The Osprey Returns

Took my sanity sun again today at Patuxent Research Refuge to check on the Ospreys' which I figured had a nest in the area. It seems I am correct. There was an Osprey tending a nest on one of the platforms out over the lake. I saw another Osprey in the distant trees that I'm assuming was the male, and I did snap a not so great picture of him. When I first arrived, the Osprey on the nest ran a short recon flight, probably to check me out. I desperately tried to follow her in flight and focus as I shot. Between the focusing and the panning, I was unimpressed with the results. Learning from that, and my previous experience during The Battle of Cash Lake, the second time the Osprey went out on a recon flight, I pre-focused on the nest and awaited her return. I grabbed these shots as she landed.

Osprey Approaches Nest

Touch Down

Settling In

And The Winner is....

The National Arboretum, which wins the prize as the subject of my 500th post to this blog. The thought that it was probably my last chance this year to catch the dogwoods in bloom led the Arboretum to edge out the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, so my sanity sun today included some time at the National Arboretum where I made my way over to the dogwoods. Only a few trees were in full bloom, most were well past peak bloom, and many were entirely stripped of flowers after yesterday's hard storms. The neighboring Asian Collections werw looking really nice too (and a fair number of people seemed to agree), so a wandered through them a bit. Here are some of the photos.

Dogwood in Bloom

Japanese Maple - Asian Collection

Interesting Bark - Asian Collection

Fallen Flower - Asian Collection

Peonies - Asian Collection

Visiting the National Cathedral

We had a nice private tour of the Washington National Cathedral yesterday. Both Elesa and I were quite impressed. I took a lot of pictures, and could have taken a whole lot more. The details of the cathedral are incredible, and having someone point out even more details and explain them ...all lead me to think I need to go back and spend more time there :) Below are a few of my photos, a full slideshow (21 photos) can be seen HERE.

Columns and Stained Glass

Good Shepherd Chapel

One of the Newest Additions - Mother Theresa

Battle of Cash Lake

I was back at Patuxent Research Refuge today for a little walk with my camera getting my "sanity sun". I was set up with a 70-200 2.8L on a 2x extender, with a polarizing filter and the ISO set at 800 when the "Battle of Cash Lake" broke out right in front of me. Apparently a Great Blue Heron had crossed into an Osprey's airspace and all hell broke loose. According to the time stamps on my photos, the entire battle lasted about 60 seconds. Not being the best war photographer, I didn't get the world's best shots. Between the panning and focusing, they could certainly be a bit sharper...but the photos are interesting to me.

Osprey Approaches Great Heron From Top Right

Osprey Overshoots as Heron Dodges and Weaves

Osprey Turns to Return to Perch

Osprey Landing

Osprey Back on Watch

Today's Theme is Red

I took a fair number of photos today, including a few of a red-bellied woodpecker I've seen hanging around our feeder the past few days. He's eluded me until today. The tulips popped up today too.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker (Male)

Tulips

Birds of Spring

There seem to be a lot of birds around this spring, and a large variety at that. I'm not a serious birder, and certainly not a very good bird photographer, but none the less, I've taken the opportunity to "shoot some birds" over the past few days. More than once I've ended up spending an inordinate amount of time on the Internet trying to figure out just what it was that I shot. Here are a pair I shot today

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (Male)

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (Female)

New Stuff to Learn

A new camera (a Canon EOS 6D), Lightroom (cheapest alternative to getting processing capability for raw files) and then the actual GPS (integrated into the 6D) usage, will all keep me busy for a while.

So far the camera part seems pretty easy. The 6D is similar enough to my 5D (first generation). The on/off switch is in a different place and due to the auto sensor cleaning, the camera starts up from totally being "off" a bit slower. The menus are laid out slightly differently but are still easy to navigate, especially compared to the average compact point and shoot. The 6D focuses noticeably faster on the center point though and the quiet mode of the shutter is appreciated and is already my default setting. The GPS is not as good at obtaining/retaining lock as I would have hoped, but I'm sure it will work fine for most of what I'm interested in. I also think the GPS contributes to the very limited battery life (compared to my 5D). I've yet to mess with the video (or live-view option) and I haven't (and I doubt I ever will) use the WIFI. As a data point, I don't believe I ever once have used the Eye Control Focus on my EOS 3.

