Penning Photography Daily

Our son Chris came over to borrow a tool – boy that sounds so nice to me, all that means to me, his Dad.

He called our attention to the neat spider’s web in the upper clerestory windows in our sunroom.

Instant photo opportunity. =)

Both Chris & I took turns trying to capture this in the right light. This is my only frame.

It appears as if the spider has moved on. Bigger bugs to catch elsewhere. Amazing how much effort goes into something so quickly abandoned.

A very busy day.

A bunch of co-workers were at work today to test a major software implementation. Doing a dry-run to work out the bugs prior to having over 300 folks finding them tomorrow. We found a few errors, and had them fixed. Worth the effort.

That took up much of my day.

The rest has been busy with getting ready and packing for a week long business trip to Baltimore, Maryland and areas around Washington D.C. Usually I have a standard list of things I can put together at the last minute, but I’m combining my day job and a commercial photo assignment this time.

I shipped off a box of lighting equipment to my client in the D.C. area this afternoon. I’m packing the rest of my camera equipment into my larger camera bag, which slings over my shoulder. That’s the bag and some of the equipment which I have my left hand on.

I’m in the sunroom, of course. You can see our newly painted deck out the window. O, and me, of course. =)

So last night my notebook which I use for photography work died.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is I bought a Lenovo and an extended warranty. It only took 5 minutes – I timed it – to diagnose the problem over the phone: bad system board. They’ll deliver a shipping box to my door on Tuesday and have a quick turn around. Nice – very nice.

So I’ve been busy readying a backup notebook, of a generation ago, to act as a temporary work platform.

I also have a lot going on at my day job, which requires me to work tomorrow, and attend a conference in Baltimore this coming week.

A bit busy. =)

Not too busy to notice and capture this magnificent vista of clouds. Nice indeed.

There it was 9:30PM and still no self portrait up and done.

I took some new wireless flash triggers with me, and went to Washington Park. The good thing is the park closes at 10:30. I had time to spare.

I set up a flash on a light stand pointing up and away from the camera behind the tree. I was walking around wiht another flash with a red gel on it, to define me.

I see a bunch of mistakes – one being the focus is off, and I should have taped the blinking lights of my flash that I was carying. I’ll work on this type of shot more in the future.

For now, it was a fun introduction to my wireless flash thingies, which worked flawlessly. I’m very happy they came so quickly so I can take them with me next week.

I’ve got angst because they won’t let folks with telephoto lenses into the crowd tomorrow for the Obama kick-off and Vice-Presidential Candidate announcement.

Last time our Junior Senator from the great State of Illinois, Barack Obama, made an announcement from my home town (Springfield, Illinois), at this location, (The Old State Capitol), it was a freezing February. Tomorrow looks like a 40% chance of rain.

I was thinking of going this time, (I didn’t, but dear Karen did), but when I saw the camera restrictions, I was disappointed. I can understand, but I don’t have to like it. I’ll watch or listen. I’ve got a ton of work to do before Monday. That’s my excuse. =)

So here, I took a journey around the square this afternoon after I got of my day job. I had my camera all ready, and propped on the arm holding the wheel of the car. All traffic was moving slowly, so I was pretty safe. I pointed and triggered the shutter for about 20 frames, not really looking (most of my attention on being safe in traffic, dontcha know). I did have some awareness of what was beside me as I would come up on it, and tried to time it as I passed.

Not bad. A bit underexposed, but I like the silhouettes.

A bit of excitement for our small Capital City on the prairie.

Guess who?

From last November’s vacation to Charleston, South Carolina.

We’re in the boat that took us out to a sandbar by the Charleston Lighthouse, which is in the Atlantic Ocean off Charleston. The lighthouse used to be on dry land, but over the years, the ocean has reclaimed the land for itself. The lighthouse is being restored and the land it’s on being shored up to keep it upright for many years to come.

I had my “Terminator” sunglasses on. The ones I use when I do my Arnold Schwarzenegger imitation: “I’ll be back!” I told my bride, the beautiful Karen, that I’d take off my sunglasses so my eyes could be seen. She caught me mid-move.

I need a beard trim in this one!

The light was magical in this walk through a forest preserve.

Some people say “I see ghosts!” I say, “I see photographs!” Thank’s to my friend Howard for the inspiration for that =)

I see photo opportunities everywhere I go.

In a bit over a month, Karen and I will be off on a two week vacation. I imagine that my disk storage will be overflowing with photographs.

Something to look forward to.