Beyond repair

She waited quietly on the red couch
Eyes never meeting the watching ones
waiting like her in their unconcern
to hear the verdict announced
its beyond repair
Let me escort you to the show room
introduce you to Guss
He can show you a Camry
Only driven by a little old lady to
church
like the one sold to
Barney from Mayberry.

Wood Violet Sorrel

Along the banks of Alligator Lake. Today took meme to the Southern Exposure hair dresser. While waiting for her to finish, drove to the boat ramp behind the DOT and United Methodist. A few violets were in bloom. Used the Canon S95 as much easier to use for close-ups than the Nikon D7000 I had along. Later in the evening about 4:30 took a quick trip to Alligator Lake Park for a walk out on the dike to again test the Nikon, this time with the 18-200 lens. I was pretty much pleased with the results in metering and quick focus.

Christmas party

While the ladies and JT gathered in the living room for the white elephant exchange, the men gathered in the TV room to do the same. We would have rather been outside by the kettle fire, wood supplied by David Hamilton, but we went along. The gift of choice was a box of 9mm bullets and a Duck Dynasty Uncle Cy tea glass. I traded my Shaun Hannity book for a bag of peanut M&M's with Dennis. Following the party, Dennis, Brandy and Creed stayed to help clean up then Dennis and I poked around the fire outside til around 11pm.

The day after

 

The morning after the full moon, I was up around 7am to watch the setting of the moon.
I had hoped for some Sand Hills or jets, but only got a few small birds in the distance.
My that moon sets quickly.

Bosom buzzards

Sand Hill return

Lo stesso tempo
Languished from migration
Largo di molto
Longing for destination.

Lo stresso tempo is Italian for "at the same pace" and Largo di molto is Italian for "very slow and broad". They are musical terms. I always relate the Sand Hill line undulating as they fly by to a musical scale or scala.

D7000

Yesterday's aiplane photographs were taken with the D3100, not the new D7000. This is one of the first fifty taken with the D7000. Nothing grand, only in that I was not having to concern myself with exposure, which I so often got either over or under, missing the composition. A learning curve in progress. Getting there.
Glad to have the Sand Hill Scala come my way yesterday.

D7000

 

After setting up the D7000 over the course of two days on and off, I finally took it out for a test shoot late this afternoon at Alligator Lake. I deliberately took the manual 180mm with TC201 2x tele-extender. First thing I noticed from the D3100 was the extra weight. Set to (A) aperture priority mode, the weight was soon forgotten as I was finally able to get proper exposure, not missing a shot due to fiddling with the manual controls of f stop and shutter. This freed me to concentrate on focus, which I had to fiddle with the diopter, still a work in progress.
Over-all, I was quite happy with the exposures. I did have to tweak the compensation from one stop to a third of a stop, depending on the scene. It was a bonus that a large pack of sand hill cranes flew overhead on their way toward Gainesville.
This evening, as an added bonus, I was able to set the SB600 flash in the commander mode, allowing me cable less use of the flash.
Now to be able to somehow pay for it.

Eve of Full Moon

went out to the Gateway College entrance by the airport to wait for the moon to rise. It came over the pines around 5:40 and I was ready. As the evening wore on, the colder it became. By six, I had to don fleece gloves. It did not help matters I was in shorts with sockless clogs. Only a hoodie and a watch cap. The shutter finger lately for some reason has been numb, either from the dog bite or the hammer hit, but did not make pressing the shutter through the glove easy.
Played around with the white balance of the moon, some coming out a nice blue, others a vivid orange, others white. This was the first shot I took. Towards the end, one plane did pass far away, barely visible. I got three shots before it passed.
In the thirties now.

Repeats

Cinder quarters
Oval torture
Over and over
Grueling goals
Time slaves
Price to pay
Road runners
in the day

No finish line

 

Long after we carried the victors to the square
Cheering their feats so valiantly fleeting
Stacked the cones and folded the chairs
The forgotten race is just unfolding
as around the final mile comes a flashing
one passing the other fading
Sue and Gwen the last finishing
The tape is stretched and Gwen wins!
We pull the trophy from the box
Announce on the megaphone
 the stage sweeper stops
The fleet long since gone
"To the runner up Sue Moody"
"And to the winner Gwen Roebuck"
The sweeper resumes his duties
Never once looking up.

Fall in Florida

In Florida due to our mild climate, our fall is drawn out. While the leaves of the Carolinas peak and fall by October, here, they linger well into December and January.
This particular Sweet Gum leaf made its proud stamp of the state of Florida.