“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.” — Irving Penn
This week ended with a special memorial hike.
Sunday, 09/08/2024: Posted photo — Mount Rainier.
Ascending to 14,410 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier stands as an icon in the Washington landscape. An active volcano, Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S.A., spawning five major rivers. Subalpine wildflower meadows ring the icy volcano while ancient forest cloaks Mount Rainier’s lower slopes. Wildlife abounds in the park’s ecosystems. A lifetime of discovery awaits.
I have been to this mountain many times. We camped out in an area where we saw signs about being in a lava flow area.
Monday, 09/09/2024: Posted photo — Mount St. Helens.
At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. In a few moments this slab of rock and ice slammed into Spirit Lake, crossed a ridge 1,300 feet high, and roared 14 miles down the Toutle River.
I have been to Mount St. Helens over the years since the eruption and have seen the trees grow back, trees leave Spirit Lake, and the dome inside the crater growing. When I first saw the blast zone, I had a loss for words. You go through lush and dense forests, turn the corner, and then nothing. Trees look like pickup sticks in the direction of the blast. You need to see it.
Tuesday, 09/10/2024: Posted photo — Mesa Arch.
Perched at the edge of the mesa top, this 27-foot-long (8.3 m) arch frames views of the canyon far below and the La Sal Mountains in the distance.
I took this photo before I knew Masa Arch was famous. I took this during my first year to Canyon Lands National Park in the Island in the Sky area. Since then, I have been to the Needles section, and looking forward to going to the Maze section someday.
Visible from the parking loop at The Windows, Double Arch is an impressive feature—the tallest (112 ft/34 m) and second-longest (144 ft/44 m) arch in the park.
This is a composite photo. I took the sky from a photo of Balance Rock. If you look closely at the photo, you can see some people.
Mount Wachusett is a mountain in Massachusetts. It straddles towns of Princeton and Westminster, in Worcester County. It is the highest point in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River. The mountain is named after a Native American term meaning “near the mountain” or “mountain place”.
This is an HDR photo from Round Meadow Pond.
Friday, 09/13/2024: Post photo — Sunset.
During my hike this week, I captured this sunset from the summit of Wachusett Mountain. This week was the last week that we will be returning from the summit without headlamps. We made it down just as astronomical twilight was ending and Nighttime was beginning.
Saturday, 09/14/2024: Post photo — Mount Flume.
This year, I co-lead a hike to the summit of Mt. Flume for the Flags on the 48 event. This was an Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) hike.
Flag raised on the of Mt Flume
From the official website: “We in the hiking community continue to honor the deceased with a tribute: flying the American flag atop all 48 four-thousand foot and higher mountains in New Hampshire”. This event happens on the closest Saturday to September 11. If September 11 falls on a Sunday, the hike is that Sunday.
Mt Flume from Mt Liberty
This is my 11th time doing this hike. The hike started on the Saturday after September 11, 2001 with one peak, Mt Liberty, and it quickly took off. Just a few peaks the next year, and then all the 48 4000 footers were covered. This event is now in Maine, Massachusetts and other locations.
“I don’t trust words. I trust pictures.” — Gilles Peress
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
Here are a few mountains that I have seen over the last few years.
Sunday, 08/28/2022: Posted photo — Lake McDonald.
My first view at Glacier National Park in Montana. This was the start of my northern national park tour though the United States and Canada.
Monday, 08/29/2022: Posted photo — Camp View.
Here is the mountain view from our campsite in Glacier National Park. What a great view to start the day.
Tuesday, 08/30/2022: Posted photo — Lost Lake.
One of the destinations in our hiking adventures in Glacier National Park. We did some hiking along mountain goats and sheep. Most of the hike was in the snow. This hike took place in June.
This is the blue hour view from out campsite in Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta Canada. A great place to camp with great views and many prairie dogs.
Thursday, 09/01/2022: Posted photo — Mount St. Helens.
I have visited Mount St. Helens three times over the last ten years. There has been a noticeable growth in the crater and in the forest around the mountain. It is very impressive to go from the dense forest around the mountain into the blast zone. The trees in the blast zone look like they are from the game pick up sticks, all facing away from the blast.
Friday, 09/02/2022: Post photo — Mount Rainier.
This has been the most impressive mountain I have seen so far. We did a few hikes on the mountain. Never to the summit, just middle elevation hikes on the snow and glaciers.
Saturday, 09/03/2022: Post photo — Mountain of Sand.
This is a different type of mountain. A mountain of sand in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. This mountain keeps moving due to the weather. The sand is hot, and it feels like you are in the middle of a desert when you are hiking on the dunes.
“Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.” — Don McCullin
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
This week we are travelling to Arlington National Cemetery. I will not be commenting on the post, of giving photo information this week. I am only naming each photo. I want you to reflect on these photos. Arlington National Cemetery was one of the few places that made me cry as I entered. The feeling of pride, honor, and patriotism overwhelms you as you enter.
More than three million people visit Arlington National Cemetery each year. Many come to pay respects at graveside services, or to visit a loved one’s final resting place. Please remember that Arlington is an active cemetery — a place of honor, grieving and reflection. We ask that visitors abide by the following guidelines.
Speak quietly and use headphones if you are listening to something, so that your experience does not distract or disturb other visitors.
Enjoy the space appropriately. You are encouraged to explore the cemetery (you may walk on the grass to find a grave) and attend a public ceremony. However, activities such as running, climbing, bicycling, playing sports or picnicking are not allowed.
Respect the property. Do not damage or sit on monuments, gravestones, plants or other property. They are historic features of this sacred site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Respect funeral services by staying at a distance. If you encounter a funeral procession, please step aside and wait for the procession to pass. If your exploration of the cemetery brings you near a funeral service, please move along to an area that is not the site of active mourning.
Show respect to the flag. When a flag is used in a ceremony or service, or a bugler plays Taps, civilians should place their right hand over their heart. Military service members and veterans may salute.
Sunday, 05/01/2022: Posted photo — Welcome Sign.
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Monday, 05/02/2022: Posted photo — Price of Freedom.
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Tuesday, 05/03/2022: Posted photo — Graves.
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Wednesday, 05/04/2022: Posted photo — The Eternal Flame.
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Thursday, 05/05/2022: Posted photo — Secretary Robert McNamara.
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Friday, 05/06/2022: Post photo — Memorial Amphitheater.
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Saturday, 05/07/2022: Post photo — The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
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Hope you enjoyed your tour of Arlington National Cemetery.
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.
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
Starting to take more photos. Still will be posting photos from past trips for a little while longer. Sill a long recovery ahead of me.
Enjoy some more travel photos from past trips.
Sunday, 03/13/2022: Posted photo — Low Key.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 2500, f/3.5, 1/40 s, 18 mm.
A low key image is one that contains predominantly dark tones and colors. Low key photography conveys atmosphere and mood. One of my photo projects had a low key image challenge this week. I was thinking about what photo to take to meet this challenge. I would have had many options if I had not just been operated on. With limited mobility, I thought about what there might be around the house. Since low key images contain predominantly dark tones and colors, I took a photo of the fire in our wood stove.
Monday, 03/14/2022: Posted photo — Cameron Falls.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 100, f/22, 10 s, 28 mm.
Cameron Falls, Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta.
Cameron Falls is a very uniquely shaped waterfall of about 75 feet in height found in the heart of the Waterton townsite in Waterton Lakes National Park. After heavy rainfall, the waters upriver from the falls get stirred up with a red mudstone called argillite. As the water flows towards the falls, it turns to a beautiful pink hue when light reflects on the mineral water. We did not see the pink falls since the weather was dry when we visited Waterton Lakes National Park just after we visited Glacier National Park in Montana.
Tuesday, 03/15/2022: Posted photo — New Boot.
Settings: Google Pixel 2, ISO 195, f/1.8, 1/60 s, 4 mm.
I had a post op follow-up today a week and a half after surgery. My recovery is going as planned. I was fitted with this very uncomfortable boot. I still cannot put pressure on my ankle for another four weeks. Need to go back on Tuesday for another follow-up since the first one was close to my surgical date and the doctor would like to see my progress and remove some items from my ankle.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/8, 1/2000 s, 160 mm.
Harvard Glacier, College Fjord, Alaska.
The glacier has a 1.5-mile (2 km) wide face where it calves into the College Fjord. It is 300 ft thick and covers 120,000 acres of Chugach National Forest. The Harvard Glacier is the second largest glacier in the Prince William Sound, after the Columbia Glacier.
It is amazing to see how large a glacier is when you look at it from a distance. In this photo, we were about a mile from the glacier.
The names of the glaciers in College Fjord are: Amherst, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Harvard, Smith, Vassar, and Yale. The glaciers of the northwest side feature the names of women’s colleges, and the glaciers of the fork and the southeast side sport the names of men’s colleges. What of Princeton? According to my research on the names, the scholars that named the glaciers took delight in ignoring it since none of them were Princeton alum.
