sixmats

Tokyo Station on New Year's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:06:00 +0000

When I went back to the US at the end of the year, the return flight was at midnight. I arrived early in the morning on New Year's Day and got to see Tokyo Station for the first time since it was remodeled. I wish I could have gotten better shots of it. I will chalk it up to jet lag.

Sendai Nuke Protest

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 06:04:00 +0000

Last month I picked up a 28 mm lens from my favorite used camera-gear store and put it on my camera, eager to test it out.

I started walking north on Ichibancho and heard a loud noise that I thought was caused by a new pachinko place opening up - the people hired to go out and tell people what they are missing.

But, it turned out to be a rally against nuclear power.

It was a great way to test the new lens.

Zuiganji Light Up

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 10:12:00 +0000

One of my favorite times of the year is the light up at Zuiganji in Matsushima. I went last year, but this year was a little different. Last year I got in with my tripod, but no one said anything. That might have been since it was the last night of the year.

This year, however, I was stopped at the gate and they told me I could only use my tripod as a monopod.

I did not want to do that so, I tried to rely on my hands to keep the camera steady.

I really wish I had my tripod.

This highlight of this year was the priest playing the bamboo flute. It was very zen.

Which end is up?

Isoya Shrine - The Kappa Shrine

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:03:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I was talking with a student from Tohoku University whose girlfriend is from Tono in Iwate. Tono is known as being one of the the origins of Kappa, mythical beings that look like little frog men. While talking to this student, he told me that a kappa hunting license is sold there.

So, for the last few weeks I have had kappa on my mind. Then last week someone mentioned that kappa are also famous in Shikima-cho, which is just north of Sendai. So this afternoon I got bored with reading, and decided to try to find this mythical place.

The shrine is right under the X.

At first I was just looking for some kappa pictures. As I was driving along the road I spotted these statues on a bridge aptly named Kappa Bashi, or Kappa Bridge.

My car navigation was set to Kappa no Yu - a hotspring in the area (which looks like a nice day hot spring) so I was going up towards where I knew something was, but did not really have a destination in mind. I was just looking for Kappa.

When we got to Kappa no Yu, I decided to ask where Isora Shrine 磯良神社 was. However, the hot spring was busy so I looked outside and there was a tourist map there. On the tourist map I found what I was looking for.

After backtracking for about 15 minutes, I found Itachi Shrine, and soon after that, found a sign for Isora. The first one was large, and the next sign was small and was at an awkward angle so I had no idea where to go.

I followed this one lane but two-way road through the fields and was about to turn around when I turned a corner and found a small shrine with a large red torii. The sign read Isoya.

Kappa fighting a frog

Downtown Kokubuncho

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 12:46:00 +0000

I went downtown in the evening and brought my tripod along to see if I could get some long exposure shots of city life. I started by going onto Ichibancho to see if there was anything interesting happening; a concert, some decorations, or some sites. Ichibancho was quiet, and worse yet, the lighting was flat.

I carried on down to Jozenji Street where I took some shots of the statues on the promenade. It was there that I saw a side alley that looked interesting so I took a look, but there was nothing there; no people, no action.

Taken from Google Maps

I went down to the next alley, or street, called Kokubuncho. I do not know if it is the same in all cities in Japan, but in Sendai the city was divided into cho 丁, machi 町. Cho was where the samurai lived. Machi was where the foot soldiers lived. So Kokubuncho 国分町 and Ichibancho 一番丁 have the same sounding endings, but with the fun in Japanese (and linguistics in general), things are not what they seem and they were for seperate classes of people. I think it is interesting that Kokubuncho is closer to where the castle was. I guess maybe the samurai needed more space, and they probably had horses to get them there quickly. Back to the picture.

On Kokubuncho I found great lighting and as it is a district where there are restaurants and bars, I also found interesting scenery. I set up my camera and tripod for a ten-second exposure and got this on the first one. I was just glad that this man took his time checking his phone. I am also glad that hee is the only one stationary in this picture.

※ Information from the book 宮城県の歴史散歩 Historical Walking in Miyagi. That is my own translation.

