Cory's Shiny

I suppose I'll follow Fred's car theme: as I've noted here before, I have an old Beetle living in my garage.  Last week I went out there and discovered a rather large puddle of transmission oil under it, which led to me removing a drive axle to replace a seal.  As long as I had it off, I figured I should clean and repack the CV joints.  CV joints are very messy inside, but once you get all of the grease cleaned off you find these pretty little shiny ball bearings inside.  My joints were in pretty good shape, so later this week I'll fill them with grease again and put them back on the car, at which point they won't be anywhere near so shiny anymore.

Fred's Shiny

This is a shiny new European Honda Civic (a very different car than the Civic for the U.S. market).  Paul and I spent the last two weeks visiting Holland, Germany and Austria.  I'm a bit of a car nut, and have a particular (unusual) fondness for Hondas.  So on Monday, the 13th, we stopped at a Honda dealer in Holland for a few pictures. In case you're curious, there are lots of pictures from our entire trip online on Flickr.

Next week: "Fancy"

Tomorrow: "Shiny".

/rl

Ryan's "Shoot"

I planned a fantastic photo for this week. I'd hoped to get a shot near sundown of a friend shooting one of his rifles that produces truly amazing muzzle flash. I figured I'd also get a bunch of other shooting related photos.

Instead I was stuck in town all day Saturday because of car issues. Sunday was ruined when I unboxed the new axle I had ordered only to find that it was used and returned. A 60 mile round trip drive found a rebuilt axle, but upon installation I found it was almost an inch too long. I ended up installing the "new" used axle, but it has a pretty nasty vibration.

As far as I can tell, the Omaha Police Department frowns on firing rifles within city limits, even if it is for a photo contest.

Instead, I shot a picture of some of the bullets I would have shot if I'd had a chance to shoot photos of people shooting for the topic "shot".

/rl

Cory's Shoot

They've been shooting an upcoming Lone Ranger movie at sites near town lately, and there were a couple of nights last week where the side of the ski mountain was lit up by gigantic lights.  I couldn't see any famous people from my house, but with my 300mm lens I got a shot of their shoot going on.

Mike's "Shoot"

I'm not sure how to make this photo fit the topic, except that its a picture that I shot.  There were three of these in Baker's parking lot and they were still busy parking two of them, so I only got this one.
One had a water cannon on top that could shoot water.  Sandra's dad was fire chief at Offutt for years and was horrified during that time they tried to make fire engines yellow.  She said if he saw this, he would shoot himself.  She, however, thought it was rather cool.

Oh, and I really wanted to inform them that they were blocking the fire lane.

Next week: "Shiny"

Due tomorrow: "Shoot"

/rl

Ryan's "Bearded"

Not a great photo, but it is a bearded man:

/rl

Cory's Bearded

This is a fence lizard, one of several that live in my yard.  He's a rather distant relative to the bearded dragon, but he still has a little neck beard going on there.  He'll just have to try growing it out a little more.

(obviously, I couldn't come up with an actual "bearded" picture either)

Mike's "Bearded"

People buy me weird things.  Sandra said this reminded her of me.  Granted, I was wearing my hair and beard a little longer than normal last Christmas, but I looked nothing like a Willie Nelson nutcracker.

So, that is my "punt" for the week.  Whenever I don't leave the house with my camera, I consider it a "punt".

I just wasn't in the mood to drive around looking for a goat, clam, genie, pirate or any number of things that I could think of that sported beards.

Next Week's Topic

Next week: Shoot.

"Bearded" due tomorrow!

Fred's Action

It may not look very active, but here's a shot of the lift bridge in downtown St. Paul as it's moving up to let a barge pass underneath.  I've gone past this bridge many times, but this was the first time I saw it actually moving.

Cory's Action

This successful action shot is the result of a night of failure.  I started out thinking "I know!  I'll take a picture of a car rounding the corner down the street!  I'll use a long lens so it will be all compressed and look really cool!"  But then no cars came.

So next I thought "No problem, I'll do some deep philosophical picture of star trails and comment on how there's a lot of action going on in the sky even though it doesn't look like it!"  But the moon was too bright.

So then I figured "Well, the moon is moving too.  I'll do a series of pictures of the moon with a length of time between them, and then cheat and stack them all together!"  But then the cars started showing up.

So here are the moon and stars standing still in the sky with the action of a car driving past clearly highlighted on the street below.

