Tag Archives: Tisen

Waiting on the Wind

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Saturday afternoon, we returned to the mountain launch  at the Lookout Mountain Flight Park.  We called first and learned there was about a 50-50 chance that the wind would quiet down as the sun got lower.

We stood at the top of the launch for the second time that day.  I stood on the steeply sloping concrete ramp and imagined the steps I would take to launch.  I even took the first few steps, pretending I was holding a glider on my shoulders.  I managed to get almost up to the “fall line” without getting gelatin knees.  Normally, being close to the edge of a precipice makes me feel faint.  Today, with my eyes on the horizon and the imaginary glider on my shoulders, I barely notice how close I am to the edge.

I feel invincible.

I hear my husband in the background, “Careful–don’t forget you don’t have a glider!” He knows exactly what is going through my mind, having stood here himself more than once.

The windsock doesn’t turn my way.  It continues to blow “over-the-back,” as they say.  In other words, a tailwind.  Launching in a tailwind is not an option.   We hang out on top of the mountain for an hour, walking Tisen in the woods and watching the sun get lower in the sky.  But, the wind only gets stronger.

We return home.   I’ve been cleared to launch from the mountain 3 times now, but this is the first time I’m disappointed the weather kept me grounded.

The next morning, we get up early and head on over to the mountain again.  Now that I’m ready to launch, I want to launch.

On the way, I do a calculation.  I have done approximately 150 training hill flights of 7-12 seconds each, or about 1500 seconds of total flight time.  So, in exchange for 150 landings (the part that’s hard on my body), I have gotten 25 minutes in the air.  By comparison, I should get at least 5 minutes in the air in a fledgling flight off the mountain launch.  That means I only have to land 5 times to get the same amount of air time I’ve had to land 150 times for in the past.  My knees are also excited about the mountain launch now!

But, alas.  The wind is no more cooperative Sunday morning.  I stand poised once again on the ramp, visualizing my flight plan.  We even go so far as to assemble a glider and have it ready to go just in case the wind turns around.  But, by the time of the morning where the valley is in the sun (an event that can make the wind change direction), the wind is still blowing the wrong way and far too strong.  Even the tandem flights that are towed up are grounded.

We return home disappointed for the third time in a row.  But I retain the feeling of excitement anticipating that first launch.

Tisen wags his tail listlessly on the drive home as he cuddles Minnie Teddy.

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Ready for the Mountain

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I hop out of bed Saturday morning looking forward to hang gliding.  The weather is supposed to be perfect.  Even more exciting, I had an epiphany on Thursday that I am ready to go off the mountain.  Oddly, I don’t remember why.

We arrive at the training hills and get up on the big hill as quickly as possible.  There is a gentle headwind that makes launching an absolute breeze (I know, bad pun).

I have 3 fantastic flights.  I launch strong, control the glider well, and land on my feet like I have been doing this for a long time.  Since I”m on about my 150th launch, maybe I have?

Then, the wind that is supposed to be calm today starts to misbehave.  It picks up speed and strength and starts to cross.  When it’s my turn, the instructor has decided we will wait for a calm cycle so we can fly back down to the setup area, but no more flying today.

I wait and wait.  Then, the wind calms slightly and stops crossing.  I call, “clear” and start the approach.  I’m 3 steps into the approach when a crosswind grabs my glider.  I run to my target and try to straighten it out on the ground, but the wind carries me off the hill–I am airborne and headed for the trees.

I attempt to turn, but the glider doesn’t respond to my inputs.  For a split second, the thought, “I could actually die doing this” pops into my head.  Then I say to myself, “DON’T PANIC!” (yes, this is an exact quote from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”).  Instantly, the magical words that have been drilled into my head follow: “Pull in for Speed.”  And this, my friends, was the moment when I knew I was going to be OK.

Not only today, but on the mountain.  Because in a moment when my brain might have completely frozen, I gained control and was able to turn the glider away from the trees.

But my ride wasn’t quite over.  As I approached for landing, the wind picked me up again, lifting the entire glider.  I was a bit torn on whether to pull the nose down again this time since I was awfully close to the ground to try to pick up speed.  I compromised by pulling in the nose slightly and then pushing out just a little as I got close to the ground, managing a nice gentle landing on the wheels.

Ironically, I came out with fewer bumps than when I walk from the bedroom to the bathroom.  Maybe I should just do dangerous things all the time?

Tisen came running down the hill to greet me a few minutes after I’d started carrying the glider to the break down area.  I’m not sure if he was afraid he was about to lose his new mommy, but he certainly seemed happy to see me in one piece.

