First Tomato

First of this season's tomatoes. A few more weeks to go. Canon Digital Rebel, 1/400 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 400, 100mm macro lens/

Catch That Train

The morning train arrives at the Amtrak Virginia station in Norfolk. Taking the train to Washington D.C. today for a behind the scenes tour at the Newsuem. Canon G15, 1/80 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600.

Forsythia Visitor

Found this small dragonfly like visitor on one of the forsythia blooms tonight. It is very small about 3/8 of an inch long. Canon 7D, 1/320 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens, LED Litepanel.

Save!

This is one of the 41 saves made tonight by Norfolk Admirals goalie Frederik Andersen against the Syracuse Crunch. He posted his third shutout of the season at the Norfolk Scope contributing to the Admirals third straight win against the Crunch. Canon G15, 1/1600 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600, 148mm focal length (35mm equivalent).

Star of Bethlehem

The Star-of-Bethlehem, scientific name - Ornithogalum, has a long stalk bearing clusters of white star-shaped flowers. The five pointed star-shaped flower give the plant its name. Canon 7D, 1/320 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro with one LED Litepanel.

Watching You, Watching Me

This pelican was busy watching the people who were watching him along the bluf at La Jolla California. Canon EOS 7D, 1/640th sec @ f/10.0, ISO 200, zoom at 400mm focal length.

Starfish

A bright red starfish in a sheltered tidal pool just off the La Jolla Children's Pool. Canon EOS 7D, 1/250 sec @ f/10.0, ISO 200, 400mm focal length.

Morning Nap

Sea Lion's enjoying a sunny morning nap on the rocks at La Jolla Cove. Canon EOS 7D, 1/500 sec @ f/10.0, ISO 200, zoom at 350mm focal lenghth.

Shorebird Sunset

Three shorebirds working the edge of the surf for dinner just after sunset in Encinitas California. Canon EOS 7D, 1/50 sec @ f/11.0, ISO 100, 156mm focal length.

Two Great Castles

A great hotel like the del Coronado deserves a great sandcastle. Canon Powershot G15, 1/500 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, fill-in flash used.

Squirrel!

This is a California ground squirrel and a resident of La Jolla California's coastal buff. Canon 7D, 1/640 sec @ f/10, ISO 200, zoom at 390mm focal length.

#bdad - Bus Driver Appreciation Day

Today is International Bus Driver Appreciation Day. I hope you took time to say thank you to a bus driver. For 6 years I worked at Hampton Roads Transit with a great group of bus operators (transit speak for drivers) and mechanics who get 50,000 riders to their destinations every day in Southeastern Virginia. They start each day early, at around 4:00am, and the last bus completes the final run of the day 22 hours later at 2:00am. They work long shifts, many work split shifts, weekends and even holidays. Bus service is a 365 deal.

Bus driver appreciation day is on March 18th because that is the anniversary of the very first bus service launched in Paris in 1662 using horse-drawn vehicles. According to an article on Wired it was the brainchild of French mathematician, inventor, physicist, philosopher, and author Blaise Pascal. Fellow geeks know Pascal as the inventor of an early calculating machine forerunner of modern computers and the programming language PASCAL named in his honor.

Canon G10, 1/200 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

Reflected

Construction of the new Consolidated Courthouse in Norfolk Virginia seen through reflections on the 125 St. Paul's Building. Canon G15, 1/640 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 80.

Sun and Shade

The Bank of America Center in Norfolk Virginia has long been one of my favorite local buildings. Designed by Skidmore, Owings And Merrill of Chicago with Williams, Tazewell & Associates of Norfolk it was the tallest building in the state of Virginia when completed in 1967 and retained that title until 1971 when Richmond's new City Hall took the crown. Today it is the second tallest building in Norfolk. The building started as the Virginia National Bank but beginning in the 1980's it went through a series of name changes resulting from bank acquisitions and mergers. It once carried the names of Sovran Bank in 1983, C&S/Sovran in 1991 and NationsBank in 1993 and finally Bank of America in 1998.
Canon G15, 1/640 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

Rearview

Too much is never enough
And too little to never enough
Full speed got me looking out my rear view
I can't go back

From "100 in a 55" as written by Dylan Allison Anthony Greve

Canon G15, 1/50 sec @ f/8, ISO 400.

