Don't Stare at the Sun!

You may not want to stare at these pictures. I felt eyestrain just getting them ready to post! But I did a little experiment today with filters.

It's been years since I used filters on my camera because Photoshop and other programs take care of so many photography problems. I've had a set of graduated filters for a while and finally got an adapter to fit them on my camera. I took the first two pictures a few seconds apart but I turned the filter just to see what difference it made. It really changed the look of the sunbeams as it cut out some of the light.

That's not what it's for though. If you shoot with the dark section of the filter at the top, it will darken the sky a little bit. Since an automatic camera setting tries to average the light to a middle gray, blocking light from the sky allows the camera to let in more light on the lower section of the photo. Here we see a result, with the church showing up as white instead of just a shadowy wall or a silhouette. 

I probably won't use the filters a lot. My cell phone does so much more than any of my cameras did back when I was studying photography, and it does most of it with no effort on my part. Digital photography has made it possible for everyone to get good shots. 

Finally it Snowed, but Not Much.

Our first noticeable snow of the winter did not last long enough to look pretty. It turned into sleet and rain. Charlie was a little puzzled by the white stuff, and he didn't seem to like getting wet.

I put out safflower seed as the first flakes fell and some house finches showed up pretty quickly.

The dark-eyed junco is a regular visitor too.

Sharing with Wild Bird Wednesday

A Couple of Red Barns

In Basye and Edinburg

Ruby Tuesday / Wordless / Barns

A Pretty Mural in Manassas

This afternoon I went to the endodontist in Manassas, and afterward I went back to a mural that I had spotted there previously because I wanted to take a picture of it.

Monday Murals

This is on the side of Washington Glass Fabrication. I could not get a picture from the car because there’s no place to pull over, so I had to park and walk to a vantage point. It was worth the effort. Note the Escher-style birds on the right.

The reason I went to Manassas was that my dentist recommended a specialist there for a root canal. Failures of this procedure are fairly common and this office has advanced equipment. I had the first part of the root canal (ouch) on my previous visit and this was a follow up. Unfortunately, there is still one nerve showing signs of infection, so I will have to go back again! (It seems unfair because I’ve always taken care of my teeth but I have had a lot of problems with them.) 

 

The View from Conicville Church of Christ

This church in Shenandoah County has a fine view that I shared long ago but yesterday the light was so nice that I stopped and took pictures again.

“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”  ― Mary Oliver

Saturday Squirrels and More

For Squirrel Appreciation Day, I made a collage of pictures I've showed before. We haven’t had real snow this winter.

Critters / Mosaic

Years ago, I had a neighbor who called all squirrels Charlie and I picked up the habit. Now that I have adopted a dog named Charlie, I'm trying to stop doing that because it sounds confusing.

Here we see Charlie the beagle in the car on his brand new hammock-style blanket. He chewed through the straps and buckles on two previous ones, plus a dog car seat. Perhaps the guilty look is because he just wiggled out of another harness. It was a new one with a third strap that fastened under his belly, designed to be escape-proof. I don't know how he squeezed out of it! Well, beagles were bred to hunt rabbits so they had to be able to get out of brush piles and rabbit holes.

The picture that looks like a drawing is a photo that I processed in two different apps to get what I wanted.

The horses are in Middletown and the reflected gnome is in Basye.

Anthurium

Floral Friday / Black and White Weekend / Garden Affair

I spotted this anthurium in a medical office. I was there to get help for hip pain, which has gotten worse lately. The provider set me up with an appointment with an orthopedic doctor and also prescribed a short course of prednisone. 

The medication helped with the pain, which had gotten so bad I could barely crawl out of bed in the morning. Unfortunately it has digestive side effects so I will be happy when I finish the package on Monday. 

I am going to physical therapy twice a week. It does not seem to be helping much but I realize building strength takes a long time.

The View from Pass Mountain Overlook

Shenandoah National Park
Milepost 30 on Skyline Drive

This beautiful overlook is less than 2 miles north of  the Thornton Gap (Route 211) entrance to Skyline Drive. A hiker stopped to read the sign, which provides instructions for using the adjacent stand to take a phone picture and send it to Chronolog to become part of the slide show and research tool. 

Yes, I took a picture when I was there on Tuesday. It was January 17 and this section of the park had just reopened so my picture was the first one since January 5.

Two storms had taken down many trees and branches. The southern section of Skyline Drive is still closed while crews finish clearing the roadway.

Squirrel and Sparrows

Squirrel Appreciation Day is January 21 so let's prepare by viewing a squirrel.

For Wild Bird Wednesday: a Song Sparrow and a  White-throated Sparrow.                                                                                         

 

Soldiers’ Cemetery, Mount Jackson

Dedicated as Confederate Hospital’s Cemetery, 1866

Links:

Historical Marker for Cemetery

Tuesday Treasures

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday