Table Set

- More salt and pepper shakers and some cool reflections in the table light. Canon G11, 1/3 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 200 in macro mode.

The "new" Luna Maya

- Had dinner tonight at the new Luna Maya on Colley Avenue in the Ghent section of Norfolk, Virginia. The new space is five times larger than the old location and it was still packed with a 30 minute wait at 8:00 PM. The Bolivian inspired food was great as always and the vibe was amazing. This is Norfolk's new "in place" to be. Canon G11, 1/10 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 800.

Geek Dryer

- The new dryer for the laundry room finally arrived today. Unfortunately the shippers loaded the wrong washer on the delivery truck, idiots! But the dryer is awesome it even has a color LCD display, how fricking geek is that? Downside - the manual is about an inch thick but that's Cindy's problem, due to incidents in the past, I'm barred from doing laundry. Canon 40D, 1/160 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 400, 100mm.

Garden Envy

- Made my first rip to Anderson-Wright Rooms & Gardens at 622 High Street in downtown Portsmouth, Virginia. This is the gorgeous interior courtyard. If you love gardens and landscape design, this is must place to visit. Canon G11, 1/50 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 200.

Buds

- The Knockout Roses I planted in the Fall of '09 are really doing well this Spring. I was a little worried in January and February as the harsh cold seemed to be doing them in. But they bounced back great with more blooms than ever. Canon 40D, 1/320 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 400, 100mm macro late afternoon shade helped out a bit by the LED Litepanel.

Shadow Puppet

My four-year old grandson Robert was busy making shadow puppets as the morning sun was streaming in through the kitchen. I only got off two shots with camera and this one is a keeper. Canon G11, 1/1250 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200 converted to black and white in Silver Efex Pro.

Espresso Brown

- Why is that colors these days have a first and last name? When was the last time you saw a can paint or fabric color just called brown? So yesterday I was took a picture getting ready to make an espresso, tonight it is the finished cup. This is espresso brown or Mr. Brown to those who are more formal. Canon 40D, 1/60 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens, LED litepanel.

Espresso?

- Can I interest you in an espresso? Well is not a "real" espresso but its pretty darn close for a home version. Made myself an espresso with my Nespresso machine tonight to enjoy with a little strawberry sorbet. Very nice. This picture was taken just before pushing the button to begin the magic. Canon 40D, 1/10 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro.

The State Flower

- The Dogwood is the official state flower and tree of the Commonwealth of Virginia. So why is Virginia officially called a Commonwealth rather than a state? Fiction author Clive Cussler once lamented it was because "Virginia considers itself too good to be just a state". Virginia has used the old traditional English term since before the founding of the United States. There are three other U.S. states that refer to themselves as a Commonwealth - Kentucky, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The term implies a political community founded for the common good. As I watch Virgina's strange politics, I often wonder what has happened to the "common good". Canon 7D, 1/100 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 400, 100mm macro lens, LED Litepanel.

Rear-view Mirror

- Well technically its a side-view mirror. Looking back on the rush hour traffic waiting behind me to make a left turn from Park Avenue onto Brambelton Avenue to get on I-264 East in Norfolk Virginia. Notice the two cars in the blind-spot mirror can't be seen in the standard mirror - that's why they call it a blind spot. That little mirror has saved me more than once. Canon G11, 1/250 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

Lavender

- Lavender is the color of femininity and my bride of 36 years loves tulips. So it was lavender tulips with some baby's breath, pink roses and stargazer lilies for today's anniversary flowers. Canon 40D, 1/60 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro, Litepanel LED.

New Pez!

- As regular followers of my blog know, I collect PEZ dispensers. Since I have several hundred it is a rare treat to get a new one, especially when its a gift. My grandson Robert brought me this new style Disney Dalmatian dispenser last week. So this picture and blog post is a big thank to Robert for expanding grandpa's wall of PEZ. He and I have a good arrangement, I get the PEZ dispensers he gets the PEZ candy.

