Daily Image - Jul 2018 Archive

26 Jul 18 A bit challenged today in deciding which creative image best portrayed the subject. Goal was for something a little on the spooky side from the cemetery in the Jewish section of Praha. Obviously I picked the one I'm sharing but it was a tough decision. I wanted to have the "spooky" aspect there but not overwhelm, have some degree of darkness, and still display the crowding in the cemetery. As space was very limited in this part of the town, bodies were continuously stacked atop one another layer after layer. While that isn't immediately obvious, the close proximity of one to another of the headstones gives you some indication that things here aren't normal. The extreme closeness of the stones isn't an artifact created by a long focal length lens, this shot was at 28mm, they are in fact within inches of one another. Many have sunk inches to feet below the surface further demonstrating the density of the cemetery's population. While you need to look closely at the shot to get a feel for the crowding, you will have the best viewing of this one from a distance of perhaps 10 feet away from your screen. I'll leave any interpretation you may have of this up to you. I had to use three different graphics programs to create the image. Ground work was done in Topaz Studio, the light rays in Luminar 2018, and the various different versions in Photoshop. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; Awakening ISO 500; 1/200 sec @ f / 9.

04 Jul 18 Thought I'd have a little fun with the 4th mailing and go with a set of four Barn Swallows - we'll call them the four sopranos, about to fledge on a July day, hence a 4th of July image. They are in a nest just above and to the left of the entrance to our local P.O. I took several shots of them being fed by mom and then selected three of them and ordered them in time sequence. I spent the better part of a half hour just enjoying the show and got them in many different poses. My favorite of all the shots is one of the four of them lined up side-by-side with mouths tightly closed which makes them look like they are smiling. Not sharing that shot and instead the series shows them with mouths open begging mom to feed them, mom's approach, and finally with mom's head down the throat of the youngster furthest to the right. And while I've elected to say mom, it is more likely that both parents were sharing that duty. I've cropped the images some to make for a tight presentation and then sequenced them to tell the story. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

24 Jul 18 In the Jewish Quarter of Praha there are a few things you can see for free, but to see it all you must pay a fee which I thought was a bit hokey considering the amount. I appreciate needing funds to maintain this "museum", but considering the number of visitors and the fee for admission the entire "museum" could have been in much better shape. That said I'm glad we visited it all and in retrospect probably should have spent more time there than we did. The ticket allows for a five day visit if I recall correctly and I now wish we had made a return visit. While we were there it didn't dawn on me how much we had missed, probably because we were still jet lagged and somewhat more exhausted than we realized and we knew we were tired! This shot is from the main graveyard and forms one wall of it. I know what is being viewed has far more significance than what I'm about to say, but my main reason for taking the shot was for the design I saw in the wall. Although totally asymmetrical, I saw a kind of symmetry in it and it really grabbed my eye. It would have been very rewarding to have had someone with us to read some of the inscriptions but unfortunately such was not the case. Perhaps some of you may be able to read a portion of the writings on the furthest right stones. I've manipulated this a little bit to make things straight and easier to make out what is written on the stones, plus adjusted the light color some to make it appear more like a late vs early afternoon shot. As the Sun Sets Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority;ISO 500; 1/200 sec @ f / 5.6.

02 Jul 18 Jumping back to Praha today for another shot from the Charles Bridge, this time looking downstream at three other bridges, of which the most distant one is showing only a tiny portion of the base. The other two are clearly visible. In the water are a few dozen swans and as you can easily tell the weather is heading to stormy. Taken in the morning, around 1000, the light was clearly that of overcast rendering the sky a perfect light box and bringing out the colors of the countryside beautifully. I'm standing near the castle end of the bridge between the statues so you don't see any of the beauty of Charles Bridge. Even zoomed in to an 18 mm focal length, this is an 8 image pano and it was necessary to get the full expanse of the river and the surrounding buildings although it does tend to distort the river some. But I like the small amount of distortion as it makes for a more impressive Moldau. With the throngs of people both visiting and locals hawking their wares, I found it refreshing to find a spot sans people, even if only a few feet wide, to just quietly stand and absorb the serenity of the scene before composing and making this "shot." Should you have an opportunity to visit do take some time to just relax and absorb the magnificent view. As mentioned this is an 8 shot composite and I've cropped the composition to best display the water and sky. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/400 sec @ f /10.

