Category Archives: Photography

June 18, 2022 · 23:43

Hidden Lizard

Yesterday’s lizard was out in the middle of the sidewalk, almost daring any hawks or other raptors in the area to take a shot at him. The other lizard I spotted at the same time was much better hidden.

See him? Between his natural camaflouge against the bark of the tree and the added visual confusion from the sunlight and shadows, I almost missed him. Viewing him at first from a little to the right of here, looking at him head on, he was nearly impossible to see.

But then he twitched his tail and turned his head just a tiny bit and that gave him away.

At first I thought it might be the same one as from yesterday’s post, but from under the tree I could still see it sitting there. Then I thought it might be StumpTail, but in the shadow behind him you can see that long tail.

Both yesterday’s lizard and this bad boy have the most wonderful turquoise spots down their back, patterened in the scales. Click on any of the images to blow them up to full size to see for yourself.

I didn’t get too close, maybe five or six feet, and this guy finally turned away from me, figuring that if he couldn’t see me, then I can’t see him. I quietly backed away.

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Filed under Critters, Photography

June 17, 2022 · 23:35

Sidewalk Lizard

This dude (I’m going to go with male pronouns because who knows?!) was sitting on where I normally see Dusk, but it’s definitely not him. This as-yet-unnamed dude is a bit longer, but much wider. In thinking about it, Dusk might be an alligator lizard, where this guy is a Western fence lizard all the way.

He’s guarding the trash cans – no one’s getting over there without a fight. No one’s stealing OUR trash!

He wasn’t spooked very much by my presence. Either I’m getting a lot better at being sneaky (unlikely) or he just didn’t care.

It was bright and hot out there. He was loving those photons!

Oops, he’s spotted me! By this time I was only maybe five feet away and that side stinkeye look says, “Stop!” So I did.

Tomorrow (or soon), a harder lizard to spot.

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Filed under Critters, Photography

June 16, 2022 · 23:42

No Context For You – June 16th

So, for last night’s post, were there zero likes because no one actually read it, or was it because folks read it and it didn’t make any damn sense?

What I truly love is waking up at about 02:30 with my brain going, “Knock, knock! You forgot the punchline!”

With that title referring to an old joke, I never mentioned which old joke. So, for the record after feeling good, having the computer issue, and then not feeling so good, the old joke in question was the one about discovering that the light at the end of the tunnel being an oncoming train.

I didn’t say it was a particularly good joke.

And once I powered down the system, let it sit for a few, and turning it back on, it powered up just fine. No worries.

Still not out of that tunnel, but maybe that actually is daylight. Stranger things have happened.

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Filed under Freakin' Idiots!, Paul, Photography

June 14, 2022 · 23:45

Full Strawberry Supermoon Rising

As you’ve no doubt heard, there was a “supermoon” tonight. All that really means is that there’s a full moon, which happens every 28 days like clockwork. But as the Moon orbits Earth its orbit is elliptical, not circular, so some times at full moon it’s a touch closer, sometimes a bit further away, so sometimes it looks a bit bigger, and sometimes a bit smaller. It’s not that big of a difference, but clickbait’s gotta click.

As with the lunar eclipse last month, moonrise here is through the trees to the southeast and up from behind the Santa Monica Mountains, about in the Sepulveda Pass and Encino area. On the lower half of the frame, especially on the right, you can just start to see a few of the lights of Tarzana and Woodland Hills.

The moon was looking very red and smoky at moonrise. Guess why??!! Yep, between the normal junk in the air at sunset along the coast, LA’s smog, and a growing amount of smoke from the first of the season’s brush fires, there’s a lot of crap in the air. But once it got up above the mountains, it was definitely a full moon, about fourteen hours or so past full at this point.

Expose to bring out the trees and you SERIOUSLY overexpose the moon, which despite being dusky and orange and down in the atmospheric soup, is still reflecting a TON of light. A really good photographer or graphics artist would take this picture and the one above, taken seconds apart, and simply insert that moon into that bright spot and get something spectacular that looks pretty much like what the human eye sees. I, unfortunately, am not that photographer or graphics artist.