MnM Sunrise

The sunrise over the Port of Hampton Roads Virginia as seen from the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel known locally as the "MnM". Canon G15, 1/100 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800.

Sunset Silhouette

The Dominion Coal Terminal on the east bank of the James River in Newport News, Virginia is silhouetted by the setting sun. Canon G15, 1/40 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 80.

Triple Rainbow

A passing rain shower just before sunset resulted in these three rainbows. I took the photo on the deck at Bubba's Seafood Restaurant and Crabhouse in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The seafood is good at Bubba's but the view is outstanding, a must see place for dinner in Virginia Beach. Canon G15, 1/100 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

More MB20

More from last night's Matchbox Twenty concert at Richmond's Landmark Theater. From right to left - Paul Doucette on rhythm guitar, Stacy Jones on drums, Rob Thomas vocals, and Kyle Cook on lead guitar. Canon G1X, 1/160 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 3200.

Concert photography can be difficult with bright fast moving subjects and rapidly changing intense lighting. We were setting about 9 rows back and no cameras with removable lenses were allowed. So I took the Canon G1X point and shoot mainly because of it's large sensor with good high ISO low noise performance. The camera struggled all night with auto focusing. I shot almost all of the photos with at least -2 stops of exposure compensation to get the band members properly exposed against the dark background. Even with spot metering enabled the camera tries to balance all of the blackness and without exposure compensation the people would be overexposed. I should have taken taken the Canon G15 because it's lens is a stop faster and its auto focus performs better even though it gives up a little in high ISO noise performance. I shot 200 pictures, 55 were totally unusable, blurred, over exposed or out of focus. Another 100 or so are OK but just not good photos. So I ended up with about 40 decent pictures and a half a dozen good ones.

MB20 @ Landmark

Kyle Cook and Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty preforming at Richmond Virginia's Landmark Theater as part of the 2013 Winter North Tour. Canon G1X, 1/160 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 3200, focal length 117mm (35mm equivalent).

Bottoms Up at Can Can

Champagne glasses await the celebration at Can Can Brasserie in Richmond Virginia's Carytown the "Mile of Style." Canon G15, 1/160 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 400.

1/4 Life Crisis

My trainer Daniel Vazquez,a.k.a Quez, celebrated his 25th birthday today. For a couple of weeks he has talked about getting old. So his mom surprised him by setting up Fitness Together Ghent with custom water bottles warning all of his clients of the impending crisis. She had healthy snacks for all of us at FT each with a customized "Quez Quip" about Daniel. All in all it was great fun. You should join the party at FT, get fit and meet some great people. Canon G15, 1/80 sec @ f/2.5, ISO 400 in macro mode.

Old Point Loma Light

Built in 1855 the Old Point Loma Lighthouse at the entrance of San Diego Bay only operated for 36 years before being replaced. The lighthouse was constructed atop the cliffs on Point Loma with the light 422 feet above the water below. As a result, it was often shrouded in fog and invisible to the mariners it was intended to guide. So on March 23, 1891, the light was extinguished and moved to the New Point Loma Light just 100 yards closer to the shore but nearer the cold Pacific shore and clearer nights.

The lighthouse as seen from the Pacific side, Canon G15, 1/1600 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

Looking up at the five foot tall 3rd order Fresnel lens from atop the stairway, 1/125 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

Finally the view looking down the stairway from the top landing, 1 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

"I never met a color I didn't like." - Dale Chihuly

We went to see the Chihuly exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts today. It is amazing. I really appreciate his work and his policy allowing educational and non-commercial photography of his work. Please enjoy this mini-tour as captured by my camera. The pictures show the colors and some of the glory of the work but they are no substitute for seeing them in person. The descriptions are from the text presented with each display at the VMFA. I hope my photos inspire you to make the trip to Richmond to experience it in person. Better hurry through the show ends February 10, 2013.

All the photographs were taken with a Canon 5D Mark II with either a 35mm prime lens or a 100mm macro lens.

