Finale

Alas, my camera could not keep up, the continuous shooting mode kept filing the buffer.

It was bright, loud and fast.

Here is a link to short video.

Maybe Santa will bring me a faster camera next christmas.

More Fireworks

After disposing properly of the obvious bad shots (the ones where I kicked the tripod and such) I was still left with 438 shots.

Here are a few I liked.

I hope you liked them too.

(And be thankful I didn't post them all!)

Almost

Almost on target and almost wide enough.

Click here to see.

A Short Sequence

Swish ...

... boom ...

... boom ...

... boom ...

... aaaahhhh.

~~~~~~~~~~

The fireworks were, not unexpectedly, fast and furious. This year I used my fastest lens, a 50mm f/1.4, sacrificing field of view for speed. Sometimes I got lucky and was pointed in the right direction, getting a sequence where the action was all in the same frame. Most of the time I did not. And while the lens was fast enough to freeze the action, my camera's burst mode, processor and flash card were not fast enough to keep up. And often the buffer would fill and I'd miss shots.

Nothing a few thousand dollars can't fix ...

Red Bow

When the sun is very low on the horizon the clouds often take on a red or pink hue. This is because the other wavelengths get filtered out, scattered by the atmosphere and any particles suspended in it. And if it so happens that the conditions are right for the formation of a rainbow, then instead of the prismatic colors the bow is red.

Driving home from visiting my parents I stopped at a supermarket for dinner fixings. And when I came there was the bow.

Alas, the only camera I had with me was my phone. So not the best shots.

And in the other direction, this:

Stopped at a traffic light and watching one of the most fantastic sunsets I'd ever seen. And my camera gear twenty miles away. Arrrgggghhh!

Of course, by the time I got home the show was over. Maybe next time ...

Opening Salvo

The opening salvo at Philadelphia's New Years fireworks show.

Short video here.

First Day Hike

In what is becoming a tradition now that we are 'Pineys', we went on the annual First Day Hike in the New Jersey Pinelands, this year in the Pygmy Pines of Stafford Forge WMA.

You can see why they are called "pygmy pines" ...

... these two lovely ladies are standing next to a full grown adult tree. Look closely and you can see the pine cones. The size is clearly an evolutionary adaptation, perhaps to fire, but no one knows for sure.

Our hike today was a short one, wandering out ...

... and back the sand roads.

We had not expected to see much in the way of flowers, it being January and all. But we did find Broom Crowberry in bloom.

A couple of months early. It has been a very warm December, we had spring peepers calling on christmas morning! Crazy. Although in was in the 30's (Fahrenheit) for our hike today.  As crowberry is a northern plant, this is the at the southern limit of its range, it should survive any coming cold spells. But many other things are blooming throughout the area, and may not survive a hard frost.

We finished the morning with a variety of goodies, solid and liquid, including these peppermint chocolate chip cookies made with cricket flour.

They were yummy and paired quite nicely with champagne. And yes, cricket flour is exactly what you think it is. A very good source of protein.

It was a very nice way to begin 2016.