Loaned Camera

Posted by dkrashb on July 27, 2013

There I am, sharp as a tack back by the car

Another post with guest photographer Patrick Murray. I particularly like these images. Why, you ask? Well, I like the fact that while my husband had an incredible Red-tailed hawk flying right at him, he was focusing on me in the background. 🙂

But, for the budding photographer, there are several lessons here. First, there is the “someone just handed me their camera and asked me to take pictures with it” lesson. Had I planned better, I would have taken my husband’s camera, with which he is slightly more familiar. Or, I would have at least turned off the back-button focusing setting on my camera, which was something my husband wasn’t used to (I am a huge fan of using back-button focusing instead of pressing the shutter button ½ way to find focus, but that’s another subject).

Yep, it’s me again in focus in the background

I did think to put my camera in Aperture Priority mode (where you pick the aperture and ISO and let the camera pick the shutter speed) and set the aperture for what I thought would be a pretty good depth of field for someone who might not always focus exactly where I wanted him to. However, I failed to change the focus point selection to a single focus point, which probably would have made it a little easier on my husband.

But then, he might have focused on the birds instead of me and I wouldn’t have gotten quite the same kick out of it. 🙂

I’m not really in focus in this one, but I have to laugh at me peeping around the corner!

I also set the camera in single-shooting mode when we started the raptor experience for my husband’s aunt and uncle. This was appropriate because they were holding owls on their gloves who can’t fly. These owls don’t move fast enough to justify continuous shooting mode.

But, this created a problem when we switched to flying the birds–he was getting finger cramps trying to press the shutter button fast enough. Being in single-shot focusing mode also didn’t help. Of course, since he wasn’t remembering to use the back button to focus anyway, using the continuous focusing mode wouldn’t really have helped in this case. I guess that takes us to point 1.

Oh yes, there I am again

I forgot I was enumerating the lessons, so let’s review. If you’re handing your camera off to a novice and expecting them to do all the shooting of an up-close and person raptor experience:

Turn off back-button focusing if you normally use it
Set the focus point selection to a single focus point
Use an aperture setting that provides an appropriate depth of field (like f/8ish)
Select a high enough ISO setting that the shutter speeds won’t get too slow for the action shots
If the birds are perching, use single shooting mode
If the birds are flying, turn on high speed continuous shooting and continuous focusing
Try to stay out of the background
Be prepared to do a lot of editing.

Of course, if you’re not assisting in the raptor experience, you can take the photos yourself.

I just like this one–Elvi looks so happy

Entertaining Children

Posted by dkrashb on July 23, 2013

Ireland giggling in spite of the bright sun in her eyes

One last post from my visit with friends Friday morning . . . I think I am suffering from child envy. Not something that happens too often, but seeing this particular family always makes me long for the particular set of joys and heart aches that come with having a family.

I mentioned in a previous post that watching the adults entertain the children was well worth the visit. Entertaining the young involves making many faces.

There’s the I’m-so-exuberant-that-my-face-is-going-to-break-if-I-smile-any-harder face. I suspect I make this face a lot at babies. The eyes open wide, the eyebrows raise, nose crinkles, and the mouth opens into a jack-o-lantern grin.

Grandma make Ireland squeal and she comes in for some sugar

For me, perhaps because I have learned through many years experience working with dogs and don’t have any other skills, this face is accompanied by the high-pitched happy-puppy voice. It’s the voice that tells dogs you’re pleased and excited and they should be, too. It’s effectiveness with babies may be limited–it did not convince little Ireland that I was more interesting than getting fed, for example.

There’s also the “awww” face. That’s the face that may be accompanied by a pouting bottom lip, a head tipped downward, eyes rolled slightly upward and a general “aww, aren’t you happy?” sort of demeanor. This face, by the way, is also ineffective at distracting a baby from the 3 basics: 1) hunger, 2) fatigue, or 3) dirty diaper. I did enough babysitting growing up to know that if you have an unhappy baby, start with those 3 things and then move on to making faces.