FIORI AND FLOAT BOATS - They would get in their boats and go down and collect the glass—it looked so stunning in the rowboat—that was a whole new idea for me, and it’s one that I still use today.
—Dale Chihuly

This installation includes two of Chihuly’s wooden rowboats, one filled with Fiori elements and another with Niijima Floats. The Fiori Boat features various garden glass shapes and forms inspired by Chihuly’s love of gardens and conservatories. Niijima Floats were inspired by the artist’s trip to the Japanese island of Niijima and by childhood memories of discovering Japanese fishing net floats along the beaches of Puget Sound. Chihuly first filled boats with his glass pieces in Nuutajärvi, Finland, during the Chihuly Over Venice project in June 1995. Wondering if the glass would float, Chihuly began tossing works into the river and let them float downstream. Local teenagers in small, wooden rowboats gathered them up.

PERSIAN CEILING - The Persians—that’s one of the most difficult series to describe. It started off that they were geometric shapes, I think—it was a search for new forms. It was so interesting, what came out of it—we worked for a year only on doing experimental Persians—so I got to pick and choose from these parts and develop a new series. It has changed in many ways over the years.
—Dale Chihuly

Chihuly began the Persians series in 1986 while experimenting with new forms. Originally, he displayed Persians in pedestal compositions, often with smaller shapes nested in larger pieces. The first Persian Ceiling was presented in his 1992 exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum. Lit from above and resting on a flat glass pane, the elements of the Persian Ceiling come together to provide an immersive experience in color and shape. There are over a thousand Persian pieces in this installation.

MACCHIA FOREST - I think it was in 1981 that I woke up one morning and said,“I’m going to use all three hundred colors in the hotshop in as many possible variations and combinations as I can.” I started by making up a color chart with one color for the interior, another color for the exterior, and a contrasting color for the lip wrap, along with various jimmies and dusts of pigment between the gathers of glass. Throughout the blowing process, colors were added, layer upon layer. Each piece was another experiment. When we unloaded the ovens in the morning, there was the rush of seeing something I had never seen before. Like much of my work, the series inspired itself. The unbelievable combinations of color—that was the driving force. —Dale Chihuly

Chihuly chose the name for this series after asking his friend, artist Italo Scanga, for the Italian word for “spotted” or “stained.” Initially quite small, the Macchia grew in size and, like earlier works, were amassed into groupings or “families.” The Macchia here are installed together on pedestals in a group called a Macchia Forest.

This is a detail of a very small part of the piece called LAGUNA TORCELLO.

NEON TUMBLEWEED Talk about a form of light—neon is light itself. But, of course, neon couldn’t exist without glass. —Dale Chihuly

REEDS ON LOGS - In Finland we started making these long, cylindrical pieces, which looked like spears. This was an exciting new form. It was the first time we ever made anything like that. They can be taken anywhere—they can go outside. They are very strong pieces, and they are very dramatic. —Dale Chihuly

Installations of Reeds, or Spears as they were first named, began when Chihuly was working in Finland in 1995. The first time Chihuly combined Reeds and logs was for an installation at the Marlborough Gallery in New York. Since then, he has continued to create these works in various colors, installing the series both outdoors and indoors.

All Good Things Come To An End

I've been taking and posting a picture each day to this blog since January 1, 2009. What started out as a 365 Project to improve my photography skills by committing to take a picture each day for a year turned into four years of continuous picture taking. So after 1,461 photos I'm calling an end to my "Extreme 365" project. I want to thank all of the those loyal followers who posted comments and encouragement both on the blog and on Facebook. Sometime soon I'll launch a new blog featuring my photography. Take care and have a great 2013. Collage created using 1461 photos with Shape Collage Pro.

Headed Down

I couldn't end the year without another stairway picture. Don't know what it is that catches my eye about stairs, but I think they make cool photos. iPhone 5, 1/30 sec @ f/2.4, ISO 50.

Barbacue and Fries

Doumar's classic drive-in on a December Saturday night. Yep, pork barbecue sandwiches with cole slaw and an order of fries. It's a Norfolk Virginia legend and a frequent stop for us. iPhone 5, 1/20 sec @ f/2.4, ISO 100, Olloclip fish eye lens.

