#APicADay 2020: Day 274

 I was able to take a little walk today. It would have been a bit longer, but I got a call part way through, and had to head back home.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/16, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

The settings are about the same again today, and the flash was set to TTL. I liked how this one came out.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/16, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

I didn't find a pine cone shot that I liked as much as some of the flower and leaf pictures I have gotten since I started going with a flash.

Forest Grove Police Log excerpt, 30 September 2020

 The selection from the log of local police activity for this week is about nocturnal noises.

September 22

A caller reported their neighbors were rearranging furniture in the middle of the night. Police contacted the neighbors who had just moved in, but advised they were done for the night.

I don't know how you could miss that your neighbors had just moved in, or would choose to call the police rather than talk to your neighbors. Who thinks like that? Certainly not I. But I am well aware that I am atypical. 

Quote of the Day: 30 September 2020

“[T]ake warning, I am surely far different from what you suppose[.]” -Walt Whitman
 [This must be true of just about everyone. I haven't met anyone that I have gotten to know quite well where my initial impression was entirely accurate.]

#APicADay 2020: Day 273

 I did go for a walk today. But I took along The babydoll. That made it a bit more difficult to capture images. She occupies one arm while I do so. Since I've been using flash while doing this lately, that meant mounting the flash in the hotshoe and using on camera flash.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/16, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

These are pretty much the settings I went with for the whole walk. I put the flash in TTL mode, and let it adjust the power automatically. Getting so close to the subjects really lets me control the background with these settings.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/16, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

As I said yesterday, I am surprised there are still day lilies out to be photographed. I like this one a bit better than yesterday's, but I think I might be able to do better still, if I wasn't wrangling a baby in one arm.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/16, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

This rose is about to lose all its beauty, but before it does, it opens up fully, and looks pretty nice.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/16, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

This one was shot holding the camera over my head with the screen flipped out so I could see the composition. I like how it came out. The subject itself isn't as striking as the image I chose for today, but I still like this composition.

Quote of the Day: 29 September 2020

“The highest perfection of politeness is only a beautiful edifice, built, from the base to the dome, of graceful and gilded forms of charitable and unselfish lying.” -Mark Twain
[This is a rather cynical view of things, but nonetheless accurate for far too many people.]

#APicADay 2020: Day 272

 No walk today, but I did go get a shot or two.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 39mm, f/16, 1/60 s, and ISO 160

There are still day lilies that are blooming. I was surprised.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 39mm, f/16, 1/60 s, and ISO 160

One of these things is not like the others.

Quote of the Day: 28 September 2020

“Home is where kids learn to read because they want to. It’s where they learn to love to read.” -Pamela Paul & Maria Russo
[Happy Read a Child a Book You Like Day!]

#APicADay 2020: day 271

 I took a little walk today. Without exerting myself too greatly.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.0, 1/2700 s, and ISO 160

It can be tricky to hold fallen leaves far enough away to get focus, and still fill the frame.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.0, 1/1900 s, and ISO 160

It's easier when the leaf is still attached to the tree, but the background is harder to control.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.0, 1/1800 s, and ISO 160

This was a different approach to the first image, with a different leaf.

Quote of the Day: 27 September 2020

 
“He has in place a plan for your service. And even as you sacrifice, you will feel joy as you help others rise to be ready for His coming.” -Henry B. Eyring

#APicADay 2020: Day 270

 We went to the Winston Wildlife Safari today.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 44mm, f/5.0, 1/25 s, and ISO 160

This little red panda was sleeping in the corner of the enclosure. It was just a cute thing to see.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 41mm, f/4.5, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

Shortly after this, this fine fellow applied his headgear to the side of our vehicle. The scratches ended up being not quite as bad as we feared they would be.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.5, 1/60 s, and ISO 160

These were hanging out in the woods. Just kind of chilling there.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/10, 1/120 s, and ISO 160

The flamingos were stunningly pink.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/5.0, 1/110 s, and ISO 160 (cropped)

The lemurs were chilling on their play structure. Later on we saw them cavorting, but I didn't have a good angle on it at the time.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.0, 1/320 s, and ISO 160

And this was just a cactus that I thought was interesting.

Quote of the Day: 26 September 2020

“[H]uman beings take extraordinary, costly, and sometimes painful steps to make their bodies advertise their group memberships.” -Jonathan Haidt
[It seems we've extended this to our online activity as well, and that makes it hard to interact in good faith with those who hold differing views, since we're more interested in hearing our own opinions repeated back to us than engaging in honest dialog.]

#APicADay 2020: Day 269

 No walk happened today. There was drizzly rain all day.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 44mm, f/13, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

The tigridia are still blooming in my yard though.

Quote of the Day: 25 September 2020

“Cultural differences that developed over the centuries do not vanish overnight when people move from one environment to another, or when the environment around them at a given place changes.” -Thomas Sowell
[It is silly to think that it will. That is why so many people are concerned about "Californiacation".]

#APicADay 2020: Day 268

We went to the park as a family today. On the way, I saw one thing I wanted to take a picture of.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.0, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

These pretty, little purple flowers caught my eye. They were being visited by a hornet, but by the time I got the shot I wanted, it had left.

Quote of the Day: 24 September 2020

“We’re polite and we don’t disagree to get through daily existence with the least degree of friction. But by turning niceness into a lubricant, we’ve leeched it of meaning.” -Chris Voss
[Sometimes you have to discard the normal concepts of politeness, in order to give people what they need, and get what you need in return.]

