“Once you learn to care, you can record images with your mind or on film. There is no difference between the two.” — Anonymous
Random photos of the week. Not my best week of photos.
Sunday, 03/17/2024: Posted photo — Wet Road.
The subject of my weekly photo project this week was road. As with most weeks lately, I had full intention to take another photo for this project and time flew by. I am finding it more difficult to do this weekly project that it was to do the daily project.
This is a photo looking down my street from our driveway. The water on the road gives this photo my character that if the road were dry.
Monday, 03/18/2024: Posted photo — Boundary.
There are two Massachusetts State Parks withing 10 minutes of our house.
The 3,000-acre Wachusett Mountain State Reservation offers plenty of natural and recreational opportunities. And Leominster State Forest that has hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing and fishing. Both locations have segments of the 95-mile Midstate Trail in them and I hike and snowshoe in them, depending on the season. Leominster State Forest is flatter and easier to snowshoe in, and I have rock climbed the Crow Hill Ledges often when I was younger.
You have seen many posts from me about my hiking Wachusett Mountain and not many about my adventures in the Leominster State Forest. I will have to post more about those hikes.
Tuesday, 03/19/2024: Posted photo — First Day of Spring.
Today is the first day of spring, the vernal equinox. This was the earliest that the vernal equinox occurred across the contiguous United States in 128 years. Why was it the earliest that the vernal equinox occurred across the contiguous United States in 128 years. According to space.com, there are two specific reasons for this: 1) The quadrennial intervention of leap year often causes a slight variation of the date, and 2) Daylight saving time (DST).
These are tulips that are starting to break through the soil at our house. I was looking to take photos of crocus, but have not seen any this year.
Wednesday, 03/20/2024: Posted photo — Are you Looking at Me.
I came home from work today and saw this squirrel just looking at me. I took out my phone to take it photo expecting it to run away, but it just stayed there.
One of my co-workers heard a story about a state running out of license plates numbers in a particular state so he wanted to know how many combinations of six digits there are. I sent this problem to my son, a mathematician, and these are his calculations.
He did the calculations with (36) six-character plates (26 letters and 10 numbers) and with five character with the last digit indicating the month of registration, as it is done here in Massachusetts. There are other special cases that he did not calculate.
Friday, 03/22/2024: Post photo — Good Morning.
Some snow and ice on family vehicles. Taken in the future (Saturday morning, not today)
Saturday, 03/23/2024: Post photo — Snow and Ice.
Woke up to snow and ice. This weather was expected. I had to run some errands in the morning and the roads were bad. I saw a few cars that have drive off the road. Some people are just invincible.
“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
Here are some mountains that I have seen during my travels.
There were many great views of the mountain in the park. Took this photo was in the morning when the water was calm. There was someone sleeping in a hammock just outside the frame of this photo.
Monday, 02/19/2024: Posted photo — Grand Teton National Park.
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
The Tetons are great and majestic mountains. Took this one just after sunset in the golden hour.
Tuesday, 02/20/2024: Posted photo — Lake McDonald.
Glacier National Park, Montana
This was my first view of Glacier National Park. We did some hiking with a mountain goat and her children on this trip.
Wednesday, 02/21/2024: Posted photo — Prince of Wales Hotel Waterton Lake.
Waterton – Glacier International Peace Park, Alberta
When we arrived at the park, the ranger saw that I had a camera. She told me of the spot to take this photo. It was up a private road used just by the rangers.
Thursday, 02/22/2024: Posted photo — Along the White Pass Yukon Route Railway.
Alaska
We took a ride on the White Pass Railroad on our trip to Alaska. We did go into the Yukon to turn around. This is one of the mountains along the way. This photo is in color.
Friday, 02/23/2024: Post photo — Lake Louise.
Banff National Park, Alberta
I did not know that Lake Louise was a famous lake. We just stopped in to take in the views. It was crowded when we arrived in the morning and was very crowded in the afternoon when we continued our journey.
Saturday, 02/24/2024: Post photo — Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument.
Washington
Been to Mount St Helens many times since it erupted on May 18, 1980. I am amazed with the way nature is recovering. The first time I went there was ten years after the eruption and there were still logs floating in Spirit Lake.