Ryan's "Action"

I apologize for my recent absences. There hasn't been much action around here... mostly just this:

/rl

Next week: "Bearded"

"Action" due tomorrow.

/rl

Cory's Repetition

The highway heading out of Santa Fe toward Los Alamos goes right past the Santa Fe National Cemetery, and I've always been impressed by its repetition.

Fred's Repetition

I snapped a shot of this fence while on a bike ride this week.

Mike's "Repetition"

I have driven or ridden by this barn hundreds of times and always meant to go back with a camera.  The repetition is obvious.  It's kind of like a stretch limo barn.
A little more about this barn can be read on Wikipedia.

Next week: "Action"

"Repetition" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Mike and Ryan...

... both failed this week.

/rl

Cory's Anchored

A while back we anchored a rope to the apricot tree in our back yard so kids could swing on it.  Since then, Maddy has become quite adept at her swinging.

Fred's "Anchored"

Early morning on Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis.

Next week: "Repetition"

"Anchored" due tomorrow.

/rl

Ryan's "Fourth of July"

I didn't get a chance to get any more fireworks photos, but I did grab this shot of Maddy and her grandfather walking out to the river at my parent's cabin:

/rl

Cory's Fourth of July

Lis, Maddy, Emily, and I hopped in the car and made our traditional trip up to Nebraska for the Fourth of July again this year.  Given the weird timing of the holiday in the middle of the week, I didn't manage to actually see any big fireworks displays this year and don't have my normal long exposure to post.  However, I did catch Maddy and Emily as they kayaked across the front lawn at my parents' cabin.  It looks to me like they are getting ready to go over a waterfall.

It was 100 degrees and humid in Omaha on July 4th. We did take the motor bike out a couple times at night to look at the neighborhood displays, but its hard to operate a camera that way.

I thought I would show you where I hid from the heat on that day. Even our office gets warm, so I hid out in our basement, in an area that we call "The Man Cave". It's not so in the traditional sense, with a nice TV with sports on, and friends over guzzling beer.

Mostly I have geek stuff there. A few old computers, multi-track recorder, too many guitars, PA and a the 300 watt subs I'm not allowed to have on the first floor...

Fred's Fourth of July

Next week: "Anchored"

"Fourth of July" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Fred's Wild Card

This is the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon.  I was there for work this week and snapped this picture one evening.

Cory's Wild Card

Yesterday we travelled from our nice cool desert home to the rainforest of Nebraska, where it is brutally hot.  We pulled out the wading pool this afternoon so Maddy and Emily could escape the 90% humidity of the air to the 100% humidity of the pool.

This picture is the definition of summer.

Ryan's "Wild Card"

Yup! It's that time of year again:

/rl

New topic for next week

We changed our minds: next week's topic is Fourth of July.

Mike's "Wild Card"

Took the bike for a ride this AM, ahead of the heat. I ended up South of 7th and Pierce in a neighborhood I'm not all that familiar with, but found this big hill with a wonderful view of the South side of downtown. The picture doesn't do it justice. There was a fair amount of Italian bakeries and restaurants, so I'm guessing it is what some would refer to as "Little Italy". Just to my right is an amazing stone house. Had I seen someone in the yard I would have asked to take its picture.

Next week: "Anchored"

Tomorrow is a wild card - shoot whatever you want.

/rl

Edit: Scratch that - next week's topic is Fourth of July

Ryan's "Pet"

Loki, wondering why nobody has ever taken the time to give her a single pet.

Ever.

Not once.

She can be a bit of a drama queen.

/rl

Cory's Pet

This is Sophie, who plays the roll of "pet" on our house.  She likes to sleep on this particular butterfly chair, as it allows her to show off just how bendable she is.  Plus, she's camouflaged in it.

Fred's Pet

This is Figaro, one of our two cats.  Clearly he has spotted something on the other side of the room that is demanding his attention.

Mike's "Pet"

One dog, two dog, red dog, blue dog.
Impossible for me to shoot anything else for this topic.  Not that I love them so much, but they are in my face anytime I'm in the house.  If Sandra is home, it takes the heat off.  They usually are at her feet like the Queens corgis are.

Next week: Wild Card

We're out of topics! Shoot whatever you want!

"Pet" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Cory's Succinct

I travelled across the country last weekend, and in one of the rooms I stayed in I found this rather succinctly worded sign that was kind of contradicted by the object that came with it.

