Fishing and photos....

 We had a perfect day ... to go fishing. 

With Steve's help, we made it to Lee Lake in Cazenovia once more. And...the fish actually were biting. It was only the little fish, but at least the guys had fun deciding which one was going to be the BIG one.

It was a great day to take my Infrared Camera and more than one light spectrum filter. Below are the two guys deep in conversation...or they are just sitting quietly enjoying each others company. These two do chat but have long silences in between.

Some conversations start with ... Do you remember when....???  I listen intently to those stories because it is a history of things that occurred before I met Rich.

To think these guys are in their late 70's ... and have known each other since they were in their late 20's. 

Their friendship never ended but their lives took different directions with the two of them connecting up every once in a while.

Below...Steve tied a table umbrella to the dock so Rich can stay cooler in the shade. He thinks of everything!

Infrared Photo...

Bassy the stuffy fish did come along! Rich said she couldn't stay on the dock with them. He was afraid that she'd blow off as we actually had a breeze.

Cell shot....

The cool thing about Infrared is that you can get so 
many different looks with one filter. This
bench was filmed in the spectrum of

550nm.

This first shot is what it looks like

in camera. Startling blue foliage

and an orange hued sky.
Red becomes pink.

This is the black and white version. Basically I just desaturated the shot

and upped the contrast a bit.

The shot below is achieved by

what is called Channel swapping.
IR only picks up a few colors.

This is very hard to explain and it

is pretty technical.

I know that I enjoy the results.

The world looks foreign.

Here are a couple more views of the man made lake in Infrared using different light spectrums.

I really had fun with the Infrared camera. Hot sunny days are the best for using this camera.

Below are shots I did with my upgraded but not very fancy Google Pixel 9a. My 6a was on its last legs. What did surprise me [aside from the price] was the new ability of the camera to take 'long' exposures. So I went and tried it out by the Caz Dam.

I've been fighting off using my cell phone as a camera for a long time. But I can see its uses while hiking a long distance and not lugging along heavy camera equipment.

I did some other experimenting with a clearfield center diopter filter I found at a second hand store for $1. It was the filter I used in the very first shot which allowed the center to be in focus and the edges become blurred.

I can see where it will be very very handy in some toy photography.

This is the Lady of Pain from the Dungeons and Dragons collection. I thought she'd go perfect with a poison dart frog.

We had more adventures after leaving the lake. 

Eventually we did make it home safe and sound and tired out. But Rich and I are looking forward to our adventure next week.

Gone Fishin'

 Wednesday was fishing day. 

Steve showed up a bit early but that was good because we had to load up his car with a wheelchair, lunch, Oxygen tanks, and all the stuff that would accompany us for a trip to the river and a search for some fishing.

Steve brought a patio umbrella he'd picked up somewhere along with plenty of zip ties to attach the umbrella to different wheel chair access points to provide shade for Rich. This was the first place we stopped at.

It is called Veterans Park in DeSoto, WI. We are in a backwater pond that is stocked once in a while with fish from the Fish Hatchery up the road [I think]. The guys caught a lot of little sunfish and really had a lot of laughs over that.

We moved to another place along the river and tried fishing there. This was at Gordon's Bay.

That didn't work out very well, so we ended up at Blackhawk County Park further up the road. Eventually the guys decided that the fish -- at least the bigger ones just were not in the mood to bite.

[this was shot in infrared black and white which causes green leaves
to show up as white!]

There were no bugs, but a lot of cottonwood seeds were falling all over the place. I'd prepared the snacks of Garlic Ring Baloney with fresh cheese curds and Ritz Crackers. 

I had water and soda along with wipes to clean up the wormy fingers. Of course neither of the ol' boys worried about dirty fingers, they just wiped their hands on their jeans and laughed.

Good ol' boys will be good ol' boys. The two of them reminisced about their days of training and hunting with coon hounds. They talked about the farms they used to go to and all the nights my husband took Steve's son out hunting while Steve worked night shifts at the Foundry.

They relived their younger days with so much laughter and fondness. 

Steve is thinking of taking us on tour next week to visit his son "Little" Steve who is now in his 40's. Little Steve has his own body shop/repair service. Steve's daughter is the person who gave the horse we called Fifteen a new home. 

Her new name is Honey and she gets attention every single day.

Old connections made new.
Old Friends connect.

Ol' Boys.
Gone Fishin'.

Days spent making life worthwhile and a life well lived.