I bought this plant three years ago and planted it in My mom’s garden. This year, for the first time, it sprouted some flowers. Touted as the only two-tone peony one can buy, the blooms were certainly impressive! Hard to go wrong with $3 flowers, but these are particularly gorgeous…
August 19, 2015 | Categories: Photography | Tags: bloom, blooms, blossom, blossoms, bold, color, colors, cream, flower, flowers, garden, gardening, minnesota, multi, peonies, peonnies, peony, pink, plant, plants, pretty, shrub, sorbet, tone, twin cities, two, two-tone, twotone | Leave a comment
Yeah, I’ve gotten pretty far behind on posting here. Hopefully I’ll be caught up in a week or two. It’s mid-summer now, but here are a few shots of the first flowers that bloom in My yard every year. Too bad the squirrels haven’t let us have any of the apples in a decade or so…
July 23, 2015 | Categories: Photography | Tags: apple, bloom, blooming, blossoms, blue sky, clouds, fence, flower, flowers, fruit, leaves, looking up, macintosh, minnesota, saint paul, spring, tree, wood, wooden | Leave a comment
December 14, 2014 | Categories: Photography | Tags: close-up, covered, flower, flowers, garden, ice, plant, plants, snow, snowy, winter, yellow | Leave a comment
I bought a set of screw on macro filters to play with. I was buying an intervalometer to enter in to time lapse photography and adding the filters to the order made it qualify for free shipping, for cheaper than the shipping cost. At twelve dollars, this four piece set made by AGFA is a steal! They simply screw on a lens like a UV, or polarizing filter and allow You to get physically closer to what You are trying to shoot. Not without a hitch though. This 77mm set has been mated to my Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 OS to reduce the minimum focus distance from three and a half feet, down to eight to twelve inches with the +4. The extreme curve of the +4 and +10 filters, dramatically reduces the amount of light intake. So You are pretty much required to shoot in full sun light. On My first try, I used a portable L.E.D. to augment the fading evening light. It worked okay, not great though.
Over the weekend, I was musing pretty hard on My friends garden, so I popped on the +4 filter and had a go in full sun light. The filter reduced the depth of field to nearly nothing. I had to run very tight apertures to get a range of one inch into focus. Using shutter speeds of 125ths, to 400ths of a second, with apertures from 16-22 and My ISO at 400 and 800 in broad daylight was very odd. It did yield some rewards, at a better ratio than the first time, but still only 1 in every 15 shots was acceptable. Half of those were still not quite sharp, but I think I am getting the hang of using these things. Who would have thought that a $12 set of filters could turn a telephoto lens into decent macro shooting optics. It is not as good as buying a 200mm macro lens, but at one, or two percent of the price, WOW. None of the images in this post have been cropped…
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August 4, 2014 | Categories: Photography | Tags: +10, +2, +4, 1, 200mm, 70mm, 77mm, agfa, aperture, beautiful, bee, bees, beetle, beetles, best option, bloom, blooming, blooms, blossom, blossoming, blossoms, bought on amazon, bumble, bumblebee, burrowing, center, cheap, cheap option, close, close-up, collection, color, colorful, coloring, colors, contrast, core, daylight, eating, exoskeleton, filter, filters, flower, flowering, flowers, fur, furry, fuzzy, garden, gardens, grazing, image, images, img, instect, iridescent, japanese, kit, lens, lenses, light, lighting, lights, macro, middle america, midwest, minnesota, mn, nectar, nice, no coating, no cropping, no multi-coating, oppo moto, oppomoto, petal, petals, photo, photograph, photographic, photos, pic, pics, picture, pictures, pink, pistil, pistils, plant, plants, pollen, pollenating, pretty, range, salmon, see, sharp, shell, shoot, shooting, shot, shots, shutter, sigma 70-200mm, speed, sun, sunlight, twin cities, view, wing, wings, without cropping, yard, yellow, zinnia, zoom | Leave a comment
August 3, 2014 | Categories: Photography | Tags: 2014, andor, andorblogs, angles, august, beautiful, beauty, bee, bees, blogs?, bloom, blooming, blooms, border, bumble, butterflies, butterfly, canon, close, close-up, color, colored, colorful, contrast, eat, eating, flower, flowers, garden, green, images, lens, many, natural, nature, nectar, on, orange, pattern, patterns, perch, perched, photo, photographer, photos, picture, pictures, pink, planter, planters, pollen, pots, potted, pretty, purple, range, red, rock, rocks, rocky, scheme, sigma 70-200mm 2.8 os, stand, summer, t4i, tall, telephoto, varieties, variety, view, yard, yellow, zinnia, zinnias, zoom | Leave a comment
I recently bought an intervalometer for My dslr. The device allows You to take pictures automatically at regular intervals. Since I was hanging out at a friends house the day it arrived, I set things up on His deck and let it rip until the sun went down. I suppose the best thing to do is make a video with these images, but .gif’s display in much higher quality, take up less storage space and require no external websites to host them. As such, this is an animiated .gif of 820 pictures taken seven seconds apart. The down-side is that such a massive .gif loads pretty slowly, so give it a few seconds!