This photo is a good example of shallow depth of field and bokeh. You will notice that his nose and right eye are in sharp focus at f/4.0 but the left eye which is just a few millimeters farther away is beginning to fall out of the shallow field of sharp focus. The background is completely out of focus with the soft highlights known as bokeh. Canon 40D, 1/50 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens, room light.

Ice Cold Tea

- A glass of ice cold tea a southern tradition. We had dinner tonight at the No Frill Grill in Norfolk, Virginia and sat on the open patio. It was a glorious evening and the late afternoon sun was nicely illuminating Cindy's ice tea. She was kind of enough to wait for me to take the picture, actually five, before having a drink. I really appreciate the way she suffers for my art. Droid X camera phone in macro mode, no flash.

120 Collage

It's day 120 for my 2011 365 Project. So today's picture is a collage of the first 119 pictures taken. I'm about one-third done with this year's project. Since I started in 2009, I've complete 850 daily posts each with a different photo with most taken on the same day. I hope you've been enjoying these past 850 days on CIOPhoto.com. This project was done with Shape Collage Pro version 2.5 software.

Sandbox

Our grandson Robert is spending the day and night with us. He spent much of the day outside enjoying the beautiful weather. The sandbox is always a hit and here he is feeding sand into two different spinner toys and yes that's spaghetti sauce from dinner on his face. Canon G11, 1/25 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 100

Charge!!

- The 18 volt power tool batteries are ready to charge into action. Canon 40D, 1/160 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens.

Under Pressure

As my current home renovation project continues and continues and continues, there's been little time for photography. So tonight I turned the camera on the project and the pressure to complete. This is my air compressor charged up to power the brad nail gun. A nail gun is a wonderful thing. Canon 40D, 1/200 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens, converted to black & white with highlight color.

Looking Down on Me

My PEZ collection always watches over me at my computer. This is part of a larger shelf with about 500 different PEZ's. Can you spot Popeye, Zoro, Elvis and the GEICO Gecko? This collection leaves just about everyone who sees it speechless. Canon 40D, 1/40 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 800, 50mm prime lens.

Camellia

This white camellia flower was one of the largest I've ever seen with the flower about 6 inches in diameter. The texture of the delicate pedals comes out very nicely in this high contract black and white photograph. Canon 7D, 1/320 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens with supplemental light from an LED litepanel.

Easter Fun

- My grandson Robert thoroughly enjoyed the Easter Basket we made for him. It was mostly cheap toys, the only candy was Pop Rocks - his first experience was priceless. But of course he enjoyed the fake paper grass from the basket the best. He was at "Grammy's house" and she let him spread it all over the house. Here is is throwing a bunch up in the air. I'm not sure who had the most fun - him, us or the cats. Canon 40D, 1/125 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 800, 50mm prime lens and Canon ETTL flash bounced from the ceiling.

Daily Bread

Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6:11)

Java

- Took this picture of our first cups of coffee today before I had my first cup of coffee, an achievement in and of itself. Canon 40D, 1/125 sec @ f/2.2, ISO 400, 50mm prime lens.

One Candlepower

- It would be hard to imagine a world without electric lights. Today our homes and work places are well lit. In the 1800's and earlier night was often without light and when it was provided it was a flame like this single candle. The now outdated term of candlepower was use to describe how much light was emitted from any artificial source. The term candlepower has been replaced by Candela which defines a single candle at 1/683 of a watt. Canon G11, 1/500 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800 in macro mode, 3 stops underexposed.

Showy

- Wikipedia says the Iris is a plant with "showy flowers". This is one of my Irises from a 25 foot long bed of them on the south side of my house. All of these come from one plant my next door divided and gave me over 20 years ago. The blooms are really large and stand a top a 3 foot high stem. Canon 7D, 1/40 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, 100mm macro photographed in full shade.