“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” — Dorothea Lange
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
Sunday, 01/07/2024: Posted photo — Snow.
The first snow of the year happened overnight and throughout the day. When I went out to shovel in the morning, there was 10 inches of snow on the ground. When I went out later in the day, there was an additional 6.5 inches of snow on the ground. Although the photo shows what looks like heavy snow on the trees, the snow was light when I shoveled. It took me a few hours in the morning and not as long in the afternoon to clear the snow in our yard.
Monday, 01/08/2024: Posted photo — Snowshoe Hike.
What do you do when you have over a foot and a half of snow? Snowshoe on the mountain! My usual Monday night group did not schedule a hike for this week. The group I sometimes hike with on Tuesday nights, switched their night to Monday night to take advantage of the newly fallen snow.
We hiked over three miles on the mountain at a slow pace. There were a couple of trails that had to be broken in since no one else used them. I also had to fill in some “post holes” from people that hiked in the deep snow without using snowshoes. “Post-holing” is a term in winter hiking that refers to someone sinking their entire leg into new snow. It makes for exhaustive and agonizingly slow walking. It also can make the trail dangerous for anyone following you. It is why people wear snowshoes.
Tuesday, 01/09/2024: Posted photo — Snowshoes.
This was a great week to snowshoe. I went out today before the rain. We are expected to get heavy rains this evening. Tonight’s storm started out with light snow, then the heavy snow, then rain.
I was out shopping tonight, and the roads were not cleared. Driving was a little dangerous during the heavy snow.
Wednesday, 01/10/2024: Posted photo — Selfie.
The first week of my 52-week photo project is a self-portrait. This is a selfie I took the hiking trail this week. I needed a photo for today, so I am using this photo I took on Monday.
Thursday, 01/11/2024: Posted photo — Tracks in the Snow.
Here are some tracks in the snow. The tracks were made by either a squirrel or the rabbit that lives on our property. The animal traveled under the eves of my roof to stay out of the snow. Could someone help me identify the tracks please?
Friday, 01/12/2024: Post photo — Banana.
Information off the Chiquita banana website: Bananas are hailed as the best superfood because they have a good level of fiber and heart healthy fats. The fiber is also a special kind of fiber – soluble fiber – that drives down bad cholesterol and reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Bananas can aid digestion and help beat gastrointestinal issues (thanks to a helpful amount of soluble fiber) and their natural sugars that provide a long-lasting boost of energy.
I started eating bananas more to reduce my bad cholesterol and to help me with my weight loss.
Saturday, 01/13/2024: Post photo — Fire.
On a cold day like today, a nice warm fire in the wood stove feels great. The temperature in this area is dropping to below freezing so we like to keep a fire going in our wood stove. The room that the stove is in has brick wall and concrete floors under the rugs. When the fire gets going, we need to open up the doors and windows to cool down the house. The brick and the concrete hold the heat very well. The problem is when we start to feel chilly, the fire most likely has gone out.
After our warm week in Florida, we came home to snow. I was going to take and post this photo snow or no snow. Our neighbor taps our sugar maple tree every year and gives us some of the syrup. The general rule of thumb is that it takes 40 parts maple sap to produce 1 part maple syrup. This translates into 40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon or syrup (or 10 gallons of sap for one quart of syrup). This estimate is dependent on the sugar content of your sap.
Monday, 02/27/2023: Posted photo — Welcome Home.
This is the snow on the railing to our deck. The snow was heavy and icy. I did not hike tonight so that I could clean up after the storms that took place when we were on vacation. Once I had the technique of getting the is pick under the ice and snow, cleanup was relatively easy to do. It just took a few hours to complete.
Tuesday, 02/28/2023: Posted photo — Driveway.
Our neighbor’s driveway cleaned up after last week’s snow storms.
Wednesday, 03/01/2023: Posted photo — Stone.
This stone is at the end our our neighbor’s driveway. He has stones on both sides of his driveway so that its location can be found easily since his house cannot be seen from the street.
Thursday, 03/02/2023: Posted photo — Next Storm.