Thursday, 03/17/2022: Posted photo — Cairn.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/11, 1/200 s, 34 mm.
On the trail near the Athabasca Glacier, Jasper National Park, Alberta.
A cairn is a mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark, typically on a hilltop or skyline. This cairn is shaped like a person. In Canada this is called an Inuksuk.
The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal ‘toes’ of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies. The glacier currently loses depth at a rate of about 16.4 feet (5 meters) per year and has receded more than 1 mile (1.5 km) and lost over half of its volume in the past 125 years.
From the Canadian Encyclopedia: “Inuksuk (also spelled inukshuk, plural inuksuit) is a figure made of piled stones or boulders constructed to communicate with humans throughout the Arctic. Traditionally constructed by the Inuit, inuksuit are integral to Inuit culture and are often intertwined with representations of Canada and the north.” — https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuksuk-inukshuk
Friday, 03/18/2022: Post photo — Pall (and Rekard).
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/160 s, 55 mm.
These are my two buddied from Denmark. Earlier on in my photo projects, I featured Pall every week with Pall telling a story about his life. When I went back to Denmark, I picked up Rekard. They ventured together for next year or two. Might be time to bring their adventures back.
Saturday, 03/19/2022: Post photo — Crater.
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Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
From the USGS:
“Prior to 1980, Mt. St. Helens had the shape of a conical volcano sometimes referred to as the Mount Fuji of America. During the 1980 eruption the upper 400 m (1,300 ft) of the summit was removed by a huge debris avalanche, leaving a 2 x 3.5 km horseshoe-shaped crater now partially filled by a lava dome and a glacier. It is primarily an explosive dacite volcano.”
Quick Facts:
Location: Washington, Skamania County Latitude: 46.2° N Longitude: 122.18° W Elevation: 2,539 (m) 8,330 (f) Volcano type: Stratovolcano Composition: Basalt to Rhyodacite Most recent eruption: 1980, 2004-2008 Nearby towns: Castle Rock, WA; Olympia, WA; Vancouver, WA; Yakima, WA; Portland, OR Threat Potential: Very High
Dacite: Volcanic rock (or lava) that characteristically is light in color and contains 62 to 69 percent silica and moderate amounts of sodium and potassium.
Stratovolcano: Steep, conical volcanoes built by the eruption of viscous lava flows, tephra, and pyroclastic flows. They are usually constructed over tens to hundreds of thousands of years and may erupt a variety of magma types (basalt to rhyolite). They typically consist of many separate vents. Synonym is composite volcano.
I have been to Mt. St. Helens a few times over the years. The first time was about ten years after the eruption, and we saw the logs floating in Sprit Lake. I just pictured Harry Truman looking up at the mountain from his lodge and wondering why he did not leave. Then again, there were may false alarms in the past. I am amazed on how nature is recovering in the area. I can still remember the first time that I drove into the blast zone. Very lush, dense forest along the road, turn the corner and nothing. Trees looking like toothpicks laying down in the direction of the blast. There were some cars left for visitors to see how powerful the eruption was.
“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.
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.
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.
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in 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 going. Enjoy my blog post!
Enjoy this week’s rambling mind of a mechanical engineer and photographer.
Sunday, 05/09/2021: Posted photo — True North.
Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 50, f/1.7, 1/3320 s, 4 mm
Summit compass, or sometimes call the Wachusett Rose, is a compass set on a pedestal on the summit of Wachusett Mountain. It shows people the direction that they are looking. This compass was at a different location on the summit a few year ago. Some kids pried if from its base and then later returned it to a ranger in the Visitor’s Center. When it was in its previous location, I took out my compass to verify its orientation. I did the same thing at this location.
Direction verification
If you notice, the needle on my compass and the north direction do not line up. This is due to magnetic declination. The needle points to magnetic north so I needed to adjust the declination on my compass so that the needle was set to the declination angle of 14° West in our area at this time. The magnetic declination changes every year since the magnetic pole of the Earth is in constant motion.
Monday, 05/10/2021: Posted photo — Owl.
Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 50, f/1.7, 1/179 s, 4 mm
During my hike this evening, I saw blue birds trying to knock something out of a tree. When I looked closer, it was this barred owl. I have seen one on the mountain a few years ago, and have heard them on the mountain many times, but have never seen one this close. I was going to bring my “good” camera on my hike and decided against it. I did not even have my backup camera. All I had with me was my cell phone. After many shots at bad angles, this owl just stayed on the branch allowing me to take this photo. Not bad for a cell phone camera.