23 Jul 18 Leaving the Vienna area we cruised all night arriving in Bratislava for sunrise. As we cruised to our mooring the made its debut and by the time we finished tying up we were treated to quite a show as several nearby building had prominent glass sides providing for a brilliant reflection of the main show. It wasn't to be so for the entire day but the morning sunrise set a nice tone for the rest of our short visit in this lovely town. We were able to see only a small portion of it but what we did see will always remain a beautiful memory. Surprisingly, though we didn't get to see any of it, this is the location of the biggest auto manufacturing center in central Europe. I guess the saying of big things coming in small packages is true. This is straight from the camera. Welcomed Sunrise. Nikon D500; 18-200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1250; 1/320 sec @ f /6.3.

30 Jul 18 Less than a five minute walk from where the boat was moored counting leaving the boat was the main market in Budapest. This is a fairly large market and you could find just about anything your heart desired in it and some things it likely wouldn't, at least from an American's perspective, unless of course you like chicken feet and heads, and other "stuff.". There was however much to catch my eye photographically and one such area was devoted to linens, some that took our breath away. Today's submission is in fact one of them. Jan bought two, one for her and another for what she thought was going to be a gift but by the time we got home she had fallen in love with them both so now we have them both. It would have been very east to shoot a hundred or more images of just the linens but in all likelihood I'd be the only one looking at them so I held myself to about a dozen. Some of the hangings reminded me of the work of the Amish in PA but I do think it was of an even higher quality. The snippet you see was from a hanging of roughly 8 x 6 feet and I would have purchased it but its weight to bring back on the plane placed it a bit out of rea$onable reach. The photo will have to do and it quickly brings back some fond memories! This is straight from the camera. Market Hanging Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 320; 1/60 sec @ f / 4.8 with full flash.

17 Jul 18 We sorta pick up from where we left off yesterday. This time more of an overview of the bridge called Liberty. This shot is taken from Buda Hill looking down at our cruise ship the Amadeus Elegant and the shoreline side of Pest. I'm not certain what that bid building with the statures on it is but directly behind it is the market. This view of the bridge provides for a much better view of how the bridge is separated for pedestrian and motor traffic. Although the perspective is off a bit, you can get an appreciation for the size of these river vessels by comparing with the autos on the road directly above and behind the boat. This is just what the camera recorded with no alterations. Liberty Bridge from Buda Hill. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/500 sec @ f /10.

18 Jul 18 At the location where I took the previous two images was this very interesting statue. I looked around the area for information about it but found none nor did I find any info in the tourist books I have. So I'm going with it being a representation of a Crusader which is likely about as far off as one can get but it works for the image. Probably one of you will recognize it and clue me in, but for now, I'm stick'n with my story since he is holding what looks to be something akin to a church and his garb looks a lot like that era. This is straight from the camera. In search of a maiden. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/500 sec @ f /11.

16 Jul 18 Having spent the morning with Jan in the market, an experience in itself, I spent the late morning of the last official day of the cruise walking around the old town of Buda. I just missed locating a statue erected to our late president Reagan while wandering around the hillside across from the center of Pest. There is a magnificent green bridge at that location that is open to both foot and bicycle traffic at the outer edges while the central lanes are open to auto, bus, and train traffic with the two types separated from each other by common sense. From up on the hill the bridge provided for some interesting shots framing the city in various ways and I spent some time doing just that. Walking back to Pest to board the boat for a late lunch before departing on a bus tour first to visit the Buda Castle where it rained and snowed on us and then into Pest for a scheduled performance, I was captured by the shadow pattern on the pedestrian section being projected from the bridge rail, so I took some shots of that also trying to come up with something other than the typical tourist photo. Today's image is one of them. I've selectively darkened the shadow a bit for impact, but otherwise this is pretty much what I experienced. The bow of our boat is at the right hand edge of the photo. Other than the aforementioned shadow darkening, this is straight from the camera. Shadow games. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/500 sec @ f /11.

12 Jul 18 We pick up from where we left off yesterday. This is a view of the little "villa" in which we stayed. In truth it is just an apartment building but it looks more European villa-like than American apartment-like so I choose the more romantic word. I'm standing in the courtyard looking up, but only halfway up, as there are three more stories above. You can see a tiny bit of the rehab mess in the center of the image. I would like to visit again after all the work in the area has been completed as there is no effort being made to replace old with new but rather to refurbish old with new materials that look old. I've corrected for the distortion in the original and cropped some. Our villa. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1000;1/40 sec @ f / 9.