There’s also the I-love-you-so-much-I-would-do-anything-to-make-you-smile face. Grandma’s seems to have this face down. This is not terribly different from the I’m-so-exuberant face, but seems to be honed for kissing. My friend exhibited this behavior in a way I can never hope to imitate. I think you have to be a card-carrying grandma to do this effectively.

Grandma demonstrating how to make a finger jump from one hand to the other

Besides baby Ireland, there was also a young nephew visiting, Jonathan. As one might expect with any 8-year old, Jonathan was not so entertained by sitting around watching adults make silly faces at a baby. Lucky for Jonathan, he was in the hands of professionals.

From Ireland’s grandparents, he attempted to learn how to make mosquito sounds with his mouth, how to make frog noises by flicking his throat, how to make one leg disappear, and, most challenging, how to move one finger from one hand to the other. I was a little disappointed that no one showed him how to steal a nose, but he was pretty caught up in the finger-jump trick, so I didn’t want to confuse him further.

I did capture my friend/Grandma teaching the finger-jumping trick. I wish I would have been standing on the other side of her, though, to capture Jonathan’s face of wonder.

My canine baby patiently waiting for my return to Chattanooga

Family Planning

Posted by dkrashb on March 23, 2013

Tisen’s collection of squeaky toys seems to have grown quite a bit since October

This was the majority of the collection in October–the family is getting out of control

There’s a reason people recommend planning your family carefully. I believe it’s because after so many family members, it becomes difficult to fit everyone into a camera frame.

While we successfully kept the human side of the family to plan, the canine side didn’t go quite how we expected. Our plan was not to have any more dogs until we had settled down somewhere. Our goal was all about mobility.

Tisen inspects the family portrait pose

But as things changed and we exercised our mobility less and less, I found myself home alone way too much. Working from home is not the same as actually being around other people, even on days when I’m on conference calls for 10 straight hours.

Black and white Hipstamatic version using the D-Type film

Not wanting a long-term commitment, I decided to foster dogs for a local shelter. Tisen was my 3rd foster dog in Chattanooga. I am what is called a “foster failure.” That’s what it’s called when foster mom and dad adopt the dog they’re fostering. I can live with that kind of failure.

My boy kept stealing family members–Baby Beaver had to be omitted from the group shot to get Tisen to settle down

But, having failed to plan the permanent addition of Tisen to our family, it follows that I would be equally less deliberate about planning the additions Tisen would bring home. It started with the discovery of his love for squeaky toys. For the first year we had Tisen, he had no interest in treats. Only squeaky toys.

Tisen licks his nose after being reunited with Snake makes him sneeze

As a result, we kept getting him more squeaky toys. Soon, it became a tradition every time we went to PetsMart, Tisen gets to pick out a new toy. He carries it so proudly through the store with the tags still hanging off it. Usually, he tries to prance straight out the front door with it. He hasn’t quite gotten the “we have to pay for it” concept down yet. So far the store manager has been very understanding and hasn’t prosecuted Tisen for attempted shop lifting.

A more traditional image of the family yielded a pile of jumbled colors

Today, I decided, was the day to find out just how large the family had grown. I haven’t attempted a family portrait since October, when Cow Ball joined the family. I was a bit shocked when I gathered up all the family members and piled them on the sofa. This actually took two trips!

Tisen isn’t quite sure what he’s supposed to do with the huge pile of toys on the sofa

I got out the last inventory list I’d made and checked off the toys as I found them. Each and every one of them was accounted for, plus about 10 news ones added since October. There was even one extra–White Ball. White ball doesn’t belong to Tisen. He “borrowed” it from Twiggy, his girlfriend. It’s probably some ploy he’s using to try to get her to come over–she likes to play it cool.

Close up of Big Dog, Red Dog, Artie (the Armadillo/’Possum), and Puppy Luv cuddling

I had a little trouble fitting the entire family into the frame. I’m a little worried they’ve started multiplying on their own–how did we end up with 3 bears? Last time I checked, we only had Minnie and Eddie Bear. Now we have Flat Bear, too. This is why family planning is so important.

