I don’t have much to say today after a weekend of mostly staying away from the news and (anti-)social media. I hope everyone had a good weekend and is looking forward to a good week!
Phase 1: Day 3 – Out and About
Tag Archives: Charlotte
A Mother’s Day Visit
One of the highlights of Sunday was a visit by our son Scott and grandson Edison. We have an old Brio train set that Edison likes to play with when he comes, so we spent quite a lot of time with that. He also likes walking outside – especially on the brick retaining walls – and and running down the sidewalks and driveways. At 4 years old he’s a bundle of energy, and while we’re always happy to see him come we often take a nap after he leaves!
Fuzzy Concepts 2
Panning with moving objects to convey a sense of speed and motion. I need to do more of this, although people can be weird about a guy standing on a street corner with a camera. Maybe now that I’m older they’ll just think I’m eccentric but harmless. 😉
Power To The People
I’ve been working lately on having a camera with me on my morning walks. It’s interesting what I see when I have a camera with me (duh!). 😉
Transmission towers aren’t exactly a glamorous subject (unless you’re into such things), but they do have some interesting lines and shapes. This one is a regular subject, mostly because it’s always there, looks different in changing light and weather, and gives me a reason to trudge to the top of the hill.
It’s also a good camera test – to check focus and sharpness!
Waxing Crescent Moon
Waxing crescent moon over Charlotte, NC tonight!
Means of Expression
It always interests me to see how people tend to refer to their equipment in more specific terms the newer or more expensive it is. I was reading a recent blog post that was commenting on the age-old (at least 10 years!) argument about whether phones were “real” cameras. Never mind the argument (which I think is silly), but the writer stated that “there are significant differences between my iPhone 8’s camera and my OM-D E-M5 Mark II, not to mention some newer full-frame cameras.” Well, no sheet, Sherlock!
The thought that went through my mind when I read that sentence was that, if he were shooting with a 3-generations old Android phone (like me) or a hopelessly obsolete mirrorless camera (like me) he might not have been so quick to mention his gear. Is that what is referred to as “humblebrag? As in, “I had a hard time finding a suitable parking place for my Porsche?” Anyway, my weird thought twists on this Saturday morning.
I hope everyone has enjoyable holiday week/weekend, whichever holiday (if any) they choose to be observing.
A Few More
Nothing to say today, important or otherwise. I just processed a few more photos from the same folder as the last post and thought I would share. Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. Staying warm where it’s cold and dry where it’s wet. 😉
Cultural Awareness (or Lack Thereof)
One of the many advantages of not being a television watcher is that I don’t have to put up with all the commercials and mindless programming, including the so-called news. One of the disadvantages of not being a television watcher is that I miss out on a lot of the sayings and expressions that come from both the commercials and the programs themselves.
Case in point – last week I sent an email to a co-worker about something good that had happened, and he replied, “dilly dilly.” I was puzzled but figured if he wasn’t making some obscure reference to my name that it was probably something I missed from television. I get pretty good at recognizing things like that. 😉
Just today I came across an article about a guy with Charlotte roots who had found recent fame by being the “dilly dilly” guy, and it turns out he is the actor that plays the king in a series of Budweiser commercials where he replies “dilly dilly” whenever someone brings him beer. Little did I know, but “dilly dilly” is this year’s version of “WHASSSUP?” 🙂
The things I miss. Sigh….
The photos – by the way – are more from 2012. I took this during an outing with a digital point & shoot class I was teaching. Although it appears I “cheated” and was using my then-new Canon 5D Mark III. 😉
Spoiled For Choice
A recent Charlotte phenomenon is the proliferation of something called “dockless bike-sharing programs.” By using an app on your phone (of course) you can pick up one of these bikes, ride it wherever you want, and leave it there. It unlocks automagically using the app, then presumably locks itself when you are finished.
It’s kind of an interesting concept, and I kind of hope it catches on, but I have to wonder just how many people are actually going to ride these things. A recent news article indicated the city council had authorized four different companies to have up to 2,000 bikes in town. That seems like a lot.
Maybe on the first 70 degree day we should have a Bike-In, and everyone head out at lunch time, ride a bike to some central location and leave them all in one place. Seems like a lot of trouble but what the heck.
Tourists in Our Own Town
As much as Kathy & I love to travel, we often talk about the fact that there are a lot of interesting things to do right here in Charlotte. Things that people come from all over the country – and even the world – to experience, and we have never been. So a few weeks ago we decided to try something new – to be tourists in our own town and start checking out some of the things we take for granted.
After a nice breakfast we headed to the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art for an exhibit of photography that includes work by Paul Strand and of contemporary Mexican photographers. The office where I work is directly across the street from the Bechtler, and our bank gives us free admission once a month, but we had never been!
Next we rode the light rail out to visit Doc Porter’s Distillery, where we took a tour and sampled their products. This little distillery is cranking out bourbon, rye whisky, rum, gin, vodka and soon, malt whisky. Nice people and a good story, and well worth the effort to get there.
So a day of photography and booze – how hard is that?!