10 Jul 18 Those of you who reside in the greater Puget Sound area are familiar with the waterfront Ferris wheel. Likely many of you who do not but watch professional sports have seen the wheel when the broadcasts showcase the city. It is pretty wheel and at night with the maze of colors moving across it a real treat to watch. Downtown Budapest boasts a Ferris wheel as well and it too is lit but with white lights that are fixed in position rather than with the moving colored lights. It doesn't seem to be a large either but it is large enough, quite attractive, and in a location with a nice view of the sky. I had first seen it on our bus tour in the downpour at a distance but while walking through the city on our last day I walked right by it and late enough on a November afternoon to experience the beginning of a nice sunset which I thought made for a romantic evening and sendoff. I took a couple of shots of which this was my preferred. In an odd way it brought back memories of warn summer nights out driving with a significant other as the sun set. Good memories. I took the original and added a bit of contrast manipulation to darken the sky a bit and added some blur to achieve the effect. Romantic wheel. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 1000, 1/3200 sec @ f / 7.1.

11 Jul 18 Our last two days in Budapest were spent on the economy, and to be quite frank it was a blast. We wound up having booked a very tiny apartment when we thought we had booked in to a reasonably nice downtown hotel (on-line booking). The entire operation was a total adventure and not having a smart phone, let alone any phone, with us was a challenge in some respects. But it was also fun, a lot of fun for me, and I really wished we would have had several more days there to enjoy the economy. And while the room was small, it was extremely well equipped and we felt very comfortable being there. We were basically living in the apartment home of one of the locals and as such we got a real feel for how many in the city lived. That provided for an opportunity to blend in in some small way and made the four days in the city far more meaningful. When we go back I fully intend to find something similar although next time not in the heart of the city with its associated prices. Our apartment was on the 3rd floor of a 6 story building. The apartments were on three sides of the building which had a nice little court in the middle on the ground floor. As I mentioned several times in earlier mailings, the city was being refurbished and our building was part of the refurbishing so the courtyard was a bit of a mess. But it is never a sterile environment when building projects are underway. Our access to the 3rd floor was via a small lift which I'm sharing today. With the lift empty you don't get a good feel for the size of it, but to help give you an idea, standing parallel to the door, I had about 2 inches of clearance on each side of my shoulders. With the two of us in it with our two suitcases, it was full loaded. Just one part of our delightful stay. I've corrected for the pin cushion look of the original and filled in a couple areas lost in the correction. Our lift. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 2,500, 1/100 sec @ f / 8 with full flash as it was very dark in the hallway (we didn't know where the light switch was located).

09 Jul 18 We spent a few hours on Saturday at a neighbor's 50th birthday party on whose property I've taken several of the images I've shared in the past, as well as that for today. Had some interesting conversation with several educators (perhaps the subject of another mailing) one of which raises Llamas which I hope to photograph sometime during the week. Also had an opportunity to share some of the history of our local community which filled in a hole or two. All-in-all time well spent. The image for today is creative, a combination of local history and 4th of July extravaganza. You could think of it as a fireworks display on the ground . . . . or not. The subject is an old farm implement that you saw earlier as part of a more inclusive shot, only then it was looking old and tired as opposed to today looking young and energetic. Spent some time on Sunday selecting another 80+ images from the cruise to share so I think we'll start looking at 2 - 3 of them a week unless you tire of them sooner. Also picked out another 100 or so from what I've shot so far this year so I think I've got enough material to cover for the rest of the year even if I don't shoot anything more which is not likely to be the case. The original was straightened a tiny bit, then given the electrified look using Topaz Glow 2. Only in Wonderland. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f / 9.

03 Jul 18 Back to the Hayden Farms Reserve on Fir Island for today's nine shot pano. Standing just a bit off the parking area, this is what you see looking to your left; what I shared prior would be looking to your right. Before the restoration this used to be a field where the geese could feed and multiple species of raptors and Great Blue Herons hunt for small mammals. Now it is more of an estuary and I would image in another decade or so will provide food and refuge for a variety of creatures. Of course that doesn't include the geese and raptors. That said, I much preferred it the way it was, as there was a great abundance of birds available for shooting with both the lens and the shotgun depending on the time of year and the bird type being pursued. There was also a long dike making the farm land possible, the top of which provided a path that took you a fair distance down the way for relaxing and/or bird watching (shooting with a camera) and at its furthest end an area dedicated to hunting. Something for everyone with no cost associated to participate. Now there is far less available for all and you have to have a paid for pass to do what little there is. As I mentioned, this is a composite of 9 frames which I've cropped for best presentation. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f / 9.

