Month: December 2010

Categories
Christmas Holidays

Christmas Day 2010

Santa on a practice run...
Santa on a practice run...

Been up since 6am…

There is interplanetary chaos going on…

Ben 10 vs. Star Wars vs. Little Ponies…

It is interesting to note that the “Little Ponies” are larger then the Star Wars “Chicken Walker” or “Battle Tank”…

Revenge of the Equine?

In the background, BBC America in having a “Dr. Who” marathon…

The joys of “Space” travel without leaving your seat!

Barbie just crushed a “Chicken Walker”…

I need more coffee w/Egg-Nog… Hey it works!

My Green Comment for the Day

Please remember to Recycle!

There is a TON of plastic that can be separated from cardboard…

On my way to get some sausage, I thought I crushed Clone Trooper helmet…
It was a grape…
From the Fruit basket from “Poppy”

I sit here at my laptop, with tabs of Facebook, Flickr, CNN and my blog, monitoring my world.

On FB, I am Reading, Like-ing and Posting as I watch my friends and family wake to their Christmas and “hear” their new discoveries.

It is amazing to witness photos of friends in Australia posted late Christmas Eve, are now being commented on as we awake the new day.

Yesterday, I was in a Facebook conversation with a group about the Apollo 8 “Earthrise” photo, and how taken back we were then, looking at that small blue marble in a black ocean of space.

We also talked about the Apollo 8 – Christmas Eve Broadcast that those astronauts read, and how perfect it was.

But today, 40 plus years later, the world is even smaller with computers and the internet.

Merry Christmas to all!

– Andrew
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Categories
astronomy Chester County Downingtown Flickr Nature Photo Journal Photography Photostream Science space

2010 Winter Solstice – Lunar Eclipse

Winter Solstice - Lunar Eclipse - Composit 01
Winter Solstice-Lunar Eclipse - Composit 01

It was a cold early morning with a steady wind blowing across the area, but the night sky was crisp and cloud free!

While waiting for the event to start, I was reading various Facebook posts from friends talking about how the clouds in their area where making in nearly impossible to see the moon.

I was also using “The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE)” software program to figure out a particular capture I had in my mind.

Finally, at about 1am, I packed up my car with my camera bag, tripod and extra clothing, and set off to my secret location.

Driving to my location was very easy, and I was surprised not to see many people out looking into the sky.

After getting to “my” location, and setting up, I realized, “my shoot” was not going to happen with the event occurring nearly straight over head.

Oh well, I was going to get some picture no matter what.

What really surprised me was how bright the moon was!

I did take a few early shoots from “my secret location”, but then packed up and headed back home because the wind was cutting right through me.

At home, I setup again, but used the garage to block some of the wind, and I was able to go inside to warm up a little between captures, and have a beer!

Initially, I was able to shoot at ISO100 at 1/15-1/80 in the ƒ8-11 range, but by the full eclipse, I had to push the CCD sensory speed up to ISO1600, and focusing was becoming very difficult.

By 3am, I packed up for the morning, and went inside.

I was too tired to download my images, and went to bed.

After a night to recover, I finally transferred my 150+ images my computer, and used Adobe Lightroom to sort though all of them.

Even with a tripod, I was able to notice, the wind moved the camera just enough to cause many rejects.

I ended up shooting a 50:1 ratio, which is not very good, but if I had been using traditional film, I would have gone broke with processing charges!

Yeah Digital!

I did spend some time looking on Flickr to see what others had captured before I created my final composite, and finally posted everything to my “2010 Winter Solstice – Lunar Eclipse” Flickr set.

References

NASA – “Eclipses During 2010”

Flickr group – Lunar Eclipse December 21 2010

– Andrew
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Categories
Blogging How to(s)? Ideas Information Nature Reference

Cold Weather and our Outside Neighbors

When I got back home after dropping of Logan at daycare, I looked out on to our deck, and I saw “Sarah”, our red/orange tingled squirrel that the kids name a couple of years ago.

Not sure why “she” has that coloring, especially considering all the other gray squirrels, but it does make “her” easier to identify, plus “she” is a little bit smaller than the rest of the “gang” that inhabits our backyard which filled with Black Walnut trees.

Seeing her today, reminded me of my chores for our outside friends at this time of year, and hence the reason for this blog post.

Here is a list of some simple things to help out our furry outside neighbors:

  • Fresh Water – At this time of the year, unless you are near running water, the birds and squirrels that are still running and flying around still need water. So please take a moment and fill a container with water so they have something to drink.You will have to change it in the morning, but it is a great way to get kids thinking about nature.
  • Bread Crusts – Madison does not like the crust on her bread (yet), so we have a little container next to the cutting board to collect the what is cut off, and those scraps are then later put on the deck.
  • Pop-Tart Edges – Don’t know why, but the kids do not like them either, but the squirrels do!I have not figured out what their favorite flavor is, but I have watched one of our squirrels trying to get a long piece through the railing on the porch. Very entertaining! (Think of a dog with a long stick, trying to get through a fence door…)
  • Stale Snacks – These can take on many forms, cereal, pretzels, cheese balls, cheese curls, pop corn, french fries, you name it! You may not like it, but our furry friends do not seem to care, especially the crows! (Ever notice what the crows eat on “Trash Day”?)”Crow Salad“/”Critter Granola” – Trying mixing a bunch of items together! It my look gross to you, but trust me, our friends will not care!
  • Kitty TV – This is more for our indoor animals, but our two cats. Jessica and Joy, love to sit/lay on the couch and watch their outdoor friends as they eat!

These are just a few thoughts and suggestions, and I hope I will hear some more from my readers!

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Categories
Barn Chester County Facebook Flickr Friday Foto Pennsylvania Personal Photography Photostream West Chester

VisitPA – Friday Foto and Madison’s 7th Birthday!

Abiah Taylor Barn (1724) - VisitPA’s “Friday Foto”
Abiah Taylor Barn (1724) VisitPA’s “Friday Foto”

WOW! What a morning of activity!

My alarm clock did not go off…

No need, instead, all one could hear in the house was the screaming giggles of joy!

“It’s my Birthday! It’s my Birthday!”

Madison is now 7, and I think the whole township is aware!

After getting the kids off to school and daycare, I could start my day by checking in with the world.

As I checked Facebook, I too got my own present!

My “Abiah Taylor Barn (1724)” image that I had taken on Tuesday (12/14) had been selected as this week’s VisitPA’s “Friday Foto“!

This is my second “Friday Foto“, with my first one back in September, and once again, I am deeply honored for the recognition!

What was really humbling, was reading some of the comments…

A couple of people posted say that the images reminded them of the work of Andrew Wyeth.

I have a LONG way to go, if ever, to reach that caliber of mastery.

But I do wish to Thank VisitPA.com again for their selection!

and…

Happy 7th Birthday Madison! — We Love you very much!

– Andrew
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Categories
Announcements Flickr Photostream

Biggest Flickr Visit Day! (432 visits)

432 visits today on Flickr !

The images that were getting the most view were of the Downingtown Christmas Parade!

Thank you ALL for visiting!

Andrew (SDC) - View my '2010 Downingtown Christmas Parade' set on Flickriver
– Andrew
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