Cloud View 2


I took this photo Monday morning from my front yard. I thought the clouds were looking nice and fluffy. This view is while standing under the live oak looking up and west across the driveway. I had taken a break from working to go outside for some fresh air when I decided to get my camera and take a few shots. I was pretty disheveled-looking at the time. While I was shooting, I heard some noise coming from across the street. That house is up for sale, and the noise was that of a house hunting couple and their agent coming out of the house. I hope the sight of a disheveled guy taking photos of the sky doesn't scare them away from making an offer.

Neighborhood Parade


You can't have a 4th of July in the city without a neighborhood parade; our neighborhood is no exception. Many years it's pretty hot and sunny walking over to the parade street. This year it was pleasant and cloudy. Above, the colorguard. Below, an Amy's Ice Cream delivery truck in the vehicular section; The tie-died shirt on the woman on the left is a "Keep Austin Weird" shirt.

Cloud View


I normally try to take photos in a manner that makes them approximate the human view. I've deviated from this in the above photo. Since I've returned from Virginia, in general the sky in Austin has been more interesting that it often is this time of year. Over the past few days I've seen good combinations of multiple cloud layers & types separated by haze-free sky. I have some more varying cloudscapes to post this week, although I'll first probably have some parade photos. If you look at the lower-middle-right of the photo, you should be able to barely make out a hawk.

The above photo was taken Sunday evening. As you might guess, I set the color balance to be cooler than the reality of the scene. There are probably better ways to do this, even on a D50, but I used the quick-and-dirty method of setting the color balance scheme to "incandescent light." For an Austin slacker like me, this is easier than going into the D50 menus and turning on the color-balance bracketing or shooting in raw mode and processing on the PC in Picture Project. One day I'm sure I'll buy a copy of Photoshop, start shooting in raw (I shoot in large-size JPEG-fine), and maybe also get a fancier camera body. If I can stand the extra self-pressure to shoot well that comes with such equipment. Seeing how long it took me to "upgrade" from my Pentax K1000, it might be a while...

Fall Thoughts

I don't know why, but I've had a big craving for some Fall weather experienced under a nice big oak or two in Georgia. I usually don't get such cravings until August. Hasn't been particularly hot or dry here lately, either. Perhaps I'll have to dig up some Fall pictures this week. No photo today, though. I'm sure I'll have parade photos by tomorrow night.