25 Jul 18 Jan is spending the week with our daughter and the cherubs at Priest Lake in Idaho. She called on the way to mention that an area by Vantage, WA we always pass through on our way to the condo has experienced some serious fired damage commenting on how different it looked in black instead of sagebrush green. Made me think about some of the fires in Yellowstone which while we've never personally experienced we have seen the results of in many park locations. The mountainside that sets the backdrop for the shots in the Seven Mile Bridge Area burned several years ago and thinking about that I've created an image - I shared the original back in May - of how I image it might have looked at night at peak blaze. Though the fires do a lot of rearranging the forest they are totally necessary to ensure a healthy and vibrant ecosystem. With some of the conifers only being able to release their seeds in the heat of a fire, reseeding is immediately underway. A perfectly designed system. With that thought in mind I hope you see this "fire" shot as a thing of beauty and not just a thing of destruction. Tomorrow's Theatrical Thursday submission will be an image of request created from something in the Jewish section of Praha. This sunset shot from the Seven Mile Bridge Area was manipulated with Fractalius, a long time favorite plug-in. Ablaze Nikon d%00; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1000; 1/1000 sec @ f / 9.

19 Jul 18 A bit late today due to events and tomorrow's mailing will be even later as we are off shortly to the Sequim Lavender Festival. While exploring a section of the Beaver Creek Restoration Area, roughly 20 minutes from the condo along Hwy-287, we came upon an area with lots of wild flowers and we stopped to play with them. As you can imagine when shooting such you tend to meander about going here and there looking for "just one more shot." That of course is close to never ending in the process of which one often comes upon unexpected opportunities. Such was the case for today's submission. There is a camping area in this restoration area that is frequented by both campers of course and bears. Ample warning signs make you fully cognizant of the situation but since it isn't part of the park you don't have to deal with Rangers telling you to stay away. It is a beautiful area and I shared a photo of it earlier shortly after we returned from our May visit. This was an unusual find in that most of the animal's skeleton was intact making for a nice composition. From the size of it I'm thinking it was a young elk but that is just a guess. Since I think some might find it a bit hard to look at I decided to convert it into a creative type image and as today is Theatrical Thursday I think it all fits together. As you look at the skeleton it becomes obvious that not much gets wasted as even the majority of the bones have been enjoyed by some forest creature. Overall a rather beautifully designed system. Other than the conversion this is what the camera recorded. Painted Forest Floor. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9.

13 Jul 18 Bees and poppies, the perfect combination. Not too far from where we used to live in Ballard was a retaining wall that was covered in California poppies. The density isn't a thick as I remember 8 years ago, but they are still present. I took this shot at that location. As you are all aware I love shooting bees always trying for the perfect photo of them. Well, today's image is not that photo, but one in which I was able to capture the movement of the wings. Look directly across the middle of the bee to its left. Depending on the quality of your monitor you should be able to see a grey patch at the edge of the poppy. If you look critically, again this will be monitor dependent, (I can't see it on this mail box but it is clearly evident on my graphics box) you will see an area that is slightly dimmer than the surrounding area, that's the beating right wing. If your monitor can display it, it is really cool. I've cropped the original for composition but that's all. Alighting. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

06 Jul 18 In the corner of the front yard right hand side of the walk is a thistle called Eryngium, more commonly "Big Blue." We first encountered it when we lived in Ballard and walked to the Ballard Locks. It was the focal point in one part of the entrance gardens. It is truly stunning and hard to miss when planted in a bunch, as it is in that garden area. A couple years ago we found them for sale at a local nursery, the one with the Hobbit House I've shown prior. It was a small critter when we put it in the yard, but has grown to almost three feet high in the past couple of years. The "flower," if you can call it such, is initially green but turns a beautiful blue when it matures. It is covered in spines and each one is incredibly sharp, such that if dried you could use them for needles for the sewing of light weight fabrics. The presentation of this thistle reminds me of many of the fireworks we watched the last two night and which, just ask Maggie, are thankfully over!! Or so I hope. I had thought about sharing another image of fireworks but thought with a little imagination this image could play a role of being a good substitute while simultaneously meeting the macro/close Friday requirements. It been brought to my attention that with the switch to MailChimp that you no longer get the image titles. So starting today I'll be including those in this tech section. This is pretty much straight from the camera. Touch Me Not. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f / 9.

