Winter’s approaching fast, and the snow is… significantly evaporated since the scene above.
Dirt is exposed once again. Freezing rain and sleet made for something mushy then icy. But days of precipitation in southern Maine have been few. Brine has been put on roads as a precaution. But unlike other states, we just haven’t seen any more snow.
Blue skies. The kind of blue & sun that makes the snow look purple. Sunny all week. But cold.
Visually, the snow— while it lasts— can make for some remarkable photos. There are days where the mixture of snow and moonlight make for scenes you have to see in person… especially if the camera can’t handle low light conditions very well.
Maybe you can see a bit of what I mean by remarkable moonlit snow scenes.
First snow was on Nov 16. Nothing over half a foot, so far, as measured by the yard stick.
First pumpkin pie was on the 22nd. And it was one of those store brand pies that had a bit of pecan and coconut in the flavoring… which makes it kind of special, come to think of it. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a bird… an understated Thanksgiving that went by too fast.
The days are still for the most part ordinary, but colorful sometimes. Last Monday morning was foggy/misty. When the fog lifted, the overcast sky had a bright tint of blue until the yellow of sunrise.
Some animals are still out. I saw and captured a woodpecker on video; I’ve seen a chipmunk using our stick pile as shelter; and today, I saw a herd of deer from our kitchen window, before they entered the woods.
As for the holiday season, the tree is up. First ornament, from a close friend. See if you can spot it. 😁
A few more ornaments added since. The basic cellotape doesn’t do a good job of holding up the star.
The lights went up first. And as always, bright light sources don’t pick up well with most cameras. The little incandescent bulbs, for example, aren’t very bright, but a basic camera will make their light a big bright blur.
To the naked eye, the hot filament in a clear bulb looks like a hot filament.
Adjusting for the outside in LDR (so the out isn’t washed out in blurry whiteness), you get the opposite effect: the foreground is too dark. For conventional cameras, the required dynamic range is too high for an accurate photo. (It’s even more difficult when the sun is in frame— a much higher DR.) Long exposure is necessary to reduce noise with the iPhone SE… not a professional camera… so I digress.
The climate has been dry. The kind of dry that you get static shocks when you least expect them. Even with faucet water. (An odd sensation.) Skin has cracked and fissures have formed. My hands don’t look too great right now.
The cold has all but kept me indoors. And the fact that it’s now the last month of the year, that had gotten me to look at 2018 in review. But since the restoration of our cable— as Spectrum killed off the analog channels in our area, forcing us to replace the degraded line to get any channels at all— much of my indoor time has actually been spent watching BBC America… which reruns Star Trek: TNG and The X-Files. I’m a fan of those shows, so… yeah, the TV has been on in the overnights. I even checked out some Dr Who with Doctor #13, played by Jodie Whittaker.
And this increased use of the TV comes despite backlight discoloration. The photo above was taken in October; it’s worse now. LED backlighting isn’t so great after all— at least during this crappier stage of LED panel design to lower prices. Two color temperatures for balance and control …and two temperatures that decay unevenly.
…On the matter of lighting, incandescent light bulbs may make a comeback. Using infrared trapping, MIT has managed to make an efficient tungsten bulb. Nothing commercial as of yet. But imagine the natural light of classic light bulbs, but about as efficient as LED. 🙂
Well, that’s it for now. It’s been kind of a struggle to write as it is. Writer’s block… or vegging out with the TV and/or YouTube… it seems I need to get back to nature to write anything. And sleep. I can never seem to get much done, and I always need more sleep. We are addicted to our screens, and so are our kids.
Having gotten up at 2-something in the morning, I am a bit too tired to continue to stare at screens right now. So I will bid you all adieu. Have a good night, morning, or afternoon— wherever you are in the world. 🙂
Until next time…
