“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.