Mirror With Shades of Pink

As if to prove my point about redundancy (or obsession, compulsion, practice, repetition, etc.) here's a morning cloud shot.To be honest, though, when the sun rose high enough the morning I woke up in this back bay on Lake Oahe, this is the first thing that caught my eye: narrow, nearly pink clouds reflected almost perfectly in the calm, dark water of the bay. I also liked the silhouette of the land, which is almost black and nondescript.But enough words. . . Just imagine the cool, quiet calm that I was wrapped in when I took this photo.Or this oneAnd this oneAnd finally, this one

A Little Coffee

I took this quite a while ago using an iPad app I had read about called Photo Soft Box. You set any number of patterns on your iPad, find a dark room and an object that has interesting reflectivity and then take photos. I think it's pretty cool and a creative eye might find interesting things to do with this tool. Maybe sometime soon I'll give this app the time it deserves.

I Am No Claude Monet

Nor was meant to be. (As TS Elliot might say.)*But just as Monet painted canvas after canvas of haystacks in different light, I seem to photograph clouds at sunrise fairly regularly. Redundant? Just as it was with Monet, for me it's not so much about the subject; it's about the light. And the place. . . .*No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;Am an attendant lord, one that will doTo swell a progress, start a scene or twoAdvise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,Deferential, glad to be of use,Politic, cautious, and meticulous;Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—Almost, at times, the Fool.Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Saturday Regatta

If you look at the sails of these boats, you will notice a "Y". That identifies them as Yngling class boats, which is an international classification. You might also notice the "USA" on the sails. If this photo had been taken in Switzerland, you would see "SUI" instead. Or in Sweden "SWE". And so on. Additionally, the number on the sail indicates the hull number. My boat (which is a Catalina 250) has the number 639 on the sail, which means that it was the 639th Catalina 250 to be built.I'm sure you're thrilled by this information, but being an educator, I feel obligated. . .What you are looking at in this photo isn't just any Saturday Yngling class regatta. You are looking at one of the races in the North American Yngling Regatta, which was being hosted by the Okoboji Yacht Club on Lake Okoboji in Iowa. They had a brisk NW wind to sail in and we just happened to be cruising the lake in a powerboat when the regatta started. I wasn't planning on taking photos of a sailboat race and if I had known this was happening, I would have brought my good telephoto lens with me. :-)

Still Seeing Green

I took this photo this summer but when and where I don't remember. For me, this is unusual since taking a photo is rarely a casual or unconscious decision. I am generally pretty "focused" and very aware of the subject, the place and the act.This photo isn't anything to write home about, though there is something simple and elemental in drops of water on deep green leaves. And I do like taking photos of vegetation.

Pitchfork Fondue

Take a big cast iron pot, fill it with tallow and heat it to 350 degrees. Then spike a chicken or tender steaks to the clean tines of a pitchfork, put it into the the hot fluid and after a few minutes, this is the result. Oh, and don't forget to throw in a few ears of sweet corn.That's called "pitchfork fondue." Check out this photo of the cooks and the cooker.

Minneapolis Moline

Being a city kid, I hadn't paid much attention to tractors but I'm not surprised that, just as there is with makes of cars, there is tremendous brand loyalty to certain kinds of tractors.If you asked Carl Tesch, diesel instructor at Lake Area Technical Institute, which tractor was best, I'm sure he would say, "Minneapolis Moline." Evidence of this is that he's got a multitude of them on his farm north of Watertown.Last night we were invited to his place for a gathering of several past and present LATI instructors and he let my wife, Deb, drive one. I'm not sure that she had ever driven a tractor solo but she seems to look like she's done this before. Maybe in another life?Check back tomorrow for a post about our cuisine at the gathering: it's called "pitchfork fondue."

Captain & Crew

The captain is Scott, who is standing in the back of this photo. The driver and driver's supervisor are the famous BZ and CZ. We are cruising on Okoboji in Iowa and though BZ looks confident at the helm, I think it had been a while since he had driven a boat.

Sunset Cruise

This photo was no accident, though I had no idea what I'd get when I starting taking photos of the water contrail behind my brother-in-law Scott's boat last night on Lake Okoboji in Iowa. I like the glow of the sunset still visible in the background but I especially like the creamy, dark blue look of the water rushing under the boat.Everything is blurred in this photo but I knew it would be since I was shooting with a pretty slow shutter speed and the boat was bouncing a bit.I'm not sure I would have tried taking this photo a year ago because sharpness and a solidly held camera are part of my photographic process. But lately I've decided that it's worth trying to take photos even if you meet with failure. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.Canon 5DII 1/6s f/4.0 ISO1250 24mm

Hot Pink

I remember these as being more purple than pink when I spotted them in the garden. But in the post-processing, this is the color that my white balance adjustments got me. I can live with that. . .

Purple Dawn

This is pretty much the same view as yesterday's post, though taken several minutes later with no sailboat to block the view.Seasoned Oahe boaters all know that one of the most unusual features of the shoreline this summer is that for late August, things are still incredibly green. Pierre, SD, which lies just south of the reservoir, has had 8" more rain than it normally gets by this time in August.For the sake of comparison, check out this shot of the Little Bend camp ground taken in early September in 2005 when the reservoir water level was much lower and central South Dakota was experiencing a more typical dry summer. As I study the 2005 photo, today's post makes it look almost tropical on the western shore of Lake Oahe.For those who like analogies, check out another sunrise photo taken of the Missouri in mid-winter. The hues are similar, though the water temperature is a few degrees cooler. :-)

First Light In Mission Creek

I made the 15 mile trip from the Spring Creek Marina to Mission Creek largely under power since the wind was light to non-existant. The weather forecast was for good weather overnight and light winds in the morning. For me there isn't much better in my sailing world than to wake up in a remote bay with calm winds and the hint of a glorious sunrise. And this morning was one of those experiences.When I first slid the hatch cover open and put my head out, I wasn't thinking of taking photos. But right away I noticed very light fog low on the water, which I thought was interesting. I also liked the curves of the sloping green hills that came down to the water's edge.Compositionally and aesthetically, then, I liked what I saw. But the problem was that there was very little light. But knowing that the camera sees things in ways that the eye can't, I thought that I'd crank up the ISO and see what I got. And you are looking at it.