Party! - Day 63 #CY365

Well it not exactly a party per se, it's lunch at the Chartreuse Bistro in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. It's one of my favorite places to eat. The food is wonderful, the tableware and decor are inspiring and the whole team make it a wonderful place for a relaxing break in the middle of the day. Chartreuse is locally owned by husband and wife team - general manager Karine Varga and executive chef Christopher Corrie. Just in case you're interested today's lunch was fish stew; a kale salad with goat cheese dressing, almonds, apricot, and onion; and an amazing mushroom & fontina focaccia. The menu is different everyday, you must try when in Norfolk.

iPhone 5 - with a newly cracked screen, Camera+ app.

Choose a Favorite - Day 62 #CY365

Today's challenge was to choose a favorite color. My favorite color is red but I thought I try a little color theory with today's photo. I formed a color wheel using my grandson's crayons. The arrangement of the colors around the wheel help define both complimentary and analogous colors. Complementary colors can be found by choosing any color around the wheel and then looking straight across the wheel. For red the complimentary color is green, think Christmas. Yellow's complimentary color is violet and blue's is orange. Analogous colors are those on either side of main color. In the case of red, it's red orange and red violet. A color wheel is a very useful tool for decorators, artists, photographers and even a guy when picking a tie or socks to match that shirt. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/500 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro, LED ring light and two LED litepanels.

Cattus Petasatus - Day 61 #CY365

Happy Birthday Theodor Seuss Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, who was born on March 2, 1904. This is a Latin translation of the children's classic first published in 1957. It belongs to my son Michael who teaches high school Latin and it's looked over by my prized Lucky Cat. iPhone 5, one LED Litepanel and the Camera+.

Step Outside - Day 60 #CY365

Today challenge was "Step Outside" and the first day of month is always a self portrait. So here's my selfie taken in the front yard with my neighbor's bare pecan trees in the background. I captured the late afternoon sun which appeared briefly on an otherwise cloudy and gray day. Used the camera's popup flash to add just a little fill light with the flash compensation set at -2 stops. The camera's self timer was used, manual focus using the distance gauge on the lens, and of course, the camera was tripod mounted. Canon 7D, 1/250 sec @ f/8, ISO 200, 35mm prime lens.

Keep Going - Day 59 #CY365

Moving up the kettlebell train. Got to keep going because as they say, "no pain - no gain". Canon 5D Mark II, 1/20 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 1600.

Seize the Moment - Day 58 #CY365

This is "Team Norfolk" following today's Resilient Cities Workshop at Norfolk's Half Moone Cruise & Celebration Center. The team which includes many of my coworkers from the City of Norfolk government and dedicated partners from community groups, non-profits, businesses and other agencies. We are proud to be included as one of the first 33 cities in the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge. We are creating a strategy to make Norfolk more resilient in the way it faces socks and stresses including flooding, sea level rise, poverty and others.

Canon G15, 1/1250 sec @ f/28, ISO 160.

Admire - Day 57 #CY365

General Douglas MacArthur was one of only five men ever to rise to the rank of 5 Star General of the U.S. Army, and the only man ever to become a field marshal in the Philippine Army. A hero of World War II, he received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines Campaign, which made him and his father Arthur MacArthur, Jr., the first father and son to be awarded the medal. He officially accepted Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945, and oversaw the occupation of Japan and its rebuilding from 1945 to 1951. He led the United Nations Command in the Korean War until he was removed from command by President Harry S. Truman. The relief of the famous general by the unpopular politician for communicating with Congress led to a constitutional crisis, and a storm of public controversy. Polls showed that the majority of the public disapproved of the decision to relieve MacArthur. Truman's approval rating fell to 22 percent, it remains the lowest Gallup Poll approval rating recorded by any serving president.

This is the Douglas MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia. The statue is a duplicate of the one at West Point where he recorded the third highest academic score ever and graduated first in his 93-man class in 1903. Following World War he served as Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy leading a wave of academic reform and modernization. While his military career is also noted for controversy, his admirers continue to come to the memorial every day, many of them Philippine Americans and visitors from the Philippines. Source - Wikipedia.

iPhone 5, Camera+ app.