Every Day

Rust, Fungus, Snow

2010-02-10T15:39:00.006-05:00

Here is another picture of rusty things on the Sykesville tracks:

And a picture of a fungus down the tracks a bit that has interestingly similar colors and texture.

And just for fun here are a couple of pictures of today's weather conditions. This one is from about noon, when the wind was just starting to pick up, but I could still capture snowflakes:

This is just a few minutes ago. The 35-50mph winds make the snow a gray haze in photos:

They just extended the blizzard warning to 10pm and no one is allowed on Baltimore City roads except emergency vehicles. I managed to shed my stir-craziness yesterday, but Jay is suffering from it today. He just went outside claiming he's upholding the family tradition of going out in nasty weather to shovel. Hope you're proud, Thompsons!

Why Hello, Rusty!

2010-02-09T15:38:00.007-05:00

(It takes a couple of blizzards to get me to be consistent with this blog, apparently.)

Back when the land was less white and we were enjoying an unseasonably warm spell instead of the blizzard-filled one of the moment, Jay and I went to the country and visited the little town of Sykesville. Most of our time there was spent walking the pair of railroad tracks that run through the town, one old, one new and shiny (read: still used). There was a bit of a trainyard, of sorts, and we found an old blue caboose, sitting, rusting, posing.

Pointless Digression: There is a breed of photographers that cannot resist photographing the dying, decrepit, tumbling apart, and abandoned things of the world. There were many of these photogs at my school, GVSU, which led to a personal resentment of old barns and rusted things. I really cant blame them- in the farmland of Western Michigan those were the marked things in the landscape. I understand the psychology of it too- photography is tightly connected to documentation and when something is so obviously headed toward disintegration, there is an urge to record proof that it was there. I just saw too much of it for awhile. Obviously, I'm not of this documentor breed, though I appreciate the beauty that often comes from slow destruction, hence the following. Digression end.

So, the caboose was posing there for me in all its rusty beauty, with an overcast sky that allowed for capturing all the colors and textures it had to offer. Enjoy:

Well, Maryland has given up and as the snow begins to fall again, schools are reporting they'll be closing for the rest of the week. I'm guessing I'll get at least one more day at home, myself, so I hope to post up some more rusty stuff from Sykesville tomorrow.

Snowy Friends

2010-02-08T20:41:00.006-05:00

Early last week I was shocked to look out our bathroom window (our favorite spot in the apartment to assess the goings on outside) to see a hundred or more robins in the surrounding trees. I know robins as fairly solitary birds, or at least never in groups this large, so it was a sight to see. They visited us every afternoon for the week. On Friday evening we were watching them out the window again and I warned them they ought to move out of town since Snowmeggedon was at hand. They didn't listen. On Saturday, once the snow stopped falling they came back around and visited once again and I snapped a few photos:

According to Bird Watcher's Digest, robins won't stick around in the winter if their berries and fruits are iced over, which happened to much of the local supply after the storm. I'm glad I got the pictures when I did, because that was the last we saw of them.

Snowpocalypse!!

2010-02-07T14:05:00.010-05:00

We survived Snowpocalypse 2010! Friday and Saturday dumped 30 inches of snow on us here in Baltimore, bringing the city, the state, the whole region, really, to a standstill. Jay and I explored the white-drenched neighborhood for a bit on Saturday after it finally quit and I took a few pictures until my fingers got too cold. I apparently don't have gloves appropriate for long-term out-of-doorsing in sub-freezing temps.

After spending a good time shoveling the walk (2 hours?) we ventured out for a walk:

Jay is swooning from all the snow!

Oh wait, he's okay.

They hadn't plowed much, one track down Guilford sometime mid-storm so one car at a time could go down. As of this posting Sunday afternoon, they have yet to touch 32nd street.
From the intersection where our apartment is looking south:

and west:

and north:

and east (note the lack of plowing):

The tree is threatening the car behind Jay's more than his, but still scary.
Here's my poor car:

This is St. Paul, the "main street" of Charles Village, therefore partially plowed:

Many more pedestrians on the road than people, though. There wasn't much of anywhere for people to drive to, just about everything in the city was closed.

