02-02-13 Morning Sky

This photo found me. I was heading west yesterday morning to run an errand on the way to work and I noticed nice, soft blue and scarlet hues in the western sky. Thinking that I might have a good sky to drop in to a photo that has I less interesting sky, I took this photo.I really wasn't thinking that the photo would stand on its own, but when I worked on it in Aperture 3.4, and with Nik HDR Efex 2, I decided I liked it.

Summer Blue

For the last two days it has been foggy and because of the snow cover, it has been mostly white.So I went looking for pictures of summer and this is what I found.I suspect that this is one of those photos that has more meaning to me than anyone else. (Translation: it's not a great photo but I like it.) But you do have to appreciate the pure blues of the sky and water in this photo.And you should have been with me the morning I took this. It was one of those quiet mornings on Lake Oahe that I dream about. It was cool but there was promise of warmth. The only sound was that of birds calling and of distant cattle lowing. You would think that a sailor would yearn for wind but as I'm sure I've said before, there is something pure and spiritual in floating quietly on a body of water in a place that is anything but empty.

It's Not That Different

This is rural Germany, just outside of Rothenburg o.d.T. So why is my first post from our trip to Germany and Slovenia a scene like this? One possibility is that while foreign travel is about seeking and savoring the differences that foreign countries have to offer, there are times when I miss home.

Another possibility is that I liked the cool green and strong blue colors in this scene.

Contrail & Crescent Moon At Dawn

I owe this shot to my son Brian - he looked up and saw it and I happened to have my camera. Is there some deep meaning in this photo? Maybe. Or is it that I have nothing better to post? Who knows. . .

584 and Counting

Here are some statistics about this blog: Since February, "A Photo A Day" has had 9561 unique hits and 42,119 total hits. On any given day, some of my viewers visit because they know about this blog. But I also get visitors using Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. to search for things like "flying geese," "amazing flowers," "mycenae," "Thad Titze," "southern most point Hawaii," and "Japanese school girls." Those searches were all charted from yesterday's hits. Every time I look at the search terms that got people to my site, I am humored and mystified. And sometimes chagrinned. (Japanese school girls!!!????). (Thad may be mystified by being subject of a Google search but I'm not. He's going to be famous some day. And here's the post that made my blog.)I have also posted 584 day's worth of photos and that's what got me started on this post on statistics today. Being pretty right brained, I keep no master list of what I have posted. Thus, I rely on memory to keep from repeating myself. I can actually recall almost all of the photos I post, though I often can't remember the specific photo I posted on any given day. My wife, who looks at the photos late in the day, will say "Nice photo today." And I will often say, "What's the photo?"And today I don't know if I have posted this particular photo before. I can tell you that the very first "A Photo A Day" photo was taken from this very spot. I visit this spot as often as I can, both "really" and "virtually." I tend to go alone but today I am taking you. Thanks for coming along.

04-22-09 The Drive Home

Yesterday, my "Missouri River Sunrise" photo appealed to some of my Facebook friends in a way that I hadn't expected. So once again I'm posting something that may seem prosaic to some but which is perhaps meaningful to others.

This one wouldn't exist if my friend Jack hadn't said, "You need to take a photo of those clouds" as we drove east across the state. I resisted -- in part because I was driving and in part because I don't like taking photos from the car. But here are the clouds. And here, also, are the rolling plains of central South Dakota, touched with a hint of green and the promise of another summer. (Jack steered the truck as I took two quick photos in very sparse traffic.)

Canon 5DII 1/400s f/10.0 ISO160 67mm (24-105mm f/4.0L)