Redirect II

I’ve already used that title, so this is junior. I’ve got plenty of stuff to post but not enough time to do them justice, and I didn’t want to let the day slip past on this hugely, unquestionably momentous date, and so I’ll link to a post from years back. 84 years ago today, Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan failed to make their rendezvous at Howland Island on their circumnavigation by air, making their last transmission early in the morning without being seen again, and so, I link you to a little bit of a breakdown on their last hours. The purpose of that post was to rebut the idea that they actually made it to Gardner/Nikumaroro Island, so it’s not a complete account of their final flight nor the various proposals of what went wrong, but it still gives some details and ideas regarding that. if you have the interest, there are several books, and if you have the desire for ridiculous, speculative nonsense, there are dozens more. Long story short: too little info is solid, with a lot of variables that cannot be calculated, but the informed consensus (based on the only dependable facts) is, they went down northwest of Howland Island. The water’s extremely deep throughout the entire area, so the chances of locating the plane on the ocean bottom are infinitesimal, at least until our technology expands quite a bit beyond what it is now.

And as I said therein, this really isn’t a mystery: it was a dangerous flight with too little preparation, with a very small region where anyone at all might have been able to see something, so missing this little spot isn’t surprising in any way. But it lives on in our culture.

Anyway, back soon with topical content.

Profiles of Nature 26

mellow green treefrog Hyla cinerea Vigdis
Even when we were out of the state, the Profiles continued, so all hope of escape is lost – deal with it. This week we present Vigdis, a staunch advocate for hemp and CBD and suchlike products because she lacks the ability to comprehend anything of real interest. She also feels that her eyes are too close together, but this may be because she was adopted by hammerhead sharks; while she searches for a plastic surgeon that can accommodate her, she’s thinking of hiring someone who will carry one of her eyes but always stay in the next room. She intended to start procrastinating at an early age, figuring this was the key to long life, but has yet to commit to it and thus completes everything early, which may earn her some kind of reward from the Procrastinator’s Club if they ever decide whether she intended to apply posthumously. Her relationships tend to be rocky, normal for frogs since they breed in streams. Vigdis was picked on all through school for having off-brand clothes and shoes, confusing since she was home-schooled, and dodge ball was especially a bitch, although she was adept at faking her parents’ signatures on her report cards. This prepared her for a singing career, she says, yet doing something vocally might have been better; she’s off-key even in sign language. Her plans for retirement are well in order, with a street corner and a shopping cart all picked out – she imagines one without a wobbly wheel, but realistically? Vigdis’ favorite bridge bit is a laminated elastomeric bearing, but so is everyone’s so they’re usually out.

Halfway! Just makes the pain behind the eyes even worse, doesn’t it?

New York: Meteorology

While in New York, I was again staying on the banks of Cayuga Lake in a Gatsby mansion, which gave me ready access to sunrises, sunsets, and a decent view of any storms that might happen along, especially since the best view was westward into the prevailing winds. I was only there for a few days, but had some nice opportunities and (almost) made the most of them. What was interesting was how variable it was, even with a good view of the surroundings.

sunset over Cayuga Lake, NY
One evening produced a lovely sunset, one frame of which was already posted as the month-end abstract, but before it even reached that point I was capturing plenty of other examples. This was Father’s Day, and the cove immediately to my right had displayed an estimated sixty boats within, which where thinning out as the day waned, but it wasn’t hard to keep them out of the frame for the scenic shots aimed away from the cove. Meanwhile, a wider shot gives a different impression.

post-sunset wide-angle shot showing localized rain storm
The sun had just disappeared below the horizon where that orange spot is, but somewhere not far away, someone wasn’t enjoying it but getting a heavy rain storm instead. Despite my loathing of smutphones, I can still find the occasional uses, and for this, I pulled up the lightning tracker which also shows weather radar, discovering that the single storm was a lot farther away than I imagined, actually on the far side of the next Finger Lake in line, which is Seneca; an estimated 30 kilometers to the center. I would have said less than half that, but I can’t recall ever having the opportunity to measure and get a baseline before, so I accept no blame, only ignorance.

