
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/50 sec, f/11, ISO 180 — map & image data — nearby photos
View From Across the Lake
similar to that seen in “Basics of Life: A Bit of Real Appreciation”
This post is a continuation of “Snowy Ohio Morning, Take 2”, of photos around my folks' place after a snowstorm. After 49½ years at the same place, it's probably the last winter they'll be here, so I thought I'd memorialize the place with some more photos, mostly for my siblings' and my own memory...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cattails
I loved to break them apart when I was a kid, because,
you know, that's what little boys do

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 45mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dad's Backhoe
I still remember coming home from elementary school one day to find it in the driveway. He bought it when adding on to our house, but he still uses it 40 years later to clear snow from the driveway.
We all wished he would have painted “Tonka” onto the main arm.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Snow-Laden Chain
from the backhoe

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32mm — 1/60 sec, f/4, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Layered Evergreen
it looks like it could be the dress of a Disney princess

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/160 sec, f/4, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bouffant Gown

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Colorful
all the photos on this page are full-color renditions
of an almost-colorless world

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/50 sec, f/9, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Frosty Swamp

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 28mm — 1/60 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cook Road
runs behind our property

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 45mm — 1/250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tracks

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 36mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Snowbelt Residents' Lament
in the frozen land where mammoth snowplows top the food chain,
mailboxes are easy prey

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56mm — 1/125 sec, f/11, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Frigid Wilderness

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38mm — 1/80 sec, f/7.1, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Old Fence

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40mm — 1/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Lake

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 27mm — 1/60 sec, f/6.3, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dad's Running Path

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 45mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Plants”
for “Peter from Wales”
Peter Barnes has left lovely comments on my blog for the better part of a decade, usually signing his name as “Peter from Wales”. His very first comment, in February 2007, about some flower or other I had happened to post a photo of really made an impact. Back then I had few readers and received few comments, so his lovely comment made me feel great, and gave me the idea that if I were to include more flora on my blog, I'd get more lovely comments. It's that one comment more than any other thing that opened my photographic eyes, because once I started actively looking for pretty flowers to shoot, I started seeing beauty and interest everywhere.
Thank you Peter.
In a recent email to my Mom about moss or birds or something, he joked that my blog had more cycling than plants recently, so when I went out after the snow storm, I made sure to take something “planty” just for Peter. 😉

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/50 sec, f/10, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Southern Edge of the Lake
the path was always mushy here

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/60 sec, f/8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
“The Field”
I remember collecting dandelions in this field when I was three years old, from which my mom made wine and jam and jelly. Some of the wine is still in the basement, the bottles covered with a thick layer of dust. My brother Alan and I broke one out the other day. It was dated 1969. We expected it to be rancid vinegar, but it was excellent. It smelled heavenly. Dandelion wine does apparently have a particular taste that takes some getting used to, but by the third little sip I was into it. Yummy.
The half-empty bottle, still covered in dust, is waiting on the kitchen counter for other siblings to sample.
After coming in from three hours of shooting, I tried some bird shots. There's nothing photographically exciting, but I like the content...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Off with his Worm
chickadee

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66mm — 1/1000 sec, f/5, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bluebirds

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 50mm — 1/800 sec, f/5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Downy Woodpecker
he wants the worm, but the big camera scares him

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48mm — 1/640 sec, f/5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Shy Bluebird
also not used to the camera looming over his worms

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Finger Food

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wings
I just love the look of a bird's wings frozen in flight
( even if woefully out of focus like this one )
Earlier posts with better bird pictures include:
- Goldfinches in a Light Snow
- Freezing Bird Movement with a Fast Shutter
- Fun Day of Snow Play
- Can’t Get Any Work Done With Birds on my Laptop
I'll be in Ohio for another two months, at least, and hope to get some better shots. I brought only one lens with me on this quickly-decided trip, though, and it's not really appropriate for this kind of shot. I guess fate is telling me that I need to buy another lens or three. 😉
Thank you for the ‘planty’ photograph, that made me smile!
I can take no credit for your photographic development: it is self-evident that the talent (or whatever you wish to call it) was latent all the time. It’s the diversity of subject matter that gives your blog so much appeal: truly something for everyone, from Japan to Ohio, bikes, even plants and mosses, to the more techie posts, all underpinned by imaginative photography and skilful and often quietly witty writing. The fact that so many people return to comment on your blog posts repeatedly speaks for itself: you’ve gained a loyal readership!
Your talk of dandelion wine reminds me that my parents made some around 1959; I do remember that they considered it by far the best of their home-made wines. Alas, I was considered too young to try it.
Looking forward to at least another ten years of your blogging.
Your mention of Peter has inspired me to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed your blog. My wife lived in Kyoto for a couple of years, and I have read your tales and viewed your photos for years with the hope that we would visit one day and I would have some idea of places I would like to go and photograph. Finally, we will make it this year for the cherry blossoms. So, a big thank you for feeding my fascination for Japan, and showing the non-touristy stuff.
Three cheers for Peter. In this day and age of the internet an encouraging word isn’t easily come by. As a parent, it’s a good reminder of the power of our words. I’m sure Peter had no idea that his encouragement would have one of the encounters ‘upon which this blog would be built’ 🙂 I’m another admirer of your blog vis a vis your LR plugins and share your love of Asian culture. (Un)fortunately you also inspired me to pick up road biking and that has been a slightly pricey side effect. Actually just bought a used road bike to upgrade from my trek 7.3fx I bought last year after starting on your blog. I needed a way to increase my cardio after a bad fall where I broke my back and had a spinal cord injury. Because of the injury, I couldn’t run worth a toot (wasn’t great before anyways) but found I could mash the heck out of the pedals – so it’s been a great discovery! Thanks for sharing your passion.
Cool about the cycling. But yeah, it’s indeed a pricey sport, even at the level we tell our spouses we spend. 😉 —Jeffrey