The roots of our two backyard trees occasionally break the surface. When they grow too high the mower trims off the top, producing these interesting patterns as they try to heal.
Which is a nuisance, as it is pointless raking up the leaves in the yard until all the trees are done shedding. Of course the longer the leaves from the other three trees are on the ground, the nastier and harder they are to rake up and dispose of. Darned inconvenient (and typical) of our Sweet Gum tree to hang on to its leaves when the others have shed theirs.
No remote shutter release this year, which meant I had to do the 10-second timer dash and hope the picture was okay. I’ve since bought a wireless shutter release which is much better than the infrared one I used with the Nikon.
The cats all know that they are not allowed on the kitchen table while we are eating. Mostly they are pretty good about it. Mr. Cat likes to sit here and keep an eye on what’s going on, and be ready should scraps of food be offered or neglected long enough for him to mount a raid.
Mr. Cat is no longer a very fat cat, and he has health issues. We enjoy his wonderful character and obsessive ways while we can.
Not my recording. We found this great video on YouTube. It shows Lanie performing in Big Fish. She had many parts, but here she’s one of the “Alabama Lambs”, along with Maizie Bassham and Caddie Timson. The number transitions to “Time Stops” where Nathaniel Grindstaff comes in.
I love black and White photography. It’s my preferred medium for portraits. But most people expect color pictures so now-a-days I tend to go with color and make the B&W copies for myself. Color is especially expected with the theater work which often has such vibrant colors in the costumes. However, Black and white does help get round some of the problems of working with stage lighting. It allows me to push the shadows and lighten the skin tones a bit more. Anyway here are some black and white copies of a few of the ‘Big Fish’ pictures.
Another great performance, and this time we were joined by Ginger’s parents, and Susan, Dennis, Matt, and Betsy.
This was the first time the Fuji has malfunctioned. Partly user error, partly something I’ve not got to the bottom of. My error was replacing the SD Card with an 8GB slow card. I have no idea why. It should have a 16GB or 32GB fast card. Once the buffer was full the camera shut down until it cleared – leaving several seconds when I couldn’t take pictures. I was running the camera in ‘stealth’ mode again. With the Liquid Crystal Display and the manual shutter turned off; rendering it invisible and silent. Twice during the performance, the back screen came on – showing what looked like a firmware update request. I was too busy watching the show and taking pictures to pay it any attention. Changing the SD card seemed to fix the lock-out problem, that is to say, I’ve not been able to reproduce it – or the firmware notice.
Lanie had an ensemble role in this year’s school musical – Big Fish. She had seven costumes and 14 costume changes, including appearing three times as a mermaid. I admit I’ve not tried to spot/count all the costumes and their various appearances.
As we’ve come to expect, the musical was excellent. The cast, crew, and musicians did a wonderful job. The lighting appeared to be more challenging (darker) than in other recent shows, and I wish wearing hats on stage was banned, as the resulting shadows are impossible to avoid. However, these technical issues are purely my own, based on trying to take pictures. The show was really good and I enjoyed it no-end. We enjoyed it so much, that after watching Saturday’s Matinee we rented the movie to see what the differences were.
These pictures are taken from the opening night, which also marks the first forage into the theater for my Fujifilm X-E2s camera. I remain very pleased with the Fuji, and it has the added bonus of being completely silent. I am impressed.
Regardless of the camera, shooting live theater isn’t easy. I’m just a dad, sitting in the theater, hand-holding the camera trying to take pictures in the dark. It doesn’t help that you’ve no clue of where the cast is going to move to next, and what the lighting technician is (or isn’t) going to do. There’s a lot of spray and pray involved. I do wish that Fuji would allow you to change the color of the framing graticule – and also provide an edge graticule. In the dark, it is often hard to determine if the image edge is dark or if you’ve cut something off.