Mike's "Succinct"

I have not been getting out of the backyard much these weekends.  OK, I have to admit that the rain stalled the job, but it also softened up the clay enough to make the digging a lot easier.
I came up with a fairly "succinct" solution to the neighbor's rocks that are knocking over our fence.  Dig out the footings and apply equal force from the other side.  The final solution has not been decided.  I need things to dry up a bit.  If this does not work, I tear down the fence and let him build one in his yard.

Next week: "Pet"

"Succinct" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Ryan's "Self Portrait"

Not quite what I was looking for, but better than nothing:

/rl

Cory's Self Portrait

I also wanted to do a really awesome shot of me on a motorcycle or with one of Mike's guitars, but I didn't have anything like that around.  I also tried planning something of me working out in the garage, but that didn't work out either.  So here I am as I frantically post another weekly photography picture.

No, it isn't actually an Apple ad.

Mike's "Self Portrait"

I wanted to do a really cool portrait of me on a motorcycle or with one of my guitars.  You know, something really James Dean looking.

That's not what I did this weekend.  I fought with this fence.  Some of you might recall me posting some pictures on FaceBook a while back complaining about my neighbors rock wall and how it pushed our fence over.  I made a "water drill" and though I dug as deep as I could by hand, I was able to get the rest of the way down the footing with a stream of water shooting out a 5 foot length of PVC.  I have about 3-4 more posts to do.

Next week: "Succinct"

"Self portrait" due tomorrow.

Anybody have some topic ideas? We are running low.

/rl

Fred's Herbivore

We had a little visitor in our back yard Sunday morning.

Cory's Herbivore

Horses are herbivores, right?  And bikes must be too, I suppose.  But what if you combine both?

I don't know what my camera decided to focus on for this picture, but I decided to post it anyway.  Just don't click on it and everything will look great.

Mike's Herbivore

No explanation needed.

Next week: "Self Portrait"

It's about time for another round of portraits, isn't it?

"Herbivore" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Cory's Flat

As David noted last week, there was an eclipse last Sunday.  The cheapest, safest way to view an eclipse is to project a pinhole image of the sun onto a flat surface, thereby viewing the sun indirectly.  It turns out that spaces between the leaves in trees make oodles of little pinholes too, so when the moon blocked most of the sun we got lots images of the eclipse projected onto the flat surface of our garage.

Ryan's "Flat"

I'm not sure all wide flat surfaces are safe for turtles to walk on....

/rl

Mike's "Flat"

If your by Tilden, NE and you get a "flat" tire.  You might well end up here to get it fixed.
I had a long chat with the man walking towards me.  He had pictures from later in the summer when they their planters are in full bloom.  He has also been a friend of Bill W. for over 20 years.

Next week: "Herbivore"

"Flat" due tomorrow. Or Monday. Whatever works. /rl

David's "Shape"

My shape is round.

Fred's Shape

This is the Triumph TR7.  It was advertised as "The shape of things to come" when originally introduced in the late 70s.

Cory's Shape

The yearly Los Alamos Kite Festival was this weekend, and there were lots of kites in a variety of shapes there this year.  I think this one was the most creative shape I saw.

Not far from where I took last weeks picture I found these "Shapes"
They are like 3D pieces of some sort of pie.

Next week: "Flat"

"Shape" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Fred's Mess

The kids at one of the local high schools are restoring this 1974 Triumph Spitfire.  Right now, however, the car's a bit of a mess.

Cory's Mess

The dining room table was nice and clean before dinner, but afterward everybody left Baby Emily behind to clean up the mess.

Jim's "mess"

Torn, tattered, rain stained..

Ryan's "Mess"

Have you ever wondered why city parks are a mess? People like this explain it:

Yes, he saw me take the photo. Yes, his passenger stepped over the trash when they got into the car. Yes, I picked it up and threw it away.

/rl

Wanted to take a stroll around the Gene Leahy Mall this afternoon, but had to take detour because of this "mess".

I'm not certain if they are redoing the walkway that used to be under the bridge at 10th and Douglas, or if they are going to widen the bridge.

The pedestrian bridge on the West side is completely gone, and it looks like they are putting in footing for something wider.

One of them shovel ready projects, I guess.

Next week: "Shape"

"Mess" due tomorrow.

/rl

Cory's Tour

I took myself on a tour of one of the trails behind town on Saturday, hiking through the area that burned rather severely just over ten years ago.  Things are growing back nicely in some places, but others are still obviously barren.  This is an example of that - a single tree trunk left standing all alone on the hill.

Ryan's "Tour"

Jenny returns from a tour of a little Nebraska lake:

/rl