In the opposite direction at this time, I got my first decent photo of Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds, which are a pretty cool effect. I’d glimpsed a set once before, nowhere near as clear as this, so I was pleased.

Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds in Cayuga County, NY
The distant storm passed, with nothing happening locally at all. And then, at 3 AM, I heard rumbles of thunder and decided to roust myself and try for pics, thinking that the position on the lake might give me excellent views. The tripod was still in the car, and as I fetched it and closed the rear hatch, the glass therein showed me a distinct reflection of the sky, notable because for a split-second it showed a lightning bolt crossing a broad expanse, taking up most of the hatch. Well, dammit.

The rain was already starting as I got to the docks to set up, so I had to dig out both the camera rain cover and the rain poncho for myself, but that’s why they remain in the camera bag at all times. Well, I mean, except when I’m actually using them. Getting set up down on the docks, I was remaining aware of just where the storm seemed to be centered, being a little exposed out there. I neglected to ensure that the edge of the rain cover was well behind the lens hood, so one of the frames revealed my oversight.

nighttime lightning beyond Cayuga Lake showing edge of camera rain cover
It also revealed the lousy leveling job that I’d done, but then again, I was out there in supremely dark conditions, no lights anywhere save for my pocket flashlight, working around two different plastic covers (the camera’s and mine,) so I’m not surprised – all the light you see here came from that millisecond when the lightning illuminated the clouds from within. It was easy enough to crop a bit for a detailed look at that sky.

lightning behind rain across Cayuga Lake, NY
I didn’t see it at the time, but peeking through the rain was the light source, a long bolt extending the length of the frame, just not clear enough for decent use. And a boat anchored out there in the middle somewhere, so I imagine that evening was eventful for them. Not half as eventful as the following afternoon, but we’re getting to that. This turned out to be the only frame worth keeping, and barely at that, while the rain increased to a downpour and the storm moved in overhead, so I abandoned the efforts and got out from under it to go back to sleep. Ah well.

In mid-afternoon of that following day, it had been very clear and muggy, but the overcast moved in quickly. As I saw some promising quick flashes out across the lake and heard the distant thunder, I set up the camera on the tripod for some video (since daylight lightning photography is next to impossible – you can’t leave the shutter open to wait like you can at night.) What I captured was something else.


The wind was quite fierce out there (my tripod is not a lightweight,) and it’s worth noting that a tornado touched down off the opposite end of the lake from this same storm system – minimal damage, but, yeah, I believe it…

Still no good lightning though. It’ll come.

Been a long month…

… so we bid June adieu, toodle-oo, and get lost ya bum with the month-end abstracts. Yes, that’s right, plural. Three, even. Two of which are remarkably similar though, so be appeased by that. Or whatever.

sunrise over Jordan Lake, NC
Our first comes from Jordan Lake, a bit south of Walkabout Studios here in North Carolina, during a sunrise outing. The sky was a little too clear for optimal colors, but on the horizon the thin clouds helped a little – they really only extended up a few degrees if that, and the sun soon rose out of them.

Then we go exactly 808 kilometers away and close to 180° different in bearing for the next, even though it’s close to the same thing.

sunset through thin clouds over Cayuga Lake, New York
Well, okay, I didn’t note the exact location for either shot, so I might be off by as much as a dozen meters with that measurement, but I feel comfortable saying that it would not have affected how either image appears. This time, however, it’s the setting sun, from Cayuga Lake in central New York, one of the Finger Lakes (the middle finger, if you’re right-handed, except your thumb is Y-shaped, unless your hand is pointing down which makes more sense from their alignment, but no matter what your fingers are spindly and badly misshapen.) I was, once again, back near where I grew up, and I have to say that sunsets there are, on average, markedly better. Something about how the humidity behaves as the day wanes; I’ve seen more promising skies in NC clear completely right when things should be getting colorful, so if you have the choice between the two locations, go with NY. It’s dependable and useful information like that which keeps you coming back to this blog. Right?