Had great fun with an overexposed shot–after much adjusting, it ended up reminding me of a crayon drawing

Getting the Goat

Posted by dkrashb on December 5, 2012

The Grand Marshall Goat

The Grand Marshall Float

There was a very special grand marshall at the Mainx24 Parade: Oreo, the goat. Oreo, a pygmy goat, is a pet. He belongs to a family who lives in a suburb on the boundary of Chattanooga called East Ridge.

As the story goes, Oreo is more like a dog than a goat. Unfortunately for Oreo and his family, East Ridge doesn’t allow goats. The East Ridge City Council took issue with Oreo and, after months of hearings, ruled that Oreo is not an exception.

The struggle for the family to stay together made the local news and really got the goat of many, creating a bit of a local media stir. The organizers of the Mainx24 event on the South Side invited Oreo to be the grand marshall for the parade.

Ironically, when I googled “chattanooga south side goat,” about half way down the results, Niko’s South Side Grill came up as having goat on the menu. Fortunately for Oreo, it turned out to be goat cheese. 🙂

By the way, Oreo’s family has said that they will move before they give up the goat.

I think it made the media because writers secretly love opportunities for bad puns.

A Woody

Lookouts

Following Oreo, a series of vintage cars went by, including one advertising the local minor league baseball team, the Lookouts. While there didn’t appear to actually be any Lookout team members in the car (it’s off season), it still reminded me to add getting to one of their games to my list of things to do.

Santa 2x

Santa came along several times during the parade. I’m beginning to develop a theory about how he manages to get to all the houses in a single night. In this series of photos, he was riding a Harley. I don’t actually see the Harley as contributing to his success at criss-crossing the planet so quickly.

Little Sisters Stalking Santa

Santa was wisely followed by a float full of young girls from the Big Sisters program–they were smart to stay close to Santa.

The Duck

Next, two of my favorite Chattanoogan vehicles came by. The first, a genuine WWII Duck. I’ve had the great pleasure of riding in one of these when the Chattanooga Audubon Society made arrangements with them to transport a group to McClellan Island for a bird walk. We got the full tour in the process and it was quite fun.

Big City Tour Bus

The second is the double-decker bus that frequently goes by our place with a tour guide chattering away with the loud speaker echoing in our building. I like the double-decker bus, none-the-less. It’s become symbolic of Chattanooga’s character: big city in a small package with a lot more smiling.

Stroller Brigade

Immediately behind the double-decker bus, there was a brigade of women and the occasional man pushing baby strollers, mostly with babies in them. I wasn’t sure if they were representing something, but it sure was cute.

It also makes my point: big city followed by small town, smiles all around.

Skin Problems

Posted by dkrashb on November 10, 2012

I have one last story from our wedding/elopement (that always seems like a fake word to me) to share with you and then I will return to current events in tomorrow’s post.

On the day after our “wedding,” we decided to go to Taliesin West–the Frank Lloyd Wright school of architecture that was out in the middle of nowhere the first time I visited in the early ‘90s. As of 6 years ago, it was on the outskirts of Scottsdale. Now, it may be in the middle of downtown.

I like Frank Lloyd Wright buildings when it comes to interesting places to visit. However, I wouldn’t want to live in one. For one thing, he apparently sized everything to make himself look taller. I am tall. I don’t feel the need to be made to look taller and I don’t really appreciate being forced to duck through doorways just because the man had a complex. It is a great tour, however.

Only about 5 miles away, McDowell Mountain promised a nice hike in the afternoon, so we took the long route back to the resort and made a stop at McDowell.

Mountains in Phoenix are like miniature versions of the mountains of the Pacific Northwest minus all the foliage and, of course, snow. Without the trees and snow caps, they resemble acne. The desert is suddenly, almost rudely, interrupted by a big old brown bump that looks like some sort of underlying infection caused it to swell above the surface of the landscape. I mean this in the most loving of ways.

While the sudden appearance of these bumps on the landscape might be somewhat odd, one of the great advantages of these isolated, suburban mountains is they afford amazing views across otherwise flat land.

