Panoramas of My New House

Walk to Big Rock Park

 We took off down our alley. This is a photo of our house and our neighbor's house. You can see our "Power Past Coal" sign by the paper box.

 Here is Arvin at Big Rock Park. Somebody has been building this rock sculpture and it changes every time we see it.

 We heard the sound of two birds calling. At first I didn't know what they were and then I saw them, a male (red side of face) and a female Pileated Woodpecker. They were working together on a hole. Must return to find out if that turns out to be their nest. Maybe we'll see some babies this summer.

Lilies and Tomatoes on the Deck

Goofing Around with my New Camera

Got a new Sony DSC-RX100 camera this week. It is tiny. A point and shoot with a difference. It has a much larger sensor than the rest of them and takes really great photos. It also has some interesting features. These photos were taken in one of the artistic modes, illustration mode. I really like what the pictures look like. Here we have Mehitabel and Duma and some interior views of our house. Much fun.

Art Studio at Home... Do do this at home.

Goodbye Spa, Hello Art Studio

It wasn't an easy decision. But the only way to reclaim the spa room space was to destroy the spa. It was built into a room off our master bathroom. We used it for ten years. But as time passed we used it less and less. It's been over two years since we've used it. And it's been costing energy and chemicals to keep up. So it had to go. The only way was to cut it up into door-sized pieces and take it to the dump. Our friend Ric did the job. Next step is to build a floor, add a heater, outlets, track lights and a utility sink. When it's done I'll have an art studio at home. I'm really excited about that.

Goofing around in the bathroom mirror again

It's been raining and windy every since I got my new lens. So last night I just had to goof around with it before going to bed. That's me in the bathroom mirror.

Wide Wide Angle

My new Panasonic 7-14mm lens arrived yesterday. Since the GH1 and G1 have a multiplication factor of 2, that's the same as a 14-28 in 35mm terms. This was taken at the equivalent of 14mm. Can't wait to do some more photos with the new lens. Such fun.

Ric's Handy Work

Here it is. The new deck railing and one of the two new posts. Sure is a big improvement over the old ones. And it won't need painting either. Thanks Ric.

Ric is still hard at work

This was a few days ago. Now the railings and posts are up and Ric is working on the wire mesh holders in the railings. He's a speedy worker. When I took this I didn't realize how much dust he was creating until I looked at the movie I also took and saw all the dust swirling around. Phew! A bit dicey for the camera but all is well. Soon the deck will be finished. I'll take a few photos when Ric is done.

Ouch! Deck Work Needed

The other day I noticed that the trex deck material was sagging deeply at one of the corners of the deck. We called our friend Ric Lieberman who does handy work for us. He came and quickly found the problem. Due to inferior construction and 20 years of use, not to mention heavy planters along the deck edge for a couple of years, the support posts need replacing. He uncovered some rot and more work that needed to be done. So he's hard at work returning our deck to safety and solidity. It is good this happened before our house painting that is scheduled for next spring. Thanks Ric for your skill and support.

Trying out my new GH1

The verdict is still out. The new lens is noticeably heavier than the kit lens on my G1. I like the longer range of the zoom. The two of Fiona were taken at ISO 3200. I do see a bit of banding as others have reported but I still like being able to take photos in such low light. The one of Duma is at ISO 1600 and is better in the banding dept. I'm still exploring the sharpness of the new lens and its color. More to follow. Haven't tried video yet. I'm stuck home on a gray day and as you can see the cats are dozing so not much action around here.

Stripes

Interesting shadows in the dining room. Our stripey cat decided to get in on the action.