Skywatch Friday

I haven't done a Skywatch Friday in a while, and this sky just spoke to me.  I walked out the back door and to my left (southwest) - the front.  To my right (northeast) stunning, clear, cloudless sky.  The demarcation was so strong I had to go back inside and snap a few photos.  It took 2 snaps to get it all, which meant making a panorama.

Click the link to see some amazing skies from round the world!

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/640
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	125
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Vale

We call it The Shortcut.  We almost always want to go down to the creek when we go into Vale, an we can either take the long trail with the switchback or the more... direct route.  I like the direct route although it's pretty difficult to climb back up it in the winter!  I can't tell whether my favourite part is the gigantic tree that's fallen over the path (we walk under it!) or the wiggly tree on the left.  What made it grow like that, I wonder?

F Number	7.1
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/400
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Pitcher plant

The youngest wants to enter the science fair this year, and his project is going to be carnivorous plants.  That surprised me, given his affinity for insects, but he's seen the cycle of life enough that he probably accepts that flies exist to be eaten.  Anyway, this is one of the plants he's chosen to study.  I didn't realise they have lids!  I think it will be a challenge to give them the humidity they are accustomed to, but we'll see.

F Number	5.2
Focal Length	29.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 58.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/50
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	3200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Patterned

The snow looked very different in the afternoon light.  As the sun lined up with the snow bank, a pattern began to emerge.  Clearly, the snow blower had made these marks, but it isn't immediately obvious to me how.  I'm thinking that it's a slight left/right vibration that did this.

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	1/320
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Winter Monarch

If this seems an unusual sight for Schenectady in the middle of winter, you're right!  The Schenectady Museum (now called MiSci) has built a butterfly house.  We went late in the afternoon, and we had the room to ourselves and the docent.  I could hear the butterflies flapping their wings as they went by.  In the winter!  These beauties would normally overwinter in Mexico or California, but we have some enjoying the nice weather inside the museum.

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	1/25
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	800
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Crazy icicles

We're past the coldest part of winter now.  The sun stays up longer and the air isn't quite as cold.  This part of the house faces the morning sun, and it's just enough to heat up the metal awning and cause the bottom layer of snow to melt.  Thus, the icicles.

Of course, if it melts a bit more, the whole pack of snow   s l o w l y   slides down the face of the awning.  It freezes again when it leaves the awning surface, but there's a chunk of snow that bent over the 45 degree angle where the top meets the front.  So it curls under as it slides.  Thus, the (almost) horizontal icicles.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	25.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 50.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/50
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

A boy and his cat

Lance and his human.  True love!

F Number	5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/15
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	1600
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire