24 Dec 19 Working on the Christmas show the other day I took a hurried break (meaning failed to grab the camera) to get some Christmas stuff mailed and was just a wee bit down the road when the sky really grabbed my attention. It continued to hold my attention all the way to the P.O. and back home. Arriving back home I did grab the camera and hurriedly returned to where I could get a good shot of the sky. By the time I got there the sky had turned from what looked way too much like funnel clouds on my way to the P.O. to a group of what might be described as angry fists. I really expected to shortly be hit by a major storm but it apparently just worked itself out as we got neither wind nor rain anytime during the day. I've seen lots of interesting clouds around here as you know and have written about the convergence zone in which we live, but I've never seen anything like this around here before. This is basically straight from the camera. Stormy Morning Over Hansville Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 250; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.
19 Dec 19 A totally fun image for Theatrical Thursday. Between my Jr High years and until we made our first Navy move ('57 - '77), I kept and bred tropical fish. For most of that time I had a custom made 30 gallon display tank that was a feature object in both my parent's home and all of our homes. At one time I had over 8 tanks of fish in my parent's basement and was playing around with trying to breed new color variants of different species and even succeeded in developing a pure breeding bronze eyed guppy. Was feeling pretty cocky until they all died in a week's time. During the time I was doing all this it was common to put a background display on the exterior rear wall of the aquarium, either that of a nice photo that went with an aquarium theme or a crystal-like glaze which was my approach. Today we have a photo that could be used as a background for an aquarium depending on your tastes. I wouldn't use it as I prefer the more natural crystal look but I know folks who would. It if suits your fancy all you need to do is print it out and then go get your aquarium. Now, as to how I got to this image which I wanted to have look like one was snorkel or SCUBA diving with the sunlight filtering down and wave action overhead. As you know we have a sizeable pond out front as the center piece of the landscaping. Late summertime it started leaking and we were filling it 3 or so times a week. I finally decided that the only solution was to remove all the plants, fish, and support structures and then to drain it to see if I could locate the leak. Drained it to about 6 inches of depth and couldn't see the leak so let it stand. After several weeks of no further water loss I decided my only choice was to gunnite the entire pond. But first I thought I'd fill it up again to see at what level it was leaking, so I did. Since then no leaks. So now I basically have a full pond of water with a fully functioning waterfall sans fish which are in a temporary holding aquarium in the garage and plants in a large animal watering container on the front porch. The base shot is of the fish in the garage aquarium. Now the question is what should I do next. I've removed some distracting background and did some cropping to the original.It wasn't very sharp due to hand holding so I seriously sharpened it before making the conversion. Because of the type of conversion (Topaz Glow 2 / graphic sketch 1) I was able to get away with an original that wasn't critically sharp. Under Water Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 1250; 1/13 sec @ f / 9 hand held.
23 Dec 19 After three days of record setting rain, at least in some locations west of the Cascades, and likely some nice snowfall in both the Cascades and Olympics, the clouds parted and we got a much deserved and needed break. Flood watches were in effect from Friday through Sunday nights and apparently, from a couple photos in the local news rags, a few folks didn't quite comprehend that the warnings applied to them as well as to others. But rains down at our level (sea) generally mean snow at the higher levels and that pleases all those folks who like to defy death by slipping down mountain sides on a couple of narrow slats of wood. On our way this morning to church we noticed that we could glimpse some of those slopes for the first time in days. Returning home about 4 hours later those earlier glimpses had turned into full blown views of a major section of the Olympic Range. Lacking the camera I grabbed it as soon as we got home and returned to the vantage point that we now have 2 miles away thanks to the local grower of tall trees having recently harvested the crop. With the current crop of trees gone, they are harvested roughly every 30 years, we now get to see on clear days what I'm sharing for today. I've given the original a small amount of contrast enhancement and done a wee bit of burning and dodging, otherwise, this is what the camera saw. Early Afternoon Delight Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 250; 1/400 sec @ f / 9.
