Skywatch Friday

I liked the clouds low on 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 Number	13.0
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/2500
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

First rainbow!

Conditions were finally right for a rainbow; late afternoon, and the sun is low enough to be under the cloud layer, rain passing through, rain stopped here and still coming down gently to the east-northeast.

It's not a Hawaiian rainbow, but it always cheers me up to see one!  Hey, if the ground can open up and blossom, why not the sky?

F Number	10.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	29.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 58.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/640
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Persians

This is Savannah.  She's a rescue, like all the 4 legged critters in the house.  Unfortunately for her, she has that typical Persian cat look.  To our human eyes, it seems like she's scowling, but she's actually in a very good mood here, resting on a little bit of Persian carpet.

The camera had the red-eye reduction turned on, but her eyes are so large that it's almost impossible to eliminate that.  That red eye makes her seem even more surly, poor thing!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	41.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 82.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/30
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	On, Red-eye reduction

Basking turtles

There are turtles basking on the log to the left of centre.  I was going to crop out the rubbish that got tossed into the water, but decided to show it as it is.  This is the Mohawk River near Lock 7.  Taken on a sunny day last week - it's been raining for the past week.  Springtime!

F Number	10.0
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	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Blue skies

If I could take a photo of Hope, I think it would look like this.

F Number	13.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/800
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Cherry blossoms?

Not yet, but soon.

These ornamental cherry trees are in the process of setting buds.  The old cherries from last year are mostly off the tree - almost all of them fell off yesterday in one great mass.  The new leaves are stretching out and soon the flowers will appear!

How much difference a few degrees of latitude makes!  Washington DC's famous Cherry Blossom Festival is all over already, and we haven't even begun to see flowering trees yet.

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	1/400
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Daffodils

These daffodils are just blooming in my front yard, where the morning sun warms the ground.  The side yard is at least two weeks behind getting going.

F Number	6.3
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	41.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 82.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/200
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Tree buds

The trees have started to bud - it's so exciting!  In a few days, tiny leaves will pop out.  The sap is running and dripping from the broken branches where winter storms have done damage.  But spring is the time of renewal, and this tree is strong.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/1000
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Some different spring flowers

I might be stretching things to call skunk cabbages a 'flower' but they do have a flower inside their spathe, and they are the very first green to appear in the spring, even before the snow drops.  It's taken me a long time to get a photo that really shows what the bottom of Vale looks like in the spring, but I think I've done it here.

All the world is grey and brown; even the bed the water covers is brown.  There are dry twigs, brush and leaves everywhere, subtle variations of grey and brown.  And rising up above it all are these lush, green plants.

The plants themselves are miracles.  They generate their own heat - they melt through icy soil and snow cover in March, to reach up into the sun.  All the leaves they will have this year are wrapped tightly into a bundle.  They'll gradually unwrap and spiral out to soak up the sun.  By then, the canopy will be in full bud, making this the strongest sun these plants will see.  Their roots actually pull the plant farther down into the mud; each year, they anchor ever more firmly.  And that flower, well I wouldn't advise picking it for a bouquet - it smells pretty bad.  Even though it hides inside the spathe, insects manage to pollinate it in April - before any other flowers are ready!

I find that amazing.

F Number	3.5
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	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

April flowers

OK, I know how the poem really goes, but these flowers are blooming in April, not May.  Wild flowers in Vale, growing up out of last year's dead leaves seem like a perfect image to represent Spring.

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	1/250
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Longans!

These are an Asian fruit called longans.  We can't buy these in a typical supermarket, but we are fortunate to have several Asian food stores in the area, including a full-sized Asian supermarket.

I last had these in Hawai'i and I never imagined I could find fresh longans here in Schenectady.  It's an amazing time to be alive.

F Number	3.5
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	0.3
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

One Broadway Center

I liked the reflection of the sky and the trees.  This is One Broadway Center, another recent addition to the downtown landscape.

It stood vacant for a while, then the New York State Lottery moved in, taking five floors.  They have their name emblazoned on the front of the building which is why pretty much everyone knows this as the Lottery building.

This view is from the back, in the Proctor's Theatre parking lot.  The smaller structure on the left is the municipal parking garage, across Broadway. 

F Number	6.3
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	31.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 62.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/200
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Spring runoff

Runoff seems such an unlovely word for the way the frozen ground sheds the melting snows of winter and the first few rains of spring.  All the streams are high now; full of water running off the land.

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	30.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 60.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/200
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

May flowers?

Not really.  These daffodils are sold by the American Cancer Society to raise funds.  They are a beautiful reminder of what's about to arrive outside!

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	Program AE
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

April showers

People normally complain about the number of rainy days we see, but the recent near miss snow storm has people grateful that it's rain and not snow!

This is at the corner of Brandywine Avenue (on the left) and Albany Street (running across the photo left to right).

F Number	5.5
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	34.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 68.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/80
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Legs

This is one of those things that just sort of struck me as a good idea at the time.  I was waiting for the little guy to finish his lunch, fooling around with the camera and happened to put it on my knee.  I thought it was sort of cool once I took it.

F Number	3.5
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	0.6
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Downtown

Looking west on State Street (the main street) after leaving the intersection with Broadway.  The tallest building on the left is the new City Center building.  The YMCA has moved in but I don't think there are any other tenants yet.  In the distance is the MVP building.  When it was built, I thought it was ugly, but having a major employer in the heart of the city is a pretty good tradeoff,  On the right is the marquee for Proctor's Theatre, here since the 1920s.

Old and new, side by side.

F Number	9.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/400
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

The last snow storm

How's that for an optimistic post!

Yesterday, the weather forecast was for 6 inches of wet, heavy snow.  The storm moved farther out to sea and spared us; we got something like a half inch of snow before it turned to rain.  The people in Maine got hit though.  Not a very fun April Fool's Day prank!

I took this while driving to work; left it on auto program and blindly pointed out the window.

F Number	9.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/500
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Monthly theme day -Edges

It's the first of the month, and many bloggers in the City Daily Photo community take this day to share a photograph that realises a particular theme.  This month, the theme is edges.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

I had a hard time with this month's theme.  I wasn't sure whether I wanted a straightforward photo of... well, edges, or whether I wanted to try for something a little more abstract.  In the end, I couldn't make up my mind (fancy that!)

This is a photo of a puddle on the path in Vale.  Well, it's a puddle when it's warmer and it's a sheet of ice when it's colder.  Each successive thaw-and-freeze cycle has seen the puddle shrink a little, so that there are rings of ice describing the life of this small bit of water.  These edges exist under the protection of the top cover of ice; the side facing up is very smooth while the edge below is ridged.  What originally drew my eye to this was the frozen rivulet on the upper left side.  New water trickles in to replace the water that seeps away, escaping through the ground.

I see many edges in this photo, air and earth, earth and ice, ice and ice, solid and liquid... This turned out to be a good theme for me to try.  Please do check out the rest of the community!  There are so many talented people, it takes me more than one night to go visit them all!