Rain Gear

- I put my G10 in his rain gear for the passing of Hurricane Irene over Virginia Beach today. I did not get many good pictures because there was not much to photograph. But the G10 does look mighty fine in his rain gear. Canon 40D, 1/13 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400.

Charlie's Challenge

- My boss, Philip Shucet, dives into the Charlie's Challenge - eat a 12 egg omlete and 8 pankcakes in an hour. Charlie's Cafe is located a block from our office in Norfolk Virginia. Philip tweeted last week that if HRT's opening weekend ridership on the new Tide light rail exceeded 75,000, he would attempt the Charlie's Challenge. He made good on that pledge this morning. After a noble effort of eating all the eggs and 5 and half pancakes he was done, falling just short of finishing. Before this morning 47 others had tried and failed and only 2 had succeeded in completing the challenge. Today's winner was the Foodbank of Southeast Virginia who benefited from donoations. Canon 7D, 1/160 sec @ f/2.5, ISO 800.

B&W Wildlife

- Just finished reading an article on making black and white images of wildlife. I took this picture of the West African Crowned cranes at the Virginia Zoo. I know - not exactly "wild". These birds are so photogenic. Canon 40D, 1/325 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400, Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens fully extended at 400mm on a monopod. Converted to black and white using Lightroom 3 with the Silver Efex Pro 2 plug-in.

Crepe Myrtle

- Crepe myrtle trees line countless streets in the City of Norfolk. They kindle found memories of my childhood visits back to Norfolk each August to see my grandparents. Even today as you fly into the Norfolk airport, the streets appear as double pink and red lines from the sky. The crepe mytles were one of Fred Heutte's many contributions to the beautification of Norfolk beginning during the depression and continuing for four decades as superintendent of Norfolk Parks. Canon 40D, 1/13 sec @ f/16, ISO 400, 100mm macro, mounted on a tripod, LED Litepanel.

Young Minds

- Young minds are easily influenced so one must carefully consider what you expose them to so they grow up right. I wish I had been exposed to such a fine German automobile when I was this age, maybe then it wouldn't have taken me almost 57 years to get one. I'm giving my grandson the chance to appreciate and understand the values of being a true car aficionado at an early age. As first he couldn't understand why grandpa would buy a car without a top, after one ride - he totally gets it. Canon 1/20 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

Einser

- Got a new "used" car today - a BMW 135i convertible. The new Bimmer is great fun to drive and the trademark orange instrument panel shows its built for speed. I'm sure it's Black Sapphire Metallic exterior will soon be a featured photo on this blog. Canon G11, 1/3 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800 in macro mode.

Abstract

- Sometimes when looking through the viewfinder or at the LCD screen on a camera you see something unexpected. What to do, why press the shutter of course. Droid X using Vignette for Android.