One Candlepower

- It would be hard to imagine a world without electric lights. Today our homes and work places are well lit. In the 1800's and earlier night was often without light and when it was provided it was a flame like this single candle. The now outdated term of candlepower was use to describe how much light was emitted from any artificial source. The term candlepower has been replaced by Candela which defines a single candle at 1/683 of a watt. Canon G11, 1/500 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800 in macro mode, 3 stops underexposed.

Showy

- Wikipedia says the Iris is a plant with "showy flowers". This is one of my Irises from a 25 foot long bed of them on the south side of my house. All of these come from one plant my next door divided and gave me over 20 years ago. The blooms are really large and stand a top a 3 foot high stem. Canon 7D, 1/40 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, 100mm macro photographed in full shade.

Dial Me a Number

- It's not everyday that one gets an opportunity to photo a rare and unusual object. This is an antique Tiffany silver phone dialer engraved with the date of 5-17-57. My friend Andrea showed me this piece which belonged to her grandmother. It was an anniversary gift on the engraved date. In the days of rotary dial phones a woman who had a fine manicure didn't want to risk breaking a nail placing a call, so in comes the silver dialer with a fine felt tip for dialing in those important calls. This make's today's litany of fashionable iPhone accessories seem somewhat trivial and trite. I doubt any of those will be a cherished family heirloom in 50+ years. Canon G11, 1/40 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800, converted to black and white in Lightroom 3 with Silver Efex Pro.

Unfurl

- My ferns are unveiling new shoots every day. I love the way they unfurl and quickly expand into a new stem with fully developed leaves. I know I've been giving you a major dose of flower and plant macros lately, but its Spring and there's so much to train the macro lens on. Expect a few more before I find a new creative outlet for my camera lens. Canon 7D, 1/30 sec @ f/9.0, ISO 200. 100mm macro lens.

First Day at the Beach

It was a beautiful day in Virginia Beach so we made our first trip of the year to the beach at Sandbridge. There were lots of surfers but not much ridable surf but it was still a great day to just sit and talk. Canon G11, 1/500 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 100.

Snowbells

- The white snowbells are quite a nice addition to any spring garden. Canon 7D, 1/160 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 400, 100mm macro, LED litepanel.

Pretty Boy Blue

- This is Sebastian my cousin Lin's blue tonkinese kitten. Approaching five months old he just gets prettier and prettier or should I say more handsome everyday. He has an amazing social personality and never meets a stranger. I took this picture through a glass window as we were outside in the garden and he was watching every move. Canon 7D, 1/100 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 1600,100mm macro, LED micro Litelpanel.