Penning Photography Daily

Portrait number 1 from my new camera – Pentax K10D with a Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 lens.

My bride Karen Sue

I can do better, and will.

The sun greeted me when I opened my office door today.

I saw the clear circle of the sun, filtered though this dense cloud. I had to capture it.

Didn’t get it exactly, but you see what I was going for. In the few seconds that I took to get my camera out and on, it started peeking above the cloud. I like it anyway.

One of Karen’s best from our trip to Myrtle Beach, SC.

She got up every day before sunrise to enjoy the beauty, soak up the first rays of the day and cavort with the locals – birds in this case.

What is it about the ocean, or any large body of water for that matter, which fascinates and draws us like the moon draws the tides? I imagine it’s the sense of the infinite. The power beyond our imagining which sooths in it’s coming and goings. The unknown natural wonder, teeming with life underneath it’s relentless waves.

I like the ocean and enjoy it, but Karen feels it’s pull more than I do. She sure loves to capture the beauty that surrounds her when we’re near a beach.

I love this one. She does too.

Johanna is about 17 years old, maybe older.

She’s become much more affectionate and wanting to be stroked lately. Her penchant is to jump up in my lap and look up at me as if to say “scratch my head please.” Sometimes the please is left out.

She still gets around quite well. Still sleeps much of the time, or I should say, catnaps. This desire to be near and to feel the hand on her in our gentle touch is new. Perhaps she is getting close to her natural end of life and wanting to get as much comfort in while she can. Who knows, with cats?

It’s a very cold day here today. A Sunday afternoon and the sun is shining without a cloud in the sky, but the temperature at 19 degrees F (-7 C) and a wind chill of 5 F (-15 C), Brrrrrrrrrr.

Johanna doesn’t spend much time in the window, even wiht the sunlight streaming. She’s wrapped up in a ball, in Karen’s chair, in front of the output of a heater.

Johanna knows where comfort is found!

While waiting for my bride Karen to exit from a re-stocking trip to Merle Norman Cosmetic store. I spied this cupola on top of the building next door.

I like the blue sky background with the wisp of a cloud passing by.

Did some post processing to make it look dreamy and saturate the colors a bit.

We took a nice drive to Taylorville, IL to search for the perfect new comfy chairs for the two of us in the sunroom. The ones we have now are tattered and torn. I like leather and Karen Sue does not. We compromised, as always.

Our son Chris is bringing his belongings home from college. He starts searching for a job on Monday. I can remember how frightening that was for me. He’s a bit more ready for the realities of life than I was at his age.

Things are looking up, as I was when I saw this. This year is going to be wonderful. I’m feeling it and picturing the new and exciting times ahead.

At dusk on a Friday evening.

I waited for the twilight sky.

Set up my camera on a Joby Gorillapod. Manual exposure. Varried the apature and shutter-speed to let more or less light in.

Took about 30 captures.

Chose 4 of them and swizzled them in PhotomatixPro and Paint Shop Pro XI.

The jet contrails are a bonus. Interesting how they are just there in a part of the frame.

I love the blues of twilight when the sky is clear.

This tower has been here since the days of Ma Bell, the old AT&T. Now, full circle, back in the hands of the new AT&T.

Powering communications with microwaves.

Powered to your desktop via my lens.

My Bride.

Me goofing off with flash and low shutter speed to blur and shimmy and shake.