Clouds on Staff

More Hoar Frost Mine Herr.

hoar
O.E. har "gray, venerable, old," the connecting notion being gray hair, from P.Gmc. *khairaz, from PIE *koi- "to shine." Ger. retains the word as a title of respect, in Herr. Of frost, it is recorded in O.E. (hoar-frost is c.1290), expressing the resemblance of the white feathers of frost to an old man's beard. Used as an attribute of boundary stones in O.E. (probably in ref. to being gray with lichens), hence common in place names.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

Frost Thorns

Portland Redwood

Last of 2007

December Sunflower

December Star on Stage

Someone caught me trying to prop this leaf up and commented that I was not allowed to stage leaves! This is a repeat performance from last December I think. The straight version is with the Vivitar version 3 minus, and the askew version with a Pentax 50 f1.2, both taken with a new tripod!

More Maples

Giant Leaf Maple

Sugar Maple branch in sun rays.

Acer Saccharum

Maple Reach
Lone Maple
Maple Floor
Maple Above
Maple Overlap

Here is a bunch of photos of Sugar Maples I took at the Hoyt Arboretum in Portland:

Tele Leaf

Sigma 70-300

October Leaf Dewitt Park

FA 50mm f1.7

Oregon State Aquarium Jellies

Paired Leaves

We came across this maple in the midst of coastal redwoods in the St. John' section of Portland. It is amazing that it can get enough light. The Filtered light effects were quite stunning even if this photo does not capture it.

Last Rays

With this photo I didn't plan on getting the refracted rays of the sun, but I like the effect. I wanted to get the leaf more in focus, but the result, a somewhat faded looking indistinct image, is also something I like. So this was kind of an unintentional photo.

Dealing with the Phobia

Late September and early October are orb web spinners season. I ran into one of these late at night down below our deck and nearly had a heart attack when I realized that I had come away from the sticky encounter with the spinner stuck to ME!

I saw this guy or gal today on the way to the library. Now I wish I had angled a bit up to put the spider's body in the white out of focus area made by the sidewalk, but then I would have lost the contrast of the pink out of focus flower nearby.

In the Barn

This is one of those photos that I want to go back and re-take when I have unlimited time. Ideally I should have used a tripod and a longer exposure for this shot. I'd like to take it later in the afternoon or at sunset to get more color in the light. I would like to get permission from the owners of the barn to move the plasticy looking tables in the upper right hand corner out of the way. On the other hand having something there, in this case the stacked tables, adds something to the composition. I'd like to use a smaller aperture to get a little more depth of field too.

Well, maybe I will go back someday.

Shopping Cart

Pints

Another photo from Sunday at the farmer's market. The golden rasperries one of the shoppers bought caught my eye, and she allowed me to photograph her recent purchases.

Wind Blown Sunflowers

It was about as nearly perfect a day weatherwise as one could imagine. Sunny with a pleasant wind at times becoming a bit strong as when I took this photo of sunflowers grown at a local elementary school.

Oregon Zoo Sunset

This lovely sunset presented itself with good timing. I had my camera and two lenses handy, and no other real obligations. Even so, the light did not last long, so I was lucky to get about 10 shots in. I think this one is my favorite.