Alternate focus

I was trying to get a photo of the cleaner shrimp in the marine fish tank (that pinkish blob to the right of center) but the autofocus wasn't cooperating.  I thought I'd deleted them all but I guess not.  Upon closer inspection of this straggler, I see that Huck the cat is steadfastly watching over the front flower patch in case any squirrels try any funny business.

James at Weekend Reflections collects photographs containing a reflection from round the world. About a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

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	1/50
Shooting Mode	Program
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	800
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Weekend reflection

James at Weekend Reflections collects photographs containing a reflection from round the world. About a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

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	1/125
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Mohawk River at Mabee Farm

Had an interesting day yesterday.  The little guy had a role in the DRAMAcademics production of The Amazing Erie Canal.  It's a combination of learning, acting and singing.  Ruth Henry does a great job writing plays that are fun to be in and enjoyable to watch.  Past plays have included Nellie Bly and Lewis and Clark.  Anyway, this performance was held at the Mabee Farm.  It's a historic site just west of Schenectady, on the Mohawk River.  The original Erie Canal passed within eyesight of this farm, so it is a very appropriate place to stage an educational play about the canal.

Today, most of the original canal is gone; paved over or abandoned in place when the current canal system was switched over to use the Mohawk River where possible.  The river is too shallow to carry traffic much of the year, so the current canal uses a system of removable dams to impound enough water to keep the river navigable for much of its length.  Like the original canal, the current canal uses locks to lift and lower boats from one pool to the next.

Last September, the locks and the dams took a terrible pounding from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.  Several locks are still being repaired.  It turns out that Lock 9 is sited just upstream of the Mabee Farm (maybe about a mile?) and I decided I'd wander down there to see how the repairs are coming along.  This photo is a few minutes' walk upriver from the farm, looking back at it.

James at Weekend Reflections collects photographs containing a reflection from round the world. About a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	23.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 46.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/320
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Weekend reflection

This photo is 2 weeks old; the snow is all gone now.  But the sky is the same in the photo as it is outside my window, and I thought I'd contribute to Weekend Reflections with this.  Imagine my surprise when I saw what James posted!  This photo is my favourite pond down in Vale.

James at Weekend Reflections collects photographs containing a reflection from round the world. About a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

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	1/80
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

New gate

One of my favourite walks, around the upper pond in Vale Cemetery.  I don't know exactly when it happened, but these fluorescent yellow gates were installed at the path (can't really call it a road!) that leads around the upper pond.  It could be due to the damage from the hurricanes - many trees are still down, although most of the path is walkable now.  Or it could be from the way the north slope is slumping down the hill.  Trees that were once vertical are now leaning over the path at crazy angles as the hillside slides down toward the path.

James at Weekend Reflections collects photographs containing a reflection from round the world. About a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

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	1/13
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	800
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Weekend Reflections

This is an old photo, taken 23 Sep 2011 in the parking lot where I work.  I meant to post it earlier but never got my act together.  Today, the yellow trees are all bare and the green trees are red.  Autumn is such a dynamic time of year; things change almost daily.

We are forecast to get several inches of snow today and 4 more tonight, which made me reflect on the dynamic nature of the season (and to find this photo!)  So many trees still carry most of their leaves.  6 inches of snow on them is going to be a very heavy load.  Many limbs will break, undoubtedly causing electric power outages over a wide area.  In a strange bit of fortune, we had a heavy autumn snow just a few years ago, so many weak limbs were remove then, which means fewer limbs will fall on power lines today.  We didn't think of it as fortunate when it happened!

James at Weekend Reflections collects photographs containing a reflection from round the world. About a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	38.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 76.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/40
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Lock 7

The NY State Canal system remains closed after Irene.  There are worries about silt, debris and fluctuating water levels along with physical damage to the lock gates and valves.

This is the soonest I've been able to get to Lock 7 in Niskayuna.  There were early (and mistaken) reports that the dam that creates the navigation pool here (Vischer Ferry Dam) had a leak.  It wasn't a leak as much as the water level was so high it was working its way around the south side of the dam.  In the end, lots of fill was brought in and the dam remains safe.

I walked to one of the boaters stranded here by the closed canal system.  All the boaters are in a pickle.  They have power here at Lock 7 but no fresh or waste water hookups, and that makes staying there for a long time untenable.  The only option is to find a big crane and a hauler to carry them over land to the Hudson, where they'll have to find a marina that can take them off the hauler, and in some cases, step the mast so they can sail instead of using the diesel.

It was a sobering thought, bringing to mind the many thousands in Schoharie , Prattsville and Windham who still have no electricity or running water, and who have a foot of mud they need to try to shovel out of their living room.  Irene may not have killed many, but it's going to be a long winter.

This photograph is a pretty good rendering of the colour of the river right now.  It is still full of silt, and is this caffe au lait colour.  It has a strange smell, too.

James at Newtown Daily Photo runs a theme called Weekend Reflections. Around a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	29.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 58.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/160
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Weekend Reflections

Taken in the lobby at work, I was struck by how bright the reflection was in the darker hallway.


James at Newtown Daily Photo runs a theme called Weekend Reflections. Around a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

The snow is melting quickly now.  Cowhorn Creek is open down in Vale, and it's very easy to walk there, even down where it's shaded.  This photo is about a week old.

James at Newtown Daily Photo runs a theme called Weekend Reflections. Around a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

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	1/40
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Reflecting on ice

Ice is a fact of life here.  We haven't any storm drains, so the water needs to run all the way down to State Street - a whole block - to find a way out.  We had some snow, which meant the snow banks grew out into the street again, and then we had rain.  With the snow blocking the water, there was no place for the water to go, so it formed a giant puddle at the end of the driveway.

Then it froze.

Solid.

It doesn't seem like it, but the reflecting surface is a solid block of ice.  I used the Tenin Technique and placed the camera right on the ice to take this photo.  The lumps are from cars driving on it before it froze completely.

James at Newtown Daily Photo runs a theme called Weekend Reflections. Around a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

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	1/500
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Jay Street art

This artwork is on the wall of one of the shops on Jay Street.  Jay Street is a pedestrian walk with boutique shopping.  It's quite a lovely place!


James at Newtown Daily Photo runs a theme called Weekend Reflections. Around a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	38.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 76.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/160
Exposure Program	Manual
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Hello world!

The rain stopped and these micro puddles were beckoning...

James at Newtown Daily Photo runs a theme called Weekend Reflections. Around a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see! I love the heron(s) this week!

Hans Groot's Kill

Don't be alarmed at the name! 'kill' is a Dutch word meaning creek or stream. Schenectady was settled by the Dutch in the 1600s, so we have quite a few Dutch place names.

This stream flows through the grounds of Union College. I couldn't find an old enough map to see where it originally flowed. Today, its source and terminus are covered over by the city. All that's exposed is a small bit to the north and east of the college. The stream is part of Jackson's Garden, but I wasn't quite far enough west to be there. This was taken just off of Lenox Rd. There isn't any real access, no parking or anything, just an embankment next to the bridge that carries Lenox Rd over the Kill, worn by decades of people walking down to this vale.

James at Newtown Daily Photo runs a theme called Weekend Reflections. Around a hundred photo bloggers post a photo containing a reflection; beautiful work. Click the link and go see!




the Kill is. and below is a close-up:
I was going to embed a Google map, but Google have done something and I can't get an embed link. Computers are supposed to make our lives easier, right?

This is the Google map: http://goo.gl/maps/nJfV

I used Jing to capture the image of the Google map and add the arrows, so you can see where the stream hides among the trees. It reappears on the other (left) side of the parking lot, into Jackson's Garden.