Show Photos

Today's Photo - A Rehearsal Photo From SUNY Oswego's Production of "Grease"

When I was working, photography for the theatre department was part of my job.  After retiring, they had some difficulties finding someone to take their rehearsal photographs as well as shoot photo calls.  So, I'm back to shooting shows.  It is an interesting type of photography.  Very high contrast, particularly if the show uses followspots.  On top of that, lighting levels are often low, and, at least for rehearsals, shooting handheld is a must.  You need to develop good handholding techniques - shutter speeds are often under a 15th of a second. Flash is out since it destroys the work of the set, costume & lighting designers, and the colored lighting tends to cause metering problems. The good thing is digital cameras have come a long way, pretty much replacing film.  In the past I shot slide film at an ASA of 320. Last night I was shooting with a Nikon D700 with ASA/ISOs as high as 3200!  Another advantage is cost - I took over 1000 images last night, threw away over 1/2 of them because of actor movement.  Think about what that would have cost using film that, with processing, cost around $25.00 per 36 frames!

Anyhow, if you are interested is seeing some of the results, a link to the 1st rehearsal is at Grease. I'll add the final dress & photo call after shooting them. Again, for those interested, the pages are straight out of Lightroom's web generation module.  Saves a lot of time using it, and, since I usually put the page up immediately after the rehearsal, anything that saves time is great.  Hit the sack at 2:30AM last night, and will be doing it again tonight!

Same Old, Same Old

Today's Image - A Grey Jay along WA 20 in the Cascades.
















Not much new happening so this will be a short post.  The only thing on the RV is I ordered a Progressive Industries  surge protector with voltage protection to add to the trailer.  I'm not really sure I need it here in the east, however many of the places I plan to travel have some serious thunderstorms - I guess it is better safe than sorry!

My daughter Karin is still on schedule to give birth to my second granddaughter on April 10th, so I'm making plans for a visit to Washington DC.  Looks like I'll be a little late for the cherry blossoms.  I've only managed to catch them in full bloom once (in 2005) but I've been to the parade & festival a couple of times.

Till next time!

More Pictures II!

Today's Photo - Jon's Trailer!























They are still building the trailer, and to complicate things, this weekend they are moving their factory.  Sitting above the window is my back up camera.  I'm not sure the RAV4 is wide enough that the standard mirrors will see around the trailer, and most of the add on mirrors I've read about vibrate, fall off, or otherwise are a problem, so I added a camera.

A couple more photos - note they are very small so you will have to live with the low resolution.

So, it won't be all that long.  I'm still figuring out what I want to take with me, what I'll buy after actually living in the trailer, and what I can do without. Anyone know of a small microwave that includes a convection oven? I never made up my mind on the choice between a microwave & a toaster oven.  I did buy a Coleman "oven" that sits on top of the stove - I'll see how that works.  

I know one thing that is staying home - a suit!  I'm a jeans or shorts kind of guy, and haven't worn a suit since my retirement graduation ceremony.  My ties are so out-of-date they are probably back in!

Till next time  - 

It's Official!

Today's Photo - Great Falls, McLean, VA.














The Escape 17B is officially registered in NY.  For those familiar with NYS DMV, it will be no surprise that it didn't go smoothly.


If you look a bunch of posts back, you'll find I went to DMV, waited in line for 45 minutes & asked what paperwork would be necessary to register the trailer.  Even though they told me one of the forms wouldn't be available until I entered the US, the people at Escape Trailer Industries solved the problem, coming up with the form. 


So, after getting all the paperwork they told me I'd need, I stood in line for 2 hours (never go to DMV on a monday) and when I reached the window the clerk spent 5 minutes going through the paperwork, handed me a form, said fill it out, then go to the back of the line!  At least this time the line was only 45 minutes long, but I ended up with a different clerk who took another 45 minutes to actually process the paperwork.  Part of the problem was not believing my conversion from Kg to lbs for the trailer weights (Canada uses the metric system & NY doesn't). The rest of the time was spent going from internal office to internal office trying to figure out how to do the registration.  Only good thing is they used the Canadian dollar amount to figure sales tax even though the current exchange rate makes US dollars more. 


They kept the originals of all the paperwork, but did make me copies.  I checked with Tammy at Escape Trailer Industries concerned that I'd need one of the original documents to get back to the states, and she let me know that they keep all the paperwork necessary to import the trailer so the various US DMV's can't keep any paperwork necessary to cross the border.  Smart woman!


On top of everything, I had pulled the plate off my utility trailer so I could use it on the travel trailer (the old plate is white & matches both the trailer color & the plate on my car) since they told me I could transfer the plates.  Guess what?  You can't.  So, I'm the proud owner of a brand new ugly orange plate, but at least it's official.  


Till next time...

Welcome to Spring!

Today's Photo - Spring!
























Officially, today is Spring.  It was 24°F this morning, and is only up to 37° now, but I have to admit there are signs.  The photo above is the tree line in front of the house.  I planted a couple of rows of daffodils between the trees.  It is time to dig them up & replant - they are crowding each other out, but I never seem to get around to it.  The do look great for a couple of weeks. but now they are just peaking up through the ground.  Hard to believe there is a lawn between the trees & the road.  With the heavy snow this winter the amount of salt & sand at the edge of the road is amazing.

I did one spring ritual - trimmed the grape arbor.  I have 6 plants of a Concord derivative I planted in 1975 that are still going strong.  I mostly use them for grape juice.  My method (which comes from the ball canning book) is to dump a cup of whole grapes in a quart jar, fill with boiling water & 1/2 cup of sugar, and boiling water process for 45 minutes.  I have to admit they look a little strange, but as long as you strain it as you pour, it is pretty good grape juice, and is awfully easy to make.

A couple more "Flower" photos:

The daffodils at the base of the grape arbor.  There are also some tulips that are just breaking through.

The first crocus.

We still have snow, at least where it has been shoveled off the front deck. Underneath the snow pile is my climbing rose.  I hope it melts in time for the rose to start growing!










Till next time!