GIMP Heal Transparency

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:56:00 +0000

Recently I have been trying my hand at panoramas. One thing with hand-held (and maybe tripod ones too) panoramas is that they can be heavily distorted when you stitch them together. There are also areas on the sides that are slanted. One way to deal with it is to make a tighter crop, but there are times, like with the image below, that I did not want to make that sacrifice.

I tried to use GIMP's Heal Selection filter, but it does not work on transparent areas.

So after the third time trying it (just in case my clicking did not register) I noticed that there is a Heal Transparent Selection.

It worked pretty well. When I look at the finished image, I feel like I can see where it was "healed", but I am sure that I am just seeing things.

2012 Sendai Jazz Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 12:51:00 +0000

The weather was great this year and there were not too many people either.

日曜日、
長い夏中、
伯父ロック。

These blues guys were awesome.

The U.S. Army rocked it out with a Latin number.

These guys were cool too with their rockabilly.

This guy was near Daiei. That is nowhere near Jozenji.

Sendai Daikanon Fireworks Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:09:00 +0000

The Sendai Daikanon is one of the most famous landmarks in Miyagi. It can be seen at many places in northern Sendai from downtown to Taiwa. Riding in on the Tohoku shinkansen from the north, it can be seen as you enter the city.

I have only been to see the Daikanon fireworks once before. Like last time, this year was hot and crowded. I tried to take a different angle this year, but with all the people there, my movement was limited.

I also tried to take some pictures using bulb mode and a card to get multiple fireworks bursts in the same shot. Like I read, you need a black card. I tried with a cardboard-brown card and it did not work at all. Light reflected off the brown and cast a warm glow over the exposure like the person in the bottom picture.

Izumi-ku Citizens Hometown Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 02:55:00 +0000

Say what?

First of all, can a ward (ku 区) be a town? Izumi-ku is now a part of Sendai City proper, but it used to be a town.

Izumi-ku Min Furusato Matsuri, or 泉区民ふるさとまつり, literally means Izumi-ku Citizens Hometown Festival.

I was planning to go down to Nanakita Park where the fireworks were being shot off, but it was hot, and it was much easier to find a point a little closer to home.

I really wanted to try bulb mode [bulb mode is when the camera opens the shutter until you press the shutter button again. by using this for fireworks, you can get multiple exposures of fireworks in one picture straight out of the camera.] this year, but I could not find a black piece of cardboard or sturdy paper to use. I was afraid that the light-colored packaging I had would reflect and cause some strange effects (but now that I wrote that, strange might be good).

Tonight there are more fireworks, so I will go look for something to put in front of my lens for some bulb shots.

These were taken with the 70-300 VR at around 4 or 6 seconds.

I am not really happy with the way these turned out. I think the background is too black, but when I tried lightening it, that did not look right either.

I am not really happy with the way these turned out. I think the background is too black, but when I tried lightening it, that did not look right either. This shot below is a little more of what I wanted. The biggest issue with all of these is that there is not anything interesting to go along with them. There is not another element that adds to the picture.

Jazz Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:52:00 +0000

Just a quick note to say that htis years Jozenji Jazz Festival is Sept 8 and 9.

2012 Sendai Tanabata Fireworks Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 03:00:00 +0000

Although I love watching fireworks, it can get a little crazy in the big cities (and even in the not so big cities). I am to the point where I probably would not go to downtown Sendai to watch the fireworks since it is so crowded.

But I don't mind going when I know someone who lives downtown on the 12th floor of the building.

This was my first time doing photography while drinking ... they don't mix.

Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 23:23:00 +0000

I went downtown last week to take a look at the Sendai Tanabata Festival.

I was walking around, enjoying the sites and the people, and trying to get some good pictures. Whenever I looked at something I took I always felt the pictures were flat and were not very interesting to look at.

I took the kit lens that came with my camera since I had it on my camera. If I had been really motivated to choose, I would have chosen something a little longer or maybe even a macro lens.

I was ready to give up when I went and sat on a bench. I saw the decorations blowing in the wind and I thought they might look good with a long exposure. that way they would be blurred and I could show the movement.

