NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Monster Marshmallow

Anthony squashed a bowl of marshmallows together to make one big, glee-inducing monster marshmallow.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Bite

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Uh, Okay.... Only Bite

Cousin Josh soon followed suit, with a smaller monster marshmallow more appropriate to his four years. I asked whether I could take a picture, to which he replied “No, thank you.”, and I gave him a sad look and said that I wanted to show a picture of his marshmallow to his Daddy (who didn't make the trip up this time), and after a bit Josh relented and displayed his creation for the camera...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mini Monster Marshmallow

I don't normally ask the kids about photos, but when I do, if I'm told “no” I'll walk away without a picture... building trust is more important than a picture... but I'm not above invoking a sad face and a daddy reference. 🙂

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Fake Bite

I'd asked him to hold his marshmallow between his thumb and forefinger so I could see it, and he thought I was asking him to pose for a “I'm taking a bite” picture, so held the pretend-bite. Once I made it clear that I was just asking him to hold it in a certain way, and not to hold a pose, the real bite ensued...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Real Satisfaction

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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Jena Shows her Love
to her brother Josh by walking on him

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Jena Smoosh Josh”
( she didn't actually say that, but the drift was clear )

For the longest time this morning Jena kept walking on Josh (both are Anthony's cousins), falling down, and almost singing in her cute 22-month-old voice “Sooooory Josh”. The glee in her voice belied the meaning. Clearly, she's well prepared for her role as “Sister”.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
something just doesn't seem right with these feet

Eventually, she felt just climbing up herself wasn't enough, so started looking for ways to up her game...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/100 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Let's Try George

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Let's Try The Bopper

Eventually she stopped, and after a bit Josh looks back and says “Jena, climb on Josh's back, please”.

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Nikon D700 + 50mm — ¹/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Baby Jena Wants to Feed the Birds, Too
getting a worm from Grandma to give to the chickadee

The birds always hound us for snacks whenever and wherever they see us, such as I've posted about here, here, and here, among others. But when Jena stepped up to feed them, I had to take a picture.

I then spent a few minutes outside with my Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 macro, and a chickadee obliged to come around...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Scruffy

Unfortunately, the scene was dark and backlit — not a great situation for a black & white bird — and this one was moulting so it's really scruffy, so the result is lacking on many fronts.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lots of Detail
when you click through to the larger version

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/4, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Yo, Am I Gunna Get a Worm, or What?”

I didn't want to spend more than a minute or two, so this was as close as I got; the Voigtländer can get a lot closer. I'm going to have to work out something some early morning when the sun is low enough to shine directly in, and see whether I can get some better shots. And perhaps I'll wait for a bird that's not moulting.

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Work of.... Art?

My Dad, sister, and I went out for the evening to play trivia (and as part of a group of Very Knowledgeable People, ranked in the top 10 in the nation for most games), so that left Mom watching the kids. (Thanks Mom!). As grandmas are wont to do, she spoiled them and allowed the older pair to stay up way past their bedtime, so they were still up when we returned.

They had amused themselves all evening with a race-track toy, and for some reason Anthony had built a silly tower over it. (Clearly, engineering is not his strong suit.) We arrived just in time for the tower's dedication, by which I mean destruction...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cautionary Preparation

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anticipation

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sweet Anticipation

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
T-0

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pure Enjoyment

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Working Together

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ready for a Speed Run

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Just.   Too.   Fun.

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 36 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Clearing the Tree
day two

Monday started off busy, with a visit to a bounce house, “Monster Play”, some baseball, and walks by the lake, but it ended with even more activity.

I wrote the other day about clearing a tree that had fallen in my folks' backyard. I'd written in the other posts that it was a sumac, but Ron's comment that it seemed to be the similar-looking Tree of Heaven prompted my mom to look into it further, and she's decided he's right. It does seem to match better than sumac... Wikipedia says it can reach a height of 27 meters, and I guessed this one was 21 meters, and it says that it rarely lives more than 50 years, and this one was small when we moved here 44 years ago. Mom says “Thanks!”, Ron.

Anyway, my dad waited to clear the rest because we thought Anthony's cousins Josh and Jena might want to watch, so now that they're here he started phase two of the clearing.

The first thing was to try to roll the bulk of the tree away from the small redbud tree that was half crushed but still alive under it. (I didn't know what a “redbud” was, but apparently they're in Kyoto as well: I'd posted some pretty photos of one that was just outside my place, in a post earlier this year about the Sigma's new 50-500mm “Bigma”.)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rolling the Tree

And with that heavy load, the backhoe suddenly quit, so Dad had to investigate...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Digging In
to the bowels of a 1959 Ford Series 713 Backhoe

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 240 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/11, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
All Cleaned Up
in a manner of speaking

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 65 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/11, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Replacing the Plugs

With the newly-cleaned spark plugs, it started right up and gave no further troubles.

After flipping the tree over, it was time to lop off some big branches...

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 116 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.3, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Josh's Rapt Attention

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 240 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/6, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hot And Sweaty Boy
Anthony had been running around and playing basketball

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 340 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Slices
through the trunk and a branch that had been 30 or 40 feet up

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 340 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Another Lop

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 19 mm — ¹/1500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rolling Part of the Trunk
into the front loader
Photo By Marci Kreta

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Not Too Bad For An Old Man
( Hey, I'm almost 44½ )
(My dad is 79½, but is strong as an ox, so he doesn't count)
Photo By Marci Kreta

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 95 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Watching From a Safe Vantage Point...

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 78 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
...became
Swinging From a Safe Vantage Point

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Getting Ready To Drag The Limb Away

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4.5, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
There It Goes

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4.5, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dead Weight
Dad didn't need my help for anything, and didn't really want it for much either, but humored me anyway

Then I humored the kids to let them help (which was really them tricking me into more tractor rides)...

Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 78 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Grandpa's Helpers