Sunflower

- A mature sunflower is actually a "flower head" (also known as a "composite flower") of 1000-2000 florets, (small flowers) crowded together. Sunflowers are the subject of famous still life paintings by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. I really like this one called "Two Cut Sunflowers". Canon 40D, 1/1600 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 800, 50mm prime lens, overhead halogen spot supplemented by an LED Litepanel.

Take Time

- Miss Sasha reminds us to take time to smell the flowers. Both of our cats thoroughly enjoyed the new bouquet of fresh cut flowers Cindy got at the Why Not Wednesday farmer's market at Town Center in Virginia Beach. Canon G11, 1/60 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 800, on camera flash dialed down two stops.

Really W i d e

- I used my Sigma 8mm F3.5 EX DG Circular Fisheye lens for this picture from the hangar overlook facing the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and the Vought Corsair at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The overlook provides a sweeping view of aircraft hanging throughout the Boeing Aviation Hangar. In photography, a fisheye lens is a wide-angle lens that takes in a broad, panoramic and hemispherical image. They provide a unique, distorted appearance. Canon 7D, 1/25 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 800.

A Dandy Dandelion

- A dandy dandelion in black and white. Canon 40D, 1/640 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 400 100mm macro.

Honor System

- Took a drive out to the country - the southern part of Virginia Beach, Virginia, today and stopped at Vaughan Farms Produce stand. The stand was attended today but some days its still just the "honor system". Robert Vaughan was granted 243 acres of land in 1695 in what was then Princess Anne County. Now, over 315 years later, the Vaughans' still operate one of the oldest, continuously owned family farms in the country.

Better Off Here

- "Better off here than across the street claims" the neon sign at Payne's Biker Bar in Leesburg Virginia. The "across the street" is the Loudoun County Courthouse. Canon G11, 1/320 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

It's a NEW PC!

- Yep after six years of service I'm finally replacing my old XP computer. I'm building the new PC from the ground up to be photographer's killer machine. I thought seriously about building a "Hackintosh" but decided to stay with Windows. Got my inspiration for the new PC from the Image Science blog. The new PC specs:

Intel Core i7-920 processor
12 GB RAM
OCZ 240 GB SSD SATA II Windows System Disk
OCZ 120 GB SSD SATA III Lightroom and Photoshop Cache/Scratch Disk
WD 600 GB VeloRaptor, 10,000 RPM SATA III for programs and catalogs
WD 2 TB Caviar Black for data and photo files
Blu-ray writer & Lightscribe SuperMulti DVD burner
16x max. DVD-ROM
Windows 7 Pro

The photo is 12 GB of RAM installed, yes its a freaking beautiful sight. Canon 40D, 1/30 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, LED Litepanel for extra light.