No photos or video from today, so I’m afraid this is a re-run:

Here’s a new one of Tisen doing Yin and Yang with Pat:

Flash of Insight

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When children learn a new grammar rule, they often start over applying it.  They get that adding “s” makes things plural, so they add “s” to everything.  They learn the exceptions later.  I’ve had the realization that I have learned what the depth of field will be like at a few aperture settings and started applying those settings all the time.

Now, the trick is to step things up a notch and start paying closer attention to the exact results I get in each circumstance.

In the meantime, I had a moment of weakness.  Upon spotting a very good price on some used studio lighting, I decided it was time to figure out how to start taking control of the lighting in my living room.

Today I take on two lessons simultaneously.  First, control depth of field.  Second, control lighting.  I start by using Pat as a reluctant model, but he bails and I turn to Tisen.

As it turns out, the enormous soft box and umbrella of light flashing at him are enough to motivate Tisen to go nap elsewhere.  I am stuck with only Tisen’s toys to shoot.

In reviewing the shots I’ve selected, here are the lessons I took from each (so far):

  1. Over exposure is easy when using giant studio flashes.  I actually really like this picture however.  This is a barely retouched photo–the drawing effect is purely from the overexposure.

2.  The second shot is what happens when you are using two monolights and you forget to turn one on.  I actually like this shot, too, though.  I am beginning to think I do my best work by accident.

3.  A grouping of Tisen’s toys are a great tool for depth of field practice.  In this shot, at f/4.5 (another thing I learned–I apparently have 1/3 stops enabled on my camera), I got a relatively shallow depth of field.  Shallow enough that I was able to tell that Red Dog and Mr. Beaver were not sharp from my camera’s LCD.

4.  Same group shot at f/10, the depth of field is significantly better than the last shot, although Red Dog still does not look sharp.  I am beginning to suspect that it’s difficult to get fake red fur to look sharp.  I also added a fill light to reduce shadows.

5.  I switched Lamb and Mr. Beaver, who always looks like he’s in a shadow.  The depth of field was the same as the previous shot.

6.  Here, Tisen demonstrates both a shallow depth of field (paw in foreground out of focus) and what happens when your subject decides to pop up and take a nap with his head propped against your soft box.

7.  Repeating the previous shot with greater depth of field, now the paw is in focus and so is his face (I think?).

8. Finally, I thought it would be nice to see the setup (plus Tisen).  There is also a light behind the umbrella.  Given that this is all new to me, I was pretty happy with the lighting results.

Speak No Evil

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I am having a lot of issues with my TMJ.  It feels physically impossible to relax the muscles of my jaw.  Some have told me that this implies I’m holding back.  I wonder about that.  Generally, I am an outspoken person.  But, when I think about the things I would like to say vs the things I actually say, I realize I do hold back.  A lot.

For example, when I’m at work on a call with someone who is preventing me from moving forward with a project and I can’t figure out why they are even involved in the decision making process,  I don’t say, “why do you think you have the right to an opinion about this?” or “I’m sorry, why are you here?”

There was a time in my life when I probably would have.

Acclimating myself to a career in the corporate world has largely meant learning how to keep my mouth closed.  Apparently, clenched tight.

Oddly, people seem to feel like they’re a “value add” (one of my favorite corporatisms) by pointing out any possible reason why we shouldn’t do something.  It’s rare to meet a person who wants to suggest how we could do something.

Even more oddly, this has been consistent across the companies I’ve worked for throughout my career; it is not unique to the company I work for now.  I wonder what it is about corporations that create the need in people to be gatekeepers?  Or is it that they feel that way their whole lives and a corporation just provides a place to express their inner selves?  Is there such a thing as a born gatekeeper?

When these people say “I’m here to help,” what they mean is, “I am here to maintain the status quo by causing delays so that we’ve completely missed the market before you can force any changes.”

In the meantime, I clench my jaw and try not to scream.

I guess I am holding back.

Thankfully, I now have Tisen to nudge me with his nose during the highest stress moments in my day.  Tisen reminds me that there are far worse alternatives to being gainfully employed and able to work from home.

Working from home also saves me an hour and a half a day that I get to spend on trying to become a better photographer.  So, who am I to complain?

On the subject of photography, this is the final edition of “Going Vertical.”  Today’s shots are, however, macro shots rather than landscape.  Well, at least some of them.  I’ve been told the official definition of “macro” means a 1:1 relationship between the size of the image and the size of the subject in real life.  Clearly, not all of these photos meet that criteria.

I had a lot of fun shooting reflections in the wetland area.  Unfortunately, I’ve found that how much fun I have while shooting is not a predictor of how much I like the resulting images.

UPDATED:

The completely original 3 images processed into the horizontal shot:

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Decisions, Decisions

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There are things I just buy.  I say “I want that” and I spend the money and feel giddy with indulgence.  Then, there are things that exceed my “just buy it” threshold and I torment myself for months trying to decide what to do.

I’ve been putting off making a decision for months now.  I do a lot of landscape photography whether that’s what I intend or not and I’m running up against the limits of my wide angle lens on my small-sensor (APS) camera.

At the same time, my current camera needs its sensor cleaned badly.  I have found one place to take my camera to have the sensor cleaned, but it will take two days.  So, I will try to do enough shooting this weekend to get me through until I get my camera back.

This is another argument for why my next purchase should be a full-frame camera instead of a super wide-angle lens for my current one–if I had a second camera, it wouldn’t be so bad to have my camera in the shop for a couple of days–a serious consideration now that my camera is several years old.

And this brings us to the crux of my debate:  an extra-wide angle lens for my current camera or a full-frame camera.  It’s a tough call.  The extra-wide angle lens will only work with small-sensor cameras, which means if I buy it and then decide to go full-frame later, it won’t work on my new camera.

It comes down to either potentially throwing away a smaller amount of money to get the wide angle I want or making a larger, long-term investment that will give me a second camera body.  The smaller sensor has the advantage that it gives an equivalent angle of view to the focal length times 1.6.  However, I’m a little confused about why this is better.  It seems like the subject is the same size in the image, but there’s less stuff around it.   In essence, the same image could be achieved in the full frame simply by cropping the photo.

In any case, after getting through an online class session on APS vs Full Frame sensors, I’m leaning towards getting a full frame camera to compliment my APS camera.  That said, I’m still not ready to spend that kind of money.  I will have to work around being camera-less for a couple of days while my sensor is being cleaned.  I wonder if Tisen will notice?

My photos today consist of part II of my “Going Vertical” experiment.  This group is from right along the river.  I really like the traditionally processed color photo of the bridge, sky, and grass.  I like the black and whites, too.  Still not sold on some of the more obvious HDR processing.

The video is a “time lapse” shoot of Tisen on the couch.  However, something went wrong in the conversion and it bounces around quite a bit.  I hope you aren’t prone to motion sickness!

Old Dog, New Tricks

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Tisen is lying on the balcony in the sun, basking like he wants a tan.  Pat carries his bed out, trying to make him more comfortable.  Tisen gets up and comes in instead.

They seem to have taken a step backwards in their bonding today.  When Pat leaned in close while we were at the computer together, Tisen’s head suddenly appeared between us as he issued a growl.  He refused to eat the breakfast Pat prepared for him.  I mixed some pulled pork in it to get him to eat half of it.

He also bolted at bed time last night, not only refusing to get into his crate, but refusing to come into the bedroom.  He ran behind the couch and lay down, refusing to get up even for me.  We decided to let him sleep in the living room, but we left the door open in case he changed his mind.

He didn’t.  In the morning, he was curled up on the couch.  Perhaps I am going through more withdrawal than he is because I got up at 6:30AM and cuddled with him for a half an hour before going back to bed.

Then, Pat took him for his morning walk and made him breakfast.  And still he acts like Pat is not allowed to touch me!  Maybe I shouldn’t have cuddled with him on the couch.  I am having a hard time with kicking him out of the bed.  He acts strange and distant sometimes now.  He’s a stubborn boy who knows his own mind, that’s for sure.

He just woke from a dream again, jumping off the couch and running towards the open balcony door.  He stands at the door looking at his bed lying outside and seems confused.  He stands there for a good 30 seconds or so like he’s trying to get his bearings.  He looks around and then heads for the water bowl.  I’m certain he had no idea where he was.  I wonder if he is relieved when he realizes he’s with us?

After a long drink, he returns to his spot next to me, licks his paws and settles in for another nap.  I wonder if he will ever stop dreaming about whatever it is that makes him suddenly run away?

I can’t help but make a video when he starts snoring.  He cracks me up.

For today’s photography experiment, I decide to do landscape photography on the vertical.  I head down to Renaissance Park and see what new ways I can find to look at the things I see 4x a day.

I look for an interesting angle to shoot the wetlands overlook from.  I head off the beaten path and soon find myself crawling in the grass, trying to get a low angle.  Once again, I am attracting the stares of strangers.  I wish I would have gotten a little more water in the frame, but I have to get used to composing while lying on my belly.

