summits, the mountain will still be there. If I do make it to both peaks, I would have a total of ten 4,000 footers this year. 4,000 foot mountains my not seem difficult to some of you. I have heard from people that live and hike in the taller, younger mountains, in the western United Stated that the mountains in the Whites are more challenging. I have hiked a few mountains out west and agree with their assessment. The prominence of some of the mountains in the Whites is more than the prominence of the mountains out west.

Friday, 09/17/2021: Post photo — Foggy Hike.

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

Went on a group sunset hike tonight through Leominster State Forest. As you can see, it was foggy and misty, so I did not see the setting sun tonight. The hike was almost three miles long and easy. It was a good warm up for my hike tomorrow, weather permitting.

This tree is one that I have photographed a few times before. I just like the way that it is isolated in the middle of the pond.

Saturday, 09/18/2021: Post photo — Mount Osceola.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/640 s, 41 mm.

Mount Osceola as seen from the Mount Hancock trailhead this morning. Today I hiked Mounts Hancock and South Hancock with a few people associated with the group that I hike with on Monday nights. Rain was in the forecast for the later in the afternoon. The weather held up until the last 1.8 miles of the 9.8 mile hike.

Mount Osceola is one of the 4,000 footers that I have climbed.

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/.

COVID is real! Be safe out there, keep your social distance, and remember to always wear your mask and wash your hands. Get your vaccine!

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August 15, 2021

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hiking, Inspiration, Nature, Photography, religion, Travel

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Photographic Thoughts — 08/08/2021 to 08/14/2021

“The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.” — Elliott Erwitt

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.

Sunday, 08/08/2021: Posted photo — Balancing the World.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/160 s, 106 mm.

My wife’s family have a reunion the first Saturday of August every year. Relatives from all around the country, and sometimes the world, come to visit. The reunion is only schedule for one day yet it occurs over the course of the week.

My brother-in-law likes to juggle. He juggles clubs, balls, boxes, fire clubs, fire balls, scarfs, and people. He also does tricks for the younger members of the family. People young and old look forward to his juggling act. In this picture, he is spinning the parasols to balance the world.

Monday, 08/09/2021: Posted photo — Backpack.

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

Monday night is hiking night, as some of you may know by now. We purchased a new backpack for my son since his is old and losing padding. I tried out his backpack tonight to see how comfortable it is to use. This photo was taken on the summit fire watch tower on Wachusett Mountain.

For your information, the backpack was comfortable for short hikes. I may not be so for the longer hikes we have planned so we will be purchasing another backpack for him.

Tuesday, 08/10/2021: Posted photo — Can You Hear Me.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/1600 s, 135 mm.

Hearing protection is required when one is exposed to a sound level over 85 dB for 8 hrs. Some examples of how loud that is are: Garbage disposal, dishwasher, average factory, freight train (at 15 meters). Car wash at 20 ft (89 dB); propeller plane flyover at 1000 ft (88 dB); diesel truck 40 mph at 50 ft (84 dB); diesel train at 45 mph at 100 ft (83 dB). Food blender (88 dB); milling machine (85 dB); garbage disposal (80 dB). Manufacturing plants have sound levels that exceed the 85 dB threshold so hearing protection is required.

Why did I take this photo? I took it since I liked the mixture of colors in the container. This is one of the photos that I took today for my photo project. I liked this one over the other once that I took today. I will not be posting the other photos I took. That should be telling you the quality of those photos.

Wednesday, 08/11/2021: Posted photo — Feed Me.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/125 s, 135 mm.

These birds were waiting for their mother to feed them. I have walked past then a few times over the last two weeks and decided to take their photo today. I took a similar photo last year. I like the way that one of the birds is looking for food and the other one is just looking like he is annoyed.

Thursday, 08/12/2021: Posted photo — Find the Meteor.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 1600, f/4, 15 s, 28 mm.

The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle. The meteors are called the Perseids because the point from which they appear to hail lies in the constellation Perseus. The meteor shower reached it peak this year at 4:01 a.m. today. The photo is dark because I had to adjust for the light pollution in the area. I look online and see these great photos of the meteor shower taken from dark sky areas. Someday I will travel to a dark sky area during a meteor shower. Last year I posted my first photo of the Milky Way from a dark sky reserve, Canyonland National Park. Dark Sky Reserves are designated by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). They are areas that offer exceptional starry nights and are specifically protected for scientific, natural, educational, cultural, heritage and/or public enjoyment.

Did you find it? Look northwest of the “Seven Sisters”. What are the “Seven Sisters”?

From space.com: “The Pleiades are a group of more than 800 stars located about 410 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. Most skywatchers are familiar with the assembly, which looks something like a smaller, hazier version of the Big Dipper in the night sky.

Also known as the “Seven Sisters” and Messier 45, the object derives its English name from Greek legend. The Pleiades are the seven daughters of the Titan god Atlas and the ocean nymph Pleione. During an ancient war, Atlas rebelled against Zeus, the king of the gods, who sentenced his foe to forever hold up the heavens on his shoulders. The sisters were so sad that Zeus allowed them a place in the sky in order to be close to their father.”

Friday, 08/13/2021: Post photo — Sunflower.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 50, f/1.7, 1/287 s, 4 mm

Sunflowers have symbolic meanings in love, luck, spirituality, and dreams. Why did I post a photo a sunflower today? Today is Friday the 13.

From my web research I found out more information. This is from the CNN website: “From Scandinavia, Panati explains, the superstition then spread south throughout Europe, becoming well established along the Mediterranean by the start of the Christian era. It was here that the unsettling power of the numerals was cemented through the story of the Last Supper, which was attended by Jesus Christ and his disciples on Maundy Thursday. The 13th and most infamous guest to arrive, Judas Iscariot, was the disciple who betrayed Jesus, leading to his crucifixion on Good Friday.”

For you that follow FOX news: “According to the history website, the association of 13 being unlucky likely started in Western culture the Last Supper in the Bible. In the biblical story, 13 people sat at the Last Supper table – Jesus and his 12 disciples – and the next day, Jesus was crucified.”

Here is wishing you luck today.

Saturday, 08/14/2021: Post photo — Sunrise.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/160 s, 300 mm.

Saturday is my day to sleep in. I wake up around 4:30 a.m. every day so I look forward to sleeping in on Saturday mornings. Today I woke up at 4 a.m. to climb Wachusett Mountain to take a photo of the sunrise.

When I arrived at the summit, I was the only one there. The sky was clear until just about the time the sun was to rise, 5:42 a.m. There was a fog bank that rolled in. I could see the sun over the horizon since I knew the location that it was to rise. I was giving up hope of seeing the sunrise. Then the fog burned off just enough for me to take this photo.

I went back to bed for a few hours when I came back home from my hike.