The next day, I woke up and set My camera to shoot out of the window in My attic and went to My brother’s for the day. Again, every seven seconds was what I set the intervalometer to do. I got home five or six hours later and it was still snapping away. Due to file limitations, I had to make a video out of this set. Which required Me to create an account on Vimeo and link it back to here. It’s a bit of a hassle just for simple time lapse photography, but My traditional .gif methods just aren’t capable of handling so many images. YouTube and Vimeo both have a thirty frame per second limit and only Vimeo allows high definition video clips. Here is two minutes aimed at the southern sky, featuring My roof, chimney and birch tree, dancing to a classic trance song by God’s Groove, called Prayer 3, circa 1993. Maybe I will discover a .gif automator that can handle the amount of files needed for these longer image strings. We shall see, but for now, I will have to get use to making videos… Shooting at more interesting locations will be the name of the game, something had to be done as a test run though! I am learning as I go.
July 28, 2014 | Categories: Photography, Videos | Tags: 720p, 853p, all day, animated, animation, atmospheric, blue, chimney, clip, clips, cloud, clouds, condensation, darkness, day, daylight, edit, editing, editting, embed, embeded, fade, first time for everything, flower, flowers, formation, garage, gif, hd, images, img, in motion, lapse, limited, link, long, motion, over head, passing, photo, photographs, photography, photos, pictures, pots, potted, roof, sky, stream, streaming, sun set, sunset, time, timelapse, tree, trees, vid, video, videos, view, vimeo, windy | Leave a comment
July 6, 2014 | Categories: Photography | Tags: afternoon, bloom, blooming, blooms, blossom, blossoms, bold, bright, close, close-up, deck, dog, dogs, double, female, flower, flowers, focus, friendly, garden, green, grey, layers, macro, middle america, midwest, minn, minnesota, mn, patio, petal, petals, photo, photographer, photography, picture, pictures, pig, pigglestein, piggums, pink, pit, pit bull, pitbull, plant, plants, pollen, potted, range, red, summer, sunny, two-tone, up, yard, yellow, zinnia, zinnias, zoom | Leave a comment
July 5, 2014 | Categories: Photography | Tags: 17-50mm, 70-200mm, barge, barges, beetle, bench, bend, bends, bluff, bluffs, boat, brick, bugs, building, buildings, burial, camera, canon, capitol, car, city, cityscape, classic, color, daisies, distance, downtown, dragonfly, east side, f2.8, field, flower, flowers, flowing, foreground, fountain, high ground, hike, hydrant, image, images, insect, insects, invasive, japanese, landscape, lens, lenses, lime stone, limestone, lush, macro, marlin, menace, middle america, midwest, minn, minneapolis, minnesota, mississippi, mn, mounds, mpls, park, path, paved, pavement, photo, photographer, photography, photos, picture, pictures, pigseye, pink, point, portrait, purple, Rambler, recreation, red, river, saint paul, scene, scenery, scraper, scrapers, sculpture, shade, sigma, sky, skyline, skyscrapers, st paul, state, statue, stp, t4i, tamron, tc, telephoto, trail, transparent, tree, trees, tug, tug boat, twin cities, twincities, two cities, urban, vantage, view, walk, walking, wander, wild roses, wings | Leave a comment
June 19, 2014 | Categories: Photography | Tags: annuals, backyard, bald face, bald faced, bee, bees, biodegrading, bloom, blooming, blossom, blossoms, brown, bunches, cedar, close-up, cluster, clusters, collecting, colorful, day time, door frame, fading, fence, flower, flowers, flying, garden, gathering, green, honey bee, hornet, hornets, insect, insects, knot, lantana, layers, magenta, midwest, minnesota, nectar, old, photo, photograph, photographer, photos, picture, pictures, pine, pink, plant, plants, pollen, potted, purple, remnants, rotted, saint paul, st paul, stump, symetry, tree, twin cities, weathered, white, wing, wings, wood, wooden, worker, yard, yellow, zoom | Leave a comment
I Headed upstream to hang out with a good friend. We spent most of the day walking around Nicollet Island and down to the dam at Saint Anthony Falls. It made Me realise just how long it has been since I walked miles and miles with no set destination. This was such a large part of My teenage years, suddenly it feels like a lost part of who I am has been rediscovered. Unlike in the past when I was up to various mischievous activities, now I carry a camera. Let’s see where this goes.
