I have to note that, as I’m sorting through the images to decide what I’m going to feature, I see enough interesting photos not on this date that I think I’m going to have to revisit this practice again – perhaps not next year, but certainly at some later point. Maybe I simply won’t make it a weekly practice.
To start off today, we have an entry from 2006, when I was playing around with infra-red again. The image is okay at best, but it represents to me an attempt to salvage the day. The Girlfriend and I had driven a significant distance to see an airshow in Norfolk, Virginia, but between a late start, a missed turn, and absolutely horrendous traffic outside the air base, we eventually gave up entirely without even gaining entry; the most we witnessed were some F-15s doing low passes at high speed over the road we were gridlocked upon. So at one point on the return leg, I just parked the car along the freeway and did a few exposures. That’s my old car there, which I still miss, with The Girlfriend hidden in the passenger seat. You can see the streaks of some cars in the middle distance, due to the longer exposures needed for IR, and of course I tweaked contrast significantly to bring out the range better.
I also learned from that experience, and next time around, arrived very early, with a bit more success.
Next up comes from 2014, an outing at the NC Botanical Garden, as a Carolina anole (Anolis carolinensis) peers over a drying flower head. The species used to have the common name of ‘green anole,’ appropriately enough most of the time, but this one was easily the darkest phase I’ve ever seen, appearing nearly black. The color changes generally express mood, but I don’t know what mood this is portraying, and the behavior that I was seeing was typical. This one first appeared back in that year, but significantly after that date – I really can delay a lot when getting around to posting, and to be honest, I have worse examples sitting in the folder right now, waiting for me to get off my ass and write them up. However, I prepare these posts ahead of time, so it’s possible that at least some of them have already appeared because I managed to write another post that published before this one was scheduled. I could edit this to reflect that event, should it actually have come to pass, but this is more fun, plus I have some space alongside the image over there to keep filling. So, is there a post dated yesterday, or even today but appearing in the lineup ahead of this one? If so, then I managed to squeeze another out after I wrote all this. Aren’t these fascinating insights into editing?
Slightly out of order, we roll back to 2013, a tree in Colonial Park Cemetery in downtown Savannah, Georgia that I liked for its fartistic merit. I took a lot of photos that day, but like this one partially because of its strength, and partially because I don’t have to upload another image since I’ve featured this before.
And I went out of order for a reason, because in 2018, we were back in the Savannah area again.
Now, this isn’t the amazing coincidence that it undoubtedly seems, because we have taken several trips to the region at about this time, with the intention of being able to see sea turtles hatching – not that we have ever been successful. But since we have friends down there, it’s also an excuse (like we need one) to go visit them, though after getting chased out by hurricanes twice, we’ve largely discarded this practice. This is a reflection of the drastically different way The Girlfriend and I view trips. I can toss things in the car and leave with less than a few hours worth of consideration and preparation, taking things as they come even if it means having a hard time finding accommodations. The Girlfriend has to plan months in advance most times, ensuring that reservations are made and so on. Thus, her method gets hit hardest when weather events occur, while I’ll just switch days off and head out a week or two later. There’s good and bad in both approaches, but it also means that, on occasion, I’ll do a trip by myself, just to get out.
Anyway, this is Cockspur Island Lighthouse, on the inlet a little inside of Tybee Island (which has its own lighthouse, but they have different purposes.) I was timing shots to get very distant gulls in the photo, and then cropped this one to emphasize their participation in the composition. We’ve seen this before, too.
Anyway, let me see if I get to/have already gotten to another post…