At Wyman Park nearby, a crowd had gathered at the top of a steep hill to sled on whatever they had around. I saw a couple of legitimate sleds, but also cardboard, innertubes, garbage can lids, even a plastic under-the-bed type bin. That one didn't go so well and was in pieces halfway down the hill. Ah, college kids...

Not much has changed around the immediate area in the 24 hours since I took these pictures except for some people cleaning off their cars and a few managing to get out on the road (if they are parked on Guilford). We will head to the pub this evening to watch the Superbowl and get out of the house for a bit (wouldn't want to go stir crazy). And we will continue our mid-western judgment of Baltimore's snow removal inadequacies (we're not sure how Jay's going to get his car out to go to work tomorrow if they haven't plowed 32nd). And we'll try and get to the grocery store sometime between being able to get our cars out and before the next snowfall that's supposed to come, oh, this Tuesday...

Update: Monday night, 9:00. 32nd still not plowed. forecast for Tuesday - Wednesday storm: 16-22".

Eastern Shore Three

2009-12-10T21:39:00.004-05:00

I had some commentary with the above photos which was inane and distracting rather than helpful or interesting, so I did you a favor and deleted it all. Now you can enjoy these in peace.

Eastern Shore Two

2009-12-08T21:00:00.006-05:00

Hmm... What have I been doing the last week? How are we already a week into December? What is this 2010 thing I hear is coming up soon? The end of which decade? Did we ever figure out what we were going to call this decade? The Zeros? The Two Thousands? The aughts? What a confusing time - I've had a notion of time standing still and moving at a horribly rapid pace for quite some time now. Or perhaps it has been less time than quite some, I'm just not sure.

I am sure that these photos of the inn we stayed at in Easton speak to these ideas, but only time will tell what they say:

Eastern Shore One

2009-12-02T22:54:00.004-05:00

This past weekend, Jay and I took a drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and visited the Eastern Shore of Maryland. This is my favorite picture from the weekend so far:

There will be more pictures from the trip, so check back in the coming days.

I ain't been droppin' no leaves, sir, honest!

2009-11-22T20:42:00.004-05:00

Here's one more Autumnal picture:

And that's the last from that shoot. Wonder what's next?

Autumn Inside

2009-11-16T21:39:00.003-05:00

I felt a bit strange a couple of weeks ago while I was walking around my neighborhood, picking up dead leaves, twigs and acorns and stuffing them into my tote bag. Especially when I got the branch full of dead leaves (seen in picture two) that was too large to safely hide away in my bag making it seem all too obvious that my furtive snatches at bits of organic detritus were not from an impulsive appreciation of autumnal beauty, but more likely the compulsive obsession of a crazy woman. So, it is at the expense of my reputation in the neighborhood that I bring you the following photographs:

All you need is a pretty girl... (aka Sex Sells)

2009-11-15T22:08:00.005-05:00

Sometime this summer, Jay and I took a respite near the window of Slainte in Fell's Point, cooling off with some tasty brew and probably watching soccer. I was playing with my camera and took a few shots of Jay's bottle of beer with a serendipitous background.

I think that would sell a few beers, don't you? Here, take another look:

I think I like the second better than the first. In the first, I like that she is clearer and her beer is visible, though it would be better if she were drinking Yuengling as well. But the second seems to show a connection which brings anticipation and excitement. (In reality she was sitting down at that moment, not getting up, and there was no connection to speak of, but that's my little secret.) I guess in the end which picture to use would depend on the copy for the ad.

Yes, Flowers

2009-07-15T22:34:00.005-04:00

I try to stay away from photographing flowers because, well, everyone takes pictures of flowers and I don't like doing what everyone else is doing. I'm a loner like that. However, even I will be tempted by a pretty petal from time to time, especially if it is my mom's flowers because I know she likes that. When I was up at my parents' house in Michigan most recently, in May, I took some photos of my mother's gorgeous peony bush. This half-opened blossom was the best of that bunch:

Out in the natural garden that is their side yard, I found this perfect specimen of a dandelion gone to seed:

And up close:

Pretty, yes?

Mooving Along

2009-07-14T18:36:00.003-04:00

Five days on, four days off... I'll get better.

This is one a lot of you have already seen on my Facebook page, but I'm putting it up anyway. I'm working on something else to put up, but my computer is getting awfully hot so I'm afraid it's going to start crapping out on me soon. Plus, I promised to call my parents tonight, I'm about to eat dinner, I have a load of laundry in the dryer and another to fold and I need to be to bed early for an early day at work tomorrow.