How could we resist making the short drive to one of these pimples to check it out? Unfortunately, we didn’t really pack hiking clothes. We had many layers and waterproof jackets/pants for the Grand Canyon tour, but waterproof clothes are really hot. While it wasn’t scorching hot in Phoenix in December, it wasn’t “wrap yourself in plastic and hike up a mountain” cold. Having just come from Taliesin West, we were wearing our “good” clothes. We looked the paved, gently graded trail and decided we would be just fine.

For once, we were right. Although the climb got a little steep, we managed to make it to the top without sweating through our shirts too badly.

And the views were completely worth it. It was at that moment I realized why so many people move to Phoenix. That little pimple makes for quite an overlook!

West is East of East

Posted by dkrashb on November 9, 2012

On our wedding day, we each went through our pre-wedding grooming with anticipation that was surprising considering we’d been living together for 10 years by the time we got married.

Me in my new dress (which Pat helped pick out) and Pat in his new suit (which he’d failed to get tailored, so it gave him a sweet little-boy-in-Dad’s-suit look), we headed towards Mesa.

As a side note, I did not help him pick out his suit. He thought it was hilarious to not let me see it until the last possible second. I think he was going for a backwards-themed wedding given that we’d already reversed so many other traditions.

We gave ourselves three times as much time as we’d been told we would need to get to the courthouse. We had to arrive by 4:50PM so there would still be witnesses there to sign the wedding license. The judge performed ceremonies after hours.

We made great time, got to the road the courthouse was on with plenty of time to spare, and headed East. We crossed from W University Dr to E University Dr and started watching for the courthouse. We got to the spot where it was supposed to be; there was no building with that address.

Puzzled, we turned around and drove back the other way, thinking maybe we had the address wrong and it was really W University Dr. We got to where the address should should have been and, again, there was no building with that number.

We called the courthouse and they told us they were, in fact, on E University Dr and provided helpful hints for someone who’s never been there like “we’re right next to the intersection where the McDonald’s used to be.”

We turned around, headed back East, and came to the same place we’d been before. No building had magically appeared. I called again. They seemed completely clueless as to where we could be or how to help. We were starting to panic. We were running out of time.

On a whim, we decided to keep going East in case there was some weird mis-ordering of addresses or something. As we continued to go East, E University Dr suddenly became W University Dr again. This made our heads spin. I pulled out my glasses to make sure I was looking at the right road on Google maps on my Blackjack (remember those?) fearful we had just gone in a circle without realizing it. We had not.

We nearly turned around again, but I had the sudden thought that if there were two W University Drives, there must be two E University Drives, too. So, we kept going East. And, lo and behold, there was another E University Dr and we found our courthouse just in time.

And that is the story of how I learned West is East of East.

P.S. Photo Credits on pictures of us go to the Judge who married us–he took pictures with my PowerShot G3 while he was marrying us.

Cliff Driving

Posted by dkrashb on November 8, 2012

I should start this story by saying I’m terrified of heights. That said, after our mini-adventure at the Grand Canyon, we decided to take the scenic route back to Scottsdale via the Apache Trail. This is a scenic drive, not a hike. I use the term “drive” loosely. Crawl might be more appropriate.

Somehow, in my meticulous planning of our trip and research on the Apache Trail, I failed to understand that a good portion is a 1 1/2 lane wide, two-way dirt road hung on the side of a cliff so steep and high that I couldn’t manage to look down it. RVs apparently travel this road from time to time. I’m convinced had I managed to gather the courage to look over the edge, I would have discovered where those RVs end up.

Since I had rented the car with my frequent traveler points and we hadn’t added Pat as a driver (they charge a lot for that), I had the great pleasure of driving in the outside lane with the cliff on the right. This was OK since I could mostly drive on the left side of the road, leaving a 1/2 car-width gap between us and the edge of the cliff. However, panic ensued when a car came the other direction.

This required finding a wide spot in the road, pulling as close to the guard-railless edge and stopping while I gripped the steering wheel so tightly my skin melded with the vinyl covering on the steering wheel. I can’t claim I was the most pleasant person on this drive.