Barred Owls are easiest to find when they are active at night — they are a lot easier to hear than to see. Visit forests near water (big bottomland forest along a river is prime Barred Owl habitat) and listen carefully, paying attention for the species’ barking “Who cooks for you?” call. At great distance, this can sound like a large dog. Try imitating the call with your own voice and then wait quietly. If you are lucky, a territorial Barred Owl will fly in to investigate you. During the daytime, a quiet walk-through mature forest might reveal a roosting Barred Owl if you are very lucky.
This part of the trail on Wachusett Mountain is a mature forest. It is one of the oldest forests around since it was not clear cut for farming when this country was settled.
Facts about the Barred Owl from All About Birds:
The Great Horned Owl is the most serious predatory threat to the Barred Owl. Although the two species often live in the same areas, a Barred Owl will move to another part of its territory when a Great Horned Owl is nearby.
Pleistocene fossils of Barred Owls, at least 11,000 years old, have been dug up in Florida, Tennessee, and Ontario.
Barred Owls do not migrate, and they do not even move around very much. Of 158 birds that were banded and then found later, none had moved farther than 6 miles away.
Despite their generally sedentary nature, Barred Owls have recently expanded their range into the Pacific Northwest. There, they are displacing and hybridizing with Spotted Owls — their slightly smaller, less aggressive cousins — which are already threatened from habitat loss.
Young Barred Owls can climb trees by grasping the bark with their bill and talons, flapping their wings, and walking their way up the trunk.
The oldest recorded Barred Owl was at least 24 years, 1 month old. It was banded in Minnesota in 1986, and found dead, entangled in fishing gear, in the same state in 2010.
Wonder why I like to hike? One of many reasons is so I can see wild animals and birds and to just enjoy nature.
Tuesday, 05/11/2021: Posted photo — Fiddlehead.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1000 s, 135 mm.
From some site off the web: Fiddleheads or fiddlehead greens are the furled fronds of a young fern, harvested for use as a vegetable. Left on the plant, each fiddlehead would unroll into a new frond. As fiddleheads are harvested early in the season before the frond has opened and reached its full height, they are cut close to the ground.
Fiddleheads have antioxidant activity, are a source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and are high in iron and fiber. The fiddlehead resembles the curled ornamentation (called a scroll) on the end of a stringed instrument, such as a fiddle. It is also called a crozier, after the curved staff used by bishops, which has its origins in the shepherd’s crook.
Fiddlehead
Fiddleheads grow around our property this time of year. If you were to look back at my photo history, you would see that photograph them every year. I have not ventured into eating one yet.
Wednesday, 05/12/2021: Posted photo — Lilac.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/5, 1/250 s, 60 mm.
Lilacs are hardy, easy to grow, and low maintenance. They can grow from 5 to 15 feet tall, depending on the variety. The fragrant flowers are good for cutting and attractive to butterflies.
These lilacs are growing in our yard. The lilacs are growing on a plant that was transplanted from a friend’s house. They were moving and liked the plant. It was too big for their new location, so we split the plant. That was a few years ago and the plant is doing well.
Lilac in our yard
Thursday, 05/13/2021: Posted photo — More Turkeys.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 1250, f/5.6, 1/200 s, 135 mm.
Turkey, turkeys everywhere this year. This is the third time in just a couple of weeks when this rafter of turkeys has tried to stop me going to work. This was the first time the toms showed me their feathers.
Turkeys crossing the road
I had my “good” camera with me to take this photo through my windshield.
Friday, 05/14/2021: Post photo — Mesa Arch.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/11, 1/200 s, 48 mm.
Last week I posted a photo of the Milky Way from the Needles section of Canyonland National Park. Today I am posting a photo of the Mesa Arch from the Island in the Sky section of Canyonland National Park. I did not know that this arch was famous when I took this photo. I found out that photographers get up early to see the sunrise through the arch.
Masa Arch, Island in the Sky section of Canyonland National Park
Mesa Arch is a spectacular stone arch perched at the edge of a cliff with vast views of canyons, rock spires, and the La Sal Mountains in the distance. Mesa Arch formed as surface water pooled and eventually eroded through bedrock at the mesa’s edge.
Saturday, 05/15/2021: Post photo — Azalea.
Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 50, f/1.7, 1/2808 s, 4 mm
Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron. Azaleas bloom in the spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks. Shade tolerant, they prefer living near or under trees.
We have two azalea shrubs in our yard, one read and one pink. The red on blooms first and then the pink one.
Azaleas are starting to bloom
They are an easy subject to photograph when I need a quick photo.
Photo by Joseph Ciras 