Teddy in Tree.

Teddy the cat was chasing a squirrel. Taking a break now.

Friday frost along the way.

Friday morning, leaving for work.

Just past the school zone I had to pull over.

The sky was blue to the west (right). A light fog settled on top of corn field
that borders the park and west side of town.

On the left, the rising sun hit the line of trees covered with hoar frost.

The first photos are just straight shots from camera.

The second two are tone-mapped versions of same but show more detail.

The last photo is the view if I looked to the right - fog over cornfield.

And that should explain why the right side has a tint of blue to it.

Silos.

Like a painting,

Sentries, standing still

A pair of silos,

Stoic art on a hill

Snow in Woodstock.

It's been a mild winter (knock on wood). 

These photos are from the first week of March.

Woodstock, Illinois. Kimball and Lake avenue, right in town.

Black and white thoughts.

Once I decided on this photo and started posting it, I had a couple strange thoughts flash through my head:

My entry of a

picture of a camera and a black / white photo

in a black / white photo competition

is kind of like

painting a picture 

of brushes, pigments, and watercolor trays

for an art competion.

----------------------

What if I zoomed in on the photograph

and found it showed me

holding a picture of this picture

in my hands?

------------------

That skewed thinking brought to mind Jack Handey, a humorist best known for Deep Thoughts seen between 1991 and 1998 on Saturday Night Live. Here are some of his funnier one-liners:

The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw.

It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

I believe in making the world safe for our children, but not our children's children, because I don't think children should be having sex.

Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.

Whenever you read a good book, it's like the author is right there, in the room talking to you, which is why I don't like to read good books.

From Gathered.

Winter words.

gazing down a path

where crooked shadows cross

my mind's spinning webs

imagining I am lost

I think I see a landmark 

rock solid in front of me

wearing layers of hoarfrost

a most familiar tree....

(Close to home, my backyard and my neighbor's trees. December 2011 photo.)

Grand Kids.

Enough barns for a while. 

Layla and Colton. 

Grandkids. Both current photos. Fall of 2012.

Saturday Barns.

Right across the street from my son (Clint) and Jenni's house are the best looking old barns. 

I took Saturday afternoon, 11-03-12. Day was cool and a bit overcast. 

Top picture from Sony camera with a bit of HDR processing to get that look.

The bottom picture from my android cell phone. Not bad!!!

Trail of History 2012.

Bing

10-25-12 testing

Bing

About clouds.

A Break in the clouds by Raymond A. Foss

In the driveway this morning
gray clouds, lowering sky
a break in the clouds
bright light, a shimmering dove
hanging there, only momentarily,
a thought of the words of this poem
starting, a title, a line or too
a feeling of a need to remember
to capture the thought
The break closing,
before time for a photograph
frozen only in my mind
Reappearing, going with me,
at the town dump, unloading recycling
reminding me of your presence
of the grace, the dove descending
captured in flight once again
brighter now, hanging in sky


September 12, 2009

Copyright by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.

Nothing gold can stay.

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay. 

Robert Frost.

Fireworks 2012.

One really good capture, probably four okay captures, about 10 bad shots.


Nice party at Clint and Jenni's with fireworks. 


This was in their backyard. 


Camera phone. 

A bowl of blossoms.

2012.



These blossoms, in bowl, are from hanging basket I got around Mother's Day. (I always get myself something that time of year.)


I have some more in the process of growing - about 4 inches high as of now. 


(Hard to grow from seeds. Really got to keep watered!!)

Side shot with macro. Like the sharp look.

A little bit of tonemapping to get crisp colors below.

Red barn and silo.

Tilt-shift.

"Tilt-shift photography" refers to the use of camera movements on small- and medium-format cameras, and sometimes specifically refers to the use of tilt for selective focus, often for simulating a miniature scene.

Local Dari, Hebron Illinois.

Clint and Jenni walking in park, Crystal Lake, Illinois.

New house, back yard.

Monster trucks, real people in stands (they look fake).

Prairie Avenue Hebron Illinois.

Cattle in field west of local bar on edge of town (Rumors).

St. Albans street after a storm. (Hebron, Illinois)

Monster trucks at Allstate Center, Feb. 2012.

St Albans street.

Local Dari. Four corners, Hebron, Illinois

Marengo Barns.

Clint and I drove around the country taking barn photos. 


Here are a couple of them I liked:

Barn and clouds.

Stateline Barn. Just over the border in Wisconsin.

Strawflowers.

Took Sunday afternoon, 11-16-11. Beautiful day, big clouds.  I will add more pics later. 



Late in coming, these strawflowers are really taking off.