When the second car approached, it didn’t slow down. It just came barreling at us like we were on some four-lane highway in the desert. I got as close to the edge as I dared, stopped, and braced for impact. The car slipped by so close that had our rearview mirrors been at the same height, they would have hit. I suspect this was a local who takes great pleasure in terrorizing tourists.

At this point, I didn’t care what the rental car policy said. I got out of the car and informed Pat I was not driving one more inch.

Unfortunately, sitting in the passenger seat next to the cliff where I couldn’t see the edge of the road was not exactly comforting. It says a lot about my husband that he didn’t drop me off at the Phoenix airport instead of continuing straight to our hotel by the time we got off that road that was never meant to be a road.

The net of this “scenic” drive was that we didn’t get to enjoy the scenery except when we stopped to stretch at the periodic pullouts. It also took about the same time to drive the dirt stretch as if we were riding mountain bikes.

My advice: follow the lead of the Apache and walk the darn thing!

Like life, it’s beautiful, but best enjoyed as a destination rather than a route.

Honeymooning

Posted by dkrashb on November 7, 2012

Ah, dear readers, you are in trouble now: I have been digging through my old photos again! Guess what I dug up? Yes, it’s my wedding. Well, more accurately, my honeymoon followed by my marriage. We don’t often do things traditionally.

We decided to elope. We, coincidentally, had purchased a special deal on 3 nights in a resort in Scottsdale, Arizona earlier that year and had yet to set a date to use it. This, combined with the fact that, in Arizona, you can get a marriage license the same day you get married set our destination for us. The dates available for the resort picked our dates.

I imagined a grand adventure to the Grand Canyon–getting married on an overlook before hiking off into the sunset with our backpacks. Then, a luxurious honeymoon in Scottsdale.

Although I had flown over the Grand Canyon many times, I’d never been to it. It didn’t occur to me that the rim of the canyon is at high altitude. As I started planning the trip, I soon learned that not much is open at the Grand Canyon in December.

That’s why we ended up doing the honeymoon part of the trip first.

In the end, we drove from the Phoenix airport to Williams, passing through the mountains over icy roads in a snowstorm that seemed to have appeared from nowhere compared to the weather we’d left behind.

We spent the night on Route 66 in a “Honeymoon Suite” Caboose. It sounded romantic when I booked it. If you’re looking for a recommendation, I’d say it would be a great place to stay when the outdoor temperature is perfect for sleeping. Turns out an old caboose has zero insulation and . . . you guessed it . . . it’s made of metal. You can imagine how thermally efficient that was on a night when it was way below freezing. Let’s just say it became clear to me why they called it the honeymoon suite (refer to hypothermia survival tactics if you’re confused).

In the morning, we took the train up to the Grand Canyon. However, we had to make a quick stop at a local general store first. This is how the discussion went:

Pat: “You can’t wear your hiking sandals and socks in the snow!”

Me: “It’s all I brought when we decided we weren’t going to backpack. I’ll be fine.”

Pat: “Let’s just get you a pair of snow boots before we get on the train.”

Me: “Snow boots! The train leaves at 7AM! Where are we going to find a pair of snow boots in the off-season in a tourist town at 6:30 in the morning???”

Pat: “I’m sure there will be a place open.”

Me: “Why would anyone be open at 6:30 in the morning???”

(This was a pre-coffee conversation.)

Believe it or not, there’s a general store in the middle of Williams that’s open at 6:30AM who sells snow boots in December. Go figure.

Welcoming Cow Ball

Posted by dkrashb on October 29, 2012

: Tiger looks like he’s wearing a hat, but it’s really Duck behind him

I’m beginning to think Lamb is a bit of a tramp. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m happy she’s living her life to the fullest. After all, it’s probably a lot more fun then just hiding under the bed until Tisen decides it’s her turn to go for a walk. But, first we had the whole disappearance with ‘Possum. Then we had the Duck incident. And now, it appears she and Big Dog have run off for some sort of road trip.

I discovered Lamb was, once again, lost when I gathered everyone together for a dual-purpose portrait: to create a record of all of Tisen’s toys so we can remember when they’ve gone missing, and to practice using my flash on camera since I broke a hot shoe adapter for my light stand and will need the flash for a shoot tonight.