#APicADay 2020: Day 267

 I did head for a walk, but the battery I put in the camera last night was very low (I must not have actually charged it after the last battery swap) so I only got one image out of the walk.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/8.0, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

This was shot with two flashes, one on the background, and the other for the subject.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 32mm, f/13, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

This was the shot from my walk. I lucked out, in that it was decent, considering I only got one attempt at it, and I was shooting in the dark with a flash, and with manual settings on the camera, and TTL for the flash.

Quote of the Day: 23 September 2020

“You’ve got no better use of your time than to listen to old ladies who want to talk.” -Tiffany Aching, Wintersmith
[And you'll probably find your life enriched if you do so.] 

#APicADay 2020: Day 266

 There was not an opportunity to go for a walk today. So, I grabbed some things from the kitchen and headed to my little mini studio.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 37mm, f/13, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

The plum is a little dark for the background I have, but I think the placement of it gets enough separation from the background at the portion that is interesting to view.

Quote of the Day: 22 September 2020

“COMPULSION, n. The eloquence of power.” -Ambrose Bierce
[I doubt anything I say can convey how this hit me when I read it. I also doubt that anyone is truly convinced, intellectually, by compulsion. But it doesn't matter, if all you are concerned about are the results.]

#APicADay 2020: Day 265

 There was no time for a walk today. Instead I went out my front door, and grabbed the first picture of something interesting that I came across.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/8.0, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

This was similar to the images from last night, except I mounted the flash in the hot shoe instead of holding it in my off hand. That was because I was holding a baby in my other arm, so I didn't have a free hand to take the picture with.

Quote of the Day: 21 September 2020

“Memories are stories written in disappearing ink.” -@steve_jorbz
[It is World Alzheimer's Day. I thought this quote would be appropriate.]

#APicADay 2020: Day 264

With the air quality greatly improved, I was able to go for a walk with the family. But, because it was later than desired, and the sun is going down earlier now, I brought along a speedlight.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 53mm, f/10, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

This was shot with the light quite close to the subject, the aperture shut down pretty far, and a quick shutter speed. It almost blacks out the background.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 42mm, f/16, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

Same situation with this shot. But I liked the previous one better.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 46mm, f/8.0, 1/250 s, and ISO 160

With this rose, you can barely see the leaves and branches in the background if you look hard.

Quote of the Day: 20 September 2020

 “Beside Jesus nothing has any significance. He alone matters.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

#APicADay 2020: Day 263

 I got to go for a walk today, but I had to take The pup with me and he insisted on taking the wagon with him. So, I didn't get to take as many pictures as I might have wanted to.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 32mm, f/4.0, 1/220 s, and ISO 160

This oak leaf was posing for me, so I thought I'd grab an image of it.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.0, 1/220 s, and ISO 160

This maple leaf is actually far larger than you might think.

Quote of the Day: 19 September 2020

“Some nautical crimes don’t involve pirates at all.” -Mike Chase
 [Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day.]

#APicADay 2020: Day 262

 Our air quality has improved drastically. We got dumped on by rain (and accompanying lightning and thunder, which we don't usually get here), and our air quality went from 'very unhealthy' to 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' overnight, and I expect has improved since then. My mood has already improved as a result.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 46mm, f/5.6, 1/6 s, and ISO 160

I wanted to go to a smaller aperture, but this did the job. It was just easier to adjust the f-stop rather than going to a higher ISO. This is a message I like, and is true as well.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.0, 1/56 s, and ISO 160

Evidence of our rain.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 53mm, f/4.0, 1/15 s, and ISO 160

There's only a few trees like this around here, and I haven't taken a picture of these fruit (whatever they are) until today.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 48mm, f/4.0, 1/90 s, and ISO 160

This is something that I haven't seen before. I don't know what it is, either.

Quote of the Day: 18 September 2020

“The mere act of tracking a behavior can spark the urge to change it.” -James Clear
[This is good to know. I have things I would like to change, but don't know that I have the discipline to change on my own. Perhaps I should undertake a program of tracking my behaviors that I would like to see improve.] 

#APicADay 2020: Day 261

 Another day with a short walk. I had to drag The pup along with me today, because he insisted. Then when I got home, I found The babydoll had been crying in my absence because she wanted to have gone with me as well.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.0, 1/60 s, and ISO 160

Lovely maple leaves revealing the red color that I absolutely love.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.0, 1/52 s, and ISO 160

I think this is a dogwood tree. They have lovely blossoms in the spring, and their leaves are pretty in the fall.

Quote of the Day: 17 September 2020

“[D]ebt … exposes a man to confinement, and a species of slavery to his creditors.” -Benjamin Franklin
[I am grateful my wife and I have been able to eliminate our debt. It is such a freeing feeling to know you are not under any obligation to anyone else financially.]

#APicADay 2020: Day 260

 I was able to take a bit of a walk today, and it is good to get back out taking pictures of more interesting subjects.

Today's image:

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/4.0, 1/180 s, and ISO 160

This was something I saw, and tried to get the best image of I could. I would like to have a lens capable of focusing at a closer minimum distance, but I think the composition is sufficiently strong.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 55mm, f/5.0, 1/70 s, and ISO 160

I like my neighbors' water lilies, but they are only open earlier in the day when the light is not as good. This is the best I have seen them, and I grabbed the image, but I think it's possible to get a better one.

Fuji X-T3 with XF 18-55 @ 34mm, f/3.6, 1/320 s, and ISO 160

I continue to be enthralled by maple leaves.