May 26, 2014 | Categories: Photography, Random Thoughts | Tags: 2014, 3rd, 3rd ave, andor, andor2000, andorius, angle, angles, arch, architecture, avenue, balance, bench, bend, beneath, bicycle, bike, bird house, birdhouse, bloom, blooming, blooms, blossoms, bridge, bridges, bright, buildings, cast, center, centered, central, central ave, chair, chairs, city, color, colors, concrete, county, current, currents, dam, dock, docks, door way, doorway, down, down town, downstream, downtown, falls, fence, flour, flower, flowers, flowing, foam, gold medal, gold metal, gravel, heading, hennepin, hennepin county, high capacity, historic, island, light, lighting, lines, lock, looking, man-made, manmade, may, metal, middle america, midwest, minneapolis, minnesota, mississippi, mississippi river, mist, mn, mpls, nicollet, nicollet island, north america, north star blankets, park, parks, path, pathway, patina, peeling paint, photograph, photographer, picket, picture, pictures, plant, plants, power, recreation, reflecting, reflection, river, river rd, river road, rivets, rushing, rust, rusty, saint anthony, shadows, shapes, span, spanning, spray, spring, st anthony falls, st. anthony, stair, stairs, stairway, steel, stone, stone arch, street, streets, stroll, structure, structures, sunny, symetrical, symetry, table, through, tower, towers, town, tracks, trail, tree, trees, turn, twin cities, twincities, under, underneath, upstream, urban, walk, walkway, wall, walls, water, waterfall, waves, way, white water, wood, wooden | Leave a comment
May 23, 2014 | Categories: Photography | Tags: .jpg, 2014, backyarrd, beautiful, beauty, bloom, blooming, blooms, bold, bright, center, color, colored, coloring, colors, contrast, flower, flowering, flowers, garden, gorgeous, green, images, img, leaves, maroon, may, mid-west, middle america, midwest, multiple, natural, nature, orange, petal, petals, photo, photos, picture, pictures, pink, plant, planted, plants, plum, pretty, purple, shot, soil, spring, stem, streaked, streaks, stripe, sunlight, sunny, three, tulip, tulips, twin cities, yard, yellow | Leave a comment
Image
May 23, 2014 | Categories: Photography | Tags: 3, arrangement, array, assortment, back yard, backyard, beautiful, bloom, blooming, blooms, bright, color, colorful, colors, contrast, different, fence, flower, flowers, foreground, green, middle america, midwest, minnesota, mix, mn, nature, pale, pot, pots, potted, pretty, purple, red, sun light, sunlight, sunny, three, together, trio, twin cities, twincities, wood, wooden, yard, yellow | Leave a comment
Last fall, I headed up to northern Wisconsin with My brother and some friends. During that trip, two of the bunch proposed a monthly cook-off. The original theme was simply ‘make Your s*** fancy.’ What can I say, it was a weekend of drinking, shooting and dirt bikes. The feast idea changed slightly after that and starting this past January, Fancy Feast had begun. Instead of making it a competition, it is a slightly less intense meal making endeavor. Four courses minimum, guests bring a bottle of decent booze as tribute, or declare themselves the next host/cook for the feast.
First up was My friend Keith, who made some beet and cheese appetizers that were quite good. Followed by a lobster and shrimp torta with lima beans, avacodo topped with seasoned cream cheese and an encrusted herby salmon bake. Then, He banged out a lovely candied bacon, puffed cream and brownie desert.
February went to My brother, Chris. Churning out seven dishes and various drinks. I did however neglect to catch a picture of the fresh pumpkin bread desert. Pictured are His mushroom soup, with leeks. Egg cooked in swirling water and hash, a topper variety plate, cold soba and soy sauce, what I think was a chorizo dish and meatballs cooked forever in a pho soup stock.
I called March’s meal. My theme was simply to do something different. So, no stir-fry. No grill, or smoker. No cajun spices, chili blends, sherry, or even soy sauce. I struggled a bit, making multi-course meals that come round after round doesn’t mesh particularly well with My laid back, ‘just throw some stuff together and hope it’s good’ cooking tendencies. I produced the minimum of four dishes. Bacon and baby lima bean soup, spicy sweet potato mash with roasted brocolli and pistachios on toast, fruit stuffed pork tenderloin roll and finished with citrus gratin. The desert was kind of odd honestly, but it had much potential to be delicious. Something to ponder on how to go about improving.
