20 - Day 141 of 365 #CY365

Zooming in on the "20" in the lower right corner of the 2003 redesigned U.S. twenty dollar currency note. Canon 7D, 1/400 sec @ f/11.0, ISO 400 65mm MPE macro lens at 1:1.

Devotion - Day 140 #CY365

Today is Sherlock's fourth birthday. Yes he is named after the famous fictional detective because of his insatiable curiosity. He goes by many names around our house, Lock, Lockmeister, Lockinator, Trouble with a capital "T", and assorted other names when his curiosity is out of control. But he's my totally devoted little buddy. Join me in wishing him a happy birthday. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/13 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 1600, 100mm macro lens.

Hope - Day 138 #CY365

Flowers are a universal sign of hope. This Gerbera daisy is almost perfect. Canon G15, 1/250 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 400 in macro mode.

Activity - Day 133 #CY365

Activity - the treadmill at Fitness Together in Norfolk Virginia conveniently has a heart defibrillator located near by. Forty-five minutes of increased heart rate each day from activity, helps to keep the defibrillator away. Canon G15, 1/80 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600.

Check Up - Day 132 #CY365

Today prompt - "Check Up", take care of yourself and make your next doctor's appointment. Well I already had one on the books, so I pulled up my trusty "Sentara My Chart" app to double check my appointment for next month. My Valentines Day orchids and my office helped to fill the frame. Canon G15, 1/250 sec @ f/2.2, ISO 200.

Motherly Love - Day 131 #CY365

Me and my Mom, Jean Sullivan, celebrating Mother's Day at a family dinner tonight. iPhone 5s, Camera+ App.

Resourcefulness - Day 129 #CY365

Being resourceful, I put an old Hurst T-Handle from my 1973 Mustang Mach I to good use. Meet the ultimate in performance mice, the Logitech-Hurst Darkfield T-Handle. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/160 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800 photographed in a light tent with two LED Litepanels for illumination.

Innocence - Day 126 #CY365

My grandson Robert loves the pool table. The best part, getting the balls racked up in numerical order with the numbers all facing upward. Canon G15, 1/50 sec @ f/2.2, ISO 800.

My Eyes - Day 123 #CY365 #Creepy

This was a tough prompt for me. I settled on this tightly cropped closeup of my right eye. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/60 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens and an LED Ring Light as reflected in my pupil.

Healthy Vision - Day 121 #CY365 @ThisIsRobThomas

May's #CY365 theme is about vision. While today's cameras are quite remarkable at capturing what we see, their "vision" is not at all equal to our own eyes. Our eyes eye can actually perceive a greater dynamic range than is ordinarily possible with a camera. If we were to consider situations where our pupil opens and closes for varying light, our eyes can see over a range of nearly 24 f-stops while 8-12 f-stops is generally all one can expect from a digital camera. This is most evident in low light photography especially when bright highlights are present, such as a stage performance.

Tonight Cindy and I went to see Rob Thomas at the Durham Performing Arts Center. It was an intimate performance with just two musicians joining Rob Thomas on stage. The overall lighting was low but there was always a spotlight on the star. Even with spot metering enabled, my camera struggled to get the low light background exposed, resulting in an sharply overexposed star. Manual exposure or severe exposure composition is the only way to capture the scene and avoid blown-out highlights. Since the camera can only capture a limited dynamic range, much of the scene is underexposed. So every picture is a trade off, while our eyes make the adjustments consistently and our brains composite the image so we see much more. And yes, the show was amazing. Canon G15, 1/80 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600.

Lego Buzz - Day 119 #CY365

Creating a little "buzz" with the Lego man. iPhone, Camera+ App

Square - Day 117 #CY365

Today's challenge was "Square", as in a square crop - a la Instagram, with a focus on the rule of thirds for composition. So a triangle inside a square crop seemed be the answer for me. iPhone 5s using Instagram with the Sutro filter applied.

Colorado Blue Columbine - Day 116 #CY365

Our Colorado Blue Columbine has a night visitor. The little spiders are everywhere tonight. Almost every bloom I looked at across the yard had the busy little spiders working away. Canon 5D Mark II 1/160 sec @ f/11, ISO 1600, two LED light panels.

At Last! - Day 115 #CY365

Spring is here at last. Several weeks late this year but the strawberries are blooming, so ripe bright red berries can't be too far away. Canon G15, 1/500 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 200 in macro mode.

April Showers - Day 114 #CY365

Nothing but sunshine in Norfolk Virginia today. This was a close as I could get to an April shower today, washing the pine pollen off my car at the automated carwash. iPhone 5s with the Camera+ app.

Peaceful - Day 113 #CY365

I often walk through the churchyard in Downtown Norfolk's St. Paul Episcopal Church. The oldest parts of the current building dates to 1737 but other church buildings occupied the site for years before. It is a peaceful oasis in an otherwise busy downtown, Canon G15, 1/30 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 100.

Barbed - Day 112 #CY365

A little "razor wire" brings a whole new meaning to barbed. I can see where it gets the moniker, "the mean stuff". Canon 7D, 1/800 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

Multi-colored - Day 111 #CY365

My multi-colored kite against a clear blue sky. Canon G15, 1/1250 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 100.

Gathered - Day 110 #CY365

We gathered at my Mom's today for Easter Lunch with the family. My brother Mark and his friend Vicki made these great Easter basket cupcakes for the occasion. They look almost too good to eat. iPhone 5s, Camera+ App.

Come In - Day 109 #CY365

Come on in to Lunar Golf for a little black light fun. We took our grandson Robert to his best friend's Jacob's birthday party today. The kids had a great time and it all looked very cool. iPhone 5s, Camera+ App.