Lightroom is very different from Photoshop CS version whatever. It is a totally different thought process and it really serves a different function. I just wanted a reasonably priced raw converter. Photoshop is just far too expensive. CS6, the current version, doesn't do anything that I care enough about that my CS4 doesn't do, and it's not available for Linux, which is where I'm eventually headed. So far I've figured out how to do adjustments such as curves etc. and spit the result out as a jpg. I'm either going to need a book or have to take a class to get beyond that and to get the benefits of the program. I'm pretty sure that I don't think or see the world the way Lightroom does so the organization advantages that it probably shines at for photography are lost on me. I generally don't like organization, putting things in boxes feels like it limits the possibilities and certainly tends to keep me thinking in boxes. As I told someone at work once, "If I don't put things in boxes, it is much easier to think outside the box".

The GPS. I'm sure (at least I sure hope so) that there are all kinds of cool things that can be done with the GPS function. I've not even scratched the surface due to lack of time. I do know how to turn it on/off, set up logging. Just tonight, I put the photos below in the Canon supplied Map Utility. Eventually I'd like to do a little map or Google Earth type thing of walks or hikes I do with my camera so that you can click on points along the way and see the photo from that point. It probably isn't hard, I just need to learn how to put it all together.

In the meantime, below is a screen capture of the Map Utility with the photos locations marked, and then three of the photos themselves from my walk around Patuxent Research Refuge a couple days ago.


Map Utility Screen Capture

Buds of Spring

Dry Grass in Black and White

Cyclops

Abstract on a Gray Day

This is a direct result of two things...

First, my 365 Project (take a photo every day) Elesa talked me in to doing a bit over a month ago. It forces me to think of, and take, at least one photo every day. We've had a lot of gray days lately and as I was going out to the car (camera in tow in case a photo opportunity arose) I noticed the tree's reflection on the windshield.

Second, I uploaded the new GIMP, which blew away the raw converter I had linked to GIMP...which got me looking more and more into the various menus and possibilities with GIMP. Unfortunately, working with the JPEG for now.


Tree Reflects on a Gray Day

Lens Baby Fun

Still enjoying time off, but no access to my regular computer, photoshop etc...in fact I even messed up my raw converter for GIMP. I have Lightroom and a new toy on order and they should be here tomorrow (more on that soon).

Moss, Lichens and a Hole or Two

5 Things

I've been pondering this post for a while. But now that I've been back in the States for a while I think I have enough perspective to do it justice.

5 Things that the U.S.A. does better than almost anywhere else:
1. Paper products...whether it be paper napkins, facial tissue, paper plates or toilet paper, no where else in the world does paper right, and certainly not at the price point as the U.S.A.

2. Food and "stuff" everywhere. The ubiquity and availability of food (mostly processed crap, but...), fast food, just "stuff". Strip malls, regular malls, shops etc....there is just "stuff" everywhere.

3. Egalitarianism in day to day life. In general, your order will be taken etc by your place in line, not by how wealthy you look, your family connections, nor by how much lighter (or darker) your skin is than mine (and I'm talking barely discernible shades of exposure to sunlight).

4. The Interstate Highway System...but Europe's autobahn system has almost caught up.

5. Gasoline prices. Complain if you will, but most surveys put the United States at about 10th on the scale of cheap gas...out of like 190 or so countries. It cost more for a tank of gas than it did to rent the car for a week in a couple countries I've traveled to recently

5 Things that are done better outside the U.S.A. and maybe we could learn from the rest of the world:
1. Dairy products. The variety, choices, quality and cost all suck in the U.S.A. Cheese and yogurt especially so. For example, if you have two choices in feta cheese or any choices in full fat yogurt at your local grocery store, you have it great.

