TooMagic

Walkabout(s)! Trains. Submarines. Old Town Alexandria

admin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:45:04 +0000

Yesterday I jumped on a train (well, not jump) and went to Newport News. I was going to walk around for a few hours while Kirsten finished classes. But then, the classes were cancelled and the weather service put out a severe storm alert. So…not much of a walkabout but when I left the train station in Newport News I saw a brick “gateway” across the street and was intrigued. I walked through the gate and opening before me was a tree covered “lane” with cannons at the end. When I walked closer I found cannons from World War II submarines and a torpedo. Since we left early, I didn’t have any real time to take pictures. Of course, there’s always next time.

The first shot is one I took at the Alexandria Train Station. I was hand holding but braced against a light pole. The day was sort of overcast, this was taken close to sunrise. Shot at ISO1000, 44mm, f/29, 0.8 secs. The blur is a CSX train headed southbound. Because some of the cars were empty container “flats,” there is some transparency in the blur. The second shot is after I walked through the bricked gateway in Newport News. What I had stumbled upon was a park, part of the Virginia War Museum. The third shot is in this same walkway and is of a MKII or (IV, I forget) torpedo. The fourth is looking through the site of a submarine artillery piece, again from WWII. The fifth was taken driving back in the dreary, blustery weather, when we stopped at a major intersection and saw this “bright spot” on the opposite corner. Made us smile!

And then, this morning I walked about Old Town Alexandria for a bit. A short bit!! The sixth shot below is of the Farmers Market, notice the lack of people and vendors and the blowing flags. The clouds were gathering and in fact we had some significant snow flurries about 15 minutes later! And then, the sun came out and all was clear. That’s the last shot. Not an exotic walkabout, more of a strollabout!

Train

Military Walkway

Submarine Artillery

Bright Yellow!!

Blustery Day

Old Town Street After Snow

Early Sign of Spring or Just Random Dash of Color & Beauty?

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:11:23 +0000

On my walkabout in the Gardens, I glimpsed a splash of color, looked into a thicket and saw an individual flower seemingly attached to a small tree. The flower was the size of a quarter and probably would not normally have been visible but the weather was bleak, the bushes and trees all around were mostly bare, and the sun was hidden by rain clouds. Voile! Color. A surprising sparkle. A metaphor? Sigh…yes, lots of them. But for me, I stopped, I smiled, I snapped, I published. Now, that’s magic.

Winter Flower

Winter? Hmmm, maybe. But right now, just cold rain.

admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:18:40 +0000

I went out in the rain to take a couple of shots. Actually the weather is very nice compared to normal winters. We’ve got temps in the upper 30s and 40s and just a gentle drizzle. If the temp was low, we’d have lots of snow but it’s not and so we don’t. Did a short walk about in the County Gardens at Greesprings today. The flowers were beginning to bloom. There were a couple that fascinated me. But then, I fascinate easily.

Splash of Color

Bat Flowers or whatever. They Look like bats

National Cathedral At Night

admin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:12:54 +0000

While I was wandering about downtown, I walked about the grounds of The National Cathedral. I didn’t know that the grounds were closed. Really! I entered a little door labeled “Bishops Garden” and walked about. I left through another door and saw the sign “Closed at Dark.” Oh well. Sorry. The garden took me around the backside of the Cathedral. I guess that’s where most of the earthquake damage is located. There was a very high chain link fence between the garden and the building so I could not get close. Notice the scaffolding. There is probably the possibility of falling “stuff” and that’s why the fence There was a pathway to a set of doors but the doors were clearly closed. I took some shots of the building looking up. This one was taken at ISO4000, 18mm, f.2,8, 1/60. Hand held. I had to undistort a little since my angle was weird from having to stand in a certain place because of the fence. The lights were some sort of uber-bright halogen or something. Much like daylight in parts of the church but the shadows take on a different cast. At sometime during my stroll, I wondered how safe I was in a closed park, at night. Hmmmmm.

National Cathedral

Memorial Bridge – Washington D.C.

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:36:28 +0000

Last night I was downtown and tried to get back in the groove. I think I am gaining some momentum–I made lots of mistakes, rookie mistakes, like forgetting to adjust my settings for the bright background of the memorials. I need more practice…more time with my camera. I know that the next generation just came out but I know that’s not the secret. Doesn’t make any difference at this point, I need to gain back my “knack.” This is a bit of a delay shot, I got about .8 second on this which is why there’s the ‘blur.’

Memorial Bridge

Winter? I think not.

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:51:44 +0000

I have been missing in action for a while. Must be the winter doldrums…but no, there’s been almost no bad weather and certainly nothing that has kept us indoors. Just a couple of days ago the temperature was over 70F!!! (That’s more than 21C for the two of you in Europe who come by once in a while) The holidays went quickly, the five in the family melted back to four and the quick pace began anew. We took Kyle to winter camp in the hills again in mid-January. On the way back I stopped at the top of a hill to get this picture of the county-side. I liked the fence maze. I took it at ISO2500, f/8.0, 1/3200 with a 105mm. High noon. I am still trying the high ISO thing but will probably back off because there is certainly pixelation here and that isn’t what the result I was shooting for in the landscape. After I took this, I sent my camera in to have the sensor cleaned. I read all about how to clean myself but for me…the risk is too high. The sensor was dirty and I was photoshopping specks out of each shot, no matter the lens. I have the camera back now and will be out shooting this weekend. The world is back the way intended. The second photo is from about the same position but I did not take out the spot, instead, I’ve drawn an arrow so you can see what caused my angst.

Winter Farm

Spotted Farm

Chicago Mood

admin — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:35:51 +0000

Trying some stuff with PS and used another shot from Chicago. Quite frankly, whenever I think of Chicago my mind goes to the old Eliot Ness series “The Untouchables” which should give you a clue about my generation. I tried to recreate the mood of that old series with the processing. What do you think?

Chicago

Chicago — On The Beach

admin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:05:44 +0000

This is another from the Chicago trip. Me taking a shot on the shore of the lake, which really was the high curb of this road. I can’t imagine what this would be like in the winter–well actually I can and I am fairly sure I won’t return to validate my imagination. I enjoyed walking around the city and hope to go back. In the summer. I do remember back in 1970 or so, my room mate Fang and I drove from South Dakota to Chicago in his MG Midget. Ah…youth. We left SD at 5 in the afternoon and got to the city about 5 the next morning. Tired. I am not sure but I think we pretty much turned around and drove home.

Chicago Shoreline

Kelsey Is Starting Her Own Site

admin — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:48:50 +0000

Kelsey has decided that the fashion world needs her comments and I think she’s right. In any event, she’s got a website all ready to go on paper and tomorrow…well tomorrow I am going to turn her loose on the world. This is the shot I think she’s going to use as her “signature.” Wish her luck…I’m guessing she’ll have lots more traffic than me. Which would be something greater than three.

Kelsey

I must be in a rut…

admin — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:00:17 +0000

I haven’t added anything to “Things I Notice” in months. Sad. I finally finished an update today–the process actually took me a couple of days. I went through the thirty thousand or so photos from this year so far and picked out some I liked more than others. I probably won’t like them tomorrow but for today…well, they’re okay. There really isn’t even a theme so I must be even deeper in a rut than I thought. Wow. Self diagnosis. There may be repeats in the group. So you get to enjoy them more than once. Both, of you. One of my programs is putting the copyright date in wrong but…don’t know which one. Sigh.

River