Photography: Close-up, low light depth of field conundrum

| February 28, 2017

While eating lunch today I was tinkering with my Lumix GX8 camera to play with depth-of-field and sandwiching images (see Photoshop technique in old post). In a low light macro situation there isn’t a way to keep items in front and back sharp enough to read … so in some cases, sandwiching two images is […]

Spoke too soon – it is back to snow and winter

| February 25, 2017

Last night while posting about the shockingly mild February 2017 and “hinting” at the front rolling in, the change came. Nothing major, but definitely not 77 degree! After the sunrise, the gray sky move from west to east brought a late morning snow shower just to remind me that it is still winter — put […]

Aviation and sailing in one great Shot of the Week photo

| January 15, 2017

The quality of the photo isn’t the best, but the content is pretty impressive. The latest issue of the weekly Cruising Compass had this photo as the "Cruising Shot of the Week" … excellent! This busy shot of Boston Harbor from July 2013, with the Navy Blue Angels flying over the USS Constitution (Old Iron […]

Dad posts heartbreaking photo of daughter 

| November 3, 2016

This is not a feel photo or story, and I suspect like me, seeing 4 year-old Jessica Whelan suffering from cancer and in pain in front of her dad is enough to bring tears to the eyes of any parent. For those sheltered from this kind of agony, a social network shared photo like this speaks […]

National Geographic iconic Afghan Girl arrested in Pakistan

| October 29, 2016

Pakistani police have arrested National Geographic’s green-eyed “Afghan Girl” — whose striking picture became the symbol of the plight of refugees– for having a phony ID card.Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency conducted a raid Wednesday at a residence in the city of Peshawar, where Sharbat Gula was taken into custody. The FIA had gotten word about […]

How much room do you leave between vehicles?

| September 25, 2016

A photo is worth a 1000 words — and this photo is a chilling reminder for those of us who travel regularly on the interstates. I purposely allow for more buffer than many when following a line of traffic (a car length for every 10 mph) AND in particular give semi-trucks even more breathing room. […]

Appreciating the Summer of 2016 before it is gone

| August 23, 2016

This content is restricted.

The moon passing between climate observatory and earth

| July 28, 2016

Astronaut Rick Mastracchio (‏@AstroRM) posts some terrific space oriented photos. Here’s one showing he moon passing between the NASA climate observatory and earth. As he tweets, "almost unbelievable that this is a real photo."

Archiving a photo of my nephew and son hanging out together

| January 17, 2016

Archiving a January 2016 photo of my nephew Jaben and my son Taylor before the Bengals demise last week. They decided to get together in Cincinnati and watch the playoff game together – from all accounts, they had a good time. I’m sure my brother feels the same way … it is  nice to see […]

Before there were Harley-Davidson Hogs …

| January 13, 2016

William Harley and Arthur Davidson, founders of Harley-Davidson, with their motorcycles in 1914. FYI … HOG = Harley Owners Group: http://www.hog.com Origin of “Hog” nickname Beginning in 1920, a team of farm boys, including Ray Weishaar, who became known as the “hog boys,” consistently won races. The group had a hog, or pig as their mascot. […]

The obligatory family Christmas tree photo for 2015

| December 23, 2015

It is time to post the annual Christmas tree photo on the blog. I’m trying an evening pic with the iPhone … as steady as I can? The tree is full, but not quite as tall as our usual trees. I’m sure the kids will be disappointed that it isn’t bigger,  but then Taylor always […]

The weather in Cincinnati this past weekend was spectacular

| September 21, 2015

It was a beautiful late summer (barely) weekend to hang out around home. Brenda continued her rehab exercises while planning a mid-October return to work, while I enjoyed working around the yard. We both took one more swim in the pool for 2015, watched the Bengals win and enjoyed a gorgeous Sunday evening with a […]

Listening to the fireworks as the sun sets on July 4, 2015

| July 4, 2015

Beautiful spring-like weekend weather in Cincinnati

| February 8, 2015

It was a beautiful mid-February weekend here in southwest Ohio and perfect for driving the old Mercedes and washing the salt off our Honda Pilot. On Saturday I drove up to my brother and sister-in-law’s house to see my dad for the afternoon and take him out to lunch. He is currently staying with them […]

Wet floor banana shaped cones and a few baby bunny photos

| June 12, 2014

I’ve got to admit, at first glimpse these banana peel Wet Floor Cones are a pretty innovative idea. It gets your attention, at least the first few time you see them. I also needed  a filler photo for the rest of the post and figured who doesn’t love a cute baby bunny photo … or […]

ISS Chris Hadfield’s photo “A New Dawn” last week

| May 17, 2013

Tech Friday: Protect your expensive phone for resale sake

| January 11, 2013

Here’s a helpful “Tech Friday” post that is really just some smart advice – it has nothing to do with the photo of Tootsie above except that it was taken with the iPhone 5. Anyway, a client of mine regularly upgrades his high end phone (and now his iPad) every 2 years as permitted by […]