This photo was taken Saturday and not Thursday. We had almost a foot of wet, heavy snow fall overnight. The snow has stopped. We normally go out a few time during a storm to shovel, but since this storm happened overnight, we did not. I do not have a snow blower or a plow. I like to get my exercise by shoveling snow.
Friday, 03/03/2023: Post photo — Path.
Snowshoe path created by my snowshoes. Here is a photo of my snowshoes. The heal strap was fixed a few weeks ago, so this was the first opportunity for me to use them.
Saturday, 03/04/2023: Post photo — Finally On Snowshoes.
Today is the one year anniversary of my ankle surgery. Last week I posted a photo of my feet in the ocean. This week I am posting a photo of my feet in my snowshoes. This is the first time in my snowshoes all winter. Between the weather, travel, work, and a broken snowshoe, this was the first opportunity of me to get out. It was a short hike with no complications. Off to some longer hikes, as long as the snow stays a little longer.
“When people ask me what equipment I use – I tell them my eyes.” — Anonymous
One of the things that I like to do is to turn some of my photos into posters. Here is a few of the photos that I have turned into posters over the years.
Sunday, 01/08/2023: Posted photo — Lake Louise.
Lake Louise is located in Banff National Park, Canada’s oldest national park, in the Canadian province of Alberta. It sits at an elevation of 5,679 ft (1,731 m) making it Canada’s highest permanent settlement. The lake extends northeast for around 1.5 mi (2.4 km) and is around 0.75 mi (1.2 km) at its widest point. The Lake Louise area is separated in two – the larger community is known as Lake Louise Village and is directly accessible via the Trans-Canada Highway, while Upper Lake Louise is directly next to the lake itself and contains the famous Lake Louise Chateau, along with a host of incredible hiking, biking, and horse-riding trails. https://adventures.com/canada/attractions/lakes/lake-louise/
Monday, 01/09/2023: Posted photo — Bubble Net Feeding.
Bubble-net feeding is a cooperative hunting strategy that occurs within a group of whales. It is a complex, highly synchronized set of behaviors that involve communication and cooperation, demonstrating signs of high social intelligence.
How it works
To bubble-net feed, whales dive deep below schools of fish and use bubbles blown from their blowholes to stun and trap fish closer to the surface. One whale generally leads the effort followed by the rest of the group. The leader will usually be responsible for blowing the bubbles and the other members will surround the fish, following them to the surface by swimming in spiral patterns to keep the fish trapped.
Humpback whales are known as “gulpers”, which means they feed by leaving their mouths open, swallowing everything in their paths before closing their mouths, pushing water out through their baleen plates and swallowing the critters (usually fish and small crustaceans) they caught. During bubble net feeding, the whales swimming toward the surface will have their mouths open and gulp fish from the school they have corralled.
Wellesley Glacier is a 4-mile long glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It trends east for 4 mi to a lagoon on the west bank of College Fjord, 3.7 mi southwest of College Point and 54 mi west of Valdez. It was named for Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts by members of the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition. https://alaska.guide/glacier/wellesley-glacier
For over a century, five generations of the Kunde family have farmed our 1,850-acre estate in the heart of Sonoma Valley. Our winemaking mission is to carry on that tradition by crafting elegant, estate-grown, sustainably-farmed wines with a real sense of place—beautifully balanced and expressive of our dramatic vineyard landscape. https://www.kunde.com/
I took this photo when we attended a wedding at the winery. The couple rented out the vineyard for the occasion.
Thursday, 01/12/2023: Posted photo — Glacier National Park.
Glacier National Park is a 1,583-sq.-mi. wilderness area in Montana’s Rocky Mountains, with glacier-carved peaks and valleys running to the Canadian border. It’s crossed by the mountainous Going-to-the-Sun Road. Among more than 700 miles of hiking trails, it has a route to photogenic Hidden Lake. Other activities include backpacking, cycling and camping. Diverse wildlife ranges from mountain goats to grizzly bears. https://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm
Friday, 01/13/2023: Post photo — Bear at Curry Village.
