272 - Sticker Ball

From 365 Project

This nasty little sticker ball is surrounding those chestnuts that they'll sing about roasting on an open fire in a few months. Do people actually roast chestnuts? Anyway, my next door neighbor has a large old American Chestnut tree in her back yard. The tennis ball sized stickers drop to the ground and open into four wedges releasing the nuts inside. The thorns are very sharp and quite effective at protecting the nuts. Canon 40D, 1/250 sec @ f/11.0, ISO 400, 50mm macro lens with off camera flash at 1/64th power.

271 - Storm Spider

From 365 Project

I've only changed the picture once before after posting it to the blog but I'm going to do it again tonight. A series of thunderstorms just swept through dumping about an inch of rain in a little over an hour. This big spider has been building a web each night just out side my side door. After the storm I stuck my head outside to see if all of the wind and water had messed up the web, but to my surprise she was wet but still hanging in there. Canon G10, 1/250 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 400, in manual mode with manual macro focus (auto focus doesn't work in the dark). The lighting was provided by a Canon 430EX Speedlite also in manual mode at 1/32 power with a wireless controller.

270 - Float Through

From 365 Project

The clouds appear to be floating right through the SunTrust Building in downtown Norfolk Virginia. The picture was taken from Town Point Park on the Elizabeth River on day with a bright blue sky and big white fluffy clouds. Canon 40D, 1/1000 sec @ f/11.0, ISO 200, 31mm focal length.

269 - Onancock

From 365 Project

We paid a visit to Onancock on Virginia's Eastern Shore today. The name, Onancock, is derived from the Indian word "auwannaku" meaning foggy place. The little town near the Chesapeake Bay dates to 1680. We had a nice lunch at Mallard's on the Wharf where this picture of the small harbor was taken. Canon G10, 1/2000 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 200.

268 - Jammin'

From 365 Project

Spent almost an hour stuck in this traffic jam on the way home from work tonight. I-264 East in Norfolk Virginia had three lanes blocked due to accident caused by a truck involved in a police pursuit. The police got their man, the rest of us got to waste a lot of time and fuel. Seems to me if you going to try to out run the police, foolish in its own right, you wouldn't try to do at rush hour. But that's just me. Canon G10, 1/60 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400.

267 - Uassuming Commonplace of Nature

From 365 Project

This is how William Wordsworth referred to the daisy in 1802.
To the Daisy
With little here to do or see
Of things that in the great world be,
Sweet Daisy! oft I talk to thee,
For thou art worthy,
Thou unassuming Common-place
Of Nature, with that homely face,
And yet with something of a grace,
Which Love makes for thee!

Canon Rebel XTi, 1/250 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 400, Lensbaby Composer with +4 macro adapter.

266 - Shaking Like a Leaf

From 365 Project

I often hear the expression "shaking like a leaf" to describe when someone was nervous or frightened. I was taking a macro photo of this fern tip tonight and put a lot of effort into capturing a tack sharp image. I used my tripod, focusing rail and carefully waited for all of the movement to stop before using a cable release to fire the camera. I got some nice sharp macro images but they just weren't satisfying. So I took another photo just after slightly taping the fern stem to put it in motion and I really liked the effect. I hope you find it pleasing as well. Canon Rebel XTi, 1/3 sec @ f/10.0, ISO 400, 65mm macro lens at 1X magnification. Back lighting from a Micropanel LED.