05 Jul 18 Two images of fireworks for today. These are both from the July 3rd show in Poulsbo, WA. A good friend, also a barber, owns a shop in the waterfront section of the city and overlooks what is now called Liberty Bay but whose original name was Dogfish Bay when I was a child and this is how I refer to it. Although only 15 minutes long, the show was a true delight and I managed to get some nice shots even though I missed half of them due to a setting I had forgotten I had set on the camera. That's now corrected and if I go out again I'll have things properly set. Thought I'd take a different approach to shooting them this year and concentrate on the reflections in addition to the bursts. I do believe it worked well. The trick to getting these types of exposures is to set the shutter speed to "bulb" and hold the shutter open for multiple bursts. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 100; "bulb" @ f / 9.

31 Jul 18 The Sequim Lavender Festival is a time when the local farmers show off their products as well as wage war with one another. It would appear that there are two rival growers associations and they have nothing good to say about each other. In addition it now seems like the local residents are in opposition to the 3 day festival the "proper" set of growers put on contending that the disruption to the community for that long weekend is NOT offset by the funds it brings into the community. We'll have to stay tuned to see how things play out next year but it seems the local government got quite the earful this year from the residents. Festival or no, this time of the year is a wonderful time to visit Sequim and tour the lavender farms. If you don't go during the 3 day festival weekend you miss out on the activities, parade, CROWD that stretches for miles, and fees. You do however get to see all the farms displaying their plants at the peak of their bloom. There are close to a couple dozen farms of varying size, complexity, and products offered. Lavender it seems can be used to make a myriad of products from soap to ice cream so you are bound to find something purple to your liking. I like of course to photograph the plants and while I plan to share several shots from this year's visit, I thought I'd go with one of just a few stalks to set the stage. I've given the original a slight color boost and cropped a little off the bottom of the original. The purple recorded in the original RAW file didn't quite capture the color as I saw it. Lavender Stalks Cropped Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320;1/640 sec @ f / 9.

20 Jul 18 Back from the lavender viewing trip. We had a great time seeing the farms, watching wildlife, and staying with good friends. Maggie has a new BFF playmate there, a Golden Retriever, called many things but officially named Hermione. They spent the day wearing each other out and apparently had a grand time doing it. By bedtime both girls simply crashed!! Spoke with two owners of their respective farms and from one owner learned quite a lot about the lavender business and products. More on that in another mailing. On our return trip home we got to view a single Bald Eagle who willingly posed for me for about 10 minutes. I've shared a shot of an eagle from Sequim prior but I like this one a lot so thought I'd share another. Being as patient as it was I got to shoot from three sides and this shot from the group with the sun at my back was among the better of the shots. The road parallel to the Straights (of Juan de Fuca) generally provides for opportunities of shooting these big birds and it is rare that when we visit we don't see at least one, often many more. Today it was just this one individual. I've cropped the original to remove a lot of nothing otherwise this is straight from the camera. Day Watchman. Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9.

27 Jul 18 With the yard fully in bloom, and the warm weather making for some lazy times, it is really relaxing to just sit pond side and watch all the wildlife present in this small portion of the property. I'm estimating we have roughly a dozen species of song birds, hummers with a real treat today of seeing several of this years hatch, three kinds of woodpeckers, the occasional hawk or owl, plus chipmunks and two varieties of squirrel I'm working to eliminate. Sitting with the camera in lap many of the critters come right up to me with the chipmunks occasionally walking over my feet. Sort of a treat! With the chair near or sometimes under the hummer feeders I also get treated to lots of aerial combat maneuvering with the tiny guys screaming at each other. The hummers stay around all year so we get to continuously enjoy them, as do the woodpeckers. The songbirds vary throughout the year with some staying for winter and others not. This evening while both watching it all play out and watering I notice some unusual tan movement in the drive. Carefully re-positioning from the chair to a better viewing location what did I see but this Blacktail dude and his dudette strolling a respectful distance behind him. I'm guessing from his rack that he is at most two years old. Zoom in to 100% to really appreciate him. Deer are very common around here but generally, likely due to Maggie, they don't visit us. A real treat to see but one that is accompanied with mixed emotions. Delightful to watch or enjoy as yard art but capable of rendering our garden to stubble in a matter of hours. It will be interesting to see how much damage we incur overnight. I've cropped off a portion of the right hand side that had some ugly stuff in it, otherwise this is straight from the camera. Check'n It Out Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320; 1/1250 sec @ f / 6.3.