When I did that, I got the blur, but everything else around it was blurred too so it didn't turn out. I did notice that the crowd was nicely blurred, so I tried focusing on the crowds. That was ok, but I thought it got more interesting when there was a subject that was stationary in all the madness and that is when I tried taking a picture of the photographer [guy taking a picture] below.

Having a topic of what you want to shoot is not a new idea, but it is one that I think I should use more often. As soon as I chose "Photographers + Crowd Motion Blur" my outlook changed and I started having more fun.

Jogi Fireworks Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 09:48:00 +0000

When I went up to Jogi Nyorai Saiho-ji Temple a few weeks ago, I saw a notice announcing their fireworks festival. I knew I had to go.

I thought my brief walk around there would be good enough to find a decent location where I could set up my camera. I thought so, but I did not know where the fireworks would be shot so I had to wing it.

I asked another guy with a camera if he knew where the fireworks would be shot. He pointed to the direction he thought they would be. That was good enough for me. From the time I heard about the fireworks festival and I saw the pagoda, I knew I wanted to get both of them in the frame.

So I made my way back where I thought I would have the best chance to achieve my goal. I think I had a good attempt on the first one, but I think I should have shot wider.

Then I had the idea to get closer, and those were not that good. I left not too long after that since the wind was not blowing the smoke away and pretty soon I couldn't see anything.

I guess next year I will have to bring a different lens.

A shot of the 参道 - the road leading to the temple.

A Day in the Mountains and Other Summer Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 11:22:00 +0000

On a lazy and hot (as it felt at the time) July morning a few weeks ago now, I coaxed my wife to take a ride with me. I was intent on going back to Iwaizumi with my newly acquired Tokina 11-16. We got in the car and first stopped at a convenience store to grab some drinks.

I plugged Iwaizumi into the car navigation system and saw that it was more than three hours away, I decided for a change of plans. Driving for 6 hours in one day on that day did not sound like fun. So instead we drove into the mountains. We drove all the way up to a hot spring where you could see the steam coming our of the rocks in some places (but I couldn't get close enough and I tried).

The onsen was hot. I could only put my feet in for a few seconds before I had to take them out again. I later heard that the secret is to get your whole body in quickly.

The 11-16 was limiting and was definitely not the right tool for the job, but there were times it was good to have (as in the onsen).

The first few were from the mountain trip and the last few (after the shot of the bath) are just from the summer.

Images of Climbing Mt Iwate

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:36:00 +0000

There are some of my favorite shots from my Mt Iwate climb. The rest of the pictures are here.

Getting ready to go up.

Looking up. Notice the great weather.

More great weather.

Weather changing.

This is at the start of the onigashiro 鬼ヶ城 course.

Getting up towards the 9th point, the fog got really think and the wind was whipping around. The group wanted to pose for a picture -- I had no such inclination -- so when I was looking for an escape route, I saw a building, and then the wind stopped and the fog rolled back in and it was gone again. This would happen and the structure would be visible for such a short time, I wondered if it was really there. So I tried to get closer and found this rock.

The Shield

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:07:00 +0000

Last week I finished the entire 7 seasons of the Shield. It ran on Friday nights on AXN starting in November 2010 and just finished last week.

Almost every Saturday morning I woke up and watched that show ... now I will just have to take out the garbage.

Climbing Mt Iwate

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 09:03:00 +0000

Mt. Iwate

To get started, I woke up at 4:30 am as I was supposed to register between 5:30 and 6:00. When I got to the meeting point, there weren't that many people there, but they soon started streaming in. The person at the reception area put people in their assigned groups. I was referred as the katakana guy カタカナの名前人. It was here that I could see all the people that were going up. There were 127 total which was the most they [they being Takizawa Village] have ever had go at one time. To assist everyone, some soldiers from the Japanese Self Defense Force went up with us. Before we could leave though, some people from the village had to say some words and give short talks.

The han, or group, started out walking through the forest. At first it was not like climbing a mountain. Someone was ringing a bell back at the meeting point, and it was the same kind f chime that is used at funerals (among other formal events not all morbid) but I kept feeling that they were marching us towards something ominous.