March 24, 2014 | Categories: Photography, Random Thoughts | Tags: 2014, acacado, apple, apricot, baby lima, bacon, ball, baste, bean, beans, beet, beets, breaded, brine, brined, brocolli, broiled, brouchetta, brownie, brownies, browny, candied, candy bacon, cheese, chocolate, chorizo, Citrus, cocoa, cook, cooked, cooking, courses, cranberries, cream, creamcheese, crust, desert, eggs, endeavor, event, fancy, fancyfeast, feast, ff, flowers, food, friends, fruit, fun, glaze, good times, grapfruit, great, hash, herbs, herby, home, icametogetdown, ideas, japanese, leek, lima, lobster, mandarin, marinated, marmalade, mash, mashed, meal, meal idea, meat, meatball, midwest, mushroom, noodles, onion, onions, orange, oranges, pastry, pho, pistachio, place, pork, porky, port, potato, preserves, puff, raisins, roast, roasted, roll, rolled, ruby red, salmon, sauce, setting, shrimp, soba, soupsweet, soy, spicy, spinach, stackers, starter, swett potato, swirl, table, tangarine, tapas, tappas, tmfopposition, toast, toppas, topped, toppers, tort, torta, tulips, white, wine, yogurt, yummy | Leave a comment
September 8, 2013 | Categories: Photography | Tags: bird, birds, brown, flowers, flutter, flying, green, hover, hovering, humming, hummingbird, images, nectar, photo, picture, red, wings, yellow | Leave a comment
June 29, 2013 | Categories: Photography | Tags: bloom, blooming, blossom, bud, flower, flowers, garden, growing.picture, petals, photo, pots, potted, potting, red, white, yard, zinnias | Leave a comment
I bought this indoor friendly vine three years ago, along with My first citrus trees. It pumps out interesting orange-red flowers that do indeed roughly resemble dolphins jumping out of the water. Plentiful amounts of two and a half inch long blooms have come in waves every few months the whole time I’ve had it. At first, it was just two, four inch branches. After about a year, I re-potted the vine, proceeding to drop it and break off two-thirds of the delicate branches. Left with only one, six inch branch, I got it situated and let it grow. Then, one day I came home from work and found My lovely, quite fragile vine, top down and pot up on the floor. Presumably sliding off its perch on a stool due to vibrations from the construction crews updating the 55-100+ year old sewers and water lines along My street. Again, all but one twelve inch branch had broken off the vine. This time, I gave the broken off bits to My Mom, which she rooted in water and has now potted two of these plants, a little larger than the one I got from the nursery to start with. In the 6 months since the last tumble, a couple new sprouts are coming from the base of the mother plant, but the lone remaining arm of the vine has more than doubled its size. Pictured here is that vine, now 2 feet long and a shot of the parts that were broken off, but are now rooted and growing just fine on their own. This plant should be a mainstay in My living room for many years to come. Such a neat variety of flowers to have around the house.
June 2, 2013 | Categories: Photography, Random Thoughts | Tags: best, bloom, blooming, branching, dancing, different, dolphin, dolphins, flower, flowering, flowers, garden, good, image, images, indoor, inside, jumping, leaping, photo, plant, plants, potted, pretty, prolific, red, vine | Leave a comment
Gallery
May 31, 2013 | Categories: Photography | Tags: bloom, blooming, blossom, buds, flower, flowers, garden, overcast, pink, pretty, red, streaks, stripe, striped, tulip, tulips, white | Leave a comment
A friend gave this plant to Me for christmas. Flowers have never really caught My interest, instead I tend to grow plants that give Me food, flowers to Me are just there to draw in more pollinators for the edible stuff. It’s been a couple of months since then and it’s still looking great. This petite little plant has been constantly sprouting 2 inch wide white flowers, with splashes of green, yellow and magenta in the center. I can’t keep from taking pictures of it every week or two.
March 31, 2013 | Categories: Photography | Tags: blooms, blossoms, flower, flowers, orchid, photos, prettypics, shot, white | Leave a comment
January 12, 2013 | Categories: Photography | Tags: blooming, blossoming, buds, close, flower, flowers, orchid, orchids, present, white, xmas, yellow | Leave a comment
December 29, 2012 | Categories: Photography | Tags: amaryllis, blooming, bold, bright, bulb, ferrari, flower, flowers, garden, indoors, plants, red, star, winter | Leave a comment
August 18, 2012 | Categories: Photography | Tags: flowers, garden, plants | Leave a comment
August 6, 2012 | Categories: Photography | Tags: around the yard, bloom, blooming, blooms, flower, flowers, garden, plant, purple, white | Leave a comment
I got this little shrub last year. Having read it grows to only 8 to 12 inches in height and bearing ‘nickel sized’ flowers. So far, it’s grown to about 18 inches and the beautiful blooms are between one and one and a half inches wide. Certainly smaller than most rose varieties.. It may not be exactly what I was Looking for, but it’s conjuring new blooms constantly, with 3 to 10 blossoming at a time. What a lovely little plant!
August 5, 2012 | Categories: Photography, Random Thoughts | Tags: bloom, blossom, buds, bush, double, flowers, lace, lavender, mini, pink, rose, roses, shrub | Leave a comment
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