Another brilliant night

 ...it was much dimmer and shorter lasting than the previous night.

However.
I felt it was 
my duty
to get out
and see what 
I could again.

I did make a huge mistake though.

I made some half decafe/half regular coffee. I thought it would be nice to have a thermos of warm coffee while standing in the cold...

Duh...duh...doh.

So pardon me if I am not focused.

Very little sleep because I was thinking about everything else while trying to sleep! 

Note to self don't try that again! Give away the coffee hubby used to drink or dump it!

The sky was very very faint from 6:30 to 8:00. The Aurora could only be seen with a camera. However, there were some neat pillars! 

I thought since it was not so brilliant, I'd try another Star Trail shot. So I set things up and let the camera do its thing while I sat next to the car and watched the sky. I listened to coyotes hunting and calling. I listened to owls talking in the distance.

The cattle gate that I was sitting next to creaked on its hinges sounding like an elderly person dragging a walker across linoleum. I sipped coffee and decided that I really did love the night sky.
Then there were flashes of light.

I was not hallucinating. An old beat up pick up was coming across the ridge with a spot light. They were shining for deer. I haven't seen that in ages. The truck cluttered and clattered towards where I sat next to my 'Ru. I had to stop the camera or the shot would have recorded the bright light when they shined me.

It is legal to shine for deer but not after 10PM and not if you have a weapon in the car. I never thought that shining was anything but a waste of time since most places you shine are not your property. They were legal, it was only 7:30.

I did get this though!

The truck passed, clackety clack and the smell of burnt oil. I watched them from my high vantage point circle the ridge roads of our Township.

I went home. Charlie was rather pleased. Then I decided to take a look with my cellphone to see if it was all done. I've seen some incredible shots done with iPhones! I don't have one, but the colors were there!

I set the camera up on a tripod in the yard and got it doing its thing. I cursed the airplanes but they use the airspace also.

The red light in the windows are from when I went inside to get a drink of water. I thought I was being smart and used the red mode on my headlamp.

I was surprised at how sensitive cameras can be. The house looked pretty spooky.

I took one more try from the back door looking up into the hill behind our house. I am still working on how to perfect star trails, but I am getting there. 👇👀

IF there is another chance tonight, I'll try.
I saw a Flickr friend use his cell phone 
to do a Time Lapse! 
That would be cool!

The new moon is November 19th. I'm thinking of trying to do just one more try at star trails and get a complete circle around the North Star.

I intended to take my photos from Wednesday's hike and show you the fun Charlie and I had. Alas.
That will have to wait.

Jason, the Geologist and his Tumbleweed Dogs are coming this weekend so I have to get things set up for his visit.

Charging into the week ahead

This week will mostly be a rinse and repeat of the previous week. I had to make some quick adjustments had to find a back up ride for the early morning surgery on Thursday.

The problem with a February thaw is that it just as annoying as a large storm. Warm temps with snow melt cause creeks to rise and gravel road surfaces to thaw. At night it freezes and ice ruts form in the roads. 

The weather service calls for rains and some winds along with thaws and freezing. So it should be a rather fun week. In years past, I've enjoyed these quick thaws when the creek rose with a foamy snow melt. I won't be able to enjoy it much this time around.

The day before surgery, I decided to make a dark/light box with the wood blocks I had saved for kids to play with when visiting.

I'd been reading a site called Brick Central which had tips and tricks regarding photography and Lego characters.

I came up with this:

The red light is from an LED flashlight and an old red film filter that I got from my dad years ago to use in black and white photography. I tossed a piece of black material over blocks in back and eventually got this:

The Lego minifigure is Maisie, the big Dinosaur is called Blue, and the little one is called Beta. These details I got from the box. I guess they are characters from the movie Jurassic World which I have not seen.

I had so much fun with the lights, I tried another method.

I used a piece of blue paper--with a blueish colored filter over the lens-- and a blue balloon light hidden behind a rock to light up the Acorn Guy.
I added the mist afterwards. 

It was a very fun experiment in lighting and creativity.

Oh, and I ordered a Light Box as I was so impressed by some of Larry's photos of old toy cars he'd done in his new light box.
If I have to be stuck inside for many video and phone appointments, I may as well use my time challenging myself in learning new methods of photography.

Sunday night I went hiking in the moon light. Since my normal hiking pal couldn't go, I grabbed my camera and tripod and took off.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do.

The light from the moon was incredible.

That is a deer trail that is in the exact same spot over the snow, year after year. So I set the camera up in the road and decided to have some fun.

Coveralls and my Skunk hat. I even laid down in the snow. I may as well! The snow will be melting!

I walked down the road a ways and tried another multi shot. This didn't turn out so well and the images are sort of blurry, but it still was fun to do. At least you can see Skunky!

I topped of the evening with a star trail photo of the Big Dipper.

I was out for about an hour and walked a couple of miles [I saw no one at all, not even a coyote!].

And then headed back home by the light of the moon.

How's the eye doing? Great! I am looking forward to the second surgery. 

I think the hardest part of this process is adjusting to the changes in vision and for me having one strong clear eye and one very yuck eye. My weak eye gets very tired right now trying to keep up with the good one.