Excuses, right? I know. Here's how I feel about that:

That's right. Slightly scary faceless cow. (Secret: it's a creamer. Not so scary now, right?)

Carnival to Festival

2009-07-09T23:22:00.010-04:00

As a transition piece, and because I ran out of time to work on much tonight, I'm delivering a series of unedited consecutive photos of Jay attacking a funnel cake at the Charles Village Festival a couple of weeks ago. Accompanied by narrative:

"Are you as ready for this as I am?" Jay asks. "As long as I have my PBR!"

"Hmmm... so fried and powdery and appetizing...""Well, here goes!" "Ah, the doughy crunch...""Oh no! Powder everywhere! Why must you curse me so, funnel cake!""Mmmm...delicious and worth it all."And... HULA HOOP!

Carnivale 4: Mardi Gras!

2009-07-08T21:16:00.009-04:00

This is the last of the carnival pics and we're going out on a color explosion!

The fun house had a Mardi Gras theme and this is half of the mural that was painted on it:

That blonde is loving life. (Any of my digital image savvy friends: please don't look too closely at the above photo. I just didn't have the patience or the battery life to do it the right way.) Here let me distract you with a closer look at our buxom Mardi Gras queen:

Of course there was a carousel, and I took a traditional picture of the horse's head that's very nice and stuff, but I find this one more interesting.

I took several pictures of the quiet bumper cars, but because of the drastic difference in the shadowy bumper car haven and the blazing, sunny sky, they will need a lot of work to make them presentable. Work that I don't feel like doing right now. This, however, is the back of the bumper car truck. Everything folds up behind this to drive off to the next town. I wonder who engineers these things.

So that was the Havre-du-Grace carnival. I'm not sure yet what I'll have for you tomorrow. There may be some very appetizing peppers, or perhaps a dead fish on the beach. Or something completely different. I'll let you know tomorrow.

P.S. I did most of this post in a rather dim bar, so I hope the pictures turn out okay. I'll check on them and adjust tomorrow if I need to.

Carnivale 3: Other Stuff

2009-07-07T21:39:00.004-04:00

I little less focused today, here are a few photos of other things at the carnival. First is the Tilt-A-Whirl, my favorite when I was young. I liked the merry-go-round at the playground, too. I wonder why I liked spinning so much. I also have a distinct memory of Ally hitting her funny bone just as we were getting on the Tilt-A-Whirl once. The ride hadn't started yet, but they wouldn't let her get off. She spent the three (or so) spinny minutes cradling her arm in one corner and I spent it feeling bad for her. Poor Ally. Fortunately, we spent plenty of other time having fun on rides in our childhood.

This is one of those quarter games that I don't remember how to play and never took much interest in. I was more interested in the water-gun racing games. Now, though, I find the array of prizes fascinating, especially the mixture of Christian and soccer paraphernalia. There's a lot to look at in this picture and the reflection in the glass makes it even more necessary to look closely. The little praying girl kneeling before a shot glass is a little disturbing, though.

This is a car from the Bear Affair ride. Apparently it's fun to pretend you're in the belly of a bear while you ride around in circles. Poor children. This isn't a great picture, but I promised yesterday I'd include the strange bears, I only took two, and the other, though better composed, was all blown out, so here he is in all his purple overall glory:

I'm getting through the better of my carnival pictures, so I'll be moving on soon. I think I can get one more post out of them and then it'll be on to something else. Wouldn't want you all to get bored.

Carnivale 2: Ferris Wheel

2009-07-06T23:25:00.004-04:00

I couldn't decide which of these Ferris Wheel pictures I liked the best, so I'm posting five. Which one(s) do you like best?

I loved the colors of the baskets and tried to get as many as I could in each shot. I'm not sure why I didn't think to go around and take some from the other side, as well. I guess I was too caught up in this angle. And there was more to be taken. Tomorrow, Tilt-a-Whirl, strange bears, and some other carnival fun!

Carnivale

2009-07-05T13:05:00.003-04:00

On July 3rd I had a day off and with Jay visiting family up in Traverse City I had a three day weekend to fill by myself. I decided to go on a mini-road trip for the day and without really knowing where I was going when I left, I ended up in Havre-du-Grace, MD. It's not too far north of B-more, really, but it was a different enough setting to be stimulating.

