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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

6 feet

The flash makes Spot look... creepy.  But he's really a lover!
It's not easy to get photos of black coloured animals.

F Number5.4
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length33.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 66.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/30
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
ISO100
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOn, Fired

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Happy birthday, Bahamas!

One minute before midnight, 9 July 1973, the Union Jack was lowered for the last time in Nassau.  At 12:01, July 10th, the Blue, gold and black flag of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas was raised for the first time.  Today is the 40th anniversary of Bahamian independence from Great Britain.  Why am I interested?  My mother was born in The Bahamas.

I don't usually  delve into politics here, but these politics are more historical than current.  Mom was born on a small island - a cay (pronounced KEE) named Elbow Cay.  Elbow Cay, like most of Abaco, was settled by American Loyalists fleeing the US South after the American Revolution.  Life in The Bahamas revolved around Nassau (on New Providence) since the British suppressed piracy in the late 1600s.  The other islands like Abaco, were lumped together under the rubric 'Out Islands', and many inhabitants felt they were given scant attention by the colonial government in Nassau.

As a whole, the population of The Bahamas is 85% Black, 12% White.  In greater Abaco, it's about 50/50 - primarily because of the descendants of the original Loyalist families.  When Home Rule came to The Bahamas, the Abaconians were't nearly as enthused with the idea as the rest of the Bahamian population.  The Loyalist heritage made Abaconians much more libertarian in their outlook as well as a fond , maybe even romantic, feeling toward Great Britain and suspicious of the central government in Nassau.  So Abaco officially requested to be exempted from independence.  Her Majesty's Government declined to entertain the idea, and Abaco became part of the independent Commonwealth of The Bahamas on July 10, 1973.

The idea of an independent Abaco continued for a few years though, partly fuelled by an American with romantic libertarian ideas and a lot of money.  In the end, the leaders of the Independent Abaco movement realised that they were Bahamian and were going to remain Bahamian, and began to work as part of the Bahamian government.

There will always be a natural tension between the Family Islands (renamed to show the government's intent to be more inclusive) and the large populations on New Providence and Grand Bahama islands (Nassau and Freeport, respectively).  How can one treat Nassau (population 350,000) and Hope Town (population 500) the same?  This is similar to the problem we have in New York, where NY City dwarfs the population and the economy here in upstate New York.  The good news is that The Bahamas have made it to 40 despite the differences between the various islands and cays.  The Bahamas has a big future ahead of them; I'm looking forward to celebrating the 50th in 2023!

Happy birthday, Bahamas!

F Number5.0
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length26.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 52.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/100
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO100
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Rainbow

I am a sucker for rainbows!  This one was very late in the day, which is why it is so low on the... the horizon I guess I'll call it.  It's been rainy here.  Rain almost every day.  West of here, the Mohawk River is at or above flood stage and it's quite high here, but not flooding over her banks.  Had 3 separate thunderstorms move through, and this was after the second one.  The rain had moved east of here, as most weather does, and the sun was shining brightly while the trailing edge of the storm still put sprinkles on Albany and Troy.  I couldn't resist.

F Number5.6
Lens IDLUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time1/2000
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO125
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Monday, July 8, 2013

Smoky

Smoky is a street cat; there are quite a few around.  We think we adopted a relative of his.  We don't have room for all of them though...  Smoky is very friendly.  He lets you pick him up, scatch behind his ears and he'll even sit in your lap until a bug or a leaf catches his eye.  Yesterday, he decided to sleep under our hydrangea, which is quite crowded with wild violets, alehoof, flatleaf primroses and a milkweed plant.  It's very shady under there and it was a warm day - over 90F (32C) again - so he was enjoying the shade as well as a position where he could watch the street.  Clever boy!

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
ISO400
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Kitty in the window

Huckleberry enjoying the morning sun.

LensMinolta MD 50mm f/1.4
F Number4.0
Focal Length50.0 mm
Exposure Time1/400
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
ISO100
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Friday, July 5, 2013

Skywatch Friday

Yesterday was the Fourth of July.  In the US, it is officially called Independence Day but I don't know anyone who actually says that.  The 4th has somehow become a day of outdoor grilling, picnics and at dusk... fireworks.  Fireworks are illegal in the state of New York, and theoretically, only specially licenced fireworks technicians are allowed to put on shows.  And there are a lot of shows in the area, the biggest one being at the Empire State Plaza in Albany.

We didn't go there.  Lately, downtown Albany has been too much of a madhouse to go there so we've been going to East Greenbush, which overlooks the Plaza.

We didn't go there, either.  It was a long, hot day - over 90F (32C) and we were hot, tired and cranky.  The kiddo insisted on seeing fireworks though, and he and my better half headed off in the car.  The neighbourhood had been popping, sparking, booming and BLAMming for days, so it's no real surprise that they stopped just a few streets away to watch the locals doing their thing.  He was very happy, which made us happy too.

In the mean time, the people on the State Street end of our street were having a show of their own.  Remember, this is all quite illegal - imagine what would happen if one of these rockets landed on a roof and set the house afire.  Their show went on for about a half an hour, and there were literally people on all sides of me doing the same thing.

This is one of those shots.  I was using the Minolta MD 50mm f/1.4 wide open for photos before this one, but I didn't like how blobby the photos were turning out.  No matter where I put the shutter speed, between 1/4 and 1/10 of a second, the rocket's were just... blobs of colour.  Nice colour, but still blobs.  So I stopped the lens down to f/4 and used one second exposures and rather prefer the results.  Thought I'd share that in the hopes that I'll be able to look it up next time I want to know what worked :-)

Today is Friday, and that means it's Skywatch Friday.  Please click the link to see the skies from round the world.

LensMinolta MD 50mm f/1.4
F Number4.0
Focal Length50.0 mm
Exposure Time1
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO100
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire

Monday, July 1, 2013

Monthly Theme Day - Façades

On the first of the month, the City Daily Photo blogging community take a theme, interpret that theme and post the results.  Please visit the portal and see the amazing photographs based on the theme of Façades.

This is the front of City Hall, on Jay Street.  Technically, it's not a façade; it's just part of the front.  But this part is a historical marker of sorts, and is unique to Schenectady so I felt justified posting this.  It reads:

Schenectady
Founded in the wilderness beyond feudal control inherits the spirit of liberty and progress.
Here our forefathers established a college free from sectarianism.
They helped to develop the steam railroad and inland water transportation that carry through her gates the commerce of our nation.
In places of business in workshop and laboratory her citizens still labor to promote the advancement of civilization.

LensMinolta MD 50mm f/1.4
F Number8
Focal Length50 mm
Exposure Time1/200
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO100
Exposure Compensation0
FlashOff, Did not fire
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