Staying Grounded

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Normally, I would be writing about our day on the hang gliding training hills on a Saturday.  However, it wasn’t worth getting up early only to find out we couldn’t fly given the wind predictions.  Tomorrow doesn’t look any more promising.  I think I hear my knees sighing with relief.

Instead, we are doing exciting things like pulling together our tax documents.  Sometimes being an adult is unavoidable.

I wish I could have enjoyed the laid back morning, but we were out of coffee.  When we’re out of coffee, I feel like I’m in a race–can I find a source of caffeine before I get a withdrawal headache?

Eventually, I gather up some bags and head towards the grocery store.  But I make a pitstop first.  It’s time for a new pair of fivefinger shoes.  I opt for a running style with a nice squishy sole that feels luxurious.  I decide I like them so well, I will wear them home and put the trekking pair I was wearing into the box.

I head on into Greenlife and pick up groceries.  Every time I go there, I think of our empty refrigerator back home and am reminded of my sister-in-law’s visit.  I pointed her to the fridge for filtered water and when she opened the door, she found a pitcher of filtered water and a 12-pack of beer.  That was it.  She laughed out loud.  I suppose it’s one of the ways we avoid adulthood.

Returning home, I am loaded with a bag on each shoulder and the bag with my old shoes in one hand.  I’m glad I only have to walk a block.  I return home to an excited dog that doesn’t know what to do with himself now that I’m home.  It’s as if he wants to punish me for going somewhere without him.  I help him find Lamb so he can have something in his mouth other than my hands.  Then, I pretend to play keep away by periodically acting like I’m going to chase him and saying all the right things.  In reality, I am putting away the groceries.

I think back to my intention of eating right all the time when we moved to Chattanooga.  Is it human nature to think that making one major change in your life will change all of it?  I must have forgotten the crux of the issue–I brought myself with me when we moved.

For today’s photography lesson, I decided to go outdoors.  I have a request for shots of our balcony, so I carry my tripod and camera across the street and start shooting.  I’m not sure what is so remarkable about a person with a tripod and camera, but I certainly attract a lot of stares.  Or maybe it’s my fivefingers shoes they’re staring at?

I am still torn on whether I like the HDR processed images as well as “traditional” processing.  It’s a lot of fun to play with, though.

Riding the Storm Out

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Today was crazy busy.  I got out of bed, started working immediately following Tisen’s walk, and didn’t get a chance to shower, eat or even take a break until well after 5.  When I did take a break, it was largely because my father had been trying to reach me to make sure I was still alive.  Apparently, I was just missed by a tornado and I failed to notice.

I vaguely recall realizing it was raining hard.  I remember Pat coming back from his noon walk with Tisen soaking wet.  And I remember the smell of wet dog wafting up, alerting me when Tisen was at my feet.  I also remember commenting on the ridiculous number of sirens today.  But I was clueless as to why.

As it turns out, the worst is yet to come.  I decide to take Tisen out for his evening walk, figuring I’d better get him out before the next storm comes through.

As we finish our lap around the park, lightening charges across the sky in a display that makes me wish first that I had my camera set up and then that I wasn’t standing in an open field.  I’ve never seen so much lightening all at once before.  It was like a giant spider web illuminated in the clouds.  Thankfully, none of it headed for the ground.

As large drops start to fall from the sky, I start running.  Tisen is not initially sold on the idea we had to hurry, but after a few more drops, he starts to move faster.

From our balcony, I watch the storm come in, camera in hand.  As much as I probably needed a tripod, I was feeling rushed, like we might have to run for safety at any moment.

This, of course, doesn’t stop me from firing off shots for as long as I can stand on the balcony.  It starts hailing like mad.  It’s the biggest hail I’ve ever seen in person, although I did have a car pummeled by grapefruit sized hail in Dallas once (fortunately, I was in Columbus at the time; unfortunately I flew and left my car at the Dallas airport).

After the storm dies down, the aftermath starts.  We watch the weather on TV and listen to sirens.  A bigger storm front is approaching.  Tisen will not settle down.  It’s a little nerve wracking to be in a top floor apartment even if it is only the 4th floor.  We plan to head for the first floor and hang out in the stairwell if things get really bad.

I decide I’d better shower and clean up in case we end up in a crowd  That done, I wrap up some unfinished work and then start shutting down computers and unplugging them.

Tisen walks around with his lamb in his mouth.  Pat thinks he is preparing for an emergency, taking his most valuable thing.  Pat asks me what I will take.  My first answer is my camera.

Apple Blossoms

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A bag of trash sits tied and waiting to be carried out to the dumpster.  I grab it and Tisen and we head out, back towards the dumpster.

