28-JAN-2010
Day 28 - Portal
(759/365)
I've seen this boat on my way into work every morning for the past month or so. There are a few boat yards on my normal commute, none of them anywhere near water. I swung around to try to capture the boat, with hopes of getting the muted sun into the frame somehow. I didn't expect to be able to frame it like this though. It's not everyday I can take a shot like this into the sun without some kind of flash.
27-JAN-2010
Day 27 - Eastern Force
(758/365)
How can I not resist a photograph of the aft of a ship called "Eastern Force"? I wish I had a way of capturing the ships that dock in this particular location from their bow. I have to do a little looking and poking around, ideally I would be underneath the Route 95 Bridge, but I don't think there is a clear shot. Anyway, while I was walking back to my car from this shot, I noticed another potential shot when the sun is just right. I took a ton of handheld test shots to make sure it was framed properly and it looks like it will work. This particular spot yields a large number of PaD photos through out the year for me!
26-JAN-2010
Day 26 - Reflections
(757/365)
At the end of the runway this morning. The ironic part was the fact that a plane taxied into position and took off while I was shooting this. The only problem was that I couldn't see it from this angle. I could hear and smell it though. That thing that looks like a turtle in the middle of the photo (fence bottom) is actually some form of drain pipe.
25-JAN-2010
Day 25 - Island
(756/365)
I saw this truck in the middle of the parking lot on my way into work this morning. It was completely alone and surrounded by snow. Since it hasn't snowed out in about a week, I figured this truck has been abandoned in the lot for at least that long. Somehow I missed it last week. There is a bar off to the left of this truck, I'm thinking someone got a little too drunk one night and completely forgot about their truck.
24-JAN-2010
Day 24 - Intake Valve
(755/365)
While working on the bike, I noticed this scene after removing the throttle bodies. This is the left intake valve on the rear cylinder. The right isn't as bad. I'm having a hell of a time trying to inspect my front valves (the throttle bodies are suspended in place right above the intake, right in my line of sight).
23-JAN-2010
Day 23 - Boys Night
(754/365)
Tonight was Scout Night at the Portland Pirates. My son & I went and we brought along his friend and fellow den member, Logan (not appearing in this photo). The boys were pretty tired, they had a sleep over at Logan's house last night and didn't get a whole lotta sleep. They spent most of today together also. They were looking a little tired at the start of the game. It took a little coaxing to get my son to not look like a zombie for a quick photo.
The Pirates scored in the first period, it was looking good well into the 2nd period until the Devils scored two points. The Pirates never scored another goal, it wasn't from a lack of shots on the goal either. It was a good thing for us the game was a little lackluster and the boys were tired. We left with 3 minutes to go and was able to beat the crowd out. We were at the top of the parking garage. Last year, it was a much better game and we left after it finished, then had to wait a 1/2 hour in the parking garage until everyone below us had exited.
This is a jpg out of my LX3. I knew there was a reason I don't like jpg files coming out of a camera. The White Balance is messed up.
22-JAN-2010
Day 22 - Reach
(753/365)
I saw this tree this morning way off in the distance and decided I needed to shoot it. In this field area (near my youngest daughter's school), all the trees, bushes, and marsh weeds were covered in a hoarfrost. I wanted to make sure I could get enough of the blue sky in frame to add a little contrast.
I took a few more shots this morning, they are out at Flickr:
21-JAN-2010
Day 21 - Frosty Light
(752/365)
I stopped off at the Xmas Tree Stand again today, I really wanted to look at the For Sale sign as I thought the lot was for sale. It turns out the For Sale sign was for a snowblower. Anyway, while I was standing around in the 16 degree weather, I noticed the cool looking frost on the lights.
I shot three or four different lights, trying to get it just right. It was so bright this morning that the background was overpowering the lights. When I tried to underexpose the background, the lights were lost in the shadows. I grabbed my flash to dial in a little fill and I can't help thinking that I dialed in too much. This shot says 'flash' to me. I tried to warm it up a little to make it look more like sunlight, but it's still obvious. I might just be splitting hairs here, but I wish I had the option of doing a little off camera flash to give it some more detail. I didn't have any way to support an off camera flash this morning, that is my only saving grace.
20-JAN-2010
Day 20 - Snow Car
(751/365)
I was just here last month shooting this car that is still on a trailer in a parking lot. An old passenger bus has joined up with it, out of frame in the background. I was actually in the parking lot beside this building looking for a different shot when I realized the car was still there. I wound up with snow up to m knees walking around shooting it from different angles. Nothing a little heater on full blast couldn't cure for the rest of the drive into work.
19-JAN-2010
Day 19 - Snow Flame
(750/365)
I was trying for a much wider shot than this. Trying to capture the branches that were draped in white from the hoarfrost & snow. Those wide shots never seem to do it for me later on back in front of the computer. I am 'settling' on this cat-nine-tail that looks like it is on snow-fire. It was snowing out this morning when I took this, if you look close enough, you can see the streaks from the flakes in the background (moving from the top right to the bottom left). Just a simple B&W treatment in LR.
18-JAN-2010
Day 18 - Wheel Horse
(749/365)
We finally got enough snow this winter for me to justify digging out the tractor for help. To open up more space in our garage this summer, I parked the tractor (Wheel Horse C-120) outside along the side of the house under a tarp. The only thing I use this for is clearing the driveway, the snowblower attachment remains on the tractor all the time. I sometimes use it to move our utility trailer around the yard, but this year I cleared a spot along the side (in front of the tractor) for the trailer and haven't needed the assistance of the wheel horse. I was able to get our Tahoe within "Jumper Cable Range" of the tractor and it only took about 3 - 4 minutes to get it started while jumped.
The blades on the auger are all nicked from hitting rocks from the gravel that lines our driveway. Even with the lack of use, the misuse, and the age of this tractor, it just keeps on going. It is built like a tank.
17-JAN-2010
Day 17 - Clean Air
(748/365)
I've begun my winter maintenance on the Strom today. I had to pull the tank, I knew I had to pull the tank, there was no surprise, it was on my list, I thought I was prepared. Turns out I had an almost full tank of gas. No problem, just grab the tubing on my shelf and siphon the gas out. Well, no tubing. For three year, I've kept moving this tubing around from shelf to shelf in the garage. I looked everywhere today and couldn't find it. So off to the auto parts store to get a siphon (forget simple tubing at this point, no sense sucking down gas). Came back with a new gas can too. This photo does justice to this air filter. In fact, from this angle it doesn't look that bad at all. Except for the fact that the baffles closest to the camera are completely plugged with road crap, even after beating it up over the trash can for five minutes.
I have a bunch of small things to accomplish with the bike over my "Winter Maintenance Period", one of them, fork oil and springs, just got bigger as I need a front stand now (long story). For the most part though, the bike has been torn down, I just need to yank the air box at some point to get to the vacuum ports for a Throttle Body Sync.