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Friday, June 29, 2012

Skywatch Friday


It's going to be hot today.  It rained last night, and the ground is wet this morning.  There's not a cloud in the sky and it's one of those days when even the insects are trying to find a break from the sun at 8:00 in the morning.  Hot and humid.  Summer in upstate New York.  I always think of the people who work outside on days like this, the roofers, the lawn people, power company crews, farmers and the one person who's out there in every kind of weather, the postman.

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 Number6.3
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/400
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO100
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Lilies


Another predominantly green photo.  Everything around me is green right now.  Although a week without rain is making the lawns a bit brown...  I don't know the exact species of lily; these are growing wild down in Vale.

F Number5.3
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length30.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 60.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/80
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Blueberries!


My wife decided to try planting blueberries this year, and to my great surprise, they had fruit!  Even though the plants are very small, they had a few berries on each plant - I can't really call them a bush quite yet.  You can see that the blueberry plant isn't much larger than the strawberry, and it isn't yet as big as the wild violets in the foreground.

F Number5.6
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/160
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Monday, June 25, 2012

Wildflowers


Some wildflowers down by the west pond in Vale.Very delicate blue to my eye; I'm not sure the photo does them justice but I wanted to show them as I found them, nestled in among the green rushes.

F Number5.6
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/50
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Last day of soccer


No, it's not a typo.  Yesterday was the last day of soccer, and what did the little guy do after his game?  Hunt frogs in the stream behind the field.  Somehow I don't think he'll remember the game, but he'll remember this frog!

F Number7.1
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/320
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Garlic scapes


These beauties were photographed downtown at the Greenmarket last Sunday.  Quincy had some lovely spring veggies out but none were quite as photogenic as these garlic scapes.  Garlic scapes are the stems that eventually hold the round flower ball.  Most farmers cut them off in the theory that if the plant doesn't bloom it will put more energy into the bulbs.  The scapes have only a hint of garlic; they're sweet and tender, not fibrous and tough.  I like them sliced thin on a salad, but they go great in soup, sauce or just fried up with a bit of olive oil or butter like fried peppers.

F Number22.0
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length39.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 78.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/20
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Ethnic food


I drive past this restaurant almost every day, and only now did it occur to me to snap a photo as I was waiting for the traffic light to change.  Schenectady was noted for her Italian immigrants at the turn of the last century; particularly southern Italy and Sicily.  Even now, Italian surnames are quite commonplace.  Poles and Hungarians had an influx mid-century and today we have Guyanese moving in.  There are small populations of Pakistanis and Chinese too.  We have many interesting faces, sounds and names on our streets.  This take-out restaurant has signs for many of them: halal, kebabs, pizza, gyros, pasta, fried chicken... and they deliver!  The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa is apparently the only Italian illustration the sign maker could find; as an attraction of northern Italy, the famous tower isn't particularly evocative of the many southern Italians.

F Number5.6
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length39.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 78.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/125
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

War memorial


The morning sun behind the War Memorial atop Mt Greylock, Massachusetts.  I spent almost a week up there playing radio.  We drive up Wednesday night, spend Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday morning setting up.  Then we contest Saturday afternoon through Sunday night.  On Monday, we take it all down - 9 towers and all the associated antennas.  The towers are disassembled, stacked on trailers and we drive home.  To do it again in September.

This week had exquisite weather; it rained one night but I can't remember which one!  The 6 meter band was wide open to Europe via F-layer propagation, and on Sunday there was double-E propagation to the west coast!  I work the high microwaves, and I'm pleased to report that all my gear worked, and I helped make 5 grids on 47GHz - the rover who went out was the greater part of the effort, as pointing that dish is no mean feat.

For now, it's time to make repairs (something always needs repair!), make new gadgets, work on my morse code skills and get ready to go back up in September!

F Number22.0
Lens ID-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length23.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 46.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/4000
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO1600
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Salad turnips


And these are the salad turnips I tried.  Don't they look great?  I hope I can get more this week.

F Number4.8
Lens ID-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length24.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 48.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/30
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOn, Fired

This post is on auto-pilot.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Quincy Farm


This is Cara from Quincy Farm.  She sets up a stand at the Schenectady Greenmarket every Sunday in the summer.  She's passionate about being a farmer, and it shows.  I love talking with her, getting ideas about what to try next.  My latest new thing was salad turnips - I never heard of these before.  They were REALLY good grated and added to a slaw.  Thanks for the idea Cara - it's a winner!

F Number5.6
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length20.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 40.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/1000
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

This post is on auto-pilot.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Hey, that's salt water!


