Looking Pretty

- Miss Sasha was looking mighty pretty starring out the window so I just had to take a picture of her. She's quite the little diva at our house and wins the hearts of everyone she meets. My wife says I do too many cat pictures for the blog but I just can't resist. I hope you don't mind indulging my pet photography. Canon 40D, 1/160 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 400, 100mm.

Ground Level

- The lowly and often despised dandelion is really a beautiful and amazing plant. Earlier I posted a photo of a seed parachute ball which follows the blooming phase. This close-up photo shows the beauty of the flower bloom. It was nice day to lay on the ground in the sun and take macro photos. I always find something new when I take the time to look close enough. Canon 40D, 1/100 sec @ f/16.0, ISO 400, 100mm macro with the lifesize adapter.

Supermoon

- Tonight was the perigee or "supermoon"--the biggest in 18 years. I went to Sandbridge in Virginia Beach to capture the moon rising in the east over the Atlantic Ocean. Canon 7D, 1/30 sec @ f/16, ISO 100, mounted on a tripod.

On the Grid

- The power grid is something most of us rarely give much thought to. Right now it is a major topic in Japan following the 9.0 earthquake. It was the failure of the electric power grid coupled with flooding of backup generators by the devastating tsunami that resulted in loss of cooling for the Fukushima nuclear plant. Once the second failsafe - backup batteries were drained there was no way to power the pumps that deliver cooling to the reactors. The gird powers almost everything and while it has been very reliable this complex creation can fail on a very large scale. Next time you look up at those lines and transformers give some thought to modern world they enable. Canon G11, 1/40 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200 converted to black and white in Silver Efex Pro.

PEZ Patrick's Day

- I got together with some of my Pez pals to celebrate PEZ Patrick's Day. We all got greened up and broke out the Guinness and Harp. These guys really know how to party. Canon 7D, 1/250 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 400, zoom at 44mm, on camera flash with two LED litepanels for fill.

Late Bloomer

- This pink camellia is blooming much later than usual because of the cold winter. I normally have blooms beginning in December through February but this year the blooms began opening fully in late February. When its done blooming the bush will require some major pruning as the heavy snow in December and January broke it down badly. But even with all of that abuse, it still manages these beautiful blooms by the dozens. Canon 40D, 1/100 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 400, LED litepanel.

Parachutes

- This dandelion parachute ball has opened into a full sphere. The parachutes will soon carry the seeds on the wind. Those that land on disturbed soil will take hold continuing the cycle. Early European settlers brought the dandelion to the new world as a food plant and its prolific nature has spread the plant throughout North America. Canon 40D, 1/60 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro, LED litepanel and converted to black and white using Silver Efex Pro.