Round Barn Revisited

Way back in March, I posted a photo here of a round barn, just outside of Pullman, WA. That was taken on a grey day, with brown grass, and remnants of snow around... Just to prove that the weather does (eventually) get nice on the Paluse, here's another version.

This one was taken in early June, probably 10 weeks ago. And yes, I am indeed that far behind.

Build Me Up, Butter(cup)

One of the stranger attractions at the Illinois State Fair (at least to me) is the Butter Sculpture. Yep, some artist took 800 pounds of butter and created this sceen:

I kept wondering, is black butter (for the skunks) really within the spirit of the moment??? The butter sculpture has been a part of the fair since 1922.

Microstock - found photo

One of the disappointing things about microstock is that we seldom know where are images end up, or what they're being used for. But every once in a while we find one. I was recently doing some poking around, using a little program called Tin-Eye, and I discovered one of my images being used as a book cover!

I don't know for sure, but I think the image was bought from iStockPhotos. Possibly from Shutterstock:, the image is available at both places. Here's the original:

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Fabulous Fair Fun

We made another excursion to the Illinois State Fair yesterday, spent a lot of the day in the midway. The kids rode rides, the old fogeys watched! And a great time was had by all!

Silly Mutts

I haven’t posted many photos of our puppies, ‘cause they seldom stay still long enough to catch them… Here’s a few recent shots of the boys. They’re probably about 1.5 yr old, pretty much teenagers in dog world.

No, this isn’t any fancy post processing. Simply what happens when you take a camera from inside to outside in the mid-west, mid-summer . Yep, the lens fogs up. By the time I got it wiped down, they had moved off from the nice pose….
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This is Chuck (in the green collar). I’ve read somewhere that when dogs lay like this (chin on the ground) it means they’re relaxed and content. I’ll buy that!
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Here’s Stu (in blue!), ever inquisitive, and ready to start licking anything he can reach!
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Chuck and Stu are rescue mutts, the best kind of dog….

Over or Under?

Have you ever noticed that some folks put the roll with the end hanging over, while other have it hang under?? Not to sound like Andy Rooney or anything, but why do you suppose that is? Whether we’re talking bathroom tissue, or paper towels, or whatever. Is there a “right” way (and conversely a “wrong”)? Do people have specific logic for their preference, or is there some deep-seated, subconscious driver? Has anybody ever done a statistical analysis, with breakdowns by gender / race / national origin???

Me? I’m an over-the-top guy. And as an engineer, I can explain why, in more detail than you probably care to know.

The photo, by the way is from my microstock collection, and sells pretty well. You just never know, I suppose.

10,000!

Yesterday was a milestone, as I surpaseed 10,000 shutter snaps on my humble Nikon D70 DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex). Yee Ha, huh? Kinda like watching the odometer on your card roll over 1,000,000 miles. I'll have to be careful with my archiving, though, as the naming convention (DSC_1234.jpg) has reset to the beginning. I've had this camera a bit over 3.5 years, I suppose it is getting old by digital-technology standards... But it's still doing the job for me.

Image 10,001, from the Illinois State Fair:

Wedding Bell Blues!

My oldest daughter got married this past weekend, the wedding party got silly during the post-event photos:

I linked to this from the facebook page of one of my daughter's freinds, hope she doesn't mind too much!! My son, and my new son-in-law, seem to excel at the silly part!

No Photos!!

My oldest daughter got married yesterday, and I didn't take a single photograph! Pretty amazing. But I decided that this was the kind of event that I needed to fully experience, rather than document. I'm eager to see some of the photos taken by various guests, and the hired professional....

This old house

Another old bulding, near Murray, KY:

Kentucky...

We took a short trip to SW Kentucky last weekend, so that my wife could take my younger daughter shopping (for a dress to wear to her sister's wedding). Fortunately, they didn't make me join them at the mall, so I spent a few hours exploring. This is about 1/2 way between Murray, and Land-Between-The-Lakes. I saw several of these type builings around, not sure if they have a specific use. I presume they're for drying tobacco?? There was a lot of tobacco being grown in the area,

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I'm A Highway Star?

It’s been over a month since I got my new set of wheels, finally got around to taking a “portrait”. Yep, it’s a 2008 Nissan Altima 2.5SL. It’s doing just fine so far. I’m lovin’ the gas mileage: been getting 28-29 mpg around town, and was close to 32 mpg on the highway. OK, it’s not a 1968 Camaro SS, or even a 2008 Dodge Challenger. But neither is it a used-Yugo or some other little thing that won't fit the family.... Yep, I’ve come to grips with the fact that I’m pretty much just another middle class father of three needing a practical (though nice) car for getting back and forth to work, and the occasional road trip to visit family.

A New Microstock Adventure

Yep, I recently joined yet another microstock site. Stockxpert was recommended by several folks I know from one of the Yahoo groups I'm in, and I figured to give it a shot. I've been building my portfolio 5 images at a time, starting with images aleadey approved at other sites. No sales yet, but it has only been a couple of days.

This shot is from under the Rt. 19 bridge crossing the New River gorge, in WV. It hasn't been a big seller, but I still like it!

Another "random" day on the iPod...

But it seems to be dishing up some particularly good stuff (so far):

Name Of The game – ABBA / Them Changes – Kenny Wayne Shepherd / Strange Kind Of Woman – Deep Purple / I’m One – The Who / Cagey Cretins – Blue Oyster Cult / Pleasant Valley Sunday – Peter Tork & James Lee Stanley / Roundabout (Live) – Yes / Cancer – Joe Jackson / That Special Woman – Grinderswitch / Lawyers Guns & Money – Warren Zevon / I Need You - Kinks / Cripple Creek - Mike Seeger

What're y'all listening to??

Nationwide at Gateway

We had a great time at the race last night, here’s a few select photos

During qualifying: Steve Wallace pulling off the track, while Clint Boyer goes by at 130mph+
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We were able to get autographs from several drivers, including Jamie McMurray, who had just won the pole
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Coming down for the green flag to start the race
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A little past 1/2 way, trouble coming out of turn 4. A lot of good cars were knocked out.
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Winner Carl Edwards about to do his famous backflip, at the start / finish line
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