It was more of a jaunt than a hike through the forest. Along the way we passed a sign that said a temple had once stood in that place to give people permission to climb. Then after a hill, the trail dropped off on one side. It still wasn't like going up a mountain, but with the trail getting narrower, it was kind of a warning that things were not what I had expected. The path through the trees was rough. It was not flat at all and there were roots growing across it in many places.

The mountains are divided into pieces called gome, 合目. To get to the first gome, you walk on an upwards incline through the woods for 1,470 meters. When we reached 1 gome, I was kind of tired there so I sat down and started talking to this lady in my group. Many other groups stopped at that spot to rest, which wasn't very large, and before I knew it our group was gone. So the lady and I started walking after them.

There is only one way -- which is marked the whole way with signs -- up the mountain. I think you would have to be drunk to not be able to go up it yourself. As were were going up, the lady kept complaining about being left behind. I just hoped for her to leave it alone because even though the guide didn't yell out anything [that we heard], we could have done a better job of watching for them. Anyway we caught up to them soon enough.

There are several trails to the top with some of them longer than 20 km. I didn't take any of those. Instead I took the Yanagizawa Course (the red trail here at the bottom). The course has two paths to the top. We [we meaning the group] set out on the the old trail going up. For most of the hike the trail was less than a half of a meter wide which meant that when we encountered people going the opposite way we were going, we had to find a way to get off the trail. That wasn't always as easy as it sounds because in some places the trail had been dug into the ground.

Around 3 gome, we started getting out of the trees and there were more open spaces. It was unfortunate that a haze covered the plains and the foothills so we couldn't see much of anything. It was around here that I saw my first volcanic rock. I took it home as a keepsake.

4 gome was an interesting area. It was a wide-open area with a lot of rocks. It could have been a great place to get some pictures of the city and the area in front of the mountain, but the haze blocked most of that.

The going got really rough from 4 gome to 7 gome. There were some interesting sites that I couldn't stop to take pictures since I was in a group, so I kept my head down and tried to concentrate on the hike.

Around this time I started getting mad that I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt. It was hot and I was sweating a lot. At the time I was afraid that I was losing too many fluids because I only brought up 1.5 liters. I had already drank one of those liters by the time I got to 5 gome. I also started to really feel the weakness of my running shoes for mountain climbing. Not only were they too flexible and didn't offer enough support (for which I am now paying - my left foot is very sore) but they didn't have enough traction and I kept slipping.

At 7 gome the tall trees of the forest started to give way to shorter trees and bush. The climbing started to get much easier here. The elementary school girls who were in the group were in front of me and they seemed to be having a hard time, but kept repeating a line from a commercial. That made me laugh.

When we finally got the 8 gome, we were able to eat lunch and rest for a longer while. We got there at 11:00 -- a five hour hike up. It was much, much cooler here with an air temperature of 10 C and the cold air felt good. The violent wind did not feel so good though and I took cover behind a building that was there. Here I could fill up my water bottle and use the bathroom. We also had to take a group picture as well. (That was supposed to be on the homepage last night, but as of now -- the next morning -- it is not.)

An announcement was made that the winds were too violent at the top to go up, so we would wait about twenty minutes to see what would happen. I spent the time trying to finish my lunch. I had way too much to eat but tried to eat it all because my mother-in-law woke up at 4:00 to make it. I also felt like it would be good to lose some of that weight from my backpack.

After waiting, we were told we could go up to 9 gome which sits at an elevation of 1828 meters. The top of Mt Iwate is 2038.2 meters, so I got close, but not all the way.

The top part was interesting though. The vegetation kept getting smaller and smaller until all that was up there was small plants dispersed around. I found a little rock structure that hikers make and I added a small stone to it. The wind was strong and the fog was thick at 9, and we were asked to pose for another photo, but I decided to look around a little more and found an interesting rock structure that looked even more interesting in the fog.

Then we set back down to 8, and eventually started walking back down. The walk down was not easy even though we took the new path. Rocks and loose gravel made footing a problem, but I managed to only fall once. This was another place where hiking boots or shoes would have come in handy. It is hard to maintain balance stepping off rocks onto an incline filled with sand and loose gravel.

