RSS feedApril, 2012
I beg your pardon…
By Silver Blue
….how’d you like to stroll through my rose garden?
The first rose of the year, the burgundy iceberg (photographed Sunday, April 8, 2012):
As it opened and filled the air with fragrance…
Gotta love those old fashioned roses. The second rose to bloom was 12′ off the ground — the climbing peace (which has over 40 buds on it …before I lost count!):
This was taken yesterday (April 10, 2012) morning as I was out the door and on the way to work.
Today, it’s a bit more open:
We have two orange roses…Tropicana:
Plus a tall orange/pinkish rose that I don’t know its name:
There’s another blossom getting ready to open on that burgundy iceberg:
As well as one that is much further along:
Finally… and most definitely not last… “Bud” is back and ready to have a go at it again:
I love this time of year for the roses, but not for the pollen. Still… you want one, you’ve gotta put up with the other.
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/la-rg.mp3]Silver Blue, who asks that you smile for a while, let’s be jolly…love shouldn’t be so melancholy. Come along and share the good times…while we can!
Your moment of Zen.
By Silver Blue
Not feeling too swift tonight.
May you find peace, serenity, and calmness in this photo.
Silver Blue, who’s off to bed. Nite all.
Sky rockets in flight!
By Silver Blue
Taken in 1996, on film, the State College, Pennsylvania Fireworks.
(I know you’re expecting “Afternoon Delight” by Skyland Vocal Band, but… I’ll let you sing it in your head)
Silver Blue, who’s going to bed early tonight.
A bird’s eye view…
By Silver Blue
Yesterday offered me the opportunity to do something I’d spoken of for quite some time, but never had the opportunity to do. Go to the top of the parking deck beside our building and get pictures of our building, then reverse position and capture the football stadium.
It looks to different from above!
The problem I had was finding time to be able to get to the top and photo — Before they changed the parking patterns, it was hard to find a space in the upper levels that would have allowed access. A Saturday afternoon, however, spelled no such problems.
It’s really interesting because from ground level, you can’t see ANY of the black construction on the roof:
This photo was taken April 29, 2003 — before they built the parking deck, before the moved the building sign from south to north, and when we obviously had a malfunctioning front door, which seems to be stuck open.
Switching sides of the parking deck:
S. B. Ballard Stadium at Foreman Field. Home to Monarch Football.
There’s talk of expanding the stadium by taking out the bleachers on the far end. (On the near end are luxury suites and club house boxes).
Feel the Roar. BE the Roar.
Come alive and show that Monarch Pride! Still, love the glow of the afternoon sun from atop the deck. These were taken just before the banquet I photographed last night, and last night’s blog photos were taken after that event. Strangely enough, even with continually raising my camera to my eye, I wasn’t “seeing” a lot of photos to be taken. There were 298 taken in the 3+ hour banquet, and those are being provided to the client, but I only managed 13 shots before and 9 shots after…it wasn’t one of my more “creative” days.
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/al-lb.mp3]Silver Blue, who has been down for the count most of the day, but don’t count me out just yet.
As darkness descends…
By Silver Blue
Three photos of ODU at nighttime.
The lion (the Monarch, Big Blue). Thanks to another piece of artwork, he almost looks like a rhino:
I can’t explain why the staircase on our parking deck spoke to me. Maybe it was the repeating form and shape.
Sure, it’s not “art”, but to me, it’s an interesting photo. 🙂
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/ss-bag.mp3]Silver Blue, who is beyond weary tonight. Over and… out.
Now, when I look at the clouds across the moon…
By Silver Blue | 1 comment
1…there’s so much to learn about photographing that giant white orb.
Clouds will cause a light spillage, causing for a misshapen moon.
The lower the ISO, the better. I thought a higher ISO would mean shorter exposure but I should have gone for shorter shutter speed. Note that above, you can see the roundness of the moon in the dark cloud — the brightness (and spillage) are creeping outside the size of the moon.
Still, with a bit of luck, I achieved a few photos worth mentioning (even with lens flare!)
I love the sheer moodiness of this photo. Almost like the introduction to a horror movie.
Perhaps the best for last (well, of the shots from last night). I almost looks as if the moon is experiencing solar flares. 🙂
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/rah-catm.mp3]Silver Blue, who still looks with inquisitive wonder at that sleeping satellite….
You can’t hide your Lion Eyes….
