The Beautiful Dark

The Dark

Sometimes it can be sliced like black cheese

made from unknown matter.

Sometimes it is the surface of despair,

nothing leaving, everything sucked in.

Sometimes it is the beautiful dark,

coyote sounds and cows traveling

far from their source,

and you sleeping, my arm around you.

Later the tulips glow, yellow flamed

against the remnants of the dark

clinging to their petals.

Needles

needles from cypress
lit by November grey
clouds
pushed by wind
one brought inside on a shoe

Kansas

lightning and the moon
under the same roof glowing
silent in the wind

The Interaction of Light with Matter

The light turns up then down
as clouds scuttle in the wind.
Gold leaves gild my vision
and spread brassy sound
round and round.

Some are descending notes lost
in the still green honey suckle
whose red berries will fly ostinato
over the low drone of winter
and the crack of white crust.

Then there is a chorus of paw paw
singing with yellow pellucid soprano voice
in the dark drum understory,
cymbals clash in suddenly bronze light
that quickly dims to subito.

See: http://www.npr.org/2013/11/01/242356997/einsteins-real-breakthrough-quantum-theory

Maybe if I stay very still...

Not many insects out after the first frost but I did find this wonderful Katydid pretending to be invisible. Actually it did a pretty good job of it.

Cell phone as an alternative to a DSLR?

Well, or at least an adjunct. In terms of resolution and low light capacity a DSLR has even the best cell phones beat. Where higher end cell phones excel is in immediacy. I can shoot-fiddle with the exposure and other settings and see the results in real time in the field-sort of digital plein air. Where as with my DSLR I have to upload my raw file into my desktop or lap top for editing. Now that has its own attractions as well in terms of creativity but it is a very different animal than editing in open air.

So here are some recent shots with my LG G2. These first four were taken in HDR. I love HDR for textural and architectural details.

This was shot at the Kansas City Japan festival. I don't know if she was bored or enjoying a Zen moment.

Our administrative assistant does stain glass and had used some left over scraps to make an abstract sun catcher in her office window.  I use this particular close up as my phone's home page wall paper. That is a glass bubble by the way.

Mid fall golden leaves at Clinton Park. 

These two shots are from my campus.

A banded orb weaver. This shot was taken on a very windy day in burst mode. I could not get my DSLR in position with disturbing the spider but the phone worked well. This was the best shot out of burst mode.

Another close up from the G2, only slightly cropped.

Another Visit to Konza Prairie.

Yesterday I had to go to Kansas State for a meeting on science core outcomes related to transferability **insert arcane educational jargon here** and since the meeting finished at noon, decided that I needed a Konza Prairie break. The grasses and forbs are just starting to turn to their fall reds and browns; the tree foliage is still pretty green.



So here are some pictures, some taken with my DSLR telephoto but some with my new phone (LG G2) and its pretty amazing camera (OK for a phone). The animated gif is made by G+ from photos taken with 'burst mode".  This is cool.

First, from the phone:

What I really like with my phone is the ability to touch the screen to select focus points that are also used for metering. For instance this picture originally had a bright blue sky but the tree trunk was badly underexposed. But focusing and metering on the trunk gave this picture. The sky is blown but I got the trunk detail I was looking for. And with a bit more fiddling I probably could have done a better job of this. OK I can do something like this with my DSLR but it is a bit more awkward.






















From my DSLR (Canon 2i with 250mm telephoto).

I love the red ground color the grass seed heads are turning.

A Fritillary-not sure what species.  250mm telephoto lens.

Unfolding

Unfolding, a photo by pdecell on Flickr.

Unfolding,the map of the night
gets the location of every drop
of mist for anyone thirsting.
Be quick at dawn
before each place is extinguished by the light
and a new map draws itself.