2. Traffic lights & road conditions. Does the U.S. know that the rest of the world has a system that times traffic lights so that if you make one and drive at the speed limit, you will make the rest on that street? Traffic is horrible because our traffic management is stupid. Road conditions are just an embarrassment for a supposedly first world country.

3. Public transportation. Except for in a handful of cities, public transportation is unusable or non-existent. Walk-ability of our cities and suburbs is pathetic too.

4. Internet & cell phones. Outside of war zones, internet in the U.S.A. is among the worst in the world when normalized for cost, speed etc. There is no excuse. Cell phones too, are extremely expensive and the contract thing along with the "locked" phones is just ridiculous. You can thank your corrupt congressmen for the U.S.A. having some of the worst telecommunications in the world.

5. Food choices in general. Our grocery stores are huge, but the vast majority of the shelf space is taken up by just a few products. The "cookie" aisle is almost entirely Oreos, cereal is almost all Cheerios etc. It reminds me of the move "Demolition Man" when all restaurants have become Taco Bell.

Enjoying some time off with family and friends. Trying out grandpa's chair...he may need to work on his balance a bit...

Chance in the Big Chair

On the Move

Took this photo today, when I went to grab lunch after doing the various "inventories" associated with moving. They make sure we didn't take any of the supplied furniture (it sucks, not sure anyone would really want it) and generally didn't destroy the place (no cats, no kids...no destruction). Our apartment building is in the distance, pretty much dead center, it is the one that is kind of orange, with taller ones immediately on each side.

Marina Crescent, Kuwait

Making the Cut

A few days back, Elesa talked me into doing the "photo a day" type thing at 365 Project
I've been dutifully taking and posting at least one photo everyday. You can see my daily photo HERE or via the link on the right. I worry a bit about becoming mundane, especially when we're in the midst of another move. On the other hand, it is prompting me to take photos I've thought about taking for a long time, but have been too lazy to actually get out and take.

This morning I took a few photos, the sunrise (just fortuitous), and then two traffic circles I see on my way to work, a mini version of the Kuwaiti Towers and a giant version of a brass tea pot. I've been wanting to get photos of them on a clear morning for at least a year now. The daily photo project, and my impending departure finally made me get off my duff and get the photos. The Towers made the today's cut for my photo. Here are versions of the other two. I'm on the laptop now, no color calibrated monitor and GIMP vice Photoshop. I hope the colors aren't too whacked out


Kuwaiti Sunrise

Tea Pot

Tomatoes and Broccoli

For the last couple years, my standard answer to people who have asked "What will you do when you retire?" has been:
"Grow tomatoes."
Some success so far this year with broccoli (which I love) in the little garden plot makes me think my new answer might be:
"Grow tomatoes and broccoli."


My Broccoli Harvest

Stock Trades, Year in Review

I figure I'll join the crowd and add this to the plethora of "best of", "worst of", "top X# of" etc for 2012.

Best Trade: ATT (T)
Bought in two lots in Dec 11 & Feb 12 at an average price of $29.40 and sold in late Sept at $38.35, near its highs this year. Accounting for commissions and dividends, a 32.5% total return, annualized (counting time actually held) at 48.2%.

Missed Trade: United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG)
An ETF. Bought in mid-April at $14.98 near its all time low and sold about two months later in late June at $19.00. Accounting for commissions and dividends, a 23.9% total return, annualized 117.8%. This is a miss because I simply didn't buy enough to make much actual money.

Which set up my....