It's a small town and on that Friday afternoon before a big holiday things were quiet, but with a distinct promise of activity to come. After a glass of wine, lunch, and a chapter of East of Eden at McGregor's, I set about with my camera. I visited the oldest lighthouse in continuous use in the U.S. and snapped a few shots of the bay and some ducks. Pleasant, but not too interesting.

At the end of the bayside Promanade, however, I found a carnival in wait. The rides sat still and the games hid behind vinyl covers. The food stands had yet to have sizzling vats of fried this and that.

Now, photos of carnivals at night are way fun to take. With all the lights, long exposures can create gorgeous effects. But, it being 5pm in July, and having already explored much of the city in the 85 degree heat with a heavy bag, I wasn't really in the mood to hang around four hours until sufficient night fell. Instead, I went about capturing the carnival in its unnatural stillness.

My first set of photos were of The Samurai:

From there I moved on to the ferris wheel, bumper cars, and more. In tomorrow's post...

Reboot

2009-07-05T12:56:00.000-04:00

Alright, here we go again.

Pantry - Apples

2009-03-12T21:38:00.005-04:00

I'm afraid I over-processed these in photoshop, but it may be I've been staring at them for much too long. I'll have to take a fresh look tomorrow and re-evaluate.

Pantry- Cinnamon Vodka

2009-03-11T22:43:00.004-04:00

Another from the Pantry. Our friends, Jess and Steve, gave us a basket of goodies for the holidays, part of which was this homemade, cinnamon infused vodka. I don't like the yellow background now. I thought the skull and crossbones shot glass was funny, but maybe I should have just stuck with the flame shot glass to match with the "keep warm" idea. What do you think?

Also, this is yummy stuff, but we're not big straight liquor drinkers and we're having trouble figuring out what to mix this with. Any ideas?

Inspiration, shame - call it what you will.

2009-03-10T21:51:00.006-04:00

I found this guy's blog today and became ashamed of myself. He runs a photo studio and still manages to post up a great photo every day. "Occasionally," my ass (sorry Mom). So here's a picture of my favorite subjects, hard at work.

(Sorry to those of you who have seen this elsewhere, but hey, it's my photo, anyway.)

Products

2009-03-09T15:48:00.003-04:00

I know it's not real glamorous, but after a lot of consideration, I think I'd ideally like to be doing product photography as a profession. I'll always be able to pursue personal projects, but for the bill-paying, I think this is the most enjoyable and appropriate path for me. I'm not a people person. I like people and I get along with most, but I'm not very good at trying to direct people or work with people in a leadership role, which makes most people photography very difficult. I imagine I'll eventually become more confident in my abilities and be able to do other subjects, but right now, I just want to work with things. With that in mind, I've begun seeing what I can do with things around the house, starting with the pantry. I'm still experimenting and learning my flash, and all these were taken with it as the main light source.

I'm pleased with what I came out with. I plan on working more on my Photoshop skills, as well, so I can get work retouching photos. Again, not glamorous, but I'm just not a glam kind of gal.

Gallery of Zoe F.

2009-01-19T22:34:00.005-05:00

My niece, Zoe is adorable (She is Jeff and you know it). She is also fond of getting her picture taken. I got a few pics while I was home over the holidays that I can't help sharing.

Deceptively Sweet...

Can you spot the mischievous twinkle in that eye?

She is also a goofball.

Forbes Family Christmas

2009-01-16T20:33:00.005-05:00

So, I didn't do as much as I thought I might while I was home for Christmas, and then there was the New Year and last week I thought it'd be a good idea to rear end someone so the insurance company could total my car and I could go through the exhilarating experience of buying a new car as quickly as I'm able (which ends up not being very quick. It turns out I don't have much of an opinion on cars. I just want something that goes when I want it to and won't cost me too much money). Thus, rather belatedly, here a few of my better photos from Christmas.

This is my cousin Amy with my new darling niece Lainie:Here's another cousin of mine, Brian, and his daughter, Nicole. Nicole is one of the eldest of her generation of the family and I am the youngest of mine. Now that she is in high school I have to resist the urge to say things such as "Golly, you've grown up! I remember when you were this big..." and I begin to feel the first twinges of fright at the passage of time.