And then I blew it, because I took the next not exactly in between, in location or timing: this is about 10 AM, and not quite 414 kilometers away laterally to the westish from the last. I know, I know, I should have planned much better for this casual monthly topic.

stonework abstract from Squire's Castle, North Chagrin Reservation in Cleveland, Ohio
Considering that I’d picked none of these for the month-end post when taking them (or indeed any,) this is what you get. At least I took advantage of the bright conditions to do what I recommend to students and readers (yes, plural again, even when you’re not even reading this,) which is to find the textures that get thrown into sharp relief with distinct shaping shadows. Not like that was hard with the rough-hewn rock – this being Squire’s Castle in North Chagrin Reservation in Cleveland, Ohio. I said I was touring the damn country with this trip. Squire himself wasn’t much for creature comforts, or indeed even grasping the functionality of housing, because the castle is unfurnished and wide open, even to the sky, but, you know, if (while sitting on the floor) he was attacked by a ballista that could only aim right there, he was protected. Better than nothing, I guess.

[I just looked it up. Squire survived three invasions of barbarians, but died of piles. There you go.]

New York (plus): Not the birds

On this recent trip, I went to (meaning, stopped at specifically) New Jersey, New York, and Ohio; I went through three times as many states as that, though if I could have avoided that I would’ve. Driving was pretty much a necessity – flying wouldn’t have cut it, but I can’t say how many kilometers I actually did, because I didn’t bother noting the odometer before leaving. Well over 2,000, anyway. And I took a few opportunities to snag some photos, though mostly from two specific areas, and mostly birds. So to start out slow (and get a post out quicker,) we’re doing the unbirds. The nonfowl. The vians (I believe that’s correct.)

In NY, I was in the region where I’d grown taller, and visited Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, twice. This is a driving tour through wetlands that border part of the Erie Canal system off the north end of Cayuga Lake, and we’ll see plenty more of it later on. New York doesn’t have much to offer in the way of lizards, and the snakes are thinner than down here in the region of Walkabout Studios, but turtles, it has. This was made clear immediately upon arrival, early in the morning following an overnight rain, as I stopped to let a painted turtle get out of the middle of the driveway into the refuge. Within twenty minutes, I stopped to let another cross, and had to leave the car to coax this one along lest it get smooshed by another driver that wasn’t attentive. A few hundred meters further on, I finally leaned out with the long lens to shoot over the hood and get pics of yet another.

painted turtle Chrysemys picta pausing from crossing drive, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, NY
Surprisingly, there are no overused modifiers in the name like “eastern” or “northern” or “the state not the city you dinglefutz,” – it’s simply a painted turtle (Chrysemys picta.) They’re one of the only turtles that I’ve seen that will pause on sight of cars and actually turn around to seek cover; most species simply tuck in, regardless of their location, and refuse to backtrack at all. Chances are, the rain (or the ground softened by it) was bringing them out in search of nesting locations, and if I interpreted the actions of this one correctly, it (she) was actually covering over her laid eggs as I was there. This is, of course, much later in the year than in NC, which have likely already hatched. Something to do with NY having ugly damn winters.

Later on, there’s a spot where you can leave the car to enter a photo blind, down a short path through the marsh, and I decided to check it out. I don’t know why, because not once have I ever seen a public-access photo blind that has a view of any damn thing, but I keep hoping. This one turned out as expected, and on the return my brother called my smutphone, finally awake. Walking while yakking on the phone, I glanced down in the path and found a small turtle almost at my feet.

juvenile common snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina showing mud from recent emergence
This is a common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina,) and as you might be able to tell from the stones and grasses in the frame, a small one at that, only palm-sized. It was completely motionless, and I wasn’t sure it was alive. I had carried only the camera and long lens, so I had to back away from it to even have the ability to focus, but I could at least make out the eyes then and determine that it was very much alive, just pretending to be a cow patty. That mud is potentially an indication that it just emerged from hibernation, though I would have said this was a little late in the year for that. Hey, I just photographs ’em, I don’t interrogates ’em.

