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photobyjosephciras

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October 10, 2021

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hiking, Nature, Travel, water

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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/.

Posted by

photobyjosephciras

Posted on

July 11, 2021

Posted under

hiking, Nature, Photography, Thoughts, Travel

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Photographic Thoughts — 07/04/2021 to 07/10/2021

“Photography is truth.” — Jean-Luc Godard

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, 07/04/2021: Posted photo — Planter.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/50 s, 52 mm.

Planters are used on houses and cottages for plants. A planter is a decorative container in which plants are grown. This planter is located at my in-law’s cottage. I like the look of this, very rustic. A few of the leaves on this planter looked real to me when looking at it quickly.

Just for fun, I am posting a photo that I took today and that you should be able to see in 3D.

See if you can view this photo in three dimensions. Use the techniques below and a middle photo will appear.

Go to this page to see the instructions on how to view this photo. “How to See 3D: Magic Eye 3D and more” (vision3d.com)

Monday, 07/05/2021: Posted photo — Inversion.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/500 s, 45 mm

A cloud inversion, or temperature inversion is when the normal temperature distribution of air – warm at the bottom, colder as you go up – becomes inverted or flipped upside down. This means you have a cold layer of air trapped at ground level, overlain by warm air. I know that information may not be useful to you, but it may be useful to some.

Cloud inversion from the Glen Boulder Trail

This photo was taken on a 14-mile round trip hike to the summit of Mount Isolation in NH. I did this hike with my son and two of his friends. Mount Isolation is one of the 48 4,000-foot mountains in New Hampshire. The path we took was Glen Boulder Trail to Davis Path to Isolation Trail to Rocky Branch Trail. Mount Isolation is only 4,003 feet tall. To get to it we hiked over Gulf Peak (4,774 feet) and North Isolation (4,291 feet). Both mountains are not official 4,000 footers because they do not meet the official criteria to be counted. A 4,000-footer is a mountain that has an elevation of at least 4,000 feet and a minimum of 200 feet prominence. Today turned out to be the best day of the holiday weekend.

Here are some more photos of our hike.

Tuesday, 07/06/2021: Posted photo — Reflection.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 50, f/1.7, 1/385 s, 4 mm

I was on my way home from my mother’s house and was thinking about what photo I would be posting today. As it was much if the weekend, it was rainy and overcast. I drive past the Holden Reservoirs. The Holden Reservoirs supply the city of Worcester, Mass, and the surrounding communities.

Sunset reflection from one of the Holden Reservoirs

As I passed the last of the reservoirs, I say some color in the sky, so I took to take a photo of this. I took this photo not knowing if there was anything else to photograph for the remainder of the day. Cell phone photos do not do any justice to the beauty of sunsets.

Wednesday, 07/07/2021: Posted photo — More Clouds.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/1000 s, 25 mm.

One word for today, humid. It was not raining and very humid, with a severe weather warning. One of the things I like about a day like today is watching the clouds grow as the storm develops. I like the contrast between the white clouds and the blue sky. I also like when the sun rays seem to jump from cloud to cloud.

I took this photo with treetops in the foreground to have some contrast between the sky, trees, and clouds. There were better clouds to photograph down the road, but I decided to use this photo because it seemed dramatic to me.

Thursday, 07/08/2021: Posted photo — Calculator.

Settings: Samsung SM-G930V (Galaxy S7), ISO 400, f/1.7, 1/10 s, 4 mm

These are some of the keys on my HP 35s Scientific Calculator. It is an older RPN calculator and is one that is allowed into the professional engineering examination. I am not taking the examination for a little while longer since I need to study for it. Being a mechanical engineer for over 35 years, I need to get back to study topics that I do not use every day.

Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) is a system of representing mathematical and logical operations in which the operands precede the operator, and which does not require the use of parentheses. I find RPN much faster to use and I now find it difficult at times to use regular, or normal, notation when using a calculator.

Friday, 07/09/2021: Post photo — Mushroom.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/320 s, 113 mm.

Rained today. Heavy rain today due to Tropical Storm Elsa. The storm brought very heavy rains in flooding to some towns in the area. Once the sun came out, the sky was a great blue.

On my way home from work, I was just going on settling on posting a photo from the past because the rain put a damper on taking a photo outside. When I arrived home, I saw some mushrooms growing in our front lawn. Great photo opportunity for me. A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. Some people eat mushrooms, some people can tell if it is poisonous or not. I am neither of these people. I do not eat mushrooms and cannot tell if one is poisonous or not. I should work on identifying edible and non-edible mushrooms since I see many on them on my hikes.

Saturday, 07/10/2021: Post photo — Rose.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/2500 s, 113 mm.

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” — William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet.

Red roses are often considered the universal symbol of love.
Pink roses symbolize gratitude, grace, and joy.
White roses are a symbol of purity, innocence and in some cases, chastity.
Purple roses are not nearly as common, they indicate a fascination or adoration.
Yellow roses are a symbol of friendship and caring.
Orange roses indicate enthusiasm and passion, making them a creative substitute for Valentine’s Day roses and other holidays when people typically buy red roses.