Here is Joelle and Lainie again looking drowsy in her candy PJs: And the matriarch of the family, my Grandmother Pauline Forbes. Doesn't she look lovely? I still don't have a car, but I have a long weekend, so I hope to have some other pics to post soon. I plan on an entry full of Zoe pictures because she and the camera are good friends.

Just for fun, here is a picture of my car:

The thing in my kitchen

2008-12-20T23:10:00.005-05:00

I meant to put these pictures up awhile ago, but forgot about it. The apartment Jay and I live in is, in realtor speak, "cozy" and full of "character," which, of course, actually means small and old. Small is a matter of its own, but old doesn't have to also mean bad. Old can be very good. The pyramids are old, the White House is old, the Palace of Versailles is old. But old and shoddy maintenace can be very bad. Our bathroom is a disater (I like to refer to the cabinet door on the vanity as "the Mad Hatter Door" since someone decided to hang it up before the glue was dry, resulting in some whimsically sagging angles). One side of the fridge is on a plank of wood because the floor is that lopsided. We've had to plug various holes we've found with caulk or glue or whatever sticky, hole-filling goo we have around to keep the various bugs out. We have yards of cabling lining most doorways and many walls, much of which begins and ends (unconnected at both), at seemingly arbitrary points. I don't know who'd want a TV above a door in a hallway.

One of the mysteries of our apartment is this strange fixture near the floor by the fridge in the kitchen. Incidentally, the wall-patch job in the photo attests to the level of workmanship evident in all fix-it jobs around the house.

It's obviously some sort of electrical box thing, but why it's there, sticking out of the wall, exposed and dangerous looking is the mystery to me. Whether or not it's working or necessary are additional mysteries. Here's a close up:

I took these about a month ago when I was experimenting with the built-in flash on my camera and seeing if I could get any decent shots with it. I feel like the close-up was somewhat successful. The blue light on the left is ambient sunlight, and the warm light from the right comes from a continuous light on a stand. The flash was diffused with, uh, a paper towel, I think.

I have an external flash now, which I've been taking pictures with for about a week and a half now. I'll hopefully have some time while I'm here in the Snowy North (Michigan) for the holidays to get some of those up here. I have concert photos, modeling Jay photos, and family party photos. Coming soon...

P.S. The idea that was going through my head when I was taking these shots was of documenting all the gross, wrong or bad things in my apartment, like the ones I spoke of above. I started looking to take some pretty interior shots, but found there was little to work with. Anyway, that's why I didn't clean up the dirt and dust bunnies from the floor, which should be renamed dust kitties, due to their primary ingredient.

Papa

2008-12-09T08:30:00.000-05:00

Here's my dad enjoying his retirement gift to himself (a leather recliner chair) taken when I was home at Thanksgiving.

And here he is with the model touch-up treatment. I kept it low-key so he wouldn't look fake.

Goal Change

2008-12-08T12:44:00.004-05:00

Apparently I have other things to do, so a picture a day didn't work. I don't know what those other things are, but I'm readjusting my goals, anyway. So, enjoy the occasional picture. Here's a grapefruit:

Boring Beach Pictures

2008-11-12T21:38:00.006-05:00

I haven't taken many pictures worth showing lately besides the election night brouhaha, so here are some boring but prettyish pictures of the beach in Stone Harbor from back in September.

And of course, there has to be a seagull shot. This one of naughty seagulls not following posted notices.

Post Election Celebration

2008-11-05T21:59:00.006-05:00

Excitement in Charles Village, Baltimore, last night after President-elect Obama made his speech in Chicago.

Where this guy looked on

as happy guys

and happy girls

celebrated in a crowd like this

This guy was either yelling or trying to catch imaginary candy in his mouth

Here are some unhappy guys and girls. (Sorry it's so dark)

But they wouldn't be deterred.

Beachcomber

2008-10-22T23:12:00.004-04:00

This picture doesn't do this woman justice, unfortunately, but none of the pictures I got from the front turned out. I wanted to get her digging. She was walking up and down the beach, not missing a square foot, waving her wand around and every so often she'd stop, do a little digging with her combination shovel, basket and sifter, alternate with a little wand waving to hone in on the right spot, and maybe find something to pluck out and put in her hip pouch. Then she'd wave around the hole she made a little more to be sure there was nothing else hidden in the spot and, once satisfied, push and pull the sand back into the hole until the beach was covered in strange lumpy disturbances on an otherwise silk smooth surface. It was really her dead on focus that fascinated and impressed me. There was no one and nothing else on the beach for her. I admit I was envious of her disregard of anything but her treasure hunt. That is a degree of focus I'm not able to achieve.

