BOO! Halloween Moon

Happy Halloween!

Of Macro Photography and Depth Of Field

Hiked well into the forests around Mt Wilson today. Quite a trail up there to Chantry Flats.
Caught these little scenes while I was walking around.

Of Rainbows, Sunsets, and Lightning Bolts

Donna & I got out today to chase the thunderclouds. We had far better luck with the evening than we expected that is for certain.

World Speed Shooting Challenge

The annual competition was on again near Piru, Ca. Just a few shots of the shooters and the match overall, soon to be published as part of the SCSA website. The competitors all try to hit all 5 targets as fast as possible. I saw 4 targets get hit in 1.01 seconds at a side match called The Gauntlet. This with a Sig Sauer 226 9mm, right from the factory.  I hiked a long way up a ridge to get the shots from above.

Notice in the top shot two empty cartritges in the air. Thios man shot the 4 6" plates down in just over one second at a distance of about thirty feet. It's safe at close ranges due to the lead free frangible bullets used. 

New Lens, New View Of The Small=New Inspiration

 

I purchased the Canon 60mm EF-S macro lens. It's quite sharp and 2.8 fast.

Old School B&W Rock Photography

Given the intense light from the back wall and the rotating overhead spot lights this might have been the most difficult venue yet. Great for the band, great for the crowd.  But technically challenging to any photographer. You have to let your aperture and ISO float. I made the mistake of longer exposures like 1/30th of a second. They did not make the cut. The video guys recording here must go a little nuts in post production.

 

Mt Wilson Webcam-A Closeup & Alternate Views From The Cam

Many of us enjoy the Mt Wilson webcam. My wife and I like to drive up there to get up and away from the valley. On this day Donna had great luck with butterflies, and I took a look around at the scenery and the observatory itself. You can see the webcam up top facing away and you can see they have the famous solar telescope working. Next we have views in other directions from Mt Wilson.

Mt Baldy

San Bernardino & San Gabriel Mountains

Looking out to sea

Downtown Ciudad De Los Angeles just poking out of the haze

Pelican Day

A sequence of a pelican low flying the surf. I just held the button and hoped to keep up.

Sea Birds In Flight

Dramatic Easter Sky Over LA

From the hills above Griffith Observatory, Easter Sunday 2011

Poppy Reserve-Before The Poppys Really Bloom

But the question remains-For two years in a row the poppy reserve has had fewer poppies than less regulated local hillsides on private land. Why would that happen?

You can see there are precious few poppies to be seen yet. But the plants are abundant, the drought is over, so we may well have a huge poppy season ahead of us anyway. The state flowers are late this year and given the extended winter conditions who can blame them? The sun is strong but the air still cold.

At least I got this one framed up well enough! This fine example was growing in the parking lot where anyone can trod and park. You can just see a couple tiny bugs silhouetted at the bottom of this flower.

Silver & Gold Fever at 1900 Degrees

24kt gold is poured into ice cold water to make grain.

One of several silver bars poured from a melt that was well over 100 pounds.

The silver melt is well stirred before pouring. 2000 degrees F. in there.

Hydrogen and oxygen at 5000 degrees F. But the direction of the heat is so well controlled a bare hand can stir the melt with a simple solid quartz rod. I really like the way the light illuminates the hand.