A fool for a sunbeam

I've always had a weak spot for sunbeams, and lately have had a lot to work with.

The lace curtains in the sunroom.

The Christmas cactus just to the right on the table.

The leather boxes in the living room. If I ever decide to get into large format pinhole, this would be kind of a classy way to do it.

After she painted an oak forest in the dining room, Sarah gilded a couple leaves to complete the theme.

Two tulips against the shaded side of the hedge.

And a closeup of the right hand blossom.

All with the Populist. .15mm pinhole 24mm from 24x36mm frame.

Mid May at Mosquito HIll.

This flowering crab is in a large field where they hold outdoor events just behind the interpretive building.

Just as we got started on the path up the hill, we encountered this fox snake stretched across the path.

A cluster of jack-in-the-pulpits just getting going by the switch back

This year has been the most spectacular display of trilliums. They were all over above the north path.

If you look around you can usually find one protected from the wind for a closeup.

The greening of the hill shot looking up.

and looking down.

There was a rather dramatic view looking over the Wolf River valley.

There were even Trilliums among the Mayapples on top the hill.

A new maple leaf just opening looking as red as will in the fall.

I just couldn't pass up this solitary wood violet nestled in the tree roots.

Just as we started down the hill again, we encountered another fox snake.

In the oxbow, the grass that was just under the surface two weeks ago has now emerged.

At the frog pond, a big frog held absolutely still for me right next to the platform, but between the wide angle of the Populist and its natural camouflage, you can barely see it.

All with the Populist. .15mm pinhole 24mm from 24x36mm frame.

Late start at Mosquito Hill

Between my knee surgery and some weather issues, we didn't get up to Mosquito Hill until quite late and spring was already well underway.

For several years, I've picked a spot or two and tried to take a photo from exactly the same viewpoint as the seasons progressed. This year it's a shot I've done numerous times of this two-trunked birch half-way up the north path, but from a little farther back than I usually portray it, with a good bit of the slope above the path.

The other view I'll be following is just up the path about 10 yards, looking down the path, this time including the slope below the path.

Just about the first wild flowers to appear are the bloodroots (There are others but they flutter too much in the wind.).

I'm always amazed to find at least one chunk of rock that's broken off the sandstone and gotten caught in some unlikely corner created between the rocks and the trees.

When rock and other debris falls, is washed down natural cracks, and gets deposited between two mountains it's called an alluvial fan, but when it's a pile this small, it's called talus (I checked with a geologist).

At the top of the hill, the mayapples are just emerging and unfolding.

After the record high levels of the oxbow pond last December, it was kind of a surprise to find it quite normal, and sprouting some of what will be wild rice stalks still under the surface.

The frog pond with it's normal spring collection of various types of floating scum.

All with the Populist. .15mm pinhole 24mm from 24x36mm frame.

Pinhole Day: insurance and the rest of the roll.

I wanted to use one of the older 120 cameras to do something special for Pinhole Day, but because I have been very painfully stung by light leaks, I made a point to shoot at least a couple shots with the Populist on Pinhole Day.

I'm part of the coordinating team and have to review images, so a robust internet connection is necessary.  We have occasional periods when our wireless router doesn't behave so politely with Time-Warner's modem, so for a while the only thing I had to work with was my iPhone on my cell plan. (The Worldwide Pinhole Photography web site is pretty portable friendly.)

The old MacBook Pro downstairs with the trashed monitor and the cheap Vizio TV connected as an external screen, which I use to scan all these negatives, is connected to the internet by an actual Cat 5 cable so that stays up almost all the time.

I did one of the 120 Populist shots of the magnolia because I wanted to capture the magnolia petals lying among the violet blossoms.  Including the cane in a shot seemed to place it in the right temporal context, and I think i've given away my fondness for footography.

I took two exposures, and can't really tell which I like better.  Taking the uncertain blogger's prerogative to use as much of Google's server space as i want,  I'll just post both of them.

It turns out I was happy with one of the shots from the Glenlivet Vertical Populist, so the insurance shots weren't necessary.

At the end of the day, I still had four frames left in the Glenlivet and I wanted to process it as soon as possible.

One was supposed to be a sunbeam shining on the sea chest in the living room, but the sun moved away about the time I opened the shutter and it was extremely under exposed.

The other three turned out to also be of that most convenient and cooperative model.

One issue with my enforced bed rest earlier this spring, from sitting up in bed in an odd position, was explicitly a pain in the ass. It was worse than the knee and the Vicodin didn't touch it.  Soaking in a hot tub would have felt really good,  but the recovery protocol banned hot baths which were likely to exacerbate the swelling in the surgical knee.  By Pinhole Day that danger was mostly gone, and Monday morning, I had a long soak.  You'll note the only sharp body part is the surgical knee which I kept out of the hot water, just in case.

Monday was as nice a day as Sunday was cold and rainy. I read Sky & Telescope on the porch while I waited for my hair to dry.

Took a close-up to show off my clean hair. I don't really need to use the cane anymore to support the surgical knee, but on long walks it helps me go farther on the other knee. And I kind of like the image of the gentleman with a walking stick.  I put this up as my new profile photo on Facebook.