I don't know what to title this,

2008-10-20T21:19:00.003-04:00

but it was completely intentional, I swear.

Banana

2008-10-16T21:53:00.002-04:00

On the kitchen table. In some lovely early autumn morning light.

Hawthorne Aglow

2008-10-15T20:45:00.004-04:00

I was playing with long exposures and flashlights one night and came up with this image. Though coincidental, the image's dark romanticism seems appropriate for Hawthorne. There's a literary term I'm trying to attribute to it, but I can't drag it out of my memory. Any suggestions?

Lovely Morning

2008-10-14T20:53:00.006-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, Jay and I went to our friends' wedding in Stone Harbor on the New Jersey Shore (Congratulations, Jeremy and Jessica!). We stayed two nights in the wonderful Lark Motel which was simple, but more than adequate. I'll be going through the few photos I took from the weekend and posting what's good. Here is a lovely Saturday Morning shot.

The cloudy seaside morning light adds a nice glow.

Self-teaching

2008-10-13T17:12:00.008-04:00

Somehow in my photographic education I missed everything about studio photography and most lessons about lighting. So, currently I am trying to remedy this deficit in my knowledge. Unfortunately, it becomes much harder to learn about studio work without a studio and lighting without proper lighting equipment. But I have a MFA in Jury-rigging from the School of Make-do, so I'm learning with what I've got. Below are some studio style shots of some of our household knick-knacks. Photographers use translucent cloth boxes called shooting tents or domes to diffuse light and soften highlights and shadows when photographing (usually small) objects. These cost anywhere from $40-$160, depending on size and quality, but mine cost me the price of a half gallon of milk because that's what it was, a half-gallon milk jug. Which is why all the objects were so small. I'm fairly pleased with how it worked and I actually kind of like the effect of the jug's curve and seam in the black cat picture.

The pink is just a red cloth draped over the jug.

My supercool fellow photog friend Steve has promised me a lesson in lighting with his badass lighting kit. Hopefully I'll have some shots to share from that sometime soon!

As Promised

2008-09-24T21:53:00.004-04:00

Some pictures I took at the Maryland Wine Festival last Saturday.

This is Jess as queen of the Wine Festival:

And here is Steve. I don't actually think I took this one. I was showing off my camera to the other digital art savvy kids in the party and I think they all took a few. I'm guessing TAG took this one.

Jay is watching the sky for airplanes. Don't worry, he's not crazy. There really was an airplane there.

And here is Christie, Queen of the Wine Festival Forest (hence the leaf earrings), leaning on her trusty forest sprite, TAG.

After a toilsome afternoon sampling the selections of wines from two dozen fine (or not) Maryland vineyards, everyone went home with several bottles of their favorites. Except Jay and I, who were too lazy to carry heavy bottles of wine around and so just drank ours there on the grassy knoll. Don't worry Mom and Dad, it was only two bottles and we shared with others. Doesn't that reassure you?

Welcome

2008-09-23T21:07:00.003-04:00

What's this? My first post in a month and it's not even a picture I took? Deal with it. These pictures are of my new niece, Lainie Elizabeth, sure to acheive greatness on the power of her middle name alone. Born Monday morning, September 22 to my sister-in-law, Joelle, and brother, Jeff at a healthy 8lbs 13oz.

Pictured here with her big sister, Zoe:

And here is the whole family:

Aren't they gorgeous? Sorry again that I couldn't be there, Jeff and Joelle.

And I have a couple of my own pictures in the queue that will be up in the next couple of days to restart this blog thing. Really. Promise. Cross my heart.

Friend or Foe?

2008-08-25T21:40:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago, Jay and I went to a farm to get fresh peaches and yummy veggies. Out back they had peacocks, sheep, goats, chickens, bunnies and a few other fuzzy or feathery creatures for feeding and petting.

Jay made a special friend:

Mr. Goat is doing a dance he's so happy to be friends with Jay!

