Posts Tagged ‘photography’
Phone Photos
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!
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Play
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sing
sink
syncopate
obliviate
anticipate
expectorate
fall to the ground
flailing arms
innocuous charms
shrugging shoulders
cringe
create
crest
ingest
wrest
dressed
score
more
and more
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Find Both
This morning, we built a fire in the fireplace to ward off the chill of the dampness we awoke to after an overnight thunderstorm. The temperature is in the 30s (F). Above freezing, at least. Yesterday, the high nearly reached 80 degrees. The bouncing of spring, I guess.
We met Jeremy! He is the new person who will be our primary contact with This Old Horse. As such, he will be the person delivering bags of grain for the mares.
On his first visit, he came bearing seven new bags. Literally, new bags. They are paper bags instead of the woven plastic previously in use. I didn’t handle them, but Cyndie reported they seem like they will rip easily. One had torn when Jeremy loaded it in his car.
He drives a Subaru and is a big lover of cats. Interesting seeing the enhanced logo he added to his car since the car brand markets itself so very strongly as a dog-friendly automobile. Meow.
How about a puzzle exercise for your Saturday morning or whenever you happen to read this? There are two things to be noticed in each of the following photos. Try your eyes and see if you can figure out what my crazy mind is thinking.
One is easier to spot than the other.
Click the thumbnail below for solutions…
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Duty Done
Today is the conclusion of my solo duty on the ranch, as Cyndie is due to return from Florida this afternoon. That means I’ll be vacuuming, doing the dishes, changing the sheets, running a load of laundry, and hiding all evidence of the ridiculous parties I’ve been hosting while she was away. Asher has been sworn to silence, and the horses have promised to keep my secrets.
What happens in the paddocks stays in the paddocks.
What happens in the sky ends up becoming photos John captures when the clouds form interesting shapes.
If you are reading this in the northern hemisphere, spring has sprung. Yesterday was the vernal equinox. The long, dark nights of winter are becoming a distant memory.
I’m looking forward to a break from being the only person available to entertain Asher. There are too many times in a day when he seeks attention, and my dwindling reserves of energy would prefer I take a nap in the recliner. Plus, this weekend is non-stop March Madness games to be followed. Asher always seems to need to go outside when the exciting final minutes of a close game are playing out.
I take the duty of watching college basketball tournaments seriously. Having Cyndie home will take some of the pressure off of me trying to do two things at the same time. I just have to remember I’m sharing living space again and stop living like a slob around here.
I must admit, though, it can be fun to live like that for short stints every once in a while.
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Solitary Refinement
In the middle of my solo escape to the lake, I find myself thinking about how I can most fully absorb the pleasures of these agenda-less days. When I am tasked daily at home with duties, the dream of having nothing pressing me into an activity grows and grows. I long to have no reason to get out of bed and to pick and choose what comes next by whim instead of by the hour on the clock. An hour, by the way, that has once again shifted disorientingly forward to DST overnight. Ugh, I say, and I don’t even have any schedule that needs to be upheld today.
Looking back on the already vanished last two days of luxurious solo pursuits, I fear the benefits of getting what I so dearly wanted are disappearing without my fully appreciating the greatness of the moments. Today, I plan to see if I can improve on that perception.
There is a herd of deer wandering the grounds that I have enjoyed seeing each day. I counted seven yesterday in the middle of a sunny afternoon. From the obvious pattern of their heavily traveled hoof prints in the snow, it appears they have a much more set agenda than I do.
I made my way to our mini labyrinth in the woods and reclaimed the pathway with my own footprints. There was no sign of wildlife traffic in that area.
No, the deer have been walking right past the house along the ridge above the lake. One or two of them had approached the house to nibble on the branches of one of the landscape shrubs.
I took a few pictures on my walk yesterday morning when the temperature was still below freezing. There was a striking difference in the texture of the snow where shade had kept it all wonderfully powdery, as opposed to the hard crust more prominent everywhere else.
Later in the day, the clouds broke up, and the sun kicked up the amount of melting significantly.
My slow, aimless wandering was one of the divine pleasures I want to deeply appreciate in its contrast to strolling along with Asher, which is more my norm.
Oh, my. Look at the hour. How can it be this late already? Oh, yeah. That.
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Relative Something 