Dial Me a Number

- It's not everyday that one gets an opportunity to photo a rare and unusual object. This is an antique Tiffany silver phone dialer engraved with the date of 5-17-57. My friend Andrea showed me this piece which belonged to her grandmother. It was an anniversary gift on the engraved date. In the days of rotary dial phones a woman who had a fine manicure didn't want to risk breaking a nail placing a call, so in comes the silver dialer with a fine felt tip for dialing in those important calls. This make's today's litany of fashionable iPhone accessories seem somewhat trivial and trite. I doubt any of those will be a cherished family heirloom in 50+ years. Canon G11, 1/40 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800, converted to black and white in Lightroom 3 with Silver Efex Pro.

Unfurl

- My ferns are unveiling new shoots every day. I love the way they unfurl and quickly expand into a new stem with fully developed leaves. I know I've been giving you a major dose of flower and plant macros lately, but its Spring and there's so much to train the macro lens on. Expect a few more before I find a new creative outlet for my camera lens. Canon 7D, 1/30 sec @ f/9.0, ISO 200. 100mm macro lens.

First Day at the Beach

It was a beautiful day in Virginia Beach so we made our first trip of the year to the beach at Sandbridge. There were lots of surfers but not much ridable surf but it was still a great day to just sit and talk. Canon G11, 1/500 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 100.

Snowbells

- The white snowbells are quite a nice addition to any spring garden. Canon 7D, 1/160 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 400, 100mm macro, LED litepanel.

Pretty Boy Blue

- This is Sebastian my cousin Lin's blue tonkinese kitten. Approaching five months old he just gets prettier and prettier or should I say more handsome everyday. He has an amazing social personality and never meets a stranger. I took this picture through a glass window as we were outside in the garden and he was watching every move. Canon 7D, 1/100 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 1600,100mm macro, LED micro Litelpanel.

Solomon's Seal

- Canon 7D, 1/80 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro.

Get the Point

- I've long been a user and collector of fountain pens. This Taccia Ta-Ke" is my everyday pen, one of the best writing and most dependable pens I have ever owned. It is not expensive and doesn't have a famous name or a snow peak on the cap but is a great pen. I think you can tell from this macro photo of the nib that it is well used and not very well taken care of. In fact, I have never cleaned this pen in the almost five years I've had it. Japanese pen with a German nib, a great combination. Canon 40D, 1/50 sec @ f/5.0 ISO 800, 100mm macro.

Captain Sullivan

- Tonight was special as we attended the Virginia Beach Fire Department's 2011 Promotion Ceremony. In this picture our son Brian has his captain's badge pinned on by his wife Kristal and son Robert as Deputy Chief Journigan and Chief Cover look on. Our entire family is very proud of Brian and his career in the fire service. Canon 7D, 1/160 sec @ f/2.5, ISO 800, 85mm prime lens.

The Fork

- A simple piece of kitchenware and a shadow make for a simple photograph. Canon 40D, 1/200 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 400, 100mm macro converted to black and white in Lightroom 3 with Silver Efex Pro.

Wild Wisteria

- This is some wild wisteria growing along a ditch bank in my neighborhood. Wisteria can be a very invasive plant but it is certainly striking when in bloom. This photo was taken in daylight with illumination provided by an LED Litepanel. Between the relatively short depth of field of the macro lens and stopping down to ensure saturated colors, the background went completely dark. Canon 40D, 1/320 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 400, 100mm macro lens.

Build Me Up -

- Buttercup
Don't break my heart

Every time I see of buttercup in the spring I immediately think of the The Foundations hit from 1968. Canon 40D, 1/400 sec @ f/8.0, 100mm macro.

So build me up (Build me up)
Buttercup
Don't break my heart

Tick Tock

- I love old analog watches like this Hamilton that was my grandfather's. They were even more beautiful on the inside than the outside. Canon 40D, 1.6 sec @ f/16.0, ISO 200, 50mm macro.