Photos: Our illusive Red-tailed Hawk and modified car parts

| November 21, 2012

There was a large truck and trailer sitting in front of our house at the crack of dawn this morning and curiosity got the best of me so I went outside to investigate. Brenda mentioned that I might want to get the license plate number considering this is the Thanksgiving holiday week and neighbors might […]

Birds often sit on our roof, but rarely Great Blue Herons

| November 6, 2012

Our resident Great Blue Heron has decided to take up a new perch which irritates our dog Tootsie to no end. I’m not particularly happy with the dropping on the roof either, but having a large bird like this sitting on one’s roof does make for an impressive sight when driving up the driveway (unlike […]

SmartDeblur looks to be almost ready for primetime

| October 20, 2012

Why is it that  I question installing and using software some pretty impressing “debluring software” from a guy named Vladimir Yuzhikov? Am I being overly paranoid or worse … prejudice. Anyway take a look at SmartDeblur and what Gizmodo has to say about this windows only (for now) software … although with smartphones getting some […]

A “how do they do that” question

| September 29, 2012

How do packers of lettuce tie up a head? I can never get the wrap open without tearing or cutting.

More little fishies from the sea

| June 20, 2012

I may have started a trend the last couple days in posting the shark and ocean photos … so here are a couple more from a link forwarded by a friend. Hmm, how fast can you swim … or below a meeting between a not so friendly Bull Shark and a diver doing her best […]

A couple oceans of the world photos – sharks, fish and rays

| June 18, 2012

  I’m either too busy or too lazy to add a post for Monday … as both Sunday night and Monday morning have disappeared. Instead, I’ll reshare  a couple interesting oceans of the world photos. (Sharks with schools of fish and a large “Batoidea” migration.)

Venus and Jupiter easily notice in the evening sky

| March 15, 2012

This month Venus and Jupiter are putting on a great show and stand out in the evening sky. The warm temperatures and clear atmosphere gave me an excuse to sit outside and take a couple photos. (a few facts)

Come on in and grab onto my tail, “I don’t want to eat you!”

| August 27, 2011

Sort of reminds me of the of the 1875 St. Nicholas tale with the Gingerbread Man which ends like this: … He ran till he came to a river. And next to the river was a fox. The fox said, "Hello little gingerbread man." The gingerbread man said, "HELLO! I ran away from the little […]

A beautiful moon rise through the trees tonight

| February 19, 2011

The moon was full and extraordinarily large as it rose above the road in front of me while driving home tonight. Unfortunately the Palm Pre lacks a bit in the camera department (photo below) and I pulled my DSLR out at home. The moon had already risen a bit further and lost some of its […]

Oriental, NC dock with a little snow

| January 15, 2011

Just a photo from towndock.net/ … Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

We’re having a cold and snowy December this year

| December 17, 2010

Palm Pre photo after clearing the driveway on Thursday I’ve had to put the snowblower on my old John Deere 330 a bit early for SW Ohio this year since we’ve had significantly more snow and colder weather this entire month. In years past I remember crossing our fingers that some snow would whiten the […]

Lightning made for a beautiful 11PM photo

| June 4, 2010

While heading home the distant lightning lit night and the sky making for an interesting photo … so stuck the camera out the window for a 2 second exposure just as the bolt brighten the surroundings.

Appreciating the flowers that beautify our home

| May 16, 2010

I enjoyed the day working in the yard and found myself appreciating Brenda’s gardening talents. As the landscaping around our yard continues to mature and the varieties of different flowers bloom one after another all spring, all the hard work to plan, plant and tend is beginning to pay off. Today’s overweight Peony blooms were […]

A reminder to clean the camera lens on your phone

| April 18, 2010

After noticing the color saturation and sharpness in photos coming from my Palm Pre smartphone were not the same as the first photos I took,  I realized that just a cursory wipe of the lens wasn’t good enough. So let this post serve as a reminder to clean the lint, oils, dust, etc. out of […]

Slow work week due to snow although the economy doesn’t help

| February 10, 2010

I’m ‘enjoying’ (sort of) staying in town this week since most of Ohio has been receiving a good dose of snow. I’ve been out shoveling the walk (Palm Pre photo left – click for larger) and snowblowing the driveway more than once already – and no doubt will do it again before the last few […]

Evening clouds photo using Palm Pre camera

| August 22, 2009

While buzzing around Liberty Township, the evening sky was pretty dramatic so I poke my Palm Pre phone out the window on Butler-Warren County road and included it. (Panoramio Location)

Beautiful Ohio sunrise on Thursday morning

| April 16, 2009

Quick post while stopping to check my email and drink a cup of coffee. While spending the day on the road and traveling today, I thought I would post a couple photos from the beautiful sunrise while driving east in rural Ohio this Thursday morning.

Obviously Photoshopped, but still a funny photo

| February 25, 2009

The Interpreter and a list of interesting words

| February 22, 2009

We streamed the movie “The Interpreter” to our HD Tivo this weekend and  besides being an excellent movie, I enjoyed a relatively unrelated scene where Silvia Broome, played by Nicole Kidman, reads from notebooks written in by her list making brother. One of the listed items (again unrelated) were interesting words … one of which […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog