Happy 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

to all

and may all the clicks of your shutters

be superb images!

Sky Watch - Sunset and clouds

Sunset on December 22

and clouds trailing to the southwest

Window Views - A little snow

The house next door

Snow, trees and sky

My World - Christmas in the Carolinas

Bryce with Grandma

We abandoned the cold of Maryland for the cold of South Carolina for Christmas to share in Bryce's first Christmas. He took great interest in the whole event and delighted us all.

Bryce with Mommy

Laptops for the boys

New keyboard for Rock Band

And the band plays on

First ever Christmas snow in central SC

We stopped on the way home at John's and Lynne's in North Carolina on the way home. More snow and, as always, a delightful visit. Thanks everyone for making this a delightful Christmas for us!

PhotoHunt - Christmas circle

I have see a lot of these circles this time of the year. This one is above our garage door.

Merry Christmas to all Photo Hunters! I hope all of your Christmas images turn out bright and cheerful! And special thanks to tnchick for hosting PhotoHunt again in 2010!

Sky Watch - Eclipse

I stayed up to watch the eclipse of the moon and took some shots as it progressed. The first image is the full moon about an hour before the eclipse began. From past experience I set my camera to manual mode, spot metering and varied the shutter speed (first image 1/640 sec, last 8 sec). I went out about every ten minutes (it was cold and windy) during the eclipse and took four shots each time. For the last set I stayed out about 20 minutes. Near the end of the sequence shown light clouds began to obscure the moon (and I was getting sleepy) so I did not capture the exit from eclipse. From about fifty images, I selected these, cropped them and use PhotoShop Elements to create this image. No enhancements were done to the moon images.

Added January 7, 2011: NASA has posted some great images of the December lunar eclipse and the January partial solar eclipse. Here are the links:

Jan 4 Solar
Sunset, Moonset
Sunrise, Moonrise
December 23 Lunar
Eclipsing the sun
Eclipse at moonset
The solstice’s moon eclipse

Window Views - Then and now

On December 20, 2009 my rear window view was the above. We had record snowfall for December that weekend. Last Thursday my view was white, but only an inch or two.

I wish you all pleasant views

through you windows

and a very Merry Christmas.

My World - Christmas is near

Our house on the thirteenth

A little snow on the sixteenth

Close-up of the tree lights

PhotoHunt - Male introductions

Grandson Lewis is introduced to our male cat, Buster last summer.

Sky Watch - Sunrises

I do not get up early very often since I retired, but on Tuesday and Wednesday I awoke as the sun was rising. In my last job, I was well on my way to the office when the sun peeked above the horizon. The first two images were taken on the 14-th and the last three on the 15-th. For another impressive sunrise, check this Sunrise Soltice at Stonehenge on the NASA APOD site.

Window Views - Windows in a window

Ec'clectibles is a gift shop with beautiful art and jewelry. The store's windows are always worth a pause when walking along Patrick Street in the city of Frederick. This Christmas season they placed a winter scene with a model of their building in one window. The model windows are shown in the close-ups below.

My World - Night lights

Lights in a window

Lights in trees

Lights under a bridge

Lights on Market Street
(I made this one my desktop image, click on the image for a larger view)

Lights at our house

PhotoHunt - Funny signs

I spotted these humorous signs in a window during my hunt for pictures on November 6. The one above reminded me of Bob Hope in the movie "Son of Paleface".

Sky Watch - December skies

December 6 - Clouds roll in

December 8 - Sunny to the east

followed by clouds in the west

Window Views - Holiday windows

Amber Coast

A bowl of balls

Art in a window

Animals and toys

Glass face

My World - First Saturday

On the first Saturday in December, the City of Frederick was decorated in festive lights.

The trolley was running for those who wanted a bit of nostalgia (or a quicker trip on this cold night)!

The shops are full of holiday decorations and gifts. And we are invited back for more on the next two Saturdays.