The whole way down I was just wishing that I was already at the bottom. I wondered if I would take my camera the next time I climb Mt. Fuji. Then I decided that other things would have to be taken out of my bag to make up for the camera weight. I touched the marker for 2 gome for good luck and thanks for getting down. We finally arrived around 3:30. That was 30 minutes ahead of schedule since we didn't go to the top.

At the bottom, the town gave everyone a piece of watermelon after we checked out. While I was eating my piece I tried to call home, but there was no reception. I just sat down to wait for my ride.

I didn't make it to the top, so I'll have to try again next year.

When GIMP Stops Working

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:46:00 +0000

I usually use GIMP for my raster image editing needs. I like it a lot. What's not to like with a free program?

When I came back from Morioka a few weeks ago, I had a few pictures that needed some post processing to get what I wanted out of them. In order for me to achieve what I envisioned with them, I needed to play around with them a little bit.

One such image was the one below.

When I fired up GIMP, it lagged and crashed when loading.

I tried again and it crashed. I reinstalled it and it crashed.

I checked the internet and couldn't find anything at first, but then I came across a forum posting that suggested to delete the font cache.

I didn't know what that was, so I went to the fonts folder (...\GIMP 2\etc\fonts) and found something called "fonts.conf". And after that GIMP loaded properly.

Before you try a reinstallation, try deleting the fonts.conf file.

Jogi Nyorai Saiho-ji Temple 定義如来浄土宗西方寺

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:31:00 +0000

Today I woke up with the intention of hiking up Mt Izumi. When I went out to the car, I found that it was drizzling. I got in the car and started driving in that direction hoping the weather would turn.

As I was approaching Mt. Izumi, I decided to try going to Jogi Nyorai Saiho-ji Temple since my last attempt was not successful.

The temple complex is a little different from what I thought it would be. Driving here, I got to a sign that said "Jogi" and pointed right, so I went right. Then I saw some signs of life - something that looked like it was a small town or a village.

The next thing I knew, I was looking at the main gate from the road.

Even though it was a misty, drizzly day, it was a great place to visit. I definitely want to go back here sometime soon, and I think that autumn would be awesome.

There is a summer festival on Aug 4 (night) and a Kabuto Mushi Festival Aug 7-14, so I might be back soon.

Access information via Sendaitabi

Information

[Telephone] 022-393-2011
[Fax] 022-393-2013
[URL] http://www.johgi.or.jp/
[Address] 1 Aza-kamishimo, Okura, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan 989-3213
[Hours] 8:00-17:00
[Closed] None
[Off-season] None
[Access] Take the JR Senzan Line. Get off at Ayashi Sta./ From Sendai Sta. Go to bus pool #10 for Jogisan. Get off at the Jogisan terminus stop. Walk 5 min.
[Estimated tour time] 60 min.
[Admission fee] None
[Booking for groups] Required
[Parking (buses)] 30 cars/ free
[Parking] 100 cars/ free
[Food and Drinks] Not available
[Shop] Not available
[Souvenirs recommended] Not available
[Special services] Accessible parking for those with disabilities/ Entrance ramps/ Automatic doors/ Information service/ Wheelchair accessible toilets/ Toilet stalls with handrails/ Western-style toilets/ Elevators also available
[Volunteer tour guide] Not available
[Education programs for students on school trips] Not available

Hotaru Matsuri

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 06:59:00 +0000

A few years ago before I was really into photography, I was walking through Dainohara Forest Park and I saw a sign that said "Hotaru Matsuri". (Firefly Festival)

I wondered what that was, and I thought it would be really cool ... but I never went.

Fast forward a few years to this year and I was walking in Dainohara Park and I saw the sign again. This time I went to see what it was all about.

The first day I went I set up and I was completely in the wrong place. This picture is a cropped version of the original. But after seeing this I thought I could do better so I went back.

The next time I went back I tried a different lens and different settings.

Out of focus: 16mm ISO 400 30 sec

I was told this is a dragonfly larvae.

~~I am pretty sure this is a firefly.~~ I was told this is a dragonfly larvae.