I was playing with a honeycomb grid attachment for my flash unit to see what it looks like on camera (as opposed to on a light stand). It creates a very tight, spotlight effect which seems like it will work well for shooting at the Haunt tonight.

Cow Ball appears at the far left of the group shot. I’m at least 50% sure she is, in fact, a cow. I like her because she matches Tisen’s coloring. Tisen likes her because a) she has nice soft fur and b) she has a very loud squeak. Tisen is a sucker for a good squeak. He tried out Monkey, Pink Elephant, Silly Dog, and Flat Cow, but decided Cow Ball was the one he wanted to take home with him.

This was a Tisen day. Given how much I’ve been working, Tisen’s been feeling neglected. And, of couse, I will be gone all evening shooting at the Haunt.

After sleeping late, we took a long walk to a dog-friendly pub, Hair of the Dog, where we sat on the patio for a late lunch. Tisen enjoyed people watching. He also enjoyed some of Daddy’s fries.

Tisen was quite a hit walking down the road with Jack in his mouth. Tisen’s toy-carrying habit is the best PR move for pit bulls ever. Or it would be–most people don’t recognize him as a pit when they seem him with a toy. It’s an interesting psychological phenomena.

After our walk and lunch, Tisen and I went looking for a hot shoe adapter to replace my broken one. Unfortunately, one camera store who might have had it has gone out of business. The other one closed an hour earlier. Best Buy had never heard of a hot shoe adapter.

But, we were next to PetsMart, so I took Tisen in to pick out a toy since he’d been so good about guarding the car. It was hard to get it out of his mouth long enough to scan it at the register. Hopefully Cow Ball will stay closer to home than Lamb.

Bad Birds

Posted by dkrashb on October 27, 2012

The plentiful song birds migrating through Chattanooga right now have not only evaded my lens, but also my vision. I haven’t even been able to figure out what they are. Usually when I can’t see a bird well and I run into it for several days in a row, after I obsess about trying to identify it for a while, it will perch in front of me and I will discover it’s something as exciting as a house sparrow.

Because I find the difficulty of shooting such small birds amusing, I’ve decided to share some photos today that I would mostly not choose to share under ordinary circumstances. As any wannabe photographer will tell you, most actual photographers advise never to put your crap photos on the web; only show you’re best. But what’s more amusing than headless birds cut partly out of the frame completely out of focus and under exposed?

I guess what’s funny to me about them is not the actual image I ended up with so much as the story behind it. If you can visualize me crouching patiently with my camera, firing as rapidly as I can while I try to keep a tiny songbird in my frame and walk towards it in the hope of ending up with something bigger than a tiny dark spot that is indistinguishable from a leaf. Inevitably, this ends in the bird flying away and me tripping over something.

Or, there’s the blurry shot of Cayse coming right at me in a flare. I’m sitting there trying to refocus on her as she perfectly spreads her wings and even fits in my frame. But, no. She’s closer than my lens’ minimum focusing distance. Or, the fact that her solid black feathers present no contrast for my camera’s focusing system to work with prevents reaching focus before she’s flying over my head.

I would love to have a video of me trying to follow a hummingbird with my lens and get a shot of it in flight. I’m amazed I got even the shot in the gallery, but I must have looked insane bobbing and weaving with my camera trying to follow the flight pattern of the hummer.

Whenever I am in Florida, I am relieved by the large, cooperative birds who will gladly stand around and pose for hours at a time. Northern waterbirds are far less cooperative. This is apparently true in Europe too–we were at the Bodensee on the southern border of Germany when I attempted to shot a group of swans. Much like a fly that will shoot out from under your hand when you try to slap it, these swans would tip upside down as soon as I pushed the shutter button.

I suppose much like the rare bird seems more beautiful than the common one, the rare decent shot seems more beautiful because it’s rare. In the meantime, I keep watching eBay for a great deal on a used 600mm lens.

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nomadicmainstream

Combining living on the road with a mainstream lifestyle

Category Archives: Humor