Better than half a klick down the drive, a much larger specimen was marching purposefully along the edge of the gravel road.

adult common snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina marching very upright along drive in Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one standing quite so tall, legs at full extension and plastron nowhere near the ground, but this one seemed intent on a destination, and only paused as the car passed and it looked like it was now walking into danger. The algae on its back seems to belie the idea that the previous one had just emerged from hibernation, since this one would require some period of time out in warmer waters for the growth to occur, but as I said, no questioning. It never deigned to lower itself to the ground, nor retracted in the slightest, but simply regarded me inimically and dared me to prove the folklore correct.

adult common snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina just waiting for the photographer to move on
I don’t recall ever having been bitten by any turtle, and wasn’t about to change that with this one, whose carapace was probably in excess of 30cm, plus I was being a good boy and staying in the car, which was skewed diagonally across the drive so I could shoot behind me and get a portrait angle. I probably should have saved this for a Profiles post…

Hard as it may be to believe, I chased few of my typical subjects on this trip, but this wasn’t due to any particular efforts on my part – I just wasn’t seeing much. So here we have the only arthropod subject, also in the refuge.

possible cabbage white butterfly Pieris rapae on thistle Asteraceae flower
To the best that I can determine, this is a cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) partaking of an extremely common thistle plant (Asteraceae.) Extremely common in NY, anyway – seeing it reminded me that they’re not around here in NC, and you don’t hear me complaining, because their multitude of thorns are uncomfortable to encounter while traipsing afield. Even the cows don’t like them, and so you’ll see patches of them in the middle of pasturage all the time, standing well over a meter tall, but various pollinators seem to adore them. Given that the butterfly was right outside the car window and posing nicely, I took the opportunity, and captured the multiple false pupils of the eyes with decent detail, especially since I was using the 150-600mm lens and not the dedicated macro.

Outside of the main part of the refuge but still within a section of it, I climbed an observation tower to once again find it of no use, but before I left, I glanced down into the top of a smaller tree and found this little guy stretching out for a meal.

American red squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus foraging in treetop
This is an American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus,) which I’ve only seen in NY though they have a significant range within the northern states. They’re quite small, less than half the size of the eastern gray squirrel, only a little larger than chipmunks – this one, among the largest that I’ve seen, I’d estimate as a little less than 30cm in overall length. I was pleased to get such a nice perspective, though the autofocus wasn’t quite behaving.

Annnnddd one last pic, but this one’s from Ohio, one of the few that I took there during a short hike to chase subjects.

northern green frog Lithobates clamitans melanota basking in wooded area
I thought this didn’t quite look right, and a little research told me why: this is a northern green frog (Lithobates clamitans melanota,) a subspecies of the ones found around here, slightly different in coloration. It was perched on a log well away from the creek – not unfathomably so, but further than I ever see them around here, which always use the water as a means to escape, but then again, it may be mating season up there – you know how stupid this makes us (shit, can you imagine if humans actually had a mating season?) Between the intervening grasses and the breeze, I tried to keep the shadows away from its eyes at least, as well as keeping my own shadow from spooking the frog off as I leaned in for the portrait angle – that’s probably my shadow down at bottom left. Nothing exciting, but hey, it’s a first in my stock.

That’s the start, and believe me, the birds will probably take up multiple posts. We’re getting there.

Not too late for me…

Today is another holiday: Don’t Drive Anywhere At All Day, which I realize I may be posting a little late for some, but hey, you shouldn’t be coming to me for the important stuff anyway. I got this holiday going on, though, and will be celebrating it enthusiastically, because I have returned from a multi-stop tour of the northeastern US, and one not dedicated to photography either; instead, this was family and friend schtuff, which meant that I got up to visit my dad for Father’s Day (much trickier than it sounds,) and a pair of cousins that I hadn’t seen since the early 90s, and a castle that I’d never seen. I’m not trying to make you jealous… well, okay, I am, but only a little bit. Overall though, it meant a lot of driving and so I need little encouragement not to right now.

And this isn’t to say that I wasn’t doing any photography, either, but I probably didn’t need to tell you that [do you like how I keep inserting things that imply that there are regular readers of this site? My therapist keeps suggesting that I stop doing that, but he’s as imaginary as the readers anyway so I haven’t felt too compelled to obey.] I managed a couple of outings and more than a few snagged shots, meaning those that I saw in passing and took the opportunity to get, some of which involved almost slamming on the brakes on the interstate, but it was early morning and the nearest car was about a kilometer away, so all I dealt with was shifting cargo. Regardless, I have some post topics lined up from all this, which will come along as soon as I am able, but now you know why the previous posts were spread out so much, given that I prepared the last four ahead of time and scheduled them to appear when they did. You know, give the illusion that I was still home but just being lazy.