Doug's Dome

Looking up at the inside of the dome at the Douglas MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk Virginia. Around the dome are inscribed the names of major battles from MacArthur's 50 years of service in the U.S. Army. His career spanned the Mexican Revolution, WWI, WWII and the Koren War. The building and its dome was originally designed as Norfolk's City Hall by Thomas U. Walter architect of the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington D.C. City Hall was completed in 1850. The dome is 32 feet in diameter and 52 feet high. iPhone 5, 1/24 sec @ f/2.4, ISO 50, Olloclip fisheye lens.

Corinthian Console

This pair of Corinthian-styled consoles support a shallow stone balcony above the main entrance to the 1899 Federal Courthouse and Post Office in Norfolk Virginia. The building housed the U.S. Courthouse and Post Office until 1934, it then served as Norfolk's City Hall from 1938 through 1965 and other local government agencies occupied the building until 1977. It now being renovated and will serve as part of the City's new Slover Library scheduled to open in late 2014. The building is a rare example of Neo-Palladian Revival style. Canon G15, 1/1250 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 400.

Starry Night in Glass

This is the purple swirl hand blown glass ornament my grandson Robert made this past Saturday with a lot of help from Josh and the glass artists at the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio in Norfolk Virginia.
Canon 5D Mark II, 1/40 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, one LED Litepanel used to illuminate from below.

My Buddy

My buddy is wearing a little evidence of a pre-Christmas dinner cookie. Canon 7D, 1/60 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 400, bounce flash with a little direct flash from a white reflector.

Christmas Train

Robert playing with the LGB "Big Train" on Christmas Eve. He would rather push the train on the tracks than run it with the transformer. Canon 7D, 1/60 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400, ceiling bounced flash with a little direct light from a reflector.

1453

I've been taking and posting daily photos for almost 4 years now. This is number 1453 and I have eight more to go before I call it quits on the daily photos. Some days inspiration comes easy and other days it does not. Today is the later. Canon G15, 1/20 sec @ f/2.5, ISO 800, taken through a blue water bottle.

Serious Business

My grandson Robert pays close attention to instructions for making his own hand blown glass Christmas ornament at the Chrysler Museum of Art Glass Studio. When he finished, he proud;y pronounced his as the best in the class. I have to agree with him. Canon G15, 1/250 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600.

Wells Fargo Tower

The Wells Fargo Tower in Norfolk Virginia is sporting it's Christmas colors atop the 23 story office tower. Canon G15, 1/320 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800.

Honeycomb

This honeycomb block wall is located just out the garage entrance to the Showcase Restaurant at Norfolk Virginia's Scope arena. One of my favorite mid-century modern buildings, the Scope has been featured in the blog many times. Canon G15, 1/30 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800, converted to black and white in Lightroom 4.3 using Silver Efex Pro 2.

World Record Ornament?

Deborah Czeresko and the Chrysler Glass Studio team attempt to break Deborah's current world record for the largest blown-glass ornament. That's Deborah's at the left edge of the frame holding the torch. A rockin crowd of a couple a hundred art glass fans watched as the massive glass ornament grew and took shape. Canon G15, 1/160 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600.

It's Oz

Saw this analog soundboard on a tour of the WHRO Public Broadcasting studios in Norfolk Virginia tonight. Two ladies along for tour were peering into the audio control room when one asked "is this radio or TV?" The second replied "it's Oz."
iPhone 5, 1/17 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 400, Camera+ App.

o-dark-thirty

This is how I start my Monday, Wednesday and Friday at o-dark-thirty each week. I've been at it for two years years now and it has changed my life. Thanks to Daniel, Mark and everyone at Fitness Together Norfolk, my cousin Lin who recommended FT Norfolk and to my dear friend Reza who got me out of the computer chair and off the couch. Canon G15, 1/20 sec @ f/2.2, ISO 800.

American Pastime

It has been said that baseball is the all-American pastime. While the sport has been adopted around the world, Americans still hold it close from sandlot to little league, from to high school to college and from the minors to the big leagues. The Red Robin baseball flag reminds us of the sport's American heritage. Canon G15, 1/100 @ f/2.8, ISO 800.