It may also be a dance mocking Jay's lack of elevation, but my studies in traditional communicative goat dance lead me to believe the Dance of New Friend Joy is more likely than the Ha Ha I Have the Vertical Advantage Dance, though the fundamentals are quite similar.

Crabtree Falls

2008-08-22T23:05:00.004-04:00

It may have been useful for Jay and I to know before embarking on the journey up the Appalachian mountain that lets Crabtree Falls meander down it's sloping side that it is supposedly the tallest US waterfall east of the Mississippi. Then again, if we knew the 1,380(+?) ft would take us nearly three hours to get up, we may not have been rewarded with all the lovely views it revealed, the below being one.

The trail was well maintained without being too manicured and there were a lot of people about, but most of them were pleasant and even though it kicked our unfit butts, it was a great time. Especially the way down.

2008-08-19T21:49:00.003-04:00

Here is where we spent our weekend:

In a house on a hill in the Shenandoah Valley. We pretended to be hill people. I don't think Jay's doing a very good Job. He has a shirt and shoes on.

I taste good with ketchup

2008-08-12T22:09:00.004-04:00

This little gem we found in south Baltimore goes out to my Polish ancestry. Otherwise , I think it speaks for itself...

Hungry Pigeons

2008-08-11T21:36:00.007-04:00

I don't know if the trap was meant for pigeons or rats, but it sure wasn't working on these hungry guys. The light one in the top left of the frame got chased around by the darker one right behind it for a good couple of minutes. Mesmerized by a nice piece of tail, I suppose.

Viewer's Poll

2008-08-02T16:03:00.005-04:00

Hey all, this week I started seeing this blog on other computers (at work, naughty me) and noticed that the pictures are coming out much darker than on my computer at home. Now I know about monitors and how they all show differently and such, but I want to know what the majority of you are seeing. If it's my computer that shows things lighter and brighter, and the rest of you are seeing them much darker, then I'll adjust accordingly. For instance, in the last post, in the first picture, can you easily make out the tree that's there? Thanks for your help. Here's a picture for your trouble:

Rainy Night

2008-07-27T21:05:00.006-04:00

Here's what I got from my photo shoot on the porch during the rainstorm:

These two are the same shot, but the second caught the sky filled with lightning.

Mother Nature violates traffic laws.

And all clear at dawn... Yes, I do sometimes see the dawn. Occasionally.

Next time, don't miss Jay's birthday photo expedition: Bayside industry, pigeons, and Jay on his cell phone!

Rain, Rain, Here to Stay

2008-07-23T22:28:00.003-04:00

We're having a rainstorm right now. It was pretty serious there for a while and Jay and I went downstairs to watch its determination to wash away, well, everything. I took my camera down and scurried around the porch, dancing with the wet wind. I'm a bit protective of my new baby. Much love and appreciation to Jay who did a wonderful job being bodyguard, as well. I ended up taking 88 pictures so it'll take me some time to pick out the couple of best ones (aka, the ones that aren't blurry) and make them viewable, but here's a teaser. The shutter speed was only 1/15th of a second, so it really was raining that hard.

Inside the World of Thompson

2008-07-15T21:26:00.012-04:00

Here is me trying to make up for my slackerness:

A glimpse into the Family Thompson over the Independence Day weekend in Traverse City, MI. Incidentally, I bought a new camera (Yay!). A lovely Canon 40D. I'm still learning how to use it (hence the lack of pictures on the blog) and the weekend at the Thompson Ranch was my first time using it (hence some of the soft focus). I've been waiting to buy this for a while and I could declare my patriotism, saying I did my part to stimulate the economy like I was told to do with my $600 check. But I'm going to give credit to the friends and family who donated money to the cause on birthdays and Christmases as well as a generous end of fiscal year bonus from my employer which came just at the right time. Nyahh-nyah, Bushie!

Jay spent much of the weekend discovering muscles he had long forgotten with what we lovingly called The Stupid Ball Game [edit: Jay says he's working on his tan]:

This is his youngest brother, Brad, master of the Stupid Ball Game, making him Stupid Ball Game Master, I suppose.

We enjoyed after dinner glasses of wine watching the sun set on the lakeside porch. This is the brother to whom Jay looks similar, Randall. Jay looks pleased with himself, doesn't he?