This takes me into view of the street behind our parking lot lined by trees.  The trees look odd.  For a moment, I can’t process what’s so wrong about them.  Then, I realize they are covered in frost.  But that doesn’t seem right.  I look again.  It’s not frost, it’s blossoms.  I look away and look back again to make sure I didn’t imagine it.  No, they really are in full bloom.

I’m pretty sure they didn’t look like that yesterday.

We head towards to the park and I realize the trees that line our lot are not far behind, partially blooming as well.  I notice the shapes of dozens of mourning doves roosting as I look.  The birds are unperturbed by our presence, but then it takes a lot to roust a roosting mourning dove.

As we make our way through the park, I hear the brown thrasher I’ve been seeing lately.  A small group of yellow-rumped warblers flit by, landing on the ground in front of us before scattering into shrubs.  As I look for the warblers, a large flicker flashes his big white rump as he crosses the path.  Colorful rumps is the bird theme this morning.

Tisen does not appreciate the birds.  Although he is occasionally entertained when they land close, tantalizing enough for him to take a run at them.  I keep telling him he doesn’t chase birds; he keeps assuring me he does.

I notice the fruit trees in the park are also blooming.  It seems a month early to me, but who knows when the trees normally bloom down here.  I hope they aren’t too far off from their normal timing.

It’s a long work day, but since the sun is setting later, I manage to carry my tripod and camera down to the intersection near the blooming apple trees before the last light disappears.  I set up and shoot across Market St.  This makes for some interesting photos as traffic whizzes through my frame during long exposures.

I decide to get a shot of the hill beside the trees.  Getting a decent angle requires setting up in the middle of the crossroad.  Since there isn’t a lot of traffic on this road, I go for it.  I set up and, of course, several cars come my way almost immediately.  One lady stops to ask if I’m shooting the apple trees and remarks on how pretty they are.  A man glares at me, clearly thinking I’m crazy.

I suppose it’s a little crazy to set up expensive gear in the middle of a road when it’s getting dark and I don’t have so much as a reflective jacket.  I shoot quickly and get out of the road.  I carry my tripod home feeling like I’ve just completed some rite of passage for a photographer.

French Kiss

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I wake very early feeling like I’m in a straight jacket.  I realize Pat is pulling on the blankets on one side and Tisen has them pinned down on the other.  I wiggle my way to the top and crawl out, trying not to wake either of my boys.  I am sweating under two comforters in weather that feels like a summer night.

As I get comfortable and nod off, Tisen makes his way to the top of the bed, laying his head on my pillow.  I am soon awakened by a dog licking my arm.  There is just something disturbing about the notion that my dog has decided I need to be groomed in my sleep.

I roll over, tucking my arm under the cover and attempt to fall back asleep.  Tisen continually changes position, pushing me further and further over.  I decide tonight is the perfect night for him to learn to sleep in his crate.

I get an early start on work while Pat takes Tisen for his morning walk.  When Pat returns, he tells me he tested our new leash–a Wacky Walker.  When Tisen pulls, the leash stretches like a big bungee.  This is surprisingly nice.  There’s no jerk on your arm or shoulder and the leash springs back, teaching the dog that when he pulls, he gets pulled back.

The only problem is that I picked a leash that is only rated for up to 50 pounds.  What can I say?  The color went better with Tisen’s collar.  But, Tisen now weighs 60 pounds. When he encountered an aggressive dog at the park, he lunged at the dog and Pat was sure it would have broken if he wouldn’t have grabbed the non-stretchy end.  So much for fashion.

We move on to crate training in preparation for tonight.  Pat comes up with a great idea.  We call Pat’s phone from my phone and then leave his phone sitting on Tisen’s crate.  We put the phone on speaker and voila!  We have a dog monitor.  We’re gone 10 minutes and Tisen whines only once.  We repeat at dinner, but we’re gone nearly 40 minutes.  Once, I startle a few other diners sitting at the bar when I pick up the phone and shout the “Neh eh eh!” in it, but Tisen gets quiet and settles back down.

After dinner, I take a little time to play with some shots of the “French Kiss” chair (that’s what the designer named it).  Tisen walks through my shot several times, carrying a different toy each time he goes by.  He’s teasing me.

I have a lot of fun manipulating the French Kiss chair shots in Photomatix.

When at last I sit down to write, Tisen curls up next to me and dozes off.  10 minutes later, he wakes up, jumps off the couch and runs across the room.  This is not unusual.  I’m convinced he has awakened from a dream confused.  I hope he sleeps well in his crate tonight.

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