Cooler pictures are here: http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2012/02/japanese-firefly-photos-and-the-anatomy-of-a-viral-spread/

Miyagi Fireworks Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 02:10:00 +0000

Somehow in most years, one way or another, I just know what is happening around the city.

I found two sites with good, but somewhat different, information. I wanted all of it together, so here they are.

2012年7月15日（日）第65回塩竈みなと祭前夜祭花火大会宮城塩竈市約4000発
2012年8月1日（水）第89回石巻川開き祭り花火大会宮城石巻市約5000発
2012年8月5日（日）第43回仙台七夕花火祭宮城仙台市 1万6000発
2012年8月5日（日）まほろば夏まつりまほろば夢花火宮城黒川郡大和町約2000発
2012年8月12日（日）白石夏まつり花火大会宮城白石市 3000発
2012年8月13日(月) ふるさと花火 in 長沼宮城登米市約3000発
2012年8月14日(予定:要問合せ) かみ鳴瀬川大花火大会宮城県加美郡加美町約2500発 3万人
2012年8月14日わくや夏まつり花火大会宮城県遠田郡涌谷町 1500発 3万人
2012年8月16日（木）東松島市鳴瀬流灯花火大会宮城東松島市 1000発
2012年8月25日泉区民ふるさとまつり宮城県仙台市約5000発 18万人

2012年7月15日Shiogama
2012年8月1日Ishinomaki
2012年8月5日Sendai Tanabata Matsuri
2012年8月5日Taiwa
2012年8月12日Shiroishi
2012年8月13日Naganuma
2012年8月14日Kamicho
2012年8月14日 Wakuya
2012年8月16日 Matushima
2012年8月25日 Izumi Chuo

Sources:
http://hanabi.walkerplus.com/detail/fw0019.html
http://www.jalan.net/theme/hanabi/miyagi/

Then I got to thinking that it would be good to keep track of all the events in Sendai that I know about in one place. So now, I have a calender (link at the top of the page) on here where I will be putting Sendai-related information. It's mostly for myself, but hopefully someone else will find it useful.

Sendai's Hidden Pagoda

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 05:17:00 +0000

A few months ago I was driving in Miyaginoku, on the east side of Sendai Station, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a pagoda. A pagoda in downtown Sendai. This was something I put on my mental checklist of places to check out.

A few days ago I drove around it again, and so I decided to find out what it was.

It is a temple called Koshoji and I think I read at the temple that it was made (or one building was made) to commorate the mother of the Fourth Lord of Sendai.

I want to go back sometime when the sun is setting so I can get a shot of the sunlight reflecting off the pagoda. At that time I will find out more about the temple.

When I was driving along, I saw the setting sun making the pagoda a nice yellowish-orange color, and that is the image I had for what I wanted to shoot. It didn't turn out that way, so that is another reason I need to go back.

Venus

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:07:00 +0000

The day started off with a forecast of clouds and rain for the day. I was pretty depressed since I have been waiting for this and since I hyped it up with my students.

While I was eating lunch, I noticed that the sun was starting to peek through the clouds. I set the tripod up, taped a solar viewer to the front of the lens, and I was able to get a few shots.

DIY at its finest.

Yesterday's sun - test shot

A little cloud cover.

Back to the Fields

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 04:37:00 +0000

I first came here back in the fall of 2010 and I vowed to come back. I actually drove up last summer, but I could not find where this place was. A few weekends ago, I decided to come again.

It is nice here, there are goats and sheep for kids to pet, and there are a few restaurants for adults to relax at.

I enjoyed just sitting here - but I had to watch my step.

The Great Eclipse

noreply@blogger.com (Sixx Mats) — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:41:00 +0000

Well, making mistakes is how we learn right?

This is one of the shots I got this morning. As you can see, I shot directly into the sun not knowing what would happen.

I am not sure why, but below the sun, you can see what is probably a reflection of the eclipse. I did not know that would happen, but I am glad it did. (It is also happening in the shot below.)

After I got into work I got some eclipse glass to put over my lens, and while it is interesting, and would have been awesome at 7:40, I think a little context to pictures like this is good.

There are some amazing pictures out there on Google Plus and Flickr right now. I will have to wait until the next one to get my shot.