Daily Photo - July 01-15
For 2020, I am photographing every day, and posting the best of each day in half-month increments.
2020 July 01, Wednesday
I visited my parents on Canada Day. My Mom is growing peppers in her garden for the first time.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/800 sec, ISO 1250
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 02, Thusday
I call my house Rumble Haven because of the train that rumbles by twice a day. Most of the time the front engine is orange and is followed by another orange one and a blue one. In a big switch-up, on the second of July the blue one led with the orange ones behind.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 03, Friday
I snapped a photo of a more-mottled eagle this time! It's perched in one of the trees along the shore, similar to where the fully-fledged eagles usually scope out the water.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/1600 sec, ISO 1600
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 04, Saturday
In this time of turmoil it is important to support the economy, or so we're told. I did my bit by getting the materials together to build a small patio out my back door. After several days of moving around gravel, by Saturday the fourth I was ready for some stakes. Using a level to ensure that the string was even, my Dad and I measured down by a set amount to ensure that the gravel layer would be smooth.
Olympus E-PL9: f4.5, 1/400 sec, ISO 6400
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 05, Sunday
Next up came the paving stones themselves. I wanted something with more visual interest than a regular square paver, so I went with ones that have a more natural look. There were a few moments of figuring out how to lay them properly, but we eventually got the hang of it.
Olympus E-PL9: f5.6, 1/640 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 06, Monday
I had gone with my cousin Bradley to pick up the gravel for the stones. We also got a bucket of crusher dust, which is a finer stone used to level the bed. It is also swept between the cracks of the pavers to set them in place. I needed a bit more dust for that, so I went back for a second load. This photo is taken partway through the setting process; you can see how the parts nearer to the door have dust-filled cracks and the ones closer to the camera do not.
Olympus E-PL9: f4, 1/250 sec, ISO 1600
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 07, Tuesday
This shot is taken a short walk away from my backyard, but the view is pretty similar to the one I can now enjoy from my new patio.
Olympus E-PL9: f7.1, 1/500 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 08, Wednesday
I moved some of my golden chain trees, potting them in larger vessels. They are still inside, though. It's ironic; I always lambasted helicopter parents for being too overprotective, and yet I shy away from exposing my baby trees to wind.
Olympus E-PL9: f5.9, 1/320 sec, ISO 6400
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 09, Thursday
On the heels of the emotional punch from yesterday's high-contrast photo comes a much more banal high-contrast picture for today... In the ongoing quest to keep my house looking tidy, my Mom and I added a vibrant wallpaper detail to my washroom. I was leery of the zebra-print at first, but I do like its pizzazz.
Olympus E-PL9: f4.2, 1/250 sec, ISO 6400
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 10, Friday
It is important to stop and smell the roses, even if they are just wild ones. I was expecting some friends to come visit on the weekend of the tenth, but they could not make it. Our long-awaited post-lockdown get-together shall have to wait a few more weeks.
Olympus E-PL9: f7.1, 1/500 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 11, Saturday
These flowers are super-tiny; there is some serious magnification at play in this shot. I got a bug bite as I was trying to tame the focus. Provided I haven't contracted malaria or zika, I think the photo may be worth it.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/800 sec, ISO 1600
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 12, Sunday
Another flower picture! I hope you are not finding these repetitive. Once again, we're looking at a very small detail. This one was hanging low, so I have my camera down on the ground and angled slightly up to get as much of the purple and orange contrast as I can.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/500 sec, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 13, Monday
Years ago... Decades ago, I should say! ...I did a future-job assessment at school. One of the questions was whether I wanted to do outside work or office work. I remember wistfully wondering if there were such a thing as outside office work. Picturing filing cabinets in a field made me laugh. Nowadays, however, our filing cabinets are significantly more portable.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/400 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 14, Tuesday
This is something in the wild carrot/wild parsnip family. An invasive plant, it has very toxic sap. Getting the sap on one's skin causes it to become extremely photosensitive, and getting some in the eye can cause blindness. My sister had a run-in with some of the stuff once, and its effects lasted for months! On the flip-side, I've always found the flattened form of the flowers fascinating. To me, they look like tiny giant futuristic suspended cities.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/800 sec, ISO 6400
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
2020 July 15, Wednesday
I decided to give a whirl to a "scene" option in my camera. It consists of predetermined settings optimized for collecting light trails. Once that was going I grabbed my poi and walked across the frame. I'm not exactly sure what the move I did is called... It's sort of an alternating horizontal-vertical around-the-head corkscrew, in split-time same-direction. I'm definitely no poi-expert! Whatever the move is called, I think it looks interesting when turned into a trail.
