(See also below the first two photos for an update to the original post.)
We eat dry beans that we soak and cook ourselves; they're not from cans. So it is not an uncommon occurrence for beans to be soaking overnight in a pot on the stove. The other day I looked in the pot and decided the water was particularly still and that, despite theoretically being distorted in appearance by being below the surface, the beans were still fairly clear to the eye. Naturally, I had to take a photo or two.
We cook various white beans, black beans, and pinto beans. These first two photos below are of organic pinto beans purchased at the local farmers market.
These were taken hand-held with my macro lens using natural light at 1/20 sec. at f2.8.
The photos got me wondering if, like snowflakes, no two beans are exactly alike, certainly not ones with patterns and wrinkles on them like these.
Good thing I didn't accidentally drop the camera into the pot!
Beans in Water #1
Beans in Water #2
The very next day, we were soaking black beans. They were too dark to photograph while in the water. Sitting just out of the water, after soaking, they looked like the two photos below. Note that black beans turn purple after soaking!
During an anniversary trip to Ogunquit, Maine, we traveled a short distance north to Wells, and visited the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. We were delighted to observe the natural beauty of this area, as shown in the photos below.
The photos below were taken on October 31 (Halloween!) during my walk around the Res. None of the subjects were particularly close to me, however my (600mm equivalent) telephoto zoom lens brings them in *much* closer for our enjoyment.
As part of my photography exploration, I challenge myself to bring only one lens sometimes. I used to occasionally regret not having a wider lens when I only have my telephoto and vice versa. Now, I choose to see the world through the lens I have with me.
Floating leaf peepers
Streaming Network
Mixture Far Above
The leaves really do look this red.
Colorized
Colorized Too
Mid-Gust Drama
Water Carpet
Do You Mind? I'm Eating
Not a "black swan", ... a "grey swan" maybe?
Swan of a Different Color
Red Back Atcha
Bicolored Leaves
Leaves Above the Fray
This last set of three are variations on a similar theme.
Here are a few photos from our summer visit to the Cape. We stayed with our friends who have two cats, one of which is featured below. We went sailing with them and also walked along the shoreline.
I've walked around the Ashland Reservoir hundreds of times, yet I only just
learned the "correct" name and reason for the physical structure used for the
water to leave the reservoir. It is properly called a "stepped spillway".
Furthermore, because of the shape and location of the dam used to create this
particular reservoir, the designers chose to create a stepped spillway that
also turns around a gentle curve to give the water a path to flow out of the
reservoir. What I hadn't thought about - and thank you, Wikipedia, for this
observation - is the reason for the steps, as opposed to a smooth incline, aka
chute. It is to help dissipate all the "kinetic energy of the descending
water." "Failure to dissipate the water's energy can lead to scouring and
erosion at the dam's toe (base). This can cause spillway damage and undermine
the dam's stability." Quoted phrases are from these two articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spillway and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepped_spillway.
On a recent walk, I noticed the spillway flow to be quite loud and dramatic,
since we'd just had several days of rain. I've got one still photo, and one
video below, both taken with my cell phone, to show the power of the
descending water.
Roaring Spillway
Since I'm usually a still photographer, I had fun taking and post-processing
the video below. I used the "slow motion" mode setting on my cell phone to
take the video, then post-processed it with Blackmagic Design's excellent
DaVinci Resolve software to perform essentially two modifications: add a
"ramped" speed change during the clip, and remove a non-kid friendly word
written on the stone on the side.
Resolve (Studio version) is used to create professional movies. Go to
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
and watch all the really cool trailers at the top of their web site. It's a
very powerful tool to apply to my very low budget and limited resolution cell
phone video. Nevertheless I'm hopeful you get the basic idea that the amount
of water flow was impressive! And that slow motion turbulent water is kind of
fun to watch:)
Warning: geeky stuff follows...
As mentioned, part of my video post-processing challenge was "removal" of
a moving object. This involves cloning a different part of the scene over
the portion to be removed, so that it appears the object is not present.
After reviewing several YouTube instructional videos, I finally figured
out how to do this. Resolve has a tab called "Fusion" which allows the
user to design their processing steps using a map of connected nodes. Here
is the Resolve Fusion node map I created to perform the "moving object
removal" task. As you can see, this is not a simple operation. As I
understand it, there's a more automated way to remove objects from videos
in the non-free Studio version of the software, but that would take all
the fun out of it:)
We are so fortunate to live near the "res." I find that the local reservoir provides welcome peace and tranquility when I walk there. Here are some cell phone photos I recently took during one such outing.
Walking can be quite meditative in a location like this. It just takes an awareness of the present to notice;)
This has been a particularly snowy and cold winter so far, and icicles are a commonly seen result.
When the morning sun hits the icicles hanging off our roof just outside an upstairs window, we get brilliant flashes of light coming through the glass. And I get to open the window and take pictures of the icicles!
There's a lot more going on "inside" icicles than the naked eye normally discerns. The sun glinting off them can be so bright that some of the nearby internal icicle "magic" is hard to see. The camera does a good job capturing all the details of icicles so that we can better appreciate the simple artistry of water slowly changing from one phase to another.
It caught my attention when I saw late day sun streaming in through a window lighting up mist expelling from a humidifier. The mist made some pleasant patterns in the air. I tried to capture some of that with my camera. These are taken with my 60mm lens. See the results below.
I was initially surprised when first viewing these photos that I could see distinct points of water visible within the mist. They are not normally noticeable to the naked eye. Perhaps this is due, in part, to the camera's relatively fast shutter speed of 1/1200 to 1/1600 second that I used to create these photos.
Deb and I took a day trip to one of our most favorite spots: Halibut Point State Park, in Rockport, MA.
We think Halibut Pt. is a real treasure. A quarry lies next to the ocean here, and while the water filled quarry itself is calming to look at, the rocky shoreline is uniquely special. We sat on the rocks for our lunch and were mesmerized by the ocean waves creating frothy crashes.
Into The Depths
Splish Splash
Rockport Northern Tip
Water Dance
Frothy Shore
Water Line
Bumpy Ride
This next shot looks as though it was taken with me leaning precariously over a high ledge, but that is only an illusion. I have a fear of heights and felt quite safe while taking this photo:
Fear of Heights Be Gone
Here's Deb putting her feet into the Atlantic Ocean, and feeling gloriously happy doing it. Deb found this to be thrilling: watching the big waves come in and not knowing how high they would go, or how strong they would be. But it felt like a relatively safe risk because she felt her footing was secure and the rocks not too slippery. She's also a great swimmer (but Deb didn't know if that would make a difference in this rocky environment).
Surf's Up
Here's Deb adding a rock atop one of the cairns in this display created by the many visitors. We wondered how long these cairns stay the same, or if stormy waves could reach this spot and unsettle them.
