Summer Suburban Non-Sequiturs

I shall miss the faces & colors of summer. The little hummingbirds will be leaving soon, though the Chickadee loves to hog the water in the tiny well in middle of hummer feeder. I wish flowers stayed year round.






P.S. When I click on any photo to enlarge it, it makes a slideshow..and I've no idea why this font is blue with a line. It's not a link. Blogger mystery.

9/11 Memorial Display in Fairfield

I went before the official ceremonies ....I was able to quietly look around...Prefer things better this way than to fight a crowd. Click on any photo to see it full-sized (and some show up clearer, oddly enough)

Piece of steel from WTC

Happy Birthday America

Happy Birthday America!

My favorite version of this tune, via Ray Charles. Remember he sang this way back when he was still being treated like a second class citizen in this country, could not stay in the hotels/clubs where he performed. And was blind. Yet, he had gratitude & love for the USA.

Sing it, Ray.

Thank you SPC David Collins.

Chipmunks, birds, flowers etc

Some scenes from the suburbs or my yard recently...except for the deer, that's from 2009. Music is Glenn Miller "In the Mood". Birds are chickadees, or goldfinches or hummingbird or a nuthatch...Oh and a nest of Robins! Those were at the home of my 92 yr old mom. She had a great view of this out from her little den. Misses the babies.

First Tailgate & Cincinnati Roller Girls Outing

....So as I was saying, we got an invite to a birthday tailgate at the Cincinnati Roller Girls last game. I've never tailgated or been to a roller game so was glad the weather was cool enough for me to attend.

I was warned to go past the guys in the parking lot if they tried to stop us, to say we were there to tailgate. I was told this would happen on the north side of the Cincinnati Gardens parking lot. The guys say "no, Tailgating is across the street." I immediately called a couple of tweeps who said this was news to them (they were regulars, I was a tailgate newbie) but to go where we were told. But they were not happy. This was after all fan appreciation night so the Gardens guys made us go across the four lane street in a hot parking lot, & the burger truck was across the street in the Garden's side parking lot. Made no sense.

So we get our camping chairs out of the car & see a tent with "Happy Birthday" on it. I asked "Are you guys here for Julie's Birthday" and they said yes. ...thing was, nobody looked anything like their avatar or photos I've seen online of the group I follow. I said "Are you guys on twitter? EVERYBODY paused. No. ...and Julie is computer ignorant so she's probably not on Twitter either" (!?!?) After a few more minutes I said " Is this the Julie that works at such-N-such. A man said "No, Julie has her own business and used to own a floral shop." Oops. Wrong Julie Birthday Party crowd.

Then we wondered to the other end of the lot & found our fellow tweeps along with my friend @NotOnTwitterChristopher. So we ate, yakked and laughed over "Two Julies" having birthday parties at the last Cincy Roller Girls of the season. What are the odds?

I tried to sneak in a manual picture of the girl singing the National Anthem (she did a good job!) without the flash going off but it went off anyway. The rest are random photos. Wooly Bully came out and threw cute stuffed animals into the crowd. My friend caught one & immediately gave it to a darling little girl across the row behind us. She looked thrilled & gave him a huge smile that made the entire evening worth it.

The Cincinnati Rollergirls is a fabulous family oriented outing. I highly recommend it. That said, the acoustics at the Gardens are bad and if you are noise sensitive, take earplugs. I did and so happy that I did!

Suburbanites Go To Parker Flats

Had a wonderful visit. Some family don't understand Twitter but it's been a wonderful addition to my life as have the new friends I've made.

Suburban birds & Critters

Robin's nest across town at my mom's home. Fun to watch as mom's feed their babies LITERALLY 100's of times a day (& clean the nest) Squirrels & black birds are dive bombed by mom to remember to stay away from the nest. Who knew big birds & squirrels ate babies but they do. (To see photos full-sized, click on the photo to enlarge)

To read more on the Robins & their babies http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/RobinNotes2.html

Family

1st Moon Picture attempts

First photo is common error..it's a night shot so you think you need long exposure. Nah, baby, nah. Moon is constantly moving so you need a fast shutter. Good news, you can hand hold the camera.

I first used 15-55 kit lens with my NikonD40 with 1.3 sec shutters on car window ledge & too wide an aperture (4.5)

Then I read to use sunny day rules to shoot just the moon, as it is lit by sun reflection. Best to use 300mm lens but I've only 55-200 mm AV Nikkor lens.

I chickened out some sites suggestion of 250 shutter speeds and went for 125 and 100 w aperture at F8. Next, I shall attempt F11 or F16 and 125. Stay tuned! And if you are reading this on Saturday, look at the moon tonight. Going to be super moon, see link by clicking here. Was gorgeous last night with clouds playing around it. My photos have thin layers of clouds scanning over as I missed the clear sky moment when I was in the grocery.

Some links I found helpful.

http://photography.about.com/od/photographybyoccasion/a/moonshots.htm

http://www.flickr.com/groups/d40slr/discuss/72157601837909125/

Learning Manual Mode w NikonD40

Things are greening up! Sun was out, yay!
Practicing manual mode after yrs of cheating (Auto) is not for sissies, but hell, who knew you could keep the lens on autofocus. Not I. Stewart enjoying HD 3D for cats with squirrels on the patio. Oscar yawned & was bored. Speedy enjoying the sunshine as was I from recliner.

Thing I miss about film camera? There is horrible burn out factor from sunny windows or skies. This drives me NUTS on tv as well but whether you've a cheap P&S or $3000 cam, issue is there. Need to invest in a special filter. But first need to relearn f-stops/shutters in a digital cam. NOT as easy as learning in film....miss the quality of film but need help focusing with my eyes so will take what I can get. Should be interesting week to practice.