Delusions

2007-01-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

Theme Thursday - Happy

Wow, I guess I haven't updated this puppy in awhile.

This photo was taken at the Christmas Traditions Around the World exhibit at Frederik Meijer Gardens. This little guy, displayed on the USA tree, sure looked plenty happy to me.

Photo Friday: Portrait

2006-07-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

I took several photos of this horse. He's so beautiful, especially with the pastel sky behind him that I just couldn't help myself. Selecting just one for this week's Photo Friday was a challenge, but I had to choose and I chose this one.

Thursday Challenge: Birds

2006-06-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

Since birds are one of my favorite subjects, I have many photos of birds. Most of the photos are of ducks and geese because they're plentiful around here. This photo was taken at John Ball Park Zoo during the annual budgie (parakeet) exhibit and was a nice change of pace from the ducks and geese. Not that I don't like the ducks and the geese.

Thursday Challenge: Round

2006-04-14T17:25:00.000-07:00

Theme Thursday: Pattern

2006-04-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

An interesting pattern from nature.

2005-12-30T19:21:00.000-08:00

Photo Friday: Best of 2005

I took SO MANY photos in 2005, it was a challenge to choose one, and I'm not sure why this would be one of the best. I just like it I guess, and I did spend a lot of time getting it as close to right as I could get it. It was taken at Frederick Meijer Gardens in May, very near the end of the tulip season. I remember messing with my camera settings and with the composition to find the right combination for drawing attention to the front flower while leaving a background that hinted at the presence of other flowers without allowing so much attention be drawn to those other flowers that the viewer loses the feeling that the front flower is the focal point. I think, had I used the clone stamp tool and removed the snippet of flower at the bottom of the photo, it might have been a bit better, but it's still an okay photo for me.

Theme Thursday: Celebration

2005-12-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

Taken at my brother's place. This simple, elegant expression of Christmas had to be the work of my sister in law.

2005-12-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

Theme Thursday: "Sweet"

Photo Friday

2005-12-01T17:09:00.000-08:00

I don't think I've posted this picture on Photo Friday before. It's a picture I took outside a Catholic church in St. Johns, Michigan.

Moody Monday: Deserted

2005-11-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

A bench overlooking the swollen and frozen Grand River in Portland, Michigan.

Photo Friday: Delicate

2005-10-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken at the Butterflies are Blooming exhibit at Frederick Meijer Gardens.

2005-06-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

Theme Thursday: Close

2005-05-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday Shoot: Green

2005-05-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Moody Monday: Forbidden

Thursday Challenge: Flowers

2005-05-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

I have so many pictures of flowers, it was hard to choose which one to use, but this one is as good as any.

2005-04-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday Challenge: Building

2005-04-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Photo Friday: Soft

2005-04-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Moody Monday: Fake.

Theme Thursday: Food

2005-04-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

The butterfly feeder at Frederik Meijer Gardens

Another feeder sans le papillon.

2005-03-29T19:32:00.000-08:00

Moody Monday: Different.

2005-02-20T05:55:00.000-08:00

Hay wagons in rural Vermont.

Trees

2005-02-20T05:26:00.000-08:00

Trees in the frozen overflow of the Grand River.

Winter

2005-01-30T18:20:00.000-08:00

This week's Sunday Shoot theme is "Winter." Here in the great white north, traditional winter shots are a dime a dozen this time of year, and, coincidentally, our photography assignment this week was to shoot four pictures outdoors using at least two different white balance settings. Four, of course, wasn't enough so I shot almost 300. Thank goodness for digital and no film processing costs!

These two shots were taken on the Grand River in Southwest Michigan. This river is currently several feet above flood stage, an unusual situation for this time of year, and with the traditionally cold temperatures we have in January, the waters froze right where they overflowed, making the river appear wider than it is. As the waters recede, they leave evidence of their visit in interesting places.

2005-01-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting for an opportunity to post this photo from the Short Track World Cup in Madison, WI. "Underwear" is an advertisement for a Chinese company that makes, well, underwear - special clothing that skaters wear under their skinsuits to keep warm.

Icy

2005-01-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

This week's "Moody Monday" theme is "icy." Living in the Northern U.S. at this time of year, I I have some good opportunities to find something "icy:"

These pictures were taken at a pond near my home. The ducks appeared to be relaxed until they saw my camera, then they seemed to want to high tail it across the frozen pond, giving me a good view of their backsides.

Friday Five

2004-12-31T18:28:00.000-08:00

This week's Friday Five challenge is entitled Best of 2004. Since this could mean the best photos I took in 2004 or the best thing that happened to me in 2004, I'm submitting a bit of both. I'm not sure if everyone would agree with me, but I think some of my best photos of 2004 were the series I took of this duck:

For "best things that happened to me in 2004, these next two set the stage:

This photo, taken at World Cup 3 in Madison, WI features Bay City's, Alex Izykowski (in the red and blue) skating in his 500m heat. I included this photo in an earlier post, but, since that day, I've cleaned it up a bit in Photoshop. Most notably, I removed a big section of the black railing that had badly marred the original photograph. It's still not a professional quality photograph, but it's a pretty good effort for me.