By Silver Blue
From Kenton, Ohio, 1996:
See the top of the building? There’s a lion hiding there.
In 2006, a decade later….movin’ on up…
movin’ on up….
…then coming into focus…
I don’t know what this building used to be, or why the lion head adorns it.
I don’t even know when it was cleaned and painted.
I do know it’s the pollution, however, that causes the discolouration…
It’s been 4 years since I’ve been back to Kenton, and I wonder if the building is still standing, if the lion is still there, gazing at the Court House, keeping watch over the city.
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/gm-adc.mp3]Silver Blue, who wonders what awaits beyond the next corner I turn.
Still burning in the afterglow….
By Silver Blue
There exists a photographic phenomenon call various things: “False Sunset”, “Lingering Sunset” or simply “Afterglow.”
What is it? Well, as it was described to me: you have your typical sunset. For 90 minutes, or so, after the sunset the energy of the sun still is in the sky — though you’re eyes can’t perceive it, your digital camera is able to.
Point your digital camera in the direction of the night sky where the sunset happened (and you see a black sky, or perhaps starlit), and take a photo. You’d expect to get a nice, star studded sky, yes? Well….not quite. You get:
Notice I picked up the green of a mercury vapor light, and the yellow of a sodium vapor light, but…what’s up with that “black” sky? It doesn’t look so “black” anymore.
In fact, it looks to be sunset. But … it’s not. Sunset happened at 7:39pm. This photo was taken at 8:19pm. A full 40 minutes after the sun slipped under the horizon.
Now, the neat thing about a False Sunset, Lingering Sunset, or Afterglow is that if you rotate yourself a full 180 degrees and shoot in the OPPOSITE direction from the sunset, you get the black sky you’re expecting.
(Just for giggles and grins, I photographed the same scene at 4:35 in the morning when I had to let the dogs out. Behold. Black sky.)
Mind you, I could have messed with the contrast and made the sky a complete pitch black, but that’s not what I was going for. I live in the city, we have light pollution. Ergo, the sky will actually appear as a medium to dark grey, unlike if you’re in the countryside, away from cities and towns, and can get the true black sky captured. (Plus, I don’t have my tripod over here, so it makes it a bit harder to steady the camera, and that’s why the top photo is somewhat out of focus.
I look forward to playing with this phenomenon more in the future.
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/tt-a7.mp3]Silver Blue, who sings along, “If you could see me now, just living my life in limbo…still burning in the afterglow…”
Pieces of my past
By Silver Blue
There are certain things that will always remind me of my youth, and I’ve had the opportunity to capture a few of these in picture this evening.
This was from my Grandma on my mom’s side. He sat on a shelf in her kitchen for years. I mean… for YEARS.
Dad brought back, from Japan, a pair of Kimono’d figurines.
When I was in High School, I ended up having to drop out of AP Algebra and take Algebra III at a local college. I helped a Chinese lady with her English, and she presented me with this watercolour. This would have been either fall 1984 or spring 1985, but she painted it in June 1983. I still remember the other option was a clown on a unicycle with balloons, but this more captured the Lucy I knew. 🙂
My room is pretty much as it was when I lived at my parents house, with a few minor changes. I was big into unicorns and suncatchers in high school:
Finally, remember my logo? This one?
It’s still there. It’s just hidden now behind my mother’s collection of Furby’s (she has them all, except for the gem encrusted $100,000.00 FAO Swartz edition):
Years can’t take away these memories. 🙂
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/ssy.mp3]Silver Blue… over and out.
Look behind the facade….
By Silver Blue
[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/jh-f.mp3]A series of shots of harlequin masks shot over the past 5 years.
Masquerade noun \ˌmas-kə-ˈrād\: a social gathering of persons wearing masks and often fantastic costumes (Merriam-Webster Definition)
Facade noun \fə-ˈsäd\: a false, superficial, or artificial appearance or effect (Merriam-Webster definition)
Harlequin noun \ˈhär-li-k(w)ən\: a character in comedy and pantomime with a shaved head, masked face, variegated tights, and wooden sword (Merriam-Webster Definition)
These “masks”, designed for decorative purposes only, run from $19.99 for the very small, basically unadorned, to well over $250 for the feathered and hand painted/glittered. While I don’t own any of these (I much prefer the one here from my great friend $ally and James, which adorns my mantle), I am taken in with their beauty when I visit.
Silver Blue… who has far too many “Masquerade” songs in his archives for his own good. 🙂
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