Worst Trade: ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (UVXY)
High on the success with UNG, I read more and more about ETFs. Knowing that the VIX was way down from normal and knowing we're coming up on an election and the "fiscal cliff" I bought in mid-Aug...it got hammered and I averaged lower in mid-Sept just to get hammered some more. Cut by the "falling knife". I bailed shortly after the election, down a composite 20% or so. Only my 2nd loss ever, but valuable lessons learned about how ETFs (especially leveraged ones) work and investing (betting in this case) on things I don't fully understand. UVXY finally started moving up, up over 40% in the past month, 34% of that just in the last week...and it is just...just back to where I SOLD at.

The jury remains out on:

Pitney Bowes (PBI) bought back in July at $14.29. It just hit a new 52 week low this past week in the mid-$10 range. It continues to pay awesome dividends (at Friday's closing price, 14.4%).

Intel (INTC) Bought in mid-late November at an average price of $19.80
Conoco Phillips (COP) Bought in late July at $53.13
Both INTC and COP were near their lows when I bought in and have dividend yields in the upper 4% range at my buy in prices. I knew PBI was a flyer when I bought it, at some point soon, maybe the shorts will either cover or get squeezed out, in the meantime I'll take the dividends (assuming they continue to be paid).

Organic...NOT! (at least temporarily)

I noticed this label on a lot of the produce today. I hope no one minds the parsley in the stuffing tomorrow was temporarily not organic...from what I can tell, it is not plastic either. (at least the stuffing will be made with real butter!)

Not Organic Parsley

Christmas Cranberries

Getting ready for a little Christmas dinner tomorrow with friends. Elesa is fighting a nasty cold ... and now the fire alarm is going off, it is telling me I'm apparently burning down the whole building...

Cooking Cranberries - Christmas Eve

Back to Turkey

Figuratively and photographically speaking. I still haven't finished photos from our trip in late summer to Istanbul. Here are a few photos from our last day, when we visited the Blue Mosque. Still really not sure, even after reading all about it, why they call it the "Blue Mosque". The ceilings were cool, but the bazillion wires that hung down from them to hold the lighting and chandeliers in place were a bit distracting. I thought the Mosque of Mohamed Ali at the Citadel in Cairo was more impressive.

Tourists at the Blue Mosque - Istanbul, Turkey

Blue Mosque - Istanbul, Turkey

Ceiling Details - Blue Mosque

Main Dome from Inside - Blue Mosque

Finding Art in Bathroom Explosions

I know what you are probably thinking....but that isn't what we were thinking when we heard a tremendous crash tonight. Our bathroom shower, a big thick glass thing, had....EXPLODED!


The Scene as We Walked In

Not being one to miss an opportunity to get a few cool photos, here is the "art" part.

Shatter Pattern On Door

Broken Bits

More Broken Bits

Pioneer Cemetery

I have a long list of "things to do" for my times in Cincinnati. Any given trip, I only have time and opportunity to do a couple of them. One of the things that has been on my list for a couple years is to take my camera and check out the Pioneer Cemetery (aka Columbia Baptist Cemetery) down by Lunken Airport. This past trip, Shelby and I woke up relatively early on a very crisp clear morning and had a look around. Buried in this cemetery are the earliest white settlers to the area.


Pioneer Cemetery - Columbia-Tusculum, Cincinnati

Harriet

Frosted Headstone

Frosted Grass

Along the Little Miami

During my time in Cincinnati, Shelby and I took a walk along the Little Miami River near Camp Dennison. It has become almost a tradition when I'm in town that we go for walk there with our cameras. Here are some of the photos I took.


Wavy Glass - Little Miami River Reflections

Bench - Camp Dennison

Red Leaf - Little Miami River

Fossils - Little Miami River

Yellow Springs

Had a couple weeks off back in Ohio for Thanksgiving with the family including a couple days of a get away up in Yellow Springs. The entire two weeks was a great break from work. The weather was generally crisp and clear, a beautiful late fall.

I'm sort of surprised they don't call it "Orange Springs".

The Yellow Spring - Yellow Springs, Ohio

The Yellow Spring - Yellow Springs, Ohio

The Yellow Spring - Yellow Springs, Ohio