Lego Time

- My grandson Robert was spending the night with us so he and I built a skyscraper from Lego Duplo blocks that was taller than him. He was pretty happy with the creation. Maybe there's budding young architect in there. Only time will tell. Canon 40D, 1/100 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro.

PCBA

The PCBA or printed circuit board assembly is in every product made today that has some sort of electronics. Cheap and reliable these mass produced boards have evolved to contain entire computers. This one is embedded in acrylic in a pen that my brother Mark made for me recently. It's the perfect fashion accessory for the geek turned manager. Canon 40D, 1/30 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 400, 100mm macro with Canon Lifesize Adapter. The lighting comes from two LED light panels.

Wireless

- Wireless infrastructure is critical to making all of our treasured mobile devices work. Some say it's not very pretty to look at and while I agree it doesn't contribute much to most landscapes, most of us couldn't live without it. I see beauty in the technology. This tower is laden with 24 cellar antennas, 4 microwave relays dishes, a few plain old radio antennas and most importantly one osprey nest. A cable runs to each antenna from the ground, some inside the monopole other strapped along the outside. Each of these cables are about one inch in diameter and heavy as lead. Pay close attention the next time you're near one of these towers in our area and I bet you will see that a bird of prey has made it a home. This one was on I64 near Mason Creek in Norfolk, Virginia. I was stopped for almost two hours today on I64 while the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel was shutdown which afforded me and my camera some quality time together. Canon G11, 1/2000 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 200.

A Ray of Sunshine

- Caught this ray of sunshine cutting through a fountain spay. Water and sunlight are always a great combination in a photo. Canon 7D, 1/250 sec @ f/2.5, ISO 800, 50mm prime lens.

Waning Winter

- The past week of spring-like temperatures has caused the trees to begin budding out. I hope the that winter is truly behind us because if we have an extended cold spell now it will be hard on the trees and other plants that are starting to wakeup. Canon G11, 1/125 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 100.

Just Sayin'

- This ominous sign greeted us as we entered the Virginia Beach Convention Center this afternoon to attend the Greenberg's Train & Toy Show with my grandson Robert. The Convention Center was packed due to a most odd collection of events - the train show, a gun show, a bridal show, a gymnastics event and a coin show. Little boys in train engineer hats and little girls in leotards along with sidearm wearing gun enthusiasts; it was all so surreal. Only in Virginia where they take the "right to keep and bear arms" pretty darn literally could one see such sites. BTW - the sign and policy is probably not within Virginia law which allows you to take a loaded firearm into most public buildings, libraries and parks. Canon 7D, 1/8000 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800.

Waning Gibbous

- The moon has been pretty spectacular the last few nights. This is the Waning Gibbous phase, one day past a full moon at 96% full. Converted to B&W. Canon 7D, 1/20 sec @ f/13.0, ISO 100, 400mm.