On the first Saturday of the month,

downtown Frederick stays open late

with music and other activities.

 

 Music is live with several groups playing at different locations. 

 Shops are busy with customers.

The lotus in the creek show their stuff.

 

Puppets in a window.

 

 Hard Swimmin' Fish perform.

 

And the sky puts on a show as the sun sets.

Sky Watch - Evening clouds

Some clouds and some rain to end the month of July.

Header Challenge - Cats sleeping

Zoey in the sun

Our two cats, Zoey and Buster, spend a lot of time sleeping. Rarely do they sleep together like above any more, but any time, any where, both are likely to be sleeping. Begging for food is second on their "to do" list.

 

 Buster in his bed

Zoey on our bed

 

Buster on the table

 

Our World - Butterflies and a bee

The flowers at Catoctin mountain Orchard attract the butterflies and bees, though with the hot weather recently not as many as in past years. (The peaches are excellent!).

Sky Watch - with a little PhotoShop

For most of my photography I let the camera decide on the exposure and shutter speed. Some sky shots I took Monday looked a little dull so I applied Photoshop Auto Color Correction, with the result below.

 

But when applied to this image (taken 1 minute after the fist), the effect was more dramatic!

f 5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO 100, cropped

 

For shots of the moon, I usually go with manual mode (200 mm lens) and bracket the exposure until I get a useable image. I then use Photoshop to crop the image and make adjustments. (Occasionally I will get out the tripod and longer exposures.)

 

 f 5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO 100, cropped,

adjust shadows, adjust contrast, auto sharpen

f 5.6, 1/800 sec, ISO 100, cropped

 

 f 5.6, 1/800 sec, ISO 100, cropped,

adjust shadows, adjust contrast

 

Header Challenge - What's in the clouds?

This image was almost my header. When I took the shot about 8 PM Saturday, the sky just looked gray, but I heard a distant rumble. As Marianne, my daughter, son-in-law and I  sat around the table discussing how to solve the US immigration problem, a light show erupted over the distant hill. What was hidden in these clouds was a powerful lot of static electricity which burst forth in streaks and flashes. We continued our discussion and my camera stayed in the bag. (The immigration problem was not solved by our discussion.) Below are some other things seen in recent clouds.  

A sheep looking at you

 

 A ball of fire

 

Bright puffs of cotton candy

 



Our World - Grandsons and kaleidoscopes

Grandsons Lewis (above) and Winston stopped by on their way home from a trip to Disney World. They always enjoy a peak at Marianne's collection of kaleidoscopes.  

 

 

Wired for sound, buckled up and ready for the trip home (a much shorter trip than the one from Orlando to Maryland).