Processing the pictures is a big job. I could limit myself to just taking pictures of Lanie. But, taking pictures of as much of the show as possible is one way in which I can contribute something. I want all the kids to have a chance of a decent memento of their time on stage, should they want them.
I really like the full frame version of this image, but I love how this close-in crop brings out what I call a ‘painterly rendering’ from the camera.
It is a completely different camera and sensor, but it manages to remind me of the way my Fujifilm F30 produced pictures. That little point and shoot camera was capable of out-shooting my Nikon DSLR at times.
Well I think that’s about as good as I’m going to get with a 135mm lens. The moon was too high in the sky to picture it against a background, so no helpful foreground features to give it scale.
I have to say it doesn’t look any bigger or brighter to my eye.
SupermoonThis came out a lot better than I expected and deserved. I might even be prompted to make a second attempt.
This Supermoon for some reason (unknown and not researched by me) is also known as a Beaver Moon. I took the picture solely for the boyish delight of being able to say “Nice Beaver.”
I don’t have a big telephoto lens, so I just used my 135mm lens to see what, if anything, I could capture. I didn’t bother focusing – I let the camera do its thing. However, I did set the exposure. The inset shows the original frame.
If I were to try again, I’d go for manual focusing and a range of f-stops to try and catch the lens’s sweet spot.
Of course, If I really wanted good pictures of the Moon, I’d buy a longer lens, or a telescope.
This is my ‘Every Day Carry’ journal. I made it small enough to go everywhere with me. It fits in (most of) my pants’ pockets. I included a wallet. Which means it has to go with me, as the wallet holds my ID which I am required to have with me at all times. It measures 4½” x 6¼” x 1¼” – my pockets are fairly large!
The contents of my journal are organized as follows; each section represents around ¼ of the journal’s total thickness:
My wallet insert holds a total of twelve ID / Credit / Debit / Membership cards and includes two pockets for cash. I would have preferred to have been able to fit 6 cards in a two-page spread, but with an A6 journal the pages are not tall enough.
I made the wallet with 100lb cardstock reinforced with sticky tape and glued with PVA glue. At first, I was concerned that my cards and ID would fall out, but in five months of everyday use, it seems to be holding up just fine.
Close-up showing how the contents of my journal are organized. Each section represents around ¼ of the journal’s total thickness of 1¼”.
Updates
After six months of use, I decided to drop the wallet section from my journal. The wallet made the journal too big for an Everyday Carry item, so I switched to this: Breakfast in America: Ridge Wallet and Journal.
After a year, I reviewed my journal use and decided to move the sketchbook and personal journal into a Breakfast in America: Making a Simple Leather Journal Cover. With the extra space in my everyday Carry Journal, I added a new notebook exclusively for ‘collections’ (a bullet journaling term for specific related content). That has meant that I can use much shorter Bullet Journal entries, much more in line with the original Bullet Journalling concept, and my notebooks last longer. Two wins!
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.
We will remember them.
I felt moved to make some sort of public statement this Remembrance Day. Living in the US, I miss the silent pause and reflection that is observed in the UK on this day. The quote is taken from ‘For the Fallen’ by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), reproduced in full below.
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres. There is music in the midst of desolation And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England’s foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.
Tonight Getzger invited a friend to watch dinner. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Getzger and Tubby watch us eat dinner. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Getzger and Tubby watch us eat dinner. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
November 24, 2016 | www.breakfastinamerica.me | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Big Fish Matinee Performance, Saturday November 19, 2016. Glendale High School. www.breakfastinamerica.me | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
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I’m pretty sure Lanie got that outfit to be a spooky clown at Halloween.
Lanie!
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Lanie in – Big Fish. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Witches – Lanie frame right. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Laine the Mermaid. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Little Lambs from Alabama. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Little Lambs from Alabama.Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Little Lambs from Alabama.Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Little Lambs from Alabama.Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Lanie the Mermaid. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Curtain Call. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Curtain Call. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Curtain Call. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
