Captain Hook - R.I.P.

Our aged and ill feline companion, Captain Hook, has left his suffering body. If there is any sort of afterlife for kitties, I hope it is filled with fat, slow mice and clueless songbirds. (One imagines that mouse and bird afterlife would be slightly different. No worries, it is just a many worlds exercise.)



He has been an interesting companion all these years. He was fiercely independent, only allowed human cuddling on his terms when he wanted it. He lived with us; we didn't own him. Sure, some of you are saying, "Cats are like that." True enough, but he took it beyond normal aloofness. During our early years as housemates, he would invent games, and entice us to play with him. A couple of years ago he was diagnosed with diabetes. We actually expected him to pass on much sooner, but with strict diet and tender loving care, he surprised us and kept going. It became clear recently that he was used up, and so we helped him end the suffering. He is buried in the back yard, under a rock he enjoyed basking next to in the sun. We will miss the little fuzzball.

Here are more pics (plus a couple of Romeo) if you are interested.

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Marquette Waterfront Festival Dancers

I made it to the Marquette Waterfront Festival last Saturday. It is the kickoff event of a series of outdoor music festivals in Madison over the summer - free to the public. There is generally a pretty good line-up of bands and folk turn out in droves. One of the early bands was Madison's own Yid Vicious playing klezmer tunes. They never fail to get the local ethnic folk dancers moving!



Following them were The Handphibians, Madison's Brasilian bateria. Different dancers to besure, but they do get people moving. They are real crowd-pleasers.



Alas, about the time the 'Phibs took the stage, my workhorse lens, the Sigma 18-200, quit functioning properly. Purchased in Nov. of 2008, it is just 7 months out of warranty. Figures. It's currently at B.D.C. with a repair estimate in excess of $100, and more likely $150 and three weeks. So...do I repair the >$400 lens or use the $150 to pop for a different, better lens?

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Rainy Day Garden

Rainy days make for some of the best flower pictures. The colors are all rich and saturated, the water adds interest, and the diffuse light makes everything look perfect


Better Viewed LARGE

As I was manually focusing I kept seeing this line appear. At first I thought I had a scratch on my lens, but no, it is just a strand of spider web in the foreground. I could barely see it with my unaided eye!



I don't know exactly what this bug is, though it is pretty clear that it is capable of devouring a lot of milkweed leaf! I noted two of them, so it doesn't seem like an infestation. Anybody know what it is?



Enjoy the rain!

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Steampunk Party - Part Two

I finished sorting through the various photographs of the dancers at the event Friday night. As performers, it was all variations of belly dance, either classical or tribal.



All were entertaining and worth watching. Unfortunately for them, the lighting was terrible and there were no spots of any sort, just overheads, and they were not bright. The available light images were all taken at high ISO, while the ones with an on-camera flash are the ones that create the hard shadows on the back wall.



The rest of the room was dimly lit, going for a mood. When Tashar came out to work with fire, the lights were dimmed even more. It made for fun watching and tough shooting.



These and another 15 or so have been added to the SLIDE SHOW. Check it out and see the images in larger goodness!

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Steampunk Party - Part One

I went to my first Steampunk event. It was a local party sponsored by Ravenworks, a store that caters to costume wearing folk. I didn't really have ANY idea of what I was going to wear quite literally until I put it on and decided: That'll do. Reena's band, al Khemia, was playing and I was on duty as photo-meister. It was an ... interesting night. I cannot say that I was overwhelmed, but that is certainly due in part to my 1) being at work and, 2) not being a steampunk aficionado. My costume choice met with favorable comments so it must have been passable. This woman caught my eye several times over the course of the evening, and despite the truly terrible lighting in the room, I managed a lovely candid portrait:


For those who care about such things: Exposure: 0.025 sec (1/40), Aperture: f/1.8, Focal Length: 50 mm, ISO Speed: 2000

There are a double-handful of images in a SLIDE SHOW at my Flickr site. More will be added in the next day or so. In the meantime, here is another sample of the steampunk goodness that was providing ambiance...

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More from the Garden

The lush fecundity of this time of year is a constant delight to me. The rain-sodden soil teases my nose; the flowers entice my eyes; the soft slithers of earthworms at night evoke my ears; wet grass tickles my toes. Such a treat!



It seems that every day brings another diversion to my senses, leaving me senseless with abandon. I wander my tiny yard, coffee or camera in hand with my ancient cat following along as best he can.



Savor it with me for a moment, won't you?