Anyway, as a teaser, I offer one shot from the trip, and this is full frame so you know I wasn’t far off (granted, it’s at 600mm, but to be accurate, the working distance was within 20 meters.) This is a juvenile bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus,) and I’m pretty sure that it’s this year’s brood. And I didn’t even slam on the brakes for this one…

juvenile bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus in near-silhouette in tree
By the way, if you want to bike someplace, that won’t violate the spirit of the holiday. Skateboards, kayaks, hang-gliders, all fine. Just no cars. Not even a golf cart or forklift. If you’re already at work now, well, you gotta stay there until after midnight…

Profiles of Nature 25

male and female African lions Panthera leo Haafiza and Waldwick nuzzling
It’s Pride Month, isn’t it? Okay, then.

This week we have Haafiza and Waldwick, Haafiza showing some suspicion of why Waldwick was out so late. Their’s is one of those celebrity romances that usually last about a year and a half. They met 17 months ago on the set of Second Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the upcoming film about a hobbit that seeks to culturize a collection of dwarves, with Haafiza cast in the part of Holly Gohelmsplitting. It was a whirlwind romance, even after Waldwick got dropped from the role of Mr. Yunioshi, and the tabloids were aquiver (because of the whirlwind of course.) Soon after, things got a little rocky, mostly because of the rumors circulating among the tabloids: Haafiza was claimed to have been well-behaved in public, and sources revealed Waldwick had never slept with James Caan – Hollywood can be vicious. Despite all this, their careers are on track, and no, we’re not gonna make a joke about trains. Both are pulling down hefty salaries and are in high demand among casting directors – yet, Waldwick is ready to retire and raise baking soda while Haafiza is intending to pull a Fonda-Hepburn. Nobody really cares either way, as long as they occasionally get to see some skin. Haafiza is proud (you knew we’d get there eventually) to say that Kaplansky’s conjectures are the most intriguing mathematical conundrums, while Waldwick insists it’s the Zarankiewicz problem.

Periodicity – repeat. Despair.

You never doubted it, did you?

juvenile Chinese mantis Tenodera sinensis feeding on tiny prey
Because I’ve featured so many mantis photos in previous years, I have been lightening up on pursuing them recently unless I can see some specific behavior, but I still take the opportunity to snag a few photos when I can – especially if I find one feeding when I can take advantage of it. This Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) is on a potted curry plant, so-named not because it’s where curry comes from, but because it smells like it should be. And the deer don’t like it, so it stands guard in front of plants that the deer do like. The mantis itself is perhaps 30mm in overall length, so you can imagine how small the details are; I wasn’t going to get anything in there for scale without scaring off the mantis anyway. But after this establishing shot, I switched to the reversed 28-105 for much closer work.

juvenile Chinese mantis Tenodera sinensis working on small leafhopper
The best I can say is that the meal looks like a tiny leafhopper to me, but I didn’t see the mantis make the capture and too much of it was already touring the mantis’ alimentary canal. If they have one. I imagine they do.

This is a ‘stacked’ shot, meaning two frames with slightly different focus points were combined to make something with a little greater depth-of-field. At this magnification, depth-of-field is virtually a myth. And you can tell this was taken during the day because the mantis’ eyes are colored and not black.

Getting the right flash angle was challenging, and in the course of attempting variations, the mantis spooked a little and went to another stem, but I was able to close in again and use the new perspective.

juvenile Chinese mantis Tenodera sinensis finishing off meal
Halfway decent view of the palps, the ‘mouth fingers,’ and some unidentifiable fragments going down – this angle did not assist in my determination of the meal species at all. But you can see some unfocused fragments still clasped in a foreleg, which seem to show wing veins, so I’m staying with leafhopper. Unless it bothers you. If it bothers you, say so, and we can call it a roach if you like that better. Or whatever – I’m easy.

