White on Blue

One of the photos I referenced in my last post...

Sycamore BarkMilford, Ohio. - December 2008

Blue and ...

white sort of. This photo is also from our afternoon on the mall. I'm not sure what type of tree it is.

I have a number of photos from the Milford area of sycamore trees that I will be going through soon. Some of the photos are more in keeping with the theme of earlier blog entries covering the seasons in basically two colors and one may make the cut to fill the "Spring" slot. Click the following to see Fall Winter Summer


Tree Bark and Blue SkyWashington D.C. - January 2009

Petrified Wood

Carl, his friend and I, spent an afternoon walking around Washington D.C. last week. Frantic preparations were underway for the inauguration. Most importantly, the port-o-potties...hundreds of which were being loaded off trucks and lined up along the reflecting pool. It was a clear, sunny but cold day. We spent some time in the Air & Space Museum and the National Gallery of Art, walked up to the Lincoln Memorial (stopping by to peek at the White House on the way and ponder whether the Obama kids would get to play hide and seek outside on the grounds). Also stopped by the Korean War Veterans Memorial, which is my personal favorite among the war memorials.

While walking along. I took this photo of the petrified wood on display near the entrance to the Museum of Natural History.


Petrified Wood Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural HistoryWashington D.C.

Above the Smog

I figure I'll work my way backwards through the photos from the holidays...

I took this photo a few minutes after an aborted landing Saturday in Sarajevo. We ended up landing in Zagreb and getting home a mere 9 hours later after a bus ride and all the fun that entails. The flight was diverted due to weather (fog) which in fact is not fog at all but pure pollution...it is so pure they should bottle and sell it. The air quality is always really bad this time of year due to burning low quality coal, wood and whatever else will provide heat, With temperatures in the teens (Fahrenheit), the past few weeks have been greatly aggravated by the Russian's shutting off the natural gas pipelines to Europe (and in particular Bosnia, which has no domestic production nor any storage facilities or reserves). With no gas for heat, that many more homes fired up the old coal stove...and what remains of the air is just lovely to breathe. The sun has truly been just a bright spot in the night time the past few days.

Above the Smog - SarajevoJanuary 2009

It is Cold

It is cold here...mid teens (in Fahrenheit) so the first photo I'm posting from vacation is a shot of Dianne and Andy's fireplace (which was very toasty). Since it is now officially winter, a version of this is now my new background, replacing a fall shot of Vintgar Gorge.

Toasty Fire

Coming Soon...

More photos...been on "vacation" for a couple weeks, with one week to go. I think I'll have a few good photos when I get back to home base.

Another View of Sarajevsko Groblje Bare

Between my earlier photo, and this, maybe you can get a feel for the scale of it.

Bare Cemetery - Sarajevo

Via the "Way Back" Machine

From June of 2006, the early days of my digital camera, what sunrise used to look like...

Volcan Pacaya - Guatamala City

Sunrise

From a couple weeks ago. The color only lasted a minute or two, time enough to get my camera, turn off the alarm, open the door and take one shot.

Sarajevo SunriseNovember 2008

Reflection

St. Joseph's and Sarajevo Streets - Unitic Towers, SarajevoNovember 2008

You First Read It Here

not that I take any joy in being right, or first in this case, (it is actually sad) but over the past couple days I've seen this theme repeated in the general and business press:
Bailouts: $7 trillion and rising

Almost 2 months ago, the millions of avid readers of my blog read it HERE first.

More Snow

It is dumping down snow tonight. Walking the dogs, it really didn't feel that cold. I took some more cell phone camera shots. I find it hard to hold steady to get a sharp photo.

Snow at Night - Veliki Park, SarajevoNovember 2008

At The Other End Of Madness

My "good" camera is a Canon EOS-5D. a model that came out 3 years ago. After 3 years, it is finally being replaced with the 5DII which should be available any day now. 3 years is a VERY long lifetime in the universe of DSLR cameras. Quite frankly, I don't need a 5DII (probably didn't need a 5D:) The limitations and any general suckiness of my photography can't be blamed on my camera as it is rarely, if ever, the weak link.

In the meantime, I have this new cell phone for work that has a camera. I've taken to messing with it while I walk the dogs at night. Below are a few of my creations. On one hand, they probably won't be mistaken for high art from a high end camera, but on the other, I find the camera and the results interesting...

Shadow - Self PortraitNovember 2008



Pine Tree with Snow - Veliki Park, SarajevoNovember 2008



Tree Branches - Veliki Park, SarajevoNovember 2008



Tombstones at Night - Veliki Park, SarajevoNovember 2008

This Year's First Snow

Both these photos were taken today from the warm comforts of my apartment...although it is not nearly as cold as it looks :)


The Foothills of Trebević - SarajevoNovember 2008



Veliki Park Trees - SarajevoNovember 2008

The Wave

I continue to organize and process older photos...

Wave - Destin, FloridaNovember 2007

Last Year

Nature's ScribblesSea Oats - Destin, Florida 2007

Jeff Takes People Pictures Too

They are a very small percentage of what I take, and I'm not particularly good at it (especially not good using flash), but occasionally I end up quite pleased with some of my informal, non-posed portraits.

Elesa Remembers What it is Like to Have Little OnesCzech Republic, Spring 2008

Shazam!

From a little over a year ago. Everytime I've seen this statue, I expect to see lightning flying from his finger tips...

Grgur Ninski - Split, Croatia

Sunday Drive

Today was a beautiful day and we went for a little drive out towards Tuzla. We had pleasant lunch at a restaurant overlooking the town in the valley below...

Bosnian Countryside

Looking...

Out the Window - Somewhere Over the U.S.September 2007