Moon Watch

Time spent gazing at the night sky can be as calming as watching the rhythm of ocean waves. Last night I went outside for a half hour or so before the International Space Station was due to fly over and spent time looking at the moon as it appeared and disappeared behind fast moving clouds.

And then we watched the space station as it made its arc over our driveway- looking like a bright star zooming across the night sky. A few moments of excitement on that dark night.

I missed blackout Tuesday- I hadn’t realized it was happening until late yesterday. But I add my voice to those crying for justice for all Black Americans. These are dark times- but I have hope for better days ahead.

 

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July Sky

My friend, Carol, is visiting! After an afternoon at Barnstar Brewery and a delicious barbecue dinner, we all sat outside talking, laughing, and watching birds until after dark. As we got up to go inside, we were surprised to look up and see clouds which had not been visible earlier. Carol and I got our cameras to photograph the moon peeking out through the cloud cover and were surprised to see the colors that appeared in our images. Smoke from the fire? I don’t know.

In this shot, you can see a star in the lower part of the photo.

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Fly Me to the Moon

The huge full moon rose ahead of us as we navigated the Phoenix freeways on our way to pick up our daughter’s family at the airport 2 weeks ago. It was bright orange and so huge that I kept forgetting to give Lonnie directions as we headed toward the airport. By the time we got back to the hotel it was no longer huge and no longer orange alas, but I did go out to the parking lot to snap a few shots before heading to bed.

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Floor with a View

My husband had a meeting in downtown San Francisco last week, so I accompanied him for a (very) quick getaway, which consisted of one day and two nights. My friend and photo buddy, Carol met us there, and she and I had a great time visiting and walking around the Embarcadero area with our cameras.

Lonnie went to get ice shortly after we arrived, and informed me that he had found THE shot- and it was right down the hall.

THIS is what he found when he looked out the window at the end of the hall:

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We were on the sixteenth floor, right across from the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge! Yes- a great view indeed! Carol had mentioned that she wanted to do some night photography, so I was happy that the perfect view had been found- right down the hall- even though it meant shooting through glass.

Carol had brought an extra tripod for me (one of her old ones, which is exactly like mine), so we set up at the window the next night for some fun night photography.  Trying to lean the tripod with camera attached flat against the glass and keep it there without slipping, in order to prevent reflections of the hallway lights during long exposures, was a challenge for me!  I managed to take a dozen or so shots- and most had reflections and less than tack sharp focus. The above photo is one of the better ones (but I did have to clone out some reflections).

A beautiful city by day- and equally beautiful at night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sonoran Light, Part 2

There were other light installations besides the wonderful water towers.  Here’s that bejeweled hill again- this time with cacti in the foreground.

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The lights continually changed colors, making an ever-changing display.

Here’s what the lights at the bottom of the hill look like up close.  Notice that they have changed color!

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And last, but not least, here is one of several beautiful hanging light sculptures, which rotated slowly as we walked by:

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