The eldest was doing a partial water change on his marine aquarium, and Lance the cat thought he'd get a taste of some nice, fresh water.  He wasn't impressed.

F Number5.6
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/30
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOn, Fired

This post is on auto-pilot.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

He likes cats


A lot of people like cats, but this driver is letting the world know about it with this custom licence plate.  And bumper stickers.  Very neat!

F Number5.6
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/100
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

This post is on auto-pilot.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Transit of Venus sky


The 2012 transit is over - I'm sure there are many fine images and movies of it.  I imagine Capt Cook would be astonished at the modern technology we applied to this event compared to his trip to Tahiti.  But one thing hasn't changed: there's still weather to contend with.  Here in the Schenectady area, we had solid overcast skies all day, with just a bit of a break around 5:00 PM.  This is what that break looked like.  Fortunately, I had two nice openings just as it began and just as the sun was about to sink below the horizon.

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 Number8.0
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/500
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
ISO800
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

This post is on auto-pilot.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Recycle


This man understands the value of recycling!  He's carrying a large bag of cans and plastic bottles.  On his bicycle.  He's a cycling recycler!

F Number8.0
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/500
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
ISO800
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

This post is on auto-pilot.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Transit of Venus 2012


By now, most everyone's heard about the 2012 transit of Venus.  Like most astronomical events, I got clouded out for a large piece. Then of course, the sun set before it was even a third over.  But still, it was fun to watch with my little one.  I have an old telescope called an Edmund Astroscan, and I set it up so that the eyepiece pointed sideways, then focussed the image on a piece of white paper I taped to a bit of cardboard.  The technique is called eyepiece projection, and it's an easy way to let a group of people see the Sun safely.  Venus is the round dot at the upper left side.  Other blotches are sunspots.

F Number8.0
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/640
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO125
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire


This was the very beginning; I saw a break in the clouds and grabbed the telescope and got a shot off as quickly as I could.

F Number8.0
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length39.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 78.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/2000
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO100
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire


The setup looks like this.  The telescope is the tube sticking out of the red bag.  I used the lens case to hold up the cardboard and the eyepiece is pointing at that.  This way, it's virtually impossible for someone to accidentally peek into the eyepiece and get hurt.

I'm off at a ham radio contest - post is on auto-pilot.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Slate roof


This is a slate roof.  The thumbnail doesn't do it justice - click to enlarge it and see the patterns the roofers put in that roof.  he sun was just right for me to get this.  It's the roof of the First United Methodist Church, whose front is on State Street; this is the back.  Amazing work.

I'll be away for a week or so; I hope to set up some posts on auto-pilot, but it's very hectic.  Getting ready for the annual ARRL VHF June ham radio contest...

F Number8.0
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/1600
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Monday, June 4, 2012

Chicory


I took this on the way to the Sunday Greenmarket.  It's chicory.  Around here, it's considered a weed; tough, hard to kill and grows in places other plants don't.  Like the little crack between the asphalt parking lot and the concrete sidewalk.  What caught my eye wasn't that it was there - it's so common it;s easy to overlook.  No, what caught my eye is that it's flowering now - in June.  That's very early; maybe as much as a month early. This particular plant hasn't many flowers, but it's doing quite well for the spot it's growing in!

F Number5.6
Lens ID-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length34.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 68.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/1300
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO200
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Garden riot


This is a photo of the tiny bit of garden in our side yard.  It's a small strip that runs along the driveway next to the neighbour's fence.  It's no more than 6 feet wide, but it gets most of the afternoon sun, and so we plant things here.  In this photo, there's mint (wild, but I make tea from it), chives (purple flowers), strawberries and violets (also wild).  There;s also a bit of trash, which the wind carries to our yard without fail.  One of the downsides of city life.

F Number5.6
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/80
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO100
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Friday, June 1, 2012

Theme Day - Tranquility


On the first of each new month, the City Daily Photo community choose a theme, and we try to post a photo that we feel realises that theme.  This month's theme is tranquility. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants - the participants are from all over the world, and their ideas are simply marvelous!

This is from the wood next to the soccer field we go to.  The soccer field is on the edge of Central Park, and there is a mountain bike path that runs through here.  There are streams and bridges over those streams, although I think I might have rode my bike over that when I was younger I don;t think I would do so today!  Anyway, soccer practice was over, the kids were all heading for the cars and it was quiet.  The air was still and I could hear the birds in the forest, the slow trickle of the water, the voices of the children, glad to be finished with their workouts.

F Number5.6
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length31.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 62.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/30
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO100
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire
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