Curry Village is a resort in Mariposa County, California in Yosemite National Park within the Yosemite Valley. A rockfall in 2008 damaged a number of structures, and about one third of visitor units were closed because of risk. https://www.nps.gov/places/000/curry-village.htm
There was a fisher cat next to our tent site. It hid when this bear walked by. The ranger asked up if we were able to get a look at the number on the bear’s tag. Yosemite National Park is the only park that I know of that a bear will open the door of your car for you if they see something shinny in it or if they smell anything that might be food.
Saturday, 01/14/2023: Post photo — Royal Arches.
The Royal Arches refers to a cliff containing natural occurring granite exfoliation arches, located below North Dome and rising above Yosemite Valley, in Yosemite National Park, California. The Royal Arches are located on the north side of the valley, northeast of the Ahwahnee Hotel. http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Yosemite-Valley-Royal-Arches-Area-Royal-Arches
Happy New Year’s to all. For the last 15 or so years, I have been starting off the new year by hiking a local mountain to see the first sunrise of the year. This year’s hike was a wonderful hike. There had been snow and ice on the trails for most of December. Just after Christmas, we had a warm and rainy spell so there was not ice and snow. I did have to use my microspikes in areas near the trailhead and the mountain was clear of snow and ice at the summit.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 3200, f/3.5, 20 s, 18 mm.
On the second day of the new year, I hiked the 7 Sisters in Mt. Holyoke Range. The 3,000-acre Mount Holyoke Range State Park features a 7-mile mountain ridge line. The park also includes streams, wetlands, woods, and thickets. Visitors can explore more than 30 miles of blazed trails.
The range may be on a ridge line, but during the first three miles of the hike, there were ten different peaks. Looking at my gps tracking, I agree with someone I was hiking with, the tracking looks like the EKG of ones heartbeat. Not and easy hike, but fun. Again, now snow and ice. The range is at lower elevations that near my house. The highest peak in the range is lower than the elevation of my house. The difference is that you start just above sea leave because the range starts near on the of major rivers in the area. The Mount Holyoke Range is unique because it runs east to west, not north to south as most of the ranges. The Metacomet Ridge runs mostly north to south.
Tuesday, 01/03/2023: Posted photo — Mount Holyoke.
This is a photo of Mount Holyoke from the high point of the range, Mount Hitchcock at 1,005 feet. This is 1,001 feet lower than the mountain that frequent, Wachusett Mountain.
Mount Holyoke, a traprock mountain, elevation 935 feet, is the westernmost peak of the Holyoke Range and part of the 100-mile Metacomet Ridge. The mountain is in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts.
Wednesday, 01/04/2023: Posted photo — Ladder.
One of the hills on the 7 Sister’s hike required the use of this ladder. As I noted a few days ago, the hills were very steep on the trail. The route I took had about 1,092 feet in elevation gain. As you can see, the elevation gain was more that the height of the tallest peak on the hike.
Thursday, 01/05/2023: Posted photo — Snow.
Starting to snow around here. Great to see the ground covered in snow again. This snow is a wet snow, so I need to keep up with the shoveling so that it does not get too heavy.
Friday, 01/06/2023: Post photo — During the Storm.
Happy Epiphany. Epiphany, also known as Three Kings’ Day, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God in His Son as human in Jesus Christ.
About this photo: one thing about snow is it does make for some great photos.
Saturday, 01/07/2023: Post photo — Full Moon.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/250 s, 135 mm.
Today I went on a full moon hike with the members of my hiking group. We are re-starting group hikes with the group. When the group was founded eleven years ago next week my four of my friends and myself, the goal was to do group hikes. It lasted for a while, then the group grew exponentially. Now we are back to schedule group hikes to get back to our roots.
Full moon at the end of the hikeHiking to the summitMoon from the summit still in the clouds
“Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is.” — Anonymous
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
This week I will be posting a few highlights of one of my trips. We called this trip our norther National Part trip. We traveled through Montana, Alberta, Banff, Jasper, Washington state, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa during this trip. This trip included visits to many national parks in the United States and Canada, visiting family, visiting natural movie sets, and when to an amusement park in the Mall of America in which I held with the design of a few of the rides.
Sunday, 03/27/2022: Posted photo — Lake McDonald.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 100, f/8, 1/400 s, 75 mm.
The first stop on our northern national park tour was in Glacier National Park in Montana. What a wonderful park. It does have many glaciers, some growing and some receding.