This photo was also taken at World Cup 3 in Madison, and includes my favorite skater, USA's Apolo Ohno (in the red and blue again). Though a practice eye could probably find a multitude of flaws in this one, I'm proud of it. My Olympus Camedia 750 lacks some options important for good Short Track photography (such higher ISO settings), but this photo is relatively focused and unblurred; the colors are believable, and the exposure isn't too bad. I would never have expected to capture something like this with my little compact. Perhaps, if I had an SLR....

Short Track Speedskating is an exciting sport, and the competitions have brought me in contact with some wonderful people, some of whom have become friends I will cherish for a long while. I've also reconnected a bit with two favorite hobbies from times past: writing and photography. The daliance, as in times past, may be brief, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless.

It Wasn't Vegas....

2004-12-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

I'm back from the Las Vegas trip that was really Madison, Wisconsin. Las Vegas lacked a skating facility that met International Skating Union requirements, so the Short Track competition scheduled for the weekend of the American Thanksgiving was moved to Madison, Wisconsin.

We had mostly good weather that weekend. I left Grand Rapids at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday the 24th and made it to the west side of Chicago before I ran into snow which stopped in Rockford, Illinois, about an hour up the road. I only missed one exit which wasn't a big deal because it was an exit onto the toll road which was one lane due to construction. Thus the regular road was just as fast as the toll road.

\

We got a good deal on our room. The usual rate was $250 a night, and we paid $89 a night. We were also lucky in that the race organizer's office was in our hotel so we had easy access to answers to our questions. We also ran into a number of the skaters as most of them stayed here too.

a

As everyone knows, Wisconsin is famous for cheese, and who else is famous for Cheese? The Swiss!

Okay, I don't know if the part about the Swiss is true; I think they make chocolate, but, on Sunday, we were treated to Swiss Yodelling and a performance on some type of Alpine horn (I think that's what it was) between races.

And of course, there was skating:

The kid in the red and blue uniform is Alex Izykowski from Bay City, Michigan. Orginally, Alex wasn't scheduled to skate in the individual events in this competition because each country can only enter three skaters in individual events, but Rusty Smith was injured in the first or second round of races on Friday and was unable to skate at all on Saturday or Sunday. Alex took Rusty's place in the races on Saturday and Sunday. This picture is from his second 500m heat. He finished third so didn't advance to the next round, but I think this competition is the first one in which he has skated individual events, so he didn't do too badly, especially with a Canadian skater and a Chinese skater in the same heat.

Rusty's injury also meant that the U.S. men had to pull out of the relay. The rules state four different skaters must participate, and we only sent four to the competition. With Rusty unable to skate, we only had three able to skate the relay.

The U.S. ladies relay team made it to the semi-final round. They were in first, with a big lead over everyone else when one of the U.S. skaters slipped on an exchange, and they dropped to fourth. They fought back and finished third, just inches behind the second place team. Had the race been even a few feet longer, they probably would have finished in second and advanced to the final.

Despite withdrawing from the men's relay and the women's relay team being eliminated due to a mistake, the Americans did pretty well. Two women placed in the top six, and we haven't had even one woman in the top six since sometime in the nineties. We also had two men in the top six. Skaters in the top six receive $$$, not a lot, but it's still dough.

The ladies relay team set a new American record, and Hyo-Jung Kim (she's Korean American) set a new American record in the ladies 1000m quarter final then turned right around and broke her own brand new record in the semi finals. She went on to take the gold medal in the final. She's only sixteen years old, so watch for her in the 2006 Olympics:

Next to Hyo-Jung in this photo is Evgenia Radanova of Bulgaria.

And, the guy with the unusual name (Apolo Ohno) who likes to win medals:

He told the media he was angry with himself after finishing second in the 500m because he had hoped to come to Madison and win a lot of medals. He won a medal in every individual event, three golds and the silver in the 500m. Sounds like a lot of hardware to me.

For Canadian fans, here's one to watch:

This is Mathieu Turcotte from Montreal, Quebec lining up for his 1000m heat. He finished second overall behind American, Apolo Ohno, and won a gold medal in the men's 500 meters, the only individual race Apolo didn't win. Mathieu and teammate, Charles Hamelin also gave Apolo a good chase in the men's 3000m.

Pictured with Mathieu are six time European Champion, Fabio Carta of Italy, and Junji Ito of Japan.

Pumpkin Parade

2004-11-20T14:25:00.000-08:00

This picture is so simple, but I like it. I was out looking for shots to do an assignment for my photography class, and this just caught my eye, so I shot it.

Picture This!

2004-11-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

Today's Picture This: Fold.