But occasionally I do get lucky. In my last set of pictures for the night, at the right point in the sequence (bracketing the exposures from about 1/1000 second to about 4 seconds, knowing that a couple in the middle will be exposed properly) a 737 out of Burbank Airport turned right 180º after takeoff (probably toward Northern California), passed over Van Nuys Airport (-ish), and right between me and that full strawberry supermoon. Click on the image to see it full sized… can you see it? Just inside the left side, at about the nine o’clock position?

Better lucky than good!

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Filed under Astronomy, Photography, Space

June 11, 2022 · 23:53

The Dusk Lizard

I’m no herpetologist, professional or amateur, but I have been watching and observing our yard lizards (both here and at the old house) for ten years or more. There a few things that seem pretty consistant, and the number one on that list is that they’re not nocturnal. At all.

Do you see it? This silvery critter. I’m calling it “Dusk,” because that’s the only time I’ve seen it. Which is weird.

Granted, at this point it’s not exactly dark. A this time of year the sun doesn’t set until a few minutes after 20:00, and these pictures were taken at 19:52, about twenty minutes before that.

But in my experience, these fence lizards and the odd alligator lizard are all off in their hidey holes a good hour or so before sunset. Maybe it’s so hot these last few days that the sidewalk is still hot enough for this critter to be sucking up infrared photons from below, but it really hasn’t been. I’ve seen days when it’s MUCH hotter, 10° to 15º hotter.

This critter’s also fearless, guarding their spot on the sidewalk and not budging for anything. I was within a couple of feet before it finally decided that discretion was the better part of valor and it retreated into the bushes along the fence.

It’s odd behavior all around. And all done way into the shadows and gathering dark.

“Dusk” indeed.

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Filed under Critters, Photography

June 10, 2022 · 23:36

Moon Above The Belt

The waxing moon is bright in the sky just before sunset last night…

…while at the horizon the Belt of Venus was very dark and purple (much more than shows here) with the bright pink band above it.

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Filed under Astronomy, Photography, Sunsets

June 9, 2022 · 22:27

An Excellent Sunset

On this somewhat disturbing day, especially in the US, there was a very, very nice sunset in LA.

(Click image to see it in full-sized and in all of its gloriosity!)

A bit after quarter moon up there on the left above the semi-shredded tree, all the way around past 180º to the pink, cotton candy puffs above the garage.

Thanks, powers that be! I needed that today.

Tomorrow’s another day to be brave, even if we don’t feel brave.

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Filed under Panorama, Photography, Sunsets, Weather

June 8, 2022 · 23:54

Another Thin White Line

Another thin white line across the sky. Another tube full of people going somewhere I’m not.

Can you see it there, 40,000 feet up, from San Diego behind us to the south, headed toward Sacramento far beyond the horizon up that way?

And here we are. One day at a time.

Beats the alternative. But it would be nice to have options.

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Filed under Flying, Paul, Photography

June 7, 2022 · 23:26

Fine Feathered Friends – June 07th

Crows. An airborne murder of them.

One of them starts the trouble, cackling and cawing and screaming something that I can’t quite understand.

The rest of the murder shows up, doing their best Eagles of Manwë impersonation.

They start filling up the neighbors’ trees, making an impressive racket in the process.

Not clear if they’re fighting, mating, or both. Strange are the ways of crows.

Like an avian gang of punk kid thugs, the show off, fight, try to impress everyone, then fly off to find another tree to do it all over in again.

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Filed under Birds, Critters, Photography

June 6, 2022 · 22:34

Some Days

Will WordPress post a GIF? More to the point, will it show it animated?

One way to find out.

For the record, I stand corrected from last night. It hasn’t been 80 years since D-Day, it’s only been 78.

For the record, “Come From Away” was utterly spectacular, amazing, emotional, hilarious, astounding, and anyone who knows me at all will know exactly which song, and which line in that song, hit me like a gut punch.

Let’s not do today again, okay?

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Filed under Paul, Photography