This would have been better as video, but almost impossible. I was leaning in at precise angles among and between the curry leaves, which would have been extraordinarily hard to get a tripod to emulate, and by the time I managed such the mantis would likely have been done anyway, if I didn’t spook it to a new location in the attempt. I know my limits. I’ll get video of feeding, and/or a capture, one of these days, but it will likely be with bigger specimens in undoubtedly better conditions.

Incidentally

I’m going to be busy with a lot of stuff over the next several days, so posts will be light – no matching the days in the month this time, sorry. I will catch up eventually.

In the meantime, something that I noticed the other night – well, like a week ago now – but I recently shot the 20,000th image on the Canon 7D. Given the typical amounts that I’ve pulled from preceding camera bodies, I’ve got 30,000 more to go before I upgrade to another body, though I’m happy with this one and there are no pressing options that I’m thinking I could use right now. Actually, I started thinking about how cool a digital camera with a pellicle mirror would be, and wondering if I might attempt a conversion with one of the older bodies.

[An explanation: a pellicle mirror is one that is semi-silvered and largely transparent, like one-way glass, and was used in just a few film SLR bodies in years past. It meant that the reflex mirror, the one that bounced the light from the lens up to the viewfinder, did not have to flip out of the way to allow the shutter to trip, permitting very fast shutter speeds and minimal vibrations – and no viewfinder blackout. Using one on a DSLR designed for a reflex mirror probably wouldn’t give any speed advantage, since the electronics are programmed for that delay anyway even if it’s not happening, but I imagine disabling the mirror is easy enough, and I have a pellicle mirror from an EOS RT handy. Except that this is a much larger mirror box than any DSLR I own, because 35mm film frames are larger than digital sensors in all but the high-end bodies. Well, in the course of writing a post I talked myself out of considering it…]

Anyway, the 20,000th frame:

bare hint of background lightning at night
This was taken during one of the many electrical storms that passed through the region, an attempt to capture more lightning pics. Obviously, I didn’t, and there’s nothing remarkable about this image – but it does show one little thing, illustrated better by exchanging it back and forth with the previous frame:

animated gif of two frames during electrical storm
Now we see the low-level clouds close by, illuminated by the city lights into a dull brownish color, and their movement between exposures (which ran about 12-15 seconds each.) And then, through the gap, we see the purple glow of the lightning strike in the distance, showing the edges of thunderheads between the lightning and myself – very convoluted cloud cover that night, and the reason I never saw a solid bolt at all.

Since these are time exposures, they’re a lot brighter than what I was seeing while out there, and the impression is that the brighter portions are clear sky while the dark patches are the clouds, because this is what we see during the day, with the light coming from above. At night, you watch the dark patches for the clear sky views – and of course, the low clouds bouncing the nearby lights back down means exposure times can’t run too long without overpowering any brief lightning flashes anyway. Ideal conditions are, naturally, an approaching (or receding) thunderhead with otherwise clear skies for the best views, but those are rare around here, and did not occur with these recent storms. Try again later on.

Profiles of Nature 24

great egret Ardea alba Naruemol wincing
This week we have นฤมล, trying to deal with Christian Bale’s tantrums on the set of the Peewee’s Playhouse reboot. All her life, นฤมล had the dream of making it big in show business, which despite what you think is not a reference to male pornstars. She started off in grade school productions of course, playing the court herald in The King’s Creampuffs (again, not a porn reference,) before garnering acclaim as Hecate-Lou in the southernized version of MacBayeth with her local drama club. From there, she did a few commercials to make money to go out west, started to flounder, then realized she should have gone south since she started from Seattle. Upon arriving in LA, นฤมล quickly made a name for herself, out of wood, to hang over her front door, but the neighbors thought it was gang signs and kept hitting her up for drugs. She obtained an acting coach without realizing he was only filling in during the search for the real coach; while her emoting hadn’t changed, she improved dramatically at driving the defense down the court. นฤมล is very likely to be a top talent very soon, and this time it is a porn reference. Her favorite thing to leave on the rear deck of the car in the sun is a talking GI Joe doll, er, action figure.

Oh yeah, next week. Don’t even think about skipping it.

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