Bees in the rain

This is at an outbuilding at a friend's place.  The bees - we call these yellow jackets - have built their nest right up against the glass, and it was raining so they all huddled round the back.  I was safe and dry inside and could not resist taking their portrait.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/30
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	On, Red-eye reduction

Lock gate gear

This gear is the last bit in the geartrain that opens and closes the lock gates - the big doors that hold the water back.  I had a long chat with the lock keeper at Lock 9 one day and he was very patient with me.  I thought that the water pressure against these doors would be so immense that gears like this wouldn't stand a chance.

I was right.

Basically, the doors are only shifted when the water is at the same level on both sides of the door.  Obvious in retrospect, but I had an Aha! over that.

This particular gear is the upstream side of Lock 7 in Niskayuna.  Vischer Ferry is the official location I think.  I found it incredible that the river had got all the way up here - you can see the mud caking the bolt at the right rear.  Amazing technology, these locks.  Almost all of it dating back to the early parts of the 1900s.

F Number	5.4
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	33.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 66.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/30
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Skywatch Friday

My very first decent lightning photo! I didn't have a tripod, so I pressed the camera against the nearest vertical support and hoped for the best.  The sky way ridiculously dark, so I had to guess at the exposure.  I tinkered for a bit and settled on F22 and 3 seconds.  The rain is completely invisible!

A group of photobloggers post a photo of their skies each Friday - it's called Skywatch Friday. Click the link to see photos from round the world.

F Number	22.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	3.2
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Mohawk River pudding

This photo was taken at Erie Canal Lock 7.  OK, so technically, it's the New York State Barge Canal.  It'll always be the Erie Canal for me...

This is the bow of Buoy Boat 109; alas I could not see a name on her!  She's a working boat on the canal, used these days to carry workers to and fro and to pull debris like tree limbs from the canal.  Fancy that - after Irene, the canal is still in clean up mode.  In fact, the canal is closed on the eastern end while damage assessment is completed.

The term 'pudding' for 'bow fender' comes to English via the French boudin or bowel.  First cited in 1625, it referred to what we might call chafing gear today; at the ends of the yard arms to save the robins from wearing on the yard arms.  There are several styles of bow fenders; Tugster shows off a collection in New York harbour from time to time.  Here's one from February 2011.


Making these was always part of the sailor's art.  There's a tutorial you can view to see how it's done.  Here's a different style of fender; still rope-work though, and definitely art!

F Number	6.3
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/200
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Dancing!

On the way to the Greenmarket on Sunday, we saw these people dancing.  In the street.  In the rain.  Enjoying themselves!

It turns out they are from St George's church.  Their annual Greek Festival will be held downtown next week.  But they're starting early!  They danced and handed out flyers to shoppers at the Greenmarket.  Very good thinking!

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/200
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Lock 7

The NY State Canal system remains closed after Irene.  There are worries about silt, debris and fluctuating water levels along with physical damage to the lock gates and valves.

This is the soonest I've been able to get to Lock 7 in Niskayuna.  There were early (and mistaken) reports that the dam that creates the navigation pool here (Vischer Ferry Dam) had a leak.  It wasn't a leak as much as the water level was so high it was working its way around the south side of the dam.  In the end, lots of fill was brought in and the dam remains safe.

I walked to one of the boaters stranded here by the closed canal system.  All the boaters are in a pickle.  They have power here at Lock 7 but no fresh or waste water hookups, and that makes staying there for a long time untenable.  The only option is to find a big crane and a hauler to carry them over land to the Hudson, where they'll have to find a marina that can take them off the hauler, and in some cases, step the mast so they can sail instead of using the diesel.

It was a sobering thought, bringing to mind the many thousands in Schoharie , Prattsville and Windham who still have no electricity or running water, and who have a foot of mud they need to try to shovel out of their living room.  Irene may not have killed many, but it's going to be a long winter.

This photograph is a pretty good rendering of the colour of the river right now.  It is still full of silt, and is this caffe au lait colour.  It has a strange smell, too.

James at Newtown Daily Photo runs a theme called Weekend Reflections. Around a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	29.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 58.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/160
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Monthly theme day - Perspective

Toady, the first of the month, is Theme Day in the City Daily Photo Blog community.  Each month, we choose a single subject and we each take a photo that realises the topic.  This month, the theme is Perspective. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

This is a photo of an antenna tower.  I'm a ham; an amateur radio operator.  For me, towers are not only engineering wonders, but a way to make communication possible.  Most amateur towers are held up by supporting steel cables called guy wires.  These wires don't carry any radio signal; they just hold the tower up.  And yet, if I put my ear on one, I can hear the wind singing through the tower and if I touch the guy wire, I can hear the sound pulse travel from one end to the other, reflected back to my ear from the distant end at the top of the tower.

This isn't my tower; I was helping someone with some ham-related work and I just decided to listen to the guy wire.  By the time I thought of getting the camera, it was almost dark, and hand-holding the full zoom at 1/20th of a second was a little difficult.

This theme challenged me and I'm not sure I realised the theme as well as I could have.  Do visit the other blogs - the community is magnificent!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/20
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire