I seem to have misplaced these pictures when I processed them for the first time yesterday. So here they are, re-done for posting.
What I also misplaced
was the text and narrative that made them relevant, (as if relevance is
of paramount importance to the thread that runs through these posts).
Here it is,
the last of the month, (if one is measuring their time by the Gregorian
calendar), and the flowers that remain, remain beautiful in their
fascinating shapes and colors.
I sometimes wonder
about the people who get all worked up and worried about the numbers in
calendar dates, or numerology for that matter. There are some people
who actually take that stuff seriously, even though the birthdate
numbers are from an arbitrarily concocted calendar made up to please one
of the Popes.
Or, there are
the 2012 Mayan calendar, end of the the world, age of Aquarius,
invisible killer planet, believers who’s basic premise is based on a
miscalculation of when the Mayan, stone calendar needs to be replaced.
Most archaeologists,
and anthropologists who actually have studied the Mayan culture have
concluded that it’s more likely a version of a calendar developed by the
Toltecs, (or some earlier civilization). Either way, long count
calendars run out of space on the circular stone they are chiseled upon,
and I am guessing that Borders doesn’t offer the new 5,000 year Mayan
calendar. Thus it clearly means the end of the world on December, (or
November), 21, (or 23), 2010, (give or take 30 to 50 years), unless you
read some history, anthropological journals, or study any peer reviewed
scientific reports.
Temperatures
have been pleasantly warm here in Redding this past month, with the
exception of Rubber Ducky Derby day, when it plunged down into the mid
60’s.
The improved,
technologically advanced component air conditioning and heating units
arrived during September, and a few days ago our new Treehouse
maintenance man, Tony, replaced my old, not particularly energy
efficient unit with one of the new ones and a smarter digital LCD
readout thermostat.
This new one
delivers a fast, powerful blast of arctic air periodically that quickly
brings the temperature into compliance with the setting on the new
thermostat. It doesn’t need to run as long. or as often as the older
model. I will know more next year when I can compare my utility bills,
but I find the new A/C to be much less intrusive.
Next on my appliance wish list; A quieter, and more energy efficient, refrigerator.
Hatchet Ridge Turbines
This, (above),
is an attempt to roughly stitch together a panoramic image of the wind
turbines that decorate the ridge line out past Burney so as to show the
scale of the project. People near the wind farm no longer suffer
fearfully under the misconceptions that they were told by the voices of
the fossil fuel industries. It seems that they haven’t killed all the
cattle, slaughtered thousands of migrating birds, or driven the people
insane with the noise of the wind blown blades. In fact they are
generating power, bringing in tourist dollars, and actually look pretty
good on the ridge.
I found a couple of pink lilies out by the mail room/office door. I wasn’t expecting anymore lilies this year. What a nice surprise.
There was even
a determined hollyhock blossom that popped up on the end of a stick
full of dried out husks. I had best get out and check out this last day
of September, (according to Gregory), and see what other wonderful
surprises this beautiful day has in store.
The temptation
to use digital photo editing toys is even greater when you can see how
an average image comes alive with a little time, talent, and the right
combination of software programs, (Apps).
The original duck picture, taken Sunday at the Rubber Ducky Derby, was
dull and muddy, losing the personality of the duck that was swimming
around checking me out as I stood on the boat dock.
The original is upper left
Altered versions were made using Color Splash Studio, HDRtist, and a very handy app called LinesmART. Then ImageTricks Pro was used to blend combinations of those 4 images with additional variations and transformations into one final image.
Then it was time to ‘pump up’ the image to blog publishing quality with Preview, finally resizing all the images for this post with another little App called ResizeIt to make them a suitable size for uploading to Google Docs. After writing, editing, doing the page design, copying and pasting it into the Blogger editor, making a few formatting changes, and publishing to Blogspot, we have the perfect duck picture at the top of the page for you to see.
More Image Fun
This plant
by the Treehouse sign has been the subject of many pictures this year. I
found it attractive today as the balls on stems reached out of the
shade toward the bright blue sky. I did a little adjusting here and
there to get the image to convey how it looked to me when I took the
picture.
Natural Is Good, Too
One of my favorite
moments in viewing the results of a shoot, is when the light, the
settings, the depth of field, and the colors form a perfect picture that
requires little, or no adjustment. This little rose is today’s example
of everything working together to produce the ‘perfect’ picture.
More Artistry
There are 5
blended altered images used to get the look I wanted in this picture of
Mt Lassen and the ridges of rising foothills leading to it.
Wary Jay
This blue jay
had an attitude that is better illustrated now that the image has been
altered by a hand full of Apps. Just a few Apps were blended to get the
scrub jay to stand out.
These flowers looked pretty good just plain, but I thought I would see what a little playing around would produce, an I am glad I did.
Subtle Enhancement
The first image,
(left), is the original. It’s a nice shot, but with a little help, it
could be a good portrait. 3 different Apps were used to create the
center image. The first 2 images were then blended to create the more
lively final image on the right.
Oleander Extract Abstract
Then there are
some pictures where I see just a portion that somehow speaks to me and
asks that I take it to another dimension, so I crop it and transform a
piece of leaves and blossom into an image that engages my eye and
imagination.
The song today is in black and white, but it is relative in it’s own ways.
I often forget
that I can set the camera to do sports bursts of 5 shots a second when I
am taking a shot of a fast flying jet fighter, or a frisky puppy, or
even the end of the rubber ducky release countdown.