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Peony

No words really needed. Enjoy!

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Time Lapse

Wow, it has been two weeks since I posted here. It is not because I have not been taking photos, rather it is because I have been taking a LOT of photos! Unfortunately because of client requests, I cannot always post the results here.

I recently did a scouting trip for locations for a shoot for an engaged couple. This is one of the locations I suggested, but it was not one that we used.



I had a winter shot of a similar bench in the same vicinity taken in January:



The more recent one looks more inviting to me. Anyway, I had four shoots since I posted here last so I have been quite busy. Here's hoping that June is as successful!

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New Page at eyeDance

In addition to the slice-of-life photos I post at this blog, I operate a photography studio here in Madison. Primarily my work is portraits, though I love the opportunity to also cover events for clients. But the tag line for my studio is "Kink Friendly Glamour Portraits" and I didn't have a good web presence to illustrate that. Mostly it was because the best images were also ones that clients were unwilling to have me use for promotion and be seen by the world at large.

With a willing client's help, I now have a new page that can highlight some of the edgier work I am doing. Take a look at it if you are interested. Consider your own interests and methods of play and relaxation. Perhaps you or someone you know might enjoy a photo session to capture that side of life?

HERE is the link. It is NSFW [Not Safe For Work].

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Manual Focus

I am puttering in the yard and garden more this year than in recent years, so my eye is continually drawn to the emerging shapes and blooms. I was finding that my camera/lens combination was having a difficult time auto-focusing on the correct details of plants when I wanted close ups. Popping the camera to manual focus was the clear answer. It took a second or so longer for the first shot, but there was seldom a need for a second.



There is something about the shape of an opening fern that pleases me at some deep level. I suspect it is the obvious recognition of the Fibonacci number made manifest.

Here is a shot of my black trillium. This one also delights me. It took several years to bloom, but has been hardy. This year, like last, it has two blooms.



Here is a link to the SLIDE SHOW of these recent Garden Square images so that they can be viewed in a larger, more juicy size. The newest ones are up front.

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First Steps

A bunch of acquaintances have been murmuring about introducing change into their lives. For some it is a vow to beat the bulge and get fit again, while for others it is adding a new hobby or skill, or a transition from student to bona fide employment.

Having done steps like that myself, some successfully and some less so, I find I have spent a lot of time thinking about first steps.



Often, taking the first step is the most important. It must be bold and decisive or there will be no second step. I find that once underway, my new path does not go exactly where I thought, but rather it tends to go where I need it to go. Learning to trust my judgment was important, as was training myself to have good judgment by second-guessing myself to root out self-deception; separating wants from needs. Too, there sometimes comes a time to say "That was a bad decision." and let it go so that I can move on. I maybe have to eat some humble pie or acknowledge that I wasted time or money, and that has become OK. I can accept that I make mistakes. And too, often those mistakes point me in a different, more directionally correct way. As Thomas Edison said about invention, "I didn't fail 1000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1000 steps.”

So be bold. Take that first step with courage and conviction. Begin the thousand-mile journey. Just doing nothing gets you nowhere. All this reminds me of another quote. "Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated; you can't cross a chasm in two small jumps." ~David Lloyd George

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Saturday in MadCity

I had a pretty interesting weekend. Saturday was the Crazylegs Run, an annual event named for a former UW Athletic Director known here primarily for two things; his crazy running style, and raising typical attendance at UW football games from 43,000 to 70,000 in four years. Somewhere around 20,000 people were out and about, either running in the race or enjoying the Farmer's Market.



After shooting a LOT of pics of the racers, I too wandered around the market a bit, enjoying the produce, plant seedlings, and victuals available. Of course the people watching is my primary sport!



Getting a bit chilly, I then popped into a local coffee shop for a cuppa and a cookie. I spent a bit of time reviewing and deleting photos while they were still in-camera. From there I decided the overcast, drizzly weather might make for some good pics at Olbrich Gardens. Mostly I was right...



For dinner I met some like-minded folks to talk about part of our local dance community. We mused, pondering both the past and possible futures, and settled on a couple of small things we can do to create a more welcoming experience for newcomers. It was an enjoyable couple of hours spent in good company.

There are a bunch more photos of the day at my Flickr site for the date.

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Better Pond Pics

I thought that yesterday's pond efforts deserved a nicer photo than the ones I posted yesterday. Try these instead:





And here is a SLIDE SHOW with more pics from the yard. Enjoy!

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