Category Archives: Nature

Fully partial

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Folks in a large swath of the western hemisphere were fortunate to have the opportunity to see an annular solar eclipse today (weather permitting, of course). We decided to forgo a drive to the path of annularity, opting instead to watch it as a partial eclipse — from our front porch. We got lucky as a thin layer of cirrus blew out of the way just in time, and I was able to make some photos.

Fully partial -- partial solar eclipse photographed a few minutes past maximum.

This was the eclipse as seen from Denver, about 10 minutes past maximum. Look closely, and you can see a sunspot in the upper right part of the crescent.

EXIF:
OM System OM-1 camera, M.Zuiko 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 lens, MC-14
560mm, f/9.0, 1/320 sec, ISO 500

Across the channel

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Looking south from Venice proper toward the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
Across the channel
In 2022, we were able to visit Venice during the “shoulder season” just before the onslaught of tourists in the summer’s main tourist season. Taking a late-day gondola ride was one of our best choices — scenic and quiet!

EXIF:
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 8-25mm lens
15mm, ISO 500, f/9.0, 1/60 sec

Strange planet

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The Flatirons, just west of Boulder, Colorado. But seen in infrared, and with some color tweaks in post-processing.

Strange planet

I love the Flatirons, but they’re one of those subjects that is exhaustively photographed here in Colorado. So, how to make a shot of them that doesn’t look like a million others? Oh, and I went hiking on kind of a “blah” sort of morning — light overcast, some snow on the ground (but not enough to really set off the rock). My regular color photos taken with a regular digital camera were… underwhelming.

Fortunately, I also took along my E-PM2 camera body (which I’d had converted to full spectrum imaging), and a 720 nm infrared filter. Do a little color channel swapping, fiddle a bit with levels to separate the rock from the trees, and presto — you’re on a distant world.

EXIF:
Olympus E-PM2 camera (full spectrum conversion), M.Zuiko 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ lens, 720nm filter
ISO 200, 19mm, f/8.0, 1/250 sec

Colorado away!

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Liftoff of a Colorado-themed hot air balloon at the closing session of the (rain plagued) 50th annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Colorado away!

We haven’t had a chance to attend the Fiesta for years, but this year’s event lined up perfectly with some family travel we had on the calendar. We showed up in town the Friday night at the end of the Fiesta, just in time for the Saturday morning and evening main events to be cancelled due to bad weather (an unusually wet October for New Mexico meant many events were cancelled through the week).

Luckily for spectators and the remaining balloonists, the weather improved overnight, so the Sunday morning mass ascension could still take place. A lot of pilots had given up before that point, so it was a relatively “thin” mass ascension, but we were all happy to see a respectable number of balloons airborne.

EXIF:
OM Digital OM-1, M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 II lens
34mm, f/13, 1/80 sec, ISO 200

Vernazza afternoon

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Looking down on the Cinque Terre town of Vernazza on a stormy afternoon. The harbor would normally be full of small boats at this time of day, but they were all pulled out of the water due to dynamic sea conditions.

Vernazza afternoon

Earlier this year, we were able to spend a bit of time in Italy. Out of this, we had three days to rattle around in Cinque Terre — a group of 5 old fishing towns. They’re quite a photogenic group, although I’d vote for Vernazza as the prettiest. They’re all also connected by both a seaside hiking trail, and shuttle service on the local rail line — so you’ve got multiple options for getting around to see the sights, as a function of your schedule and exercise tolerance. I took this shot from the trail on the north side of town — not terribly far to go for a “postcard” view.

EXIF:
Olympus E-M1III, M.Zuiko 8-25mm f/4 lens
8mm, f/11, ISO 200, 1/200 sec