26 Aug 11. Another fantastic fall day was experienced on Thursday, along with a cloudless blue sky and a sunset that turned Mt Rainier into a lush peachy blush and concluded the evening with Ol' Sol looking like a golden-orange orb as he made his departure for the day. A lovely sight if ever there was one. The color of that sun reminded me of a California Poppy more than anything else, so I've elected to go with another poppy shot. This was one of the series I described yesterday, but taken a bit later in the morning which gives it a more orange color as well as being substantially brighter. The morning moisture still remained, not yet having had time to evaporate, so I used a very small aperture in an attempt to get as many of the dew drops in focus as possible. A small subject with lots of potential, with it being walking distance from my home, it serves to emphasize that you don't have to go far to find good material. ISO 200; 1/250 sec @ f /16.
29 Aug 11. I shared this image about 6 years ago, when most of you were not part of the distribution. A chance meeting with a local long time resident of Kingston on Saturday brought the photo to mind. It was taken while on a bird shoot hosted by the MD Dept of Game. All the birds were injury recovered raptors but not capable of survival on their own, so they are kept by the MD Game Dept for display and education about raptors. This one had been shot and had wing damage and was no longer capable of flight. This was true of several others. The individual with whom I was talking on Saturday mentioned the stupidity of some of the current EPA rues concerning certain birds, siting among other things an attempt to shut down the local milling operation for 5 months at a time in close by Port Gamble, WA because a pair of Bald Eagles had decided to build a nest atop a working crane. The mill won the challenge. He was told he couldn't use about a third of his own property when a neighbor saw a pair of eagles starting to build a nest in one of his trees. He said he discouraged them and they moved on. Just north of Bellingham there is a very large timber land holding the owners of which got wind of a new upcoming law a couple years back that said any eagle would require a minimum of 5 Acres of surrounding land to be permanently vacated. They found 20 pairs of eagles on the land; none of which are here today. It is stupid rulings such as these that cause these magnificent birds to be exterminated. Anyone who has been around these huge birds knows that they don't care about their surrounds; if they want to build a nest somewhere they will do it irrespective of who or what is nearby. They don't need seclusion or protection! Somehow we need to get a lot smarter so we can successfully co-exist with our fellow creatures and recognize that we can share the wonderful world without the repeated stupid behavior on our part. ISO 200; 1/1000 sec @ f / 5.6 80-400 VR.
30 Aug 11. Tuesday was slated for my trip to Mt Rainier to shoot alpine flowers, high lakes, and mountains. A combination of bad guesses by the weather guessers and inspection schedules by the state is preventing same, but I do believe a flower photo should still be in the offing. Shooting a lot of macro stuff as I do, and listening to the comments I get about it, I am more than just a little inclined to think that the majority of adults, and all modern kids included, simply fail to take the time to look closely at these magnificent creations and note all the intricate detail. For those of you who do not know me well, I do not believe for even a fraction of a second that it all came about by chance! The image for today is a close up of an Icelandic Poppy, one of my favorite flowers. Take a bit of time and study it carefully; I'll wager you will see more than you've ever imagined prior when just looking at the flower in its entirety. Think about what it is designed to accomplish, and then how that has been engineered into what you are seeing. A great book on this general subject, which I've mentioned before, and which would be a required text in any class in Biology or Mathematics I would endeavor to teach, and which I highly recommend to any of you who are either home schooling your children or thinking of so doing, is titled A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: The Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science by Michael S. Schneider. In fact, I HIGHLY recommend it to every one of you on this list!! It is, unfortunately, out of print, but there are still lots of copies available for as little as $6, and you'll never spend $6 better. It will open your eyes to the engineering designs found throughout nature and copied knowingly or otherwise by mankind. Today's submission would be touched upon in more than one chapter. ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f /16.
