It’s a beautiful, snowy day here in Portland. While some of us were slumbering or sipping cocoa, someone was out making snow sculptures. I’m not sure which of my neighbors is the sculptor but they are talented! Here are some pictures of the creatures I spotted. I encourage you to go out and see if you can find any more on the grounds.
Cascadia Snow Bunny
Thank you to the mystery snow sculptor. I was already enjoying my time outdoors in the fresh snow, but it was a real treat to stumble upon these and other creatures. I really appreciate the creativity of my neighbors!
That’s still under discussion. With the pandemic, we definitely have to modify Halloween traditions. There’s a push to go all out decorating your house this year. The kids and I have really gone wild on my own porch, and a group of kids decorated the play structure. We’ve enjoyed walking the neighborhood and seeing some creative and spooky houses.
Homemade Sugar Skull Picture
If you want a haunting sugar skull in your window, as pictured above, let me know- the kids and I had great fun creating the masterpiece in our window and would love to make one to decorate your place. If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely drop by and take a look.
Me, when I’m angry
If you don’t decorate, I might put on my scary witch costume and put a curse on your house. (Yes, I’ll wear a mask.)
What lies in store for you, For any of us, in these uncertain times When the world that we knew is falling away.
We’re all taking leave from routine Retiring from our usual pursuits Adapting ourselves, our behaviors, our thinking, to a stricken world unseen in a century.
On this turbulent tide of change Your little boat slips out of the workaday world bobbing along with a motley fleet of vessels As we navigate through the chop and fog To a new world across the sea.
As part of Sue’s upcoming virtual retirement party, she is hosting a hat making contest and asking people to submit a photo of their entry. While I’m usually not keen on costumes and dress up, I decided to go for the gold in submitting my Carmen Miranda inspired entry.
As a teenager, my first experience in photography was shooting black and white film with my father’s medium format Hasselblad camera. These were, and are, great cameras, beloved by professionals, used by astronauts on the moon. Way too nice a camera for a duffer like me shooting morbid pictures of twisted trees and gravestones in the Lone Fir Cemetery. Later in youth I sprung for a Konica 35mm camera, with a decided preference for Fujichrome slide film. I regret that I was a lousy chronicler of life in my twenties, shooting artsy pictures of flowers and vegetables rather than the much more interesting subjects of my fellows living communally at the Still Meadow spiritual center for Emissaries of Divine Light in Oregon. Hey, it was the 70’s, so cut me some slack!
My best ever camera is a Nikon D90. When I really need to do a serious shoot, this is the camera that I pull out. It’s the camera I use in tricky indoor light situations, when a bounce flash comes in handy. And, it doesn’t hurt to have a telephoto zoom lens at the ready. It’s a big boy camera.
But the camera that I use nearly all of the time now is the one on whatever my current iPhone is. Smartphone cameras are so good these days, particularly when shooting outdoors, that they are more than just good enough. They are less obtrusive, and can do a remarkably good job.
iPhone Xs with wide and telephoto cameras
The beach photo at the head of this post is from my iPhone Xs. I don’t think my Nikon could balance the glare of the sun in the clouds with the dimmer light of people on the beach. The iPhone camera performs this high def resolution magic by shooting a series of frames, some underexposed, some over, and some “properly” exposed, and then instantly blends them together into a single image that captures the scene as I saw it at the time. Previously, you would do this with a tripod mount and manually set each exposure. Then, back at your computer you would use HDR software to make the final image. Much more work, much less fun. The other feature in play is “Panorama” mode, where you pan across the scene while the software stitches the separate frames into a single image. It’s pretty awesome.
I also shoot lots of brief video segments and use the IOS Photos app “Memories” feature to make those short video montages that I periodically post. I love how you can say so much in 60 seconds. The bottom line, it’s a really fun camera to use.
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