Nothing fancy. Just monkeying around a little with my iPhone to see what results I could achieve. It took me a little assistance from Cyndie to ultimately enact the instructions I had found in an internet search. Given my fading visual clarity, despite the help of glasses, I rarely know if images get close to matching what I was looking at until I am able to see them on a computer screen.

These shots of our little windmill at the top of the stairs going down to the beach came out looking a little AI-generated after testing out optional settings available with “live” images.

I had tried out the “portrait” mode while the blades were spinning. If you observe closely, the wire ring disappears between some of the blades.

Here it is again, after moving the focus more to the fin on the rear:

Now the blades look really funky.

Finally, I achieved the longer exposure that revealed the blades were really spinning in the warm summer breeze.

If I ever bothered to use a real camera, I might surprise myself with some more professional-looking results. For now, the convenience of messing around with the phone usually available in a pocket serves me well enough.

Here are some other shots, ala my filled-frame styling, that I captured during yesterday’s brief shooting spree:

It took us until late afternoon yesterday to learn there had been tornadoes from strong overnight thunderstorms close to our old Eden Prairie stomping grounds southwest of the Twin Cities in the middle of the night Saturday night. All of the friends we checked on had experienced the drama, but luckily didn’t suffer any serious damage. The report from our Wintervale sitters was of just drama-free rain. I say, “Phew!” to that!

I was awoken in the wee hours up at the lake place by bright flashes of lightning that I observed through one briefly opened eye, and at least one seriously loud thunder boom that startled me before quickly returning to the deep sleep from which I had been wrenched. Things just looked a little damp by daylight, but our surroundings were no worse for wear.

Highlights of the quiet Sunday at the lake included reading on the beach for a spell and crashing on the couch in the sunroom for a scrumptiously delicious mid-afternoon nap. Minimum exertion was the order of my day. Pulling out my phone to take a few pictures was about as industrious as I got. Looking back, I don’t think I even exhausted any mental effort worth mentioning. Obviously, I find it worth mentioning that my brain was in vacation mode autopilot, but you probably already picked up on that a couple of paragraphs ago.

Happy last day of June 2025, everyone!

.

.