Sky Watch - Looking up

Weather vane

A few random shots looking up in Frederick area this August.

Power for the church

Top of the bell tower

 Twin spires

Wires and clouds

Power pole

Header Challange - Portray a movie

Mac choose the theme of portraying a film. I have chosen to illustrate a sequel to a film you may have seen.  The Blair Witch Project  told the story of three teens who disappeared in the hills near Burkittsville, Maryland. What was not revealed is that the Blair Witch had a sister named Claire. She was banished from Burkittsville  and now roams the corn fields of Frederick County.

Filming her story has been delayed as Claire's favorite libation is home made corn whiskey. She is rumored to have a still down near the creek and steals corn to make her mash.  She is occasionally spotted (but seldom photographed), usually on Halloween trying to take candy from the kids. I was lucky to get a few shots of her recently as she gathered more corn in the field near our house for her next batch. (It appears she had a few sips before flying our way.)

Open gate before entering

Trying to steal eggs (the young birds had left the nest)

 

 Peeping witch

 Splat!

Our World - Seen in Frederick

 Biking and rowing

Here are some random shots in the City of Frederick on the day of the High Wheel bike race.

Guard dog

Old brick, new stone

 Ducks in a row

 

The shower

Street legal - Yes valid tags

Sky Watch - Wind Swept and clouds

 Wind Swept

Sculpture by Svend Bue Rondum 1998

 Clouds over field

 Clouds over corn

Clouds and wires

Header Challenge - Bird

Craver  picked bird for the theme this week. I choose as my header a soaring vulture taken in 2008. These images are individual birds I photographed in our yard this August. There have been plenty of finches and small birds at our feeders, often many squabbling over a turn on a perch. The dove just waited on the ground below the feeders for seeds to drop.

On the morning  of August 8, a young hawk spent about 5 minutes in our bird bath. No other bird came near the feeders that day. A few showed up the next, but the gold finches did not return until the third day. 

Our World - BIG wheels

Start 

 

The City of Frederick hosts the only high wheel bike race in the US. The course circles two blocks of the historic district. The winner is the person who completes the most laps in an hour. Men's winner was Brian Caron completed 41 laps. Womens winner Sherl Kennedy completed 38 laps.

 Kids too

 

Heading east

 



First lap leaders

Rounding turn four

Sky Watch - Moon and clouds

On august 10 we had clouds and a chance of rain and the full moon. A good bit of the night I found clouds (as seen at 6 PM) covering the moon. The sequence below was taken 10:47 to 10:50 PM as the clouds drifted overhead. 

Header Challenge - Color vs Black and White

Tom's challenge this week is to compare color and black and white images. I grew up seeing b&w photos of Ansel Adams and others as Dad subscribed to Popular Photography. I also like high contrast images - color or b&w. I choose 4 images to consider for my header this week. I chose the steam engine for my header as it is a throwback to the time of black and white photography.

The train was restored and is now operated by Walkersville Southern Railroad. They are a volunteer organization of railroad enthusiasts who restore, maintain and operate equipment and track. The steam engine is a recent addition to their rolling stock.

Carroll Street Bridge and the water lilies are regular appearances here. I prefer the color version of them.

This image of a zinnia and a honey bee is a good candidate for black and white, especially when the contrast is pushed a little.

My World - Buggy

As I was cutting the grass, I spotted something orange ahead. So I stopped to investigate. It did not move so I left it alone and went about finishing the grass (skipping a small spot). The next morning it was still there so I picked it it up to investigate (and take more pictures). It was a Regal moth with a wing span of about 4 inches.

 

 Cicada

Cicada killer wasp

 

Young praying mantis