The view from Proctors parking lot

An uninspired title to be sure, but oh, that sky!  This was taken Sunday last, on the way to the Winter Market inside Proctors.  The building with the gold dome is City Hall just peeping over the line of buildings on State Street.  A few years ago, all of these downtown buildings were either boarded up or in disrepair.  Looking much nicer now!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/800
Exposure Program	Aperture-priority AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Crocus

Not to be outdone by the snowdrop, the crocus decided it was time to bloom too!  They are so small and seem so fragile but they are peeping out into 25F air, so they must be very tough indeed.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	40.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 80.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/250
Exposure Program	Aperture-priority AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Femme, relaxing

Femme enjoying the sun streaming in through the window.

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	0.5
Exposure Program	Aperture-priority AE
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Impossible!

It's almost impossible to convey my feelings on this.  I took this photo this morning, 19 Feb.  There is no snow on the ground.  That's amazing.  There hasn't been any snow on the ground.  That's unbelievable.  The snow drops are blooming.  That's impossible! 

Just to check my memory, I went back in time to look at photos I'd taken about this time in years past.

25 Feb 2011

 The first snow drop photo was taken March 18th - a full month from now, and there was snow on the ground.

17 Feb 2010

The first snow drop photo was taken March 18th.  The snow was thin, but it covered the ground.

19 Feb 2009

The first snow drop photo was taken on March 12th, through the snow.  It was an early Spring that year.

27 Feb 2009

The first snow drop: April 5th.

I'm not imagining things; for a snow drop to be blooming on Feb 19th is impossible!


EXIF information for the snow drop:

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	1/320
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Skywatch Friday

The sun tries to make an appearance through the hazy clouds.  The days are getting longer, the sun will win this struggle... eventually.

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	8.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	40.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 80.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/800
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Lottery Building

This is the NY State Lottery Building, as seen at the back entrance to Proctors Theatre.  The day was cold but the shining sun makes it bearable.  I liked the sky reflecting off of the windows and took it on an impulse.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	31.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 62.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/1300
Exposure Program	Aperture-priority AE
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Commercial love

I have developed the habit of putting the camera in aperture priority mode when I put it in the car, and I'm glad I do because every so often I see something when I'm driving that I'd love to take a photo of.  I drive by this shop every day on my way to work, and I almost always stop at the light.  Yesterday was no exception, and I saw this fellow with an armful of heart shaped balloons and was able to flip the camera on and get the shot before the light changed.  We don't have many street vendors here.  Except for special events, I don't recall ever seeing people on the streets selling things.  So this really caught my eye.

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	1/50
Exposure Program	Aperture-priority AE
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Love

St Valentine's Day celebrates love, and here is what love looks like in our house: cat and dog sleeping side by side.  Well, head to tail anyway.  Femme the dog really likes the couch, and so done Lancelot the cat.  Despite being the most stereotypical of enemies, they get along very well indeed.

F Number	5.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/30
Exposure Program	Aperture-priority AE
ISO	1600
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	On, Red-eye reduction

Vale pond filling up again

Went walking through Vale last weekend, and a friend of our youngest was with us and asked to take some photos.  This path is on the north side of the pond, so we're looking south about the place where the Cowhorn Creek empties into the pond.  The construction equipment has been moved out of the pond  area and it's filling up again.

Norah (the photographer) is 8.

F Number	4.5
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/160
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Lucky sunset

"Lucky' because something came out nice enough to keep.  The sky looked dramatic in the parking lot at work, so as I was leaving I set the camera to automatic.  I drive by the airport every day, and obviously there's a great wide open space free of trees there.  As I passed by the runway, I pointed the camera out the driver's side window and pressed the shutter a whole bunch of times.  I sort of like how this one turned out, despite the funky lights hovering in midair.

Skywatch Friday

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.

 

This was taken during my walk through Vale last week.  The sun was shining, the skies were blue - what a glorious day!  This old oak tree is holding on to some of its leaves; it probably won't shed them until the new ones come out in the 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	1/400
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

The claw!

Well, it's actually a bucket on a backhoe, but that didn't sound as funny when I wrote it!  This is in Vale, at the eastern pond.  They've drained it quite a lot - about all that's left is the actual Cowhorn Creek itself.  This a backhoe is part of a group of construction machines down in the pond doing work.  I can't quite tell what they are doing; it seems as though they are either adding or repairing a sewer line.  They've added a path - almost like a road - down in the pond itself, below the previous water line and put sewer manhole covers down the middle of it.

In my eagerness to explore, I walked all over the muddy bottom of the pond.  It was frozen solid after a month of cold temperatures, so it wasn't a problem.  Well, until I found a spot that wasn't quite as frozen as the rest and my left foot sank in up to mu shin!  Oops.  The really good news is that my boots really are waterproof, which is a blessing because I wouldn't have been happy to walk home in freezing wet boots.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	24.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 48.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/125
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Monthly theme day - Animals

Each month, the City Daily Photo community chooses a these for us to use.  We each interpret the theme as we like, and post our interpretation.  This month, the theme is Animals.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

This photo was taken in November 2011.  It is perhaps the most typical example of animals in the city; walking the dogs.  We haven't got a zoo nearby, so no exotic wildlife.  We do have the usual complement of city animals - squirrels, sparrows and pigeons, as well as an occasional nocturnal visit from raccoons, skunks and opossum.  And of course, there are cats both domestic and feral.  Dogs just seemed more... typical.

F Number	4.0
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/125
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire