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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The dawn of summer nights! The moon, a tractor and fireflies.

photo by Jonathan Schechter  5:43 a.m  June 17, 2011
photo by Jonathan Schechter  5:40 a.m. June 17, 2011


Today is the Summer Solstice--the longest day of the year and the dawn of Summer 2011. Summer officially arrives at 1:16 pm EST. Tonight will be our first full night of summer. The last full moon of spring was a treat and my first chance to play with a new camera (Cannon Powershot SX30 IS) in the moments just before the sun climbed over the pines.  But there was a probem. I did not have a tripod to steady the camera and had just minutes to snap a few pictures before daylight washed the cratered magic of the moon into oblivion. But I do have a tractor. I fired up the old Ford 8n. She came to life with a coughing throaty sound akin to a ruffed grouse drumming her wings against a log.(Naturalists and hunters know that sound)  I raised the blade to just the correct angle to serve as a camera perch and snapped two shots.
And now with summer here it is the season of fireflies on moist, sultry nights.
My next self-taught project?
Figuring out the macro lens to capture tiny images of flickering nature in my meadow.
 I don't think I will be able to use the tractor for this project.

2 comments:

  1. Can't wait for more pictures! Thanks for sharing. I didn't get to see the moon on my end of town this morning....too cloudy. Well written blog. I felt like I was right there listening to that tractor coming to life and breaking the stillness of early morning. *KW*

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  2. Wow! A beautiful photo. Can't get that clear view here in the city.

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