If I had used
the burst mode, or even video, I would have compensated for the slight
delay in dumping the ducks, and we would be looking at 7,ooo, (or so),
yellow rubber duckies spilling out of the container in the above
picture. Next year, maybe.
Come On, Number 26338
A Kenyan duck
led the pack within seconds of hitting the water. He was followed
closely by a Nigerian duck, and another Kenyan duck. Luckily, 4th place
is also considered a winner in the Redding Rubber Ducky Derby and will
likely be won by a Colorado duck who happens to be in town visiting his
relatives.
If one looks to
the right of the leaves, you can see that number 26338 has floated up
to 5,433rd place. I still have a chance if a school of hungry trout
strike and eat all the ducks in front of good ol’ 26338.
Happy Levitating Children
“The winners will
be announced in front of the recreation center”, says a bullhorn
amplified voice. This sets the crowd in motion and excited children
begin to skip and fly.
Better Than Santa’s Lap?
This rubber ducky event had surprise visitors from Star Wars. It was every bit as awe inspiring for some of them as seeing Santa, or the Easter Bunny.
I thought
of putting speech balloons with the thoughts emanating from these
wonderfully expressive faces, but it’s better to just let every one of
them speak to you personally as you look at the picture.
Seeing her very first Star Trooper
The parents
of the twins kept trying to get them to look at the camera. They called
them by name, said, “Look over here”, and yelled, “Cheese”. Nothing
could take their rapt attention off the white plastic suit guys.
Finally, their dad came and led them away, but as they walked off hand
in hand, they never looked away from the magical space troopers.
The winners were announced and 26338 was not one of them.
It was
a wonderful way to spend part of a Sunday afternoon. The weather was in
the cool mid-sixties, and I am certain that the guys in the Star
Trooper suits were really glad it wasn’t 111° like it has been on some
Redding Ducky Derby weekends.
The clean up of the 7,000, or so, losers, (including number 26338). I am glad I didn’t bet the farm on that rubber duck.
Back Home
The weather
was cloudy and cool enough that I could wind down and roll up the heat
shields on the balcony, and even open the windows! I took a quick look
at the flowers in Dorothy’s garden and saw a couple that were
picturesque.
Some of
the design structure of flowers is fascinating. How did I not notice
these things before? I guess I was saving up some things to discover
later, when I get older.
Spider And Web Pic Interesting layers of different weaves
I have been
keeping an eye open, and a camera handy, for one of those perfect orb
spider webs, glistening with dew in the morning sunlight, but that
hasn’t happened yet. Probably because I would have to be awake and
taking a lot of morning pictures so as to increase my chances of finding
such a web. It’s an idea. I will sleep on it.
I spent an hour
watching the Redding Air Show with Stuart and Sandi Taylor, in Sandi’s
mother’s backyard. There were sisters, cousins, Mom’s, Dad’s, kids,
dogs, birds and a barbecue by the pool while the Air Show entertained
from the airport, a quarter mile away.
On the drive back, I saw the flying saucer from The Day The Earth Stood Still, hovering over Mt Shasta, (Well, a lenticular cloud that looked a lot like it, anyway).
I followed
on line, and outside staring at the starry, though somewhat hazy, sky. I
probably wouldn’t have been able to see it through the smoke from the
fire over in Trinity county even had it disintegrated directly overhead,
but it was fun trying.
Pie Quest
A slice of Raley’s bakery apple pie.
The search
for the perfect apple pie continues. So far, I keep coming back to the
Raley’s that is just an arrows flight from my balcony, (no need to
quiver, I am just guessing).
Two people suggested I try Marie Calendars, so I did.
I will be
returning their pie tomorrow, uncut and uneaten. I went to take the pie
out of the box, only to get my fingers greasy where I touched the
bottom of the pan.
I put the pie back in the box, washed the grease off my hands, looked at the clock, saw it was too late to return the Marie Calendar pie, so I went over to Raley’s and got a non-greasy apple pie that I could eat. Just writing
about the slime on the bottom of the pie pan is making my finger tips
feel greasy. I think I will take a quick break to wash my hands and wipe
off the keyboard.
The flowers
around the Treehouse were colorful and delightful as usual. Dottie has
been doing some renovation and improvements to her garden in preparation
for planting the winter and spring bloomers. She is also making the
topsoil layer deeper for next years vegetables.
Whatever she has been doing, it has turned out nice for me and picture taking.
Driveway Rose Still Blooming
Air Show Preview
One of the aircraft that have been flying over Redding.
Tomorrow we
have the Redding Air Show. I will be going to a barbecue to watch the
Blue Angels perform. Sandi Taylor’s mother lives right next to the
airport so they watch the show from the comfort of their backyard. We
will have the additional activity of the fire fighting tankers that may
be needed to quell the fire burning in the marijuana plantation area of
Trinity county.
Going To Seed(s)
The sunflowers,
that I have been chronicling with images this season, are just about
done. Once they have completed their cycle, I will string together the
series of pictures I have been taking of them growing up, looking good,
and growing old. I will probably write and record a song to play under
the slide show/movie and see how it turns out.
You might remember the following Bach piece was played by one of the violists that is heard playing in the John Harrison viola e-book
that I have almost completed. Here, Bach’s Suite No. 3 is performed by a
young viola player I have been following on YouTube. (I wonder how she
would sound playing the John Harrison viola?)
