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Canon PowerShot SD870 IS — ¹/100 sec, f/8, ISO 80 — map & image data — nearby photos
Launch!
Photo by Phyllis Friedl

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Afloat
running under her own steam, so to speak

After cleaning the boat, we could finally go out for a ride...

Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7D @ 100 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Photo by Marci Kreta

Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7D @ 100 mm — ¹/80 sec, f/9, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Of Course, I Brought My Camera
Photo by Marci Kreta

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony Is Less Than Thrilled
but Josh is enjoying it

Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7D @ 100 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/11, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lake Muck
Photo by Marci Kreta

Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7D @ 100 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/10, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony Points the Way
Photo by Marci Kreta

Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7D @ 100 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Photo by Marci Kreta

Anthony wanted to row, but I didn't want to let him do that while three-year-old Josh was in the boat, so we saved that for another time...

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 75 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Fireman Josh Washing Down the Boat

As part of the Summer of Cousins at my folks' place earlier this month, we pulled out the old rowboat we've had for 40+ years, but not used for perhaps 10....

Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7D @ 100 mm — ¹/80 sec, f/10, ISO 100 — full exif
Pulling the Boat Out of the Weeds
Photo by Marci Kreta

Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7D @ 100 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100 — full exif
Transporting to Drydock
Photo by Marci Kreta

Canon PowerShot SD870 IS — ¹/125 sec, f/5.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pre-Wash Prep
Photo by Phyllis Friedl

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hosedown

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Josh's Definition of Heaven

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 135 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Fireman Can't Be Too Careful

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 80 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony's Turn

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 98 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cleaning 10 Years of Muck

Canon PowerShot SD870 IS — ¹/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 80 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Back Down to the Lake
Photo by Phyllis Friedl

Continued here...

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
On Tokyo Final Approach
Shadow on Rice Fields

Winding down to the last week of visiting my folks in Ohio, I'm starting to think about the long flight back to Kyoto.

On the way over, we flew out of Osaka via Tokyo and Chicago. Flying into Tokyo's Narita International is likely a surprise to anyone who hasn't done it before... Tokyo is the world's most populous urban area, so one might envision skyscrapers and concrete, but flying into Tokyo is all about rice fields.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/2500 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Canal, Homesteads, and Rice Fields

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lotsa' Golf

The approach into Narita doesn't exhibit the concrete jungle of Tokyo because it's about a thousand miles outside of Tokyo (well, 35 miles).

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Final Adjustments

Yesterday, Anthony attended the birthday party of his five-year-old honorary-cousin, Katie Patterson. (Katie's daddy has been a friend of our family for 30 years, so has acquired family-member status).

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 190 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Excitement Builds

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Birthday Girl
Katie Patterson

The party was at a fun-center with bowling and other games, and crazy lighting that changed colors every few seconds. You didn't really pay much attention to it... one quickly learned to tune it out... but the camera doesn't, of course, so the lighting is wild and different in every shot. We were near the wash of sunlight coming from some windows, so that helped even things out a bit, but the colors were still crazy...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mmmmmmmm!

Nikon D700 + 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/4, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Time for Presents

Not having much experience shopping in America for a 5-year-old girl, I called Jill (Katie's mom) beforehand for advice on a present, and she suggested that Katie would be thrilled with a “Hungry Hippo” game. And boy-oh-boy, was she...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hungry-Hippo Happy!

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 78 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Thanks Cousin Anthony
photo-op hug

I was amazing at how well all the kids behaved. There happened to be another five-year-old's birthday party in the neighboring lanes, and over the course of two hours, all of the 15+ kids of the combined parties were just wonderful... no fussy meltdowns or anything. Really unexpected of a bunch of four and five year olds. Wonderful.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 98 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Then It Was Time For Cake

Katie was a natural at posing for photos..... both “Birthday Girl” and “Hungry-Hippo Happy” above were taken while she paused after seeing me take a picture.... there was no asking or coaxing required.

Yet, a few weeks ago when I first saw her on my current trip to The States, she was very shy of the camera. (I don't blame her... she didn't really know who I was, other than one of her parents' friends.) So after they'd joined us out for dinner one night, in the parking lot on the way back to our cars, I had the camera out and asked whether I could take her picture, and she immediately slid behind her daddy's leg to hide. So, to demonstrate that it wouldn't hurt (or whatever), I showed her as I took an impromptu portrait of her daddy (“Hey Ray, stand right there and look like it's not unpleasant”), then showed here the result on the back of the camera....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ray Patterson
impromptu, in a restaurant parking lot

They were coming over the next day for the Summer of Cousins big day, so after showing her the picture, I asked whether she'd let me take her picture tomorrow, and she smiled a super photogenic smile framed by blond curls.

Sadly, it rained all day the next day, and they weren't able to come when it was rescheduled, so my first photo opportunity became her birthday party. Despite the wild lighting and unphotogenic backgrounds, it's hard to go wrong with curls like that.

The big fun for the kids at the party was bowling. They had super-light kid bowling balls, and the lanes had gutter bumpers, so every shot was a winner, and all the kids had great fun.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 116 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony's Perfect Bowling Form

Anthony, of course, does not have any bowling form... I have no idea what he was doing to appear in the shot above as if he knew how to bowl, but it wasn't bowling.

Here's how he actually bowled....

Two-Handed Heave

At this age, the gutter bumpers really make the difference between fun and not fun. No one cares about the score (we didn't keep score), only having fun. Anthony's last roll of the day, right before they turned off the lanes, was his first strike, so he ended the day on a great note.

Thanks for inviting us, Katie, and happy birthday!

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — ¹/400 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Final Approach

Geese make a lot of poop on the lawn, but they sure are pretty in flight, and while landing. The full-sized version of the photo above (click on the photo or here) shows geese in various stages of landing, all pretty, so zoom up for best effect.

Past posts featuring geese in flight include Keeping the Geese In Line and Flying Feathers.