Monday, 03/28/2022: Posted photo — Mountain Goat.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 100, f/5, 1/125 s, 200 mm.
While we were in Glacier National Park, we took a hike out to Hidden Lake. On the way out to the lake, we had a few mountain goats walk along the trail with us.
Tuesday, 03/29/2022: Posted photo — Hidden Lake.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 100, f/9, 1/160 s, 25 mm.
This was a destination, Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park. For your information, this hike took place on July 4 and we did most of our hiking in the snow.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/11, 1/4 s, 33 mm.
Johnston Canyon to Lower Falls is an extremely popular and scenic trail in Banff National Park, in addition to being one of the busiest in the Canadian Rockies. We were driving around Banff and found the falls. We camped in Baff on our way to Jasper National Park.
Thursday, 03/31/2022: Posted photo — Lake Louise.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/13, 1/250 s, 29 mm.
Lake Louise is world famous for its turquoise lakes, the Victoria Glacier, soaring mountain backdrop. We went to Lake Louise on a weekend, so it was very busy. We took a few photos and then went on our way.
Friday, 04/01/2022: Post photo — Diablo Lake.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/13, 1/250 s, 35 mm.
On our way back from visiting family in Bellingham Washington, we took a trip to Northern Cascades National Park. One of the hikes we took was out to Diablo Lake.
From an information search, it was verified that Diablo Lake is a reservoir in the North Cascade mountains of northern Washington state. It was created by Diablo Dam and is located between Ross Lake and Gorge Lake on the Skagit River at an elevation of 1,201 feet above sea level.
I really like the color of the water in the lake.
Saturday, 04/02/2022: Post photo — Mount Rainier.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/11, 1/250 s, 42 mm.
Mount Rainier National Park. I am impressed every time I see this mountain. Either up close or from the city of Seattle. One time we flew past the mountain. That must have taken about five minutes to do since the girth on the mountain is so great.
Mount Rainier is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest standing at 14,411′ in elevation. The volcano last erupted in 1894, and when Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, all eyes were on Mount Rainier since the mountains are in the same chain. It is very interesting to camp in an area that has warnings about the possibility of lava flow. If the mountain erupted, I would think that the lava flow would be the least of our worries.
When we travel to Mount Rainier, we like to visit the Paradise area. I have photographed a few waterfalls in Paradise. When we visited this time, the snow was still very deep. Remember, this was early to mid-July. There was one waterfall that I wanted to photograph in the snow, and I could not find it. I had the GPS coordinates from the times before that I took photos of it. Looking at the GPS coordinates, I came to realize that I was standing on top of the falls.
“It’s weird that photographers spend years or even a whole lifetime, trying to capture moments that added together, don’t even amount to a couple of hours.” — James Lalropui Keivom
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
Sunday, 01/23/2022: Posted photo — Music.
Settings: Google Pixel 2, ISO 252, f/1.8, 1/120 s, 4 mm.
Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd…
This is best known psalm out of the 150 psalms in the Bible. There are five books and four literary styles in the psalms. The styles are hymns, prayers of thanksgiving and petition, religious lyrics, and didactic psalms. You can go online or ask your religious leader for more information on the psalms.
Songs, or hymns, at mass are used to enhance the service. I played the organ/keyboard during Mass when I was in college. My family still plays and sings in the choir during Mass today. A good song will lift your spirits.
I did not intend to use this photo today. I used it because it was one of the only photos that I took and it was the one that I liked the best.
Monday, 01/24/2022: Posted photo — Dusting of Snow.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/5, 1/15 s, 50 mm.
Last week we received heavy and wet snow. This week we received a dusting of snow.
In taking this photo, I was practicing depth of field (DOF) in my photos. I am in my 13 year of taking photos every day and I still need on practicing various techniques so my photos are of my liking. I am my own worst critic.
I did go on a great hike tonight. This is my normal Monday night hike on Wachusett Mountain. The trails were in great shape from all the people that have been hiking after the last snowstorm. Microspikes are needed. Some people say no to microspikes since there is no exposed ice on the trails. If I am leading a hike, I am requiring the use of microspikes, or other traction devices, since there is ice under the snow and the spikes give you better traction. I am cautions in a group situation.
Microspikes are great for hiking or in thick ice, nanospikes are good for walking the in areas where traction is needed, but they are not as aggressive as microspikes. I would not recommend the use of nonspikes while hiking since they do not have the grip you need on the snow or ice, or the inclines and declined on a hiking trail. A more aggressive means for traction is the use of crampons. I use my crampons in the higher elevations of the White Mountains, or on a very icy trail. When I hike in the winter, I carry two sets of microspikes: my inexpensive “rock” microspikes and my “good” microspikes and have my crampons with me. Occasionally I will also attach my snowshoes to my pack if there has been newly fallen snow and I know that trail that I will be hiking is an underutilized trail. The difference between my inexpensive “rock” microspikes and my “good” microspikes is the length of the spikes and the quality of the product.
Tuesday, 01/25/2022: Posted photo — Snow White.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 800, f/36, 1/50 s, 93 mm.
Light dusting of snow received last night. This makes for a wonderful winter scene. When I was walking around yesterday, I was thinking of the challenge for the 52 frames project https://52frames.com/photographer/20931. The challenge is for this week is to take a minimalistic photo. This is my first minimalistic photo of the week. Look for a different photo later in the week.
Wednesday, 01/26/2022: Posted photo — Colors.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/160 s, 115 mm.
Last week at this time, I posted a sunrise photo. Today I did the same.
I would like to talk about the colors in a sunrise/sunset. When the sun is low on the horizon during sunrises and sunsets, the sunlight travels through more of the atmosphere. Shorter wavelength colors (blues and violets) get scattered out. This leaves more of the longer wavelength colors like yellow, orange, and red. Therefore, sunrises often take on such colors. Some of the colors of a sunrise or sunset are #95382c, #141b24, #4f3c54, #223444, and #9c4a44 for the more technical people that read my post. Sunrises and sunsets are also in the 1000–2000 K range. Other base settings for sunrise and sunset photos are f/6–f/16 and a shutter speed of 1/500 s. I also like to take my photos one step underexposed to bring out the colors. Shoot RAW so values can be adjusted post process if required.
As always, practice sunrise and sunset photos to find out the best settings for your camera.
Thursday, 01/27/2022: Posted photo — Sky.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/640 s, 24 mm.
Here is another minimalistic photo for the week. I like this one better than the snow photo so this is the one that I may post for the 52 frames project.
Some of the elements of minimalistic photography are simplicity, negative space, powerful composition, isolation, color, and lines and shapes. Minimalist photography shows the power of a simple solo object. In this case, it is the contrail against the blue sky.
Looking at the simplicity of this photo, my watermark may be taking away some of its impact. Need to think about that next time. There is a debate whether to watermark photos. It does take away from the aesthetic quality of some photos. I watermark the photos that I post and not the ones that I display in gallery showings or the ones that I sell.
Friday, 01/28/2022: Post photo — Hook.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/5, 1/15 s, 62 mm.
I see a hook, a needlenose shark, or a stitch puller. What do you see? This is another pareidolia photo.
Today I am not writing much about this photo since I need to prepare our house for the snow storm that will happen tomorrow.
Saturday, 01/29/2022: Post photo — Looking Down the Street.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/80 s, 29 mm.
We received about 10 inches of snow out of today’s storm. It is much less than originally predicted. The storm moved out to sea, and we were on the outer edge of the storm.
I did go out every two hours today to shovel the snow. The first few times out there were a few inches of show to shovel. As the day went on, the shoveling was easier and quicker. Winter storm Kenan was another let down for us. Only 10 inches of snow. We are still waiting for the first big storm of the year.
Kenan was a bomb cyclone. A bomb cyclone is a storm that undergoes bombogenesis. Bombogenesis is a rapid intensification of a low-pressure system in which we measure in millibars. The lower the pressure is, the stronger the storm.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/30 s, 113 mm.
Last week I wrote about how cold it was in this area. Here is a photo of this morning’s temperature. As you can see, it is still cold in this area. The temperature will warm up tomorrow since we are expecting eight inches of snow. Looks like I will be snowshoeing to work tomorrow.