The Radiant Bride

2004-11-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

My entry for this week's Photo Friday:

My sister in law and her father.

Picture It! Music.

2004-10-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

Playing Metallica - the only thing to play, says this young man. He was a favorite at this wedding reception in a sugar house located in rural Vermont.

A Japanese Gagaku musician plays an instrument known as a "sho."

I love this shot!

2004-10-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken on the grounds of a factory not far from where I live. This guy appears to be surprised that his feet are getting wet!

Another Short Track Photo Shoot

2004-10-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

After work, I made another foray to the Griff's Ice Arena to practice taking speedskating photos at the West Michigan Speedskating Club.

I had a bit more luck with the exposure this week. I used the camera's preset sports mode. The lighting and the color are pretty good, but the focus is, at best, questionable. The preset chose a shutter speed of 1/25! For action, this is too sloooowww.

Next week, I think I'll switch back to manual, take the shutter speed up a bit, and increase the ISO from 200 (as selected by the camera this week) to 400.

Warming up.

If he weren't so tall, I'd think it was Apolo with that yawn!

This little gal is fairly new to skating and couldn't participate in some of the exercises the others did. The coach set aside time to work with her and one other young skater to help them build their skills. He was extremely patient, and if these skaters continue to work as hard as they did tonight, they'll catch up with the other skaters their age.

A little speed practice for the advanced group.

Wipe out! This happens a lot in short track.

Clean up time.

Since the West Michigan Speedskating Club practices on a rink also used by hockey teams and figure skating clubs, they have to take down the protective padding at the end of each practice.

Down on the Farm

2004-10-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

My cousin's farm in Vermont.

Just hanging around.

Waiting for business.

Clean and ready to go.

Here they come!

Dinner (and milking!) time.

Photo Time Tuesday - Fantasy

2004-10-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

One of our local stores has a multi-holiday display that I think would make a terrific photograph for a fantasy theme. Large inflatable Santas, Frosty the Snowmen and Christmas trees share a world with Tom Turkey, Dracula, Jack O Lanterns, and Frankenstein. For good measure, Homer Simpson can be seen hanging out as well. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how happy the store would be if a customer brought in a camera and started snapping pictures of the inside of the store.

So...., instead, I have pictures of another place where fantasy is real (at least we'd like to think it is) and photos are allowed. Bronner's in Frankenmuth, MI is the world's largest Christmas store, and it's open 360 days a year, allowing visitors to savor the fantasy of Christmas all year long.

a

Short Track Photo Shoot

2004-10-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

I'll be attending an international World Cup competition for short track speedskating in November. For safety reasons, flash photogrpahy is not allowed during the races. If I want race photos I'm going to have to use the manual settings on my camera, and that will require practice. I took these photos at a practice session of The West Michigan Speedskating Club to get a bit of practice.

I was surprised that I was able to time my shots so as to catch some of the skating. I took about 45 pictures and only had one picture where the skaters sailed out of the photo before I could snap it, leaving me with a shot of blank ice. Of course, none of these skaters moves as fast as Apolo Ohno.

These photos were taken with a shutter speed of 250, aperture of 2.8, and ISO 400. EV was +1.3. All photos came out dark and were lightened with Photoshop.

My battery died just as practice was ending. I had a spare, but, without it, I managed to get this shot of the coach demonstrating an at home exercise the skaters can do to improve their balance and strengthen their leg muscles.

This club practices every Tuesday evening. It's a challenge for me to get there after work, but, as you can see, I need to practice a bit more, uh a lot more before the World Cup in November.

More Ordinary Fishermen

2004-10-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

Let's try this again, two pictures in the same post.

More ordinary fishermen, in a different river. I'm not sure why anyone fishes in this river. You certainly can't EAT anything you catch in it. Of course, if you're looking for an easy catch, this might be the place. The fish are probably sick and slow from all the pollutants they ingest.

!

2004-10-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

asfdfd

2004-10-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

I have so many photos of ordinary subjects, it's difficult to choose which one to send, but this, "an ordinary fisherman" seemed appropriate.

2004-10-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

A faint double rainbow. It's too bad I hadn't noticed the people in the lower right corner before I took the picture. I could have framed the shot differently and made them a more interesting part of the picture.

2004-10-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

A slightly different angle. I love the contrast between the blue of the river and the aqua color of the water as it cascades over the falls.

2004-10-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

The Canadian Horseshoe Falls, June 1, 2004.

2004-10-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

More of the Niagara River, June 1, 2004.

Man, that was a lot of work! Typing the HTML code would have been easier, but HTML only works if the photos are already on the Internet.

2004-10-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

The Niagara River, June 1, 2004

2004-10-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

Niagara Falls, June 1, 2004

Just Learnin'

2004-10-09T18:42:00.000-07:00

Trying to figure out how to use this. Have some pics to share, but can't figure it out just yet.