This other blond brother is Ben, the eldest, with his wife Nicole. Ben was trying to pretend he wasn't posing for this shot.

I haven't decided why, but I like this picture of them better despite it's conventional flaws. It's hard to tell in this small of a version, but Nicole's eyes are open, she's just looking down.

And, the last sibling would be Little Cat. Isn't she lovely?

Jay can make her hop.

Unfortunately, none of my pictures of Jay's Mom or Dad turned out very well. There was one of his Mom with killer lighting, but I moved too much with a slow shutter speed causing too much blur. This is the best one. I think she's trying not to laugh at one of her son's antics.

Jay with his Dad in the basement wearing matching shirts.

This one of Jay's parent's turned out nice. They like to sit out on the end of their dock a lot. I saw them out there at least once every day we were there.

We had a good, relaxing time up there and a thank you to the Thompson's for their hospitality.

Ketchup

2008-06-28T17:57:00.004-04:00

and mustard and salt and some pepper hiding behind the salt and a little more ketchup.

Next Best

2008-06-24T22:47:00.005-04:00

It's been a long time since I've seen a rainbow. We could see both sides of this one.

One side out the bathroom window:

the other side out back through the bedroom:

Pictures never do rainbows justice, and now I'm regretting depending on it for today's picture. As much as I love photographs, there are many things that just do not translate from reality. I find this often the case when considering nature. I can be stirred so deeply by some natural things (I have a thing for trees in particular) and seeing them in a photograph pulls all the sublimity out of it. It's the next best thing, though, when not able to experience the reality. So, here's my next best rainbow for you all.

Debris

2008-06-21T21:56:00.007-04:00

Okay, so it'll take me a little bit to get in the groove of this thing, but here's another photo, though not a new one. I took it last fall when Jay and I visited Philadelphia for a weekend. We saw all this debris in the river or canal or something there from above on the bridge. There was a lot more than is in this picture. It's been sitting in my computer for months (the picture, not the debris, though there's a lot virtual debris in there, too) and I'm really intrigued by it, but hadn't done anything with it until now. Like I said, it'll take a bit for the groove, so I'll probably throw an old picture in once in a while. Hey, at least it's something.

I could have fiddled with the curves to bring out more of the muck that's underneath the water, but then the surface and what's above it gets lost, and I think it's more powerful as mostly monochrome.

Speaking of every day...

2008-06-18T20:59:00.009-04:00

Here is something Jay and I do a lot (that's Jay, featured front and kinda center).

Jay goes to CVP, our local pub a few times a week to read and write. Somehow he escapes the world better when it's running mildly around him and most nights the pub is good for that. Sometimes I accompany him and almost inevitably we'll spend some time on a crossword. We find them irresistible. Looks like he may be a little stuck on this one. I should probably help him out.

Over his shoulder are a couple of our fellow locals.

Guy #1 used to come to the coffee shop I worked at for a couple of months two summers back (can it have been that long?). His name is Bill. I remember him getting breakfast often - I think he liked the yogurt with fruit and granola - and he was one of the few who would brave our stifling little indoor seating area in the heat of a Baltimore City summer and still get hot coffee. Everyone else was outside in our convenient shaded area and sipping iced lattes.

Guy #2 I've only ever seen at the pub and always alone. He's there more times than not when I'm there. He usually turns a chair around and watches the tv over the video game machines with his back to the bar. He's a sports fan, especially baseball. We were there last night and I watched as he watched the Red Sox play some other team I can't now recall and muttered to himself. At one point he cracked up laughing at nothing I could determine. Even as much of a regular as he is, he doesn't interact much with the waitstaff and bartenders, nor the other regulars. But otherwise he looks like an average blue collar guy, in his t-shirt and ball cap, drinking his Bud Light. I imagine there's some sadness to his story.

PS. Hooray! I finally got a picture up! Yay!

2008-06-06T20:50:00.001-04:00

I'll start tomorrow, I swear.

There it is.

2008-06-02T11:30:00.000-04:00

I meant to do this a year ago, but, well, I'll skip the excuses and just say, now is the time. So, a picture a day, every day. That's the idea. Not a new idea, I know, but there it is. Some will be good, some will be of my cat because sometimes I just can't help myself. He's fat, but he photographs well. Hope you enjoy.