From AccuWeather:
A question meteorologist get asked all the time during the cold winter months is “can it ever be too cold to snow”? Well, the short answer is no.
The ingredients for snow are:
1. A temperature profile that allows snow to reach the surface 2. Saturated air 3. Enough lifting of that saturated air to allow snow to develop aloft and fall to reach the surface
The phrase “it’s too cold to snow” probably originated as a misapplication of the relationship between temperature and the maximum amount of water vapor that can be in the air. When temperature decreases, the maximum capacity of water vapor that can be in the air decreases. Therefore, the colder it gets the less water vapor there will be in the air.
Monday, 01/17/2022: Posted photo — My Commute.
Settings: Google Pixel 2, ISO 186, f/1.8, 1/60 s, 4 mm.
It snowed last night, and it was snowing during my morning commute. I like to say that my commute took longer that usual to get to work. What normally takes me five minutes, took me 45 minutes. It is much safer for me to walk to work in the snow than it is for me to drive in the snow. A little more than half of my hike is on the Midstate Trail. It is nice to live so close to a trail junction or trailhead.
During my three mile hike to work, I may see one or two cars and a half dozen plows. On my way home from work, there will be some more cars, depending on the road conditions. People stay home from work when it is snowing. The funny thing about that is that I live in north central Massachusetts, in a snowy part of New England, so people should be used to driving in the snow.
I did not go on my normal Monday night hike on Wachusett Mountain today. If I were to hike it, I would have to leave work a little early, take the three mile, 45 minute hike home; get in my car; and then hike three to four more miles on the mountain.
Walking generally occurs on flat paths, while hiking often occurs in areas of high elevation. It can include hills and mountains. Some people think of hiking as anything that has above a 500 foot change in elevation.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/16, 1/250 s, 300 mm.
The full moon was yesterday. It was snowing yesterday so I did not have the opportunity to do my full moon without a headlamp nighttime hike on Wachusett Mountain. As written yesterday, I walked to and from work because of the weather.
This morning I saw the moon and wanted to take a photo of it for this month.
From the Old Farmer’s Almanac: “It’s thought that January’s full Moon came to be known as the Wolf Moon because wolves were more likely to be heard howling at this time. It was traditionally believed that wolves howled due to hunger during winter, but we know today that wolves howl for different reasons. Howling and other wolf vocalizations are generally used to define territory, locate pack members, reinforce social bonds, and coordinate hunting.”
Wednesday, 01/19/2022: Posted photo — Sunrise.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/30 s, 50 mm.
The sky caught my eye this morning, so I took a photo of it. The photo itself will explain why. What great colors. Too bad a photo does not do it justice.
Settings: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, ISO 200, f/11, 1/640 s, 75 mm.
The Aialik Glacier is a glacier in the Kenai Peninsula Borough of Alaska. It drains into Aialik Bay. Part of Kenai Fjords National Park, it drains the Harding Icefield. Aialik Glacier, a little over 15 miles from Seward, is the largest glacier in Aialik Bay.
Icefields are expanses of glacial ice flowing in multiple directions. Like ice caps, icefields usually cover less than 50,000 square kilometers (19,300 square miles), so they are much smaller than the ice sheets blanketing Greenland and Antarctica. In contrast to ice caps, icefields are interrupted by peaks of the underlying mountain ridges, and those mountains influence the flow of the icefield.
This is one of the amazing sites in Alaska.
Friday, 01/21/2022: Post photo — Morning View.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/160 s, 101 mm.
What a great view this morning. As I walk around, I am seeing the sunrise more since the sun is rising earlier in the day. The colors this week on the sunrises have been spectacular.
Saturday, 01/22/2022: Post photo — Colors.
Settings: Google Pixel 2, ISO 124, f/1.8, 1/125 s, 4 mm.
I am posting to another website weekly, https://52frames.com/photographer/20931. This week’s theme is Complementary Colors. I had to go to the store today to get somethings to repair my roof and took this photo of the color samples. There are many sets of Complementary Colors in this shot.
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
Happy New Year to all!
Sunday, 01/02/2022: Posted photo — Boot Scraper.
Settings: Google Pixel 2, ISO 193, f/1.8, 1/125 s, 4 mm.
Have you ever walked around a historic district and noted a metal “H” shaped object on the sides of stairways? Those are boot scrapers.
Before roads were paved, people walked, or rode horsed to their destination. When they did, their boots became muddy. To keep the insides of their houses clean, boot scrapers were place on the stairway leading to the entrances of the dwellings. Modern boot scrapers use a brush. You might have seen them at golf courses or visitor centers at national park or other hiking trails since they do a better job cleaning boots. They can get into the groves of the treads much better than just scraping boot on a metal rod.
Monday, 01/03/2022: Posted photo — Academy Hill.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/80 s, 35 mm.
Westminster Village–Academy Hill Historic District encompasses the historic first town center of my town, Westminster, MA. It was the commercial core of the town in the early-19th century. Centered at the junction Main and South Streets with Academy Hill Road, it contains fine examples of Colonial, Federal, and Greek Revival architecture, including the 1839 town hall. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Shown in this photo is the gazebo that hosts events, such as band concerts, during the warmer weather and in the background is the Rev. Cyrus Mann House that was built in 1815.
Tuesday, 01/04/2022: Posted photo — Xylophone.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/13 s, 50 mm.
This toy xylophone belongs to my son. He used it just over 20 years ago. It is now being used by my almost three year old grandniece. She had a great time this afternoon playing with it, naming the colors on it, and just making up songs.
How do I know it is a xylophone and not a glockenspiel? They both have bars. They’re both melodic pieces of percussion. You hit them with a stick. There is one notable difference: A Glockenspiel is made from metal and a xylophone is made with wood. Glock in German is Bell, ergo the Glockenspiel. The Xylophone is made of Xylos, aka wood. Metal bars and Wooden bars. Glock and Xylos.
Wednesday, 01/05/2022: Posted photo — Off to Play.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/25 s, 64 mm.
This compass is pointing to the direction of the mountains in the area. It is the direction that I do most of my playing or hiking and mountain climbing.
Historians think China may have been the first civilization to develop a magnetic compass that could be used for navigation. Chinese scientists may have developed navigational compasses as early as the 11th or 12th century. Western Europeans soon followed at the end of the 12th century.
“The First compass was invented in China during the Han Dynasty between the 2nd century BC and 1st century AD, (we don’t know precisely when). At first, it was used for divination, fortune-telling and geomancy, for finding precious gems and in Feng Shui but in time people discovered that it can be used for navigation and orientation. People knew about magnetite even before then, but it took centuries for it to get at least some purpose.” (http://www.historyofcompass.com/)
The compass in this photo does not work very well. It does not always point in the correct direction, so I use it only for demonstration purposes. It was defective from the first time I received it. REI was very nice to me and sent me a new working compass at no cost to replace this one.
Thursday, 01/06/2022: Posted photo — Sunrise.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/640 s, 85 mm.
Some day I take many photos for myself, other days I do not. Today was one of those days that I did not take many photos for myself. I took this photo at work. Not the best sunrise to photograph. I took it just incase I did not take another one for myself during the day. I was correct, I did not. This just proves that you should take a photo of anything during the day just incase you do not have the opportunity to take another.
Friday, 01/07/2022: Post photo — Tree in Snow.
Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/250 s, 50 mm.
Today it snowed. We did not get much, many five inches in this area, but it snowed all day. I walked into work and home from work. A great five mile round trip hike from my house to work and back. I am luck to live within walking distance of work with most of it being through the Midstate Trail. I did not bring my snowshoes since there was not going to be enough snow to use them so I only had my microspikes with me, just in case I needed them.
This photo was taken during the day while it was still snowing. There was going to be not much of an opportunity to take outside photos today and I did not want to take an indoor photo because I wanted to show the day as a snowy day for historical purposes.
Saturday, 01/08/2022: Post photo — Motor.
Settings: Google Pixel 2, ISO 332, f/1.8, 1/60 s, 4 mm.
This motor is off my father’s lathe. My father passed almost 29 years ago so the lathe has not been turned on for at least 25 years. Not that I have it, I plan on cleaning it up to use. The motor was made in 1952 by the name plate. It will be great to get it working and to turn some wood on my father’s old lathe.
Photo by Joseph Ciras 