Crescent City Connection

From 2010 Blog

I took this picture in February 2007 of the setting sun over the Crescent City Connection bridge in New Orleans. It is the last bridge to cross over the mighty Mississippi River before it empties in to the Gulf of Mexico. It was the only passable bridge out of New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/2000 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 400, 50mm focal length.

LRT Blur

From Portland

I took this photo in 2006 of the Portland Oregon TriMet MAX Light Rail train moving by me. I didn't have a tripod with me so I braced the camera against a light pole. By the way, LRT stands for "Light Rail Transit". Canon Digital Rebel XTi, 1/3 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 200, 18mm.

Lucifer

From Light a Match

The first "friction match" was invented by English chemist John Walker in 1826. These first matches were sold as lucifer matches. Lucifers reportedly could ignite explosively, sometimes throwing sparks at a considerable distance. In the Netherlands matches are still called lucifers. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/3 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, 65mm MP-E macro mounted on a tripod.

354 - Holiday Reflections

From 365 Project

Glass blown Christmas ornaments were invented in Germany in the mid-1800's. Today's mass produced versions still add sparkle and shine to the holiday celebration. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/25 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 800, 50mm macro.

348 - LED for the Holidays

From 365 Project

This year has seen the full scale introduction of LED (light-emitting diode) lights into our holiday decorations. They use far less power and thus give off lower heat than standard holiday bulbs. This has allowed designers new flexibility in creating light sets. This set of layered globes looks more appropriate for a summer time deck party than the holidays. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/60 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 400, 50mm macro lens.

343 - Capillary Action

From 365 Project

In 953, Ma'ād al-Mu'izz, the caliph of Egypt, commissioned the construction of the pen instructing: 'We wish to construct a pen which can be used for writing without having recourse to an ink-holder and whose ink will be contained inside it. . .’ It would take 900 years for his wish to come true when the first practical fountain pens emerged in the 1850's. The key is a combination of gravity and the magic of capillary action. Once the ink starts to flow through the nib, capillary action keeps the flow going by drawing in more ink from the reservoir. This is a closeup photo of an 18k gold nib on an Omas 360 fountain pen. Canon Rebel XTi, 8/10 sec @ f/16.0, ISO 400, 65mm macro lens.

341 - QWERTY

From 365 Project

The QWERTY is the standard layout for English keyboards. The layout comes from the 1870's and was devised using a study of letter-pair frequency to position the letters to avoid type bar jams that plagued early typewriters. Originally the letter "R" and the period "." were reversed on the keyboard. They were switched into the current positions so a typewriter salesman could impress customers by quickly typing out "TYPEWRITER" using only the top row of letters. The photo is my Logitech illuminated keyboard, a fine device for working late at night. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/20s @ f/3.2, ISO 800, 50mm macro.

339 - Star Light, Star Bright

From 365 Project

Star light, star bright,
May I take your picture tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Take a great picture tonight.
Canon XTi, 1/100 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 400, 50mm macro.

336 - Red & Green

From 365 Project

Every wonder how red and green became the colors of the Christmas Holiday? One explanation dates to the 14th century and the Paradise Tree. Adam & Eve day was celebrated in churches on Christmas Eve and the miracle plays of the time featured an evergreen tree decorated with apples. The tradition eventually became the Christmas Tree. This is a small red wire tree with green bells that is part of our holiday decorations. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/80 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 400, 50mm compact macro and lighting from the micro LED Litepanel.

334 - Hands of Time

From 365 Project

Marking the passage of time has created some of most magnificent technologies. This is a close up of the hands from a regulator clock that has been in our house for over 30 years. It chimes every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day with the Westminster Chimes. Most people notice the chimes right a way when visiting our house and comment about them. It brings great comfort on sleepless nights. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/125 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 200, 50mm compact macro lens.

318 - Jammin

From 365 Project

Rickard Göransson from the Swedish band Carolina Liar joins Rob Thomas on stage during the Cradlesong Tour at the Beacon Theater in New York City tonight. Over four hours of music from Rob and opening acts Carolina Liar and OneRepublic. Canon G10, 1/125 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800.

311 - Upside Down & Red

From Nov7

My grandson spent the afternoon with us and was quite full of himself. He is hanging upside down looking at me through a red plastic candy dish. The empty candy dish is a good indication of how he got so full of himself. He just loves to visit Grammy's house! Canon Rebel XTi, 1/13 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 400, 30mm prime lens.

310 - Under the Rose

From 365 Project

The rose has always been valued for its beauty and has a long history of symbolism. In Rome a wild rose would be placed on the door of a room where secret or confidential matters were discussed. The phrase sub rosa, or "under the rose", means to keep a secret — derived from this ancient Roman practice. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/400 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 800, 50mm macro lens. Converted to B&W in Lightroom 2.5 with the Cyanotype preset.

308 - Oh, What a Tangled Web She Weaves

From 365 Project

I know spiders creep out some of my loyal followers but this will probably be the last one as the spiders are getting scarce now. For some weeks now she has been building her orbweb just outside the side door at the house. Tonight's web was pretty spectacular and so it ends up as today's photo. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/25 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 50mm macro lens.

305 - Calla Lily

From 365 Project

Oddly enough the calla lily is not a lily at all and it's not really a calla either. Calla lily is actually a common name for the zantedeschia genus which once was a part of the calla genus. It was separated into several smaller genuses when it became apparent they were not as closely related as biologists thought. But the common name has stuck and this beautiful flower is a beloved favorite. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/320 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 800, 50mm macro lens, illuminated by a micro Litepanel shining through the white flower.

293 - Balsa

From 365 Project

This small hand-made balsa wood flower portrays the simplicity and elegance of Asian design. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/40 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 400, 50mm macro lens.

292 - Cheesy Poofs

From 365 Project

Yes Cheesy Poofs, Eric Theodore Cartman's snack obsession. These are the tasty generic version of Cheetos Cheese Puffs. You can almost taste 'em, can't you. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/160 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 200, 50mm compact macro lens.

289 - Fighting Back

From 365 Project

We're fighting back against this year's flu scare. We got our flu shots tonight courtesy of our good friend and my #1 blog fan, Susan. Bring it on, I'm ready. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/80 sec @ f/2.5, ISO 400, 50 mm macro lens, micro LED Litepanel.

288 - "Say Pepsi, Please"

From 365 Project

This is a close up of an embossed Pepsi-Cola logo on a mid-1950's vintage bottle. My father used to pick up old bottles whenever he found them. When I was young we would walk along the side of the road and collect discarded soda bottles and return them for the deposit. His shop had a lot of old bottles in it and this is one of several he gave me a number of years ago. I filled it with fresh Pepsi from a can for the photo. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/6 sec @ f/11.0, ISO 100, 50mm macro lens. Back light from the micro LED Litepanel.

287 - Signs of the Season

From 365 Project

Today was our first fall day with crisp cool autumn temperatures. My first attempt at a blog photo was a dismal failure. It was a good picture concept but poorly executed and not worthy of your time or attention. So my wife Cindy came to the rescue with this fall season setup idea. At first the gourds alone weren't doing much so she tossed in some candy corn and voila a picture of the day. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/250 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 100, 30mm prime lens and two off-camera flashes.