It's Still Winter - Day 41 #CY365

Yes it's still winter here in Virginia Beach, Virginia. This bare parking lot tree illuminated by a single cold street lamp conveys the gray, cold and dreary days we've been having lately. Canon G1X, 1/20 sec @ f/5, ISO 800, converted to black and white using the Silver Efex Pro plug-in in Lightroom 5.

A Silhouette - Day 33 #CY365

A Silhouette - Sasha posing for today's challenge. Canon G1X, 1/160 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 800.

Chelsea @ Night

Chelsea is a small Norfolk Neighborhood near Lambert's Point. It is home to the Smartmouth Brewery, The Birch, Norfolk's Little Theater and our regular Sunday night dining spot Tortilla West. T-West is featured in tonight's Norfolk @ Night photo taken after splitting crab and shrimp nachos, an Allagash Confluence Ale and a Smartmouth Holiday Helper Imperial Red Ale.

Canon G1X, 1/8 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 1600, focal length 50mm (35mm equivalent).

Dominion @ Night

At 340 feet the Dominion Tower is the tallest building in Norfolk Virginia. Completed in 1987 this postmodern brown granite skyscraper was named in honor of the state's nickname - "The Old Dominion". Canon G1X, 1/6 second @ f/5, ISO 1600.

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).

Ghent @ Night

Christ and St. Luke's located at the corner of Onley Road and Stockley Gardens is a beacon of light in Norfolk Virginia's historic Ghent neighborhood. The 102 year old building was designed by the Philadelphia firm of Watson & Huskle. The church is a traditional gable roof basilica in the English Perpendicular Gothic Revival style. Canon G1X, 1 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400.

Spheres

These chrome spheres reflect the entire store like a series of fisheye lenes. The patterns caught my eye and the picture caught me as well. Canon G1X, 1/13 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 400.

Take It, We'll Replace It!

Today's flight home from Orlando took us high above the swirling edge of hurricane Sandy. A bumpy ride indeed with no beverage or snack service left me contemplating the seat pocket library. Canon G1X, 1/10 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 400, in macro mode.

Hall of Presidents

The Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom is a very moving and inspirational show and helps put the toughest job in the nation into perspective during these final two weeks of the election season. The peaceful transition of power is still rare in much of world even 215 years after George Washington became the first president to step aside. Canon G1X, 1/3 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 1600.

Pentakis Dodecahedron

Geometrically, Spaceship Earth at Epcot is a derivative of a pentakis dodecahedron. It is a Class 2 Frequency 16 Icosahedron, with each of the 60 isosceles triangle faces divided into 16 smaller equilateral triangles. Each of the 960 flat panels is sub-divided into four triangles, each of which is divided into three isosceles triangles to form each point. In theory, there are 11,520 total isosceles triangles forming 3840 points. In reality, some of those triangles are partially or fully nonexistent due to supports and doors of the iconic symbol of Epcot. Source - Wikipedia.

Canon G1X, 1/250 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800, converted to black and white with Silver Efex Pro 2.

Vinylmation

Disney Vinylmation™ is a brand of vinyl collectibles sold at Disney theme parks. The name Vinylmation is a combination of the word Animation and Vinyl. The figures are all shaped like Mickey Mouse but have different themed markings, colors and patterns. This is a light fixture hanging over a display at one of the Disney stores at Downtown Disney in Orlando Florida. Canon G1X, 1/40 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400.

The Sorcerer's Hat

The Sorcerer's Hat is the icon of Disney's Hollywood Studios, the third of four theme parks built at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Mickey Mouse's gloved hand and ears underneath the hat are visible emerging from the ground. Canon G1X, 1/4 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 1600.

Cuban Swoosh

No it's not an upside down Nike swoosh. This is part of the ceiling lighting detail at Bongos Cuban Cafe at Downtown Disney in Orlando Florida. Created by music superstar Gloria Estefan and her producer husband Emilio, this vibrant restaurant is a mosaic of colors and flavors. Canon G1X, 0.6 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 400.

Made the Cover

Pretty exciting day. I came home from work to find the arrival of the printed copy of my good friend Greever Williams' first novel On Tenterhooks which features one of my photographs. I was honored last year when asked if I would do the photo for this book. I read an early draft and now I'm excited to read the final version. I must say, it is very cool to see your work published. The book is great, I highly recommend it! Available digitally on Kindle and Nook and the "dead tree" version at Amazon. Canon G1X, 1/4 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 400.

Beach Boy

What's better than a handful of wet sand? Two handfuls! — Robert at Sandbridge Beach on a glorious late afternoon in September. Canon G1X, 1/1250 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 100.

Beyond the Horizon

Don't you remember standing at the seashore wondering what was beyond that horizon? Canon G1X, 1/100 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

First Lighthouse

My grandson Robert climbed his first lighthouse this afternoon. He easily made the 191 steps to top of Old Cape Henry Light in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was appropriate that his first lighthouse was Old Cape Henry, the first federally funded public works construction project of the United States of America which was completed in 1792. In this picture he anxiously awaits Grandpa to finish taking picture so we can climb to the top. Canon G1X, 1/80 sec @ f/16.0, ISO 200.

Happy Birthday George Eastman

- Today is the 158th anniversary of the birth of photographic pioneer George Eastman. Eastman was the inventor of roll film and founded the Eastman Kodak company. He brought photography to the masses with affordable, easy to use cameras including these classics Kodaks in my collection. From left to right - the Jiffy Six-16 Series 1 (1933-37), the Brownie Target Six-16 and the Brownie Target Six-20 (1946-1952). In addition to photography Eastman was major philanthropist, establishing the Eastman School of Music, and schools of dentistry and medicine at the University of Rochester; contributing to the construction of MIT's second campus on the Charles River; and donating to Tuskegee and Hampton universities. The last two years of his life he was in intense pain, caused by a degenerative disorder affecting his spine. On March 14, 1932, Eastman died by suicide leaving a note which read, "To my friends: my work is done. Why wait?" Canon G1X, 1/50 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 200.

Summer Sunrise

- The hot temperatures and still air resulted in a thick early morning haze but all of that atmosphere helped to produce a really awesome sunrise. Canon G1X, 1/2000 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.