The Weekend in Black and White: NC Outerbanks 1999 first digital camera

I was looking through some old shots and wished that my first digital camera hadn't been so lousy since I took some photos never to be repeated. I think the shots are at least marginally better in black and white than they are in the original color.

The shot above was of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse when they were working on moving it 2,900 feet southwest of its original location due to beach erosion. It was successfully moved in July 1999, a few months after I took that shot, but it took much longer for renovations.

The shot above is the Ocracoke Lighthouse. We were staying in Ocracoke when we took the side trip to Cape Hatteras to check on the progress they were making with the big move of that lighthouse. Not only has the Ocracoke Lighthouse never had to be moved it is the same one that was built in 1823 although in 1955 the light was automated.

Above is Bill and our daughter when I was mean making them pose in the high winds on the ferry. Last is the wake the ferry was making.

Click for the weekend in black and white. By the way my first digital camera was a freebie for buying something else so I can't complain. I just wish I'd taken some of the pictures with Bill's old SLR but we hadn't even brought it with us. I think I'd had this digital camera for several years and it's frustrating looking back on how many years most of the photographs I took were with the freebie digital.

Skywatch Friday: Looking up

We've had a lot of gray skies this week but whenever I see blue my camera is ready.

I'm relieved that some of the green still looks healthy although there is an increasing amount of brown from the searing heat.

I love to see a hole in the sky where blue is trying to push out.

I can't believe July is almost over and it can't end soon enough for me.

I think the cloud below looks like it is smoking out the top of its head.

Nice seeing some of the crepe myrtle is still doing fairly well.

The tree in the next shot is a Pecan tree.

Below are some cotton ball clouds.

More crepe myrtle with a bit of sky because I photograph those trees a lot when they bloom.

Last the birds on the church steeple with a gray sky which to be honest is what the sky has looked like the majority of the time lately. It only seems like there is a lot of blue when I look through my photographs because I don't take as many pictures of the gray but run out with my camera the minute it turns blue.

Click for the home of skywatch Friday.

ABC Wednesday: B is for Beckley

I posted mostly hiking shots from my spring vacation in Beckley, West Virginia so for B day I thought I'd show you something of the town of Beckley.

Beckley reminds me a lot of small towns in North Carolina.

The quality of these shots isn't great as they were taken from the car when it was overcast.

We actually lucked out with the weather. There were some pretty days, or parts of days, for hiking; and plenty to do when it was too rainy for a hike.

I find it interesting how small towns often have large old bank buildings that are grander than ones in larger cities where I live.

I think part of the reason for that is the old banks in some larger cities have been converted to other uses and the new banks are modern. In small towns they often seem to keep using their old banks as banks and don't spend money on new ones. At least that's how it seems to me in terms of towns and cities I'm familiar with.

One thing I've found in most of the mountain towns I've been in is that there is a lot more stone used in building than in some places. That makes sense because of all the stone that has been excavated out of the mountain when roads were put in.

There is something appealing to me about the house below.

I'm not sure if I was trying for a house in the next shot and missed it due to the movement of the car but I kind of like the old tree and stone wall.

I'm not positive if the last shot is Beckley or not because we missed the Inn we were staying at and had to turn around when we realized we were in another small town a few miles a way. I have a feeling the shot below is from that other town whose name escapes me so it could start with a B.

Click for the home of ABC Wednesday.

That's My World Tuesday: Primping and Preening

One of my favorite parts of photographing birds in their baths is that I get more details on their feathers and markings.

I'm used to thinking of the mourning dove as having fairly smooth flat feathers and didn't realize the variety until I got closeups in the bath.

There is even more detail when the dove gets out of the bath and starts primping and preening.

It's interesting to me to see the individual feathers more clearly.

It also looks about double its size at this stage of the drying process after preening.

For comparison below is a shot of the same dove before its bath and you can see that it could have gone with a larger bath but it opted for privacy in the small one. The gray bird in the bath at the top of the shot below is a catbird. The other bird sharing that bath is probably a rufous sided towhee but I never got a good look at it so it may be a young American Robin.

Click for that's my world Tuesday.

The Weekend in Black and White: Morning has broken

The sun was coming up when I started walking and when I turned around it was like someone was slowly turning on a light with a dimmer switch.

Click for the home of the weekend in black and white.

SkyWatch Friday: Variable Sky

I love the way the sky can vary so much within a walk.

That's part of why I love clouds against blue sky because they present so many changes.

I think I prefer clouds and blue to all blue sky except in the winter.

In the winter I enjoy clear blue skies that warm me up even when cold but in the hot summer, I like to have some clouds in the mix.

I'm trying to enjoy as much as I can of the summer in spite of how much I dislike the heat.

I love the greens of summer and as long as the day start off cooler, I can at least get out in the morning.

I am grateful that most of the time I can work from my computer at home giving me some flexibility to time walks around the weather.

Click for the home of skywatch Friday.

ABC Wednesday: A is for Asters and Archives

I couldn't believe it when my fairy asters started blooming in late June this year.

Although we had a very hot June, we had a chilly spring and fairy asters never bloom before September where I live in NC.

They bloom after most flowers are dying back and sometimes don't reach full bloom until they get hit by an October frost.

To make sure my memory was correct I went to my archives. The first two shots are in late June and early July of this year (2011). The shot above and below are from mid and late September of 2010.

My archives are arranged by date and I also have put in names for what are in the folders to make searching easier.

The shot above and below are from mid and late Septemeber of 2009

The next shot of my fairy asters was taken in late September of 2008.

The last two aster shots were taken in mid to late September of 2007.

2007 wasn't a good year for these asters because they weren't in full bloom until they got hit by an October frost. This year is even worse because they aren't able to deal well with being in bloom in the heat of the summer and are already looking dreary.

Click here to join another round of ABC Wednesday.