Hide and Seek

- Sherlock just loves the laundry bag from the dry cleaners. Any time I pull it out, I know I'll find him hiding in there. He has not figured out that's it not a good hiding place. Canon 40D, 1/15 sec @ f/4.5, 100mm.

Time

- Guess what time it is - it's time to make a picture for today. One of the problems with doing a 365 project is scrambling to come up with a picture idea at the last minute. I've done some pretty lame ones during the last 27 months but after doing 825 pictures posts in a row I wasn't going to let today break the string. So I took a picture of my watch. First I loaded up the phosphorous with light and then took the manual exposure macro photo. This was the third frame of three. I used an Adobe Lightroom preset to split tome the image and then converted to black and white. So number 826 is in the can. Canon G11, 1/15 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800, in macro mode.

Drip

- A leaky faucet in a funky cool bathroom at the Twisted Fork in the Triangle Town Center near Raleigh N.C. Canon G11, 1/40 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 400.

Alivia's

- Alivia's Durham Bistro on West Main Street in the Brightleaf District of Durham NC. The stainless steel in the sign was nicely lit by the late day sun. I like the saturated colors of the sky and the building. Canon G11, 1/200 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 200.

Find Your Cool

- "Find Your Cool" in downtown Durham North Carolina. This is a row of buildings fronting on Main Street with the motto of downtown painted in the old style on the brink. Canon G11, 1/640 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 400.

Busy

- This little fly was very busy on the newly open white flowers next door. Canon 40D, 1/60 sec @ f/11, ISO 400, 100mm macro, LED Litepanel.

HDR Miami

- Downtown Miami in high dynamic range (HDR). This photo of downtown Miami at night is actually a blended exposure of 5 individual photographs. Each exposure was captured using a different setting creating a range of images from light to dark. When blended with Photomatrix Pro software the resulting images include a much wider tonal range than the camera can accomplish on a single exposure. This image is more like what your eyes can detect in a scene like this. Canon G11, shutter times at 1, 2, 4, 8, and 10 seconds all @ f/8.0 and ISO 100, mounted on a tripod.

More Miami Neon

- Some more of the neon at South Beach in Miami. Canon G11, 1/13 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 400.

Port Blvd. Bridge

- The Port Boulevard bridge from downtown Miami to Dodge Island and the Port of Miami. This is home to the world's cruise terminal. Fisher Island can be seen in the distant background. Canon G11, 8 seconds @ f/8.0, ISO 100 mounted on a tripod.

Art Deco

- Had dinner tonight with a great group from the American Public Transportation Association TransITech Conference at Quinn's in the Central Park Hotel on Miami Beach. It was my first visit to Miami Beach and I must say I was impressed by the great Art Deco Style. Canon G11, 1/8 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 400 camera braced against a palm tree. Sometimes you have to improvise camera support.

Daisy

- Saw this daisy while walking through Home Depot. Canon G11, 1/100 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 800 in macro mode.

Left Behind

- This lone shopping cart was left behind all by itself in the parking lot. After taking the picture, I returned it to the safety of the cart rack. Hopefully the guy with the "cart pusher" will retrieve it before closing tonight. Being the guy who gets to operate the remote control cart pusher is my long term career goal. . . ah someday. Canon G11, 1/640 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

Chips

- A microprocessor, a.k.a - computer chip, up close and personal. Each of these squares are separate microprocessors on a single silicon wafer. Each square is about 1/8 inch in size. It kind of looks like a city seen from high in the sky. Well I guess it is a city of sorts - one with millions of miniature transistor residents. Canon 40D, 1/125 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800, 100mm macro.

The Red Tip

The red tip Photinia earns its name in the spring when the new growth appears as bright red leaves against the deep green of the older growth. This is from the one red tip left in my yard. For years we had a red tip hedge down one side of the yard which has now been replaced by the daylily bed. I don't miss that hedge which required a lot of work. The plant is better suited for larger open areas. Canon 40D, 1/60 sec @ f/11.0, ISO 800, 100mm lens.