Whatever Wednesday – Circadianreflections Blog

Whatever Weds.-Classic Cars

May 1, 2024May 1, 2024Posted in Photography, Vintage CarsTagged Beige, Buff, Classic Cars, Cream, Fuji X-T3, Fujinon 16-80mm, pine tree, Red, Snow capped mountains, Vintage Cars, Whatever Wednesday, Yellow56 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Last week I was making my way around a big loop birding and at one stop I happened upon a Classic Car group just as they were starting to pull out. I hurriedly grabbed my other camera with a wide angle lens and ran to a place near the exit to get a few images. I wasn’t fast enough to get an image of all the cars, but I did get a several. Here are some of my favorites.

This one is just so cool. Is it a muscle car? I’m sorry I didn’t get there earlier to note the makes and models of all the cars. Look at that engine though.

*Classic Car Yellow with cool Engine Exposure*

The drivers were pretty cool when they saw me with my camera they slowed down and let me get some nice images. 😊

*Classic Car Pontiac I think. I love the sun guard over the windshield.*

Look at those white walls with red accent stripe. Nice.

And last, but not least my favorite Red car of the lot.

*Classic Car in Red*

That was a fun surprise.

What wasn’t fun was waking up yesterday morning to the “DREADED BLACK SCREEN”! My computer was good and truly looking dead. Thankfully, He-Man found a way to get it back up, but it required a whole new start from my backup system. So all my documents, and files are here, but all my apps have to be reinstalled and all my preferences reset. My Photoshop Actions are all gone so I’m starting from scratch remaking those and slowly adding my presets and apps back in.
It’s been a chore, but I’m so grateful for having a backup system in place. I highly recommend one or two if you haven’t got yourself one already. In the meantime I think it’s time to start shopping for a new computer desktop tower because this one might be on the way out.

I hope your week is going well and there are no unpleasant surprises in it!

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 16-80mm| PS CC 25.7.0

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Eclipse

April 10, 2024April 9, 2024Posted in Birding in Nevada, Nikon, Sun, Wide Field Astro-photographyTagged Birding, Birds of North America, Eclipses, Partial Solar Eclipse, Red Crossbill, Solar Eclipse, Whatever Wednesday55 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

I wasn’t in the path of Totality for the eclipse on Monday but, I did watch the it from my patio. The Partial we saw covered 47% of the Sun’s face.

He-Man, myself, and a neighbor enjoyed the birds singing, and watching golfers play through without ever looking up to see what was happening in the sky above us.

I made an image of the full sun first before the eclipse started.

The large sunspot is 3628, and the smaller one is 3633.

This image below is a 5 frame composite showing the sequence of the partial eclipse from shortly after the beginning to the end with the Maximum coverage image in the middle.

The dark shadows you see on the face of the images of the sun are clouds that were rolling across the Sun/Moon during the eclipse.

Now that eclipse madness has passed and it’s sunny, the snow has melted here in the valley and our lawn has turned green I’m ready to turn my attention to looking for spring flowers and more birds.

Speaking of birds. I got a “lifer pair” last Friday. A pair of Red Crossbills.

They were a bit out of range for my lens but, I did get an image that positively identified them. It’s noisy and soft, but it’s a keeper.

This is the female with her wings spread ready to fly, and her mate in the back. I was doing my happy dance when I got a positive ID on these two.

So, did you see the eclipse in partial or in Totality? Wasn’t it cool!

Happy Wednesday!

Nikon D850|Nikkor 500mm PF-e| Orion Glass Solar Filter| PS CC 25.5.1

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Waxing Gibbous Moon

March 27, 2024March 26, 2024Posted in Moon, Moonrise, Wide Field Astro-photographyTagged Almost Full, Blue and White, Clouds, March Moon, Moon, Nikon, sky, telephoto lens, Waxing Gibbous Moons, Whatever Wednesday35 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

*97.7% Waxing Gibbous Moon and Clouds* 3.23.2024

Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC 25.5.1

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Watercolor Painting

March 13, 2024March 13, 2024Posted in Photography, Watercolor, Watercolor Painting, Whatever WednesdayTagged DaVinci, Hobbies, iPhone14Pro, Learning to paint, MGraham, Photography, Trees and Woodlands Ready to Paint, Watercolor Painting, Whatever Wednesday64 Comments

I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I’m working my way through a watercolor book called Ready to Paint- Trees and Woodlands. They say you can do these exercises and little paintings in 30 minutes, but it takes me hours.

This is Nº7 called Farmhouse. The lesson was working on a variegated wash of colors, and painting around a negative space. That means painting in the wash of sky, and the background behind the farmhouse and barn first then paint the farmhouse and barn.

*Farmhouse in Watercolor Nº7 Trees and Woodlands-Ready to Paint*

It took me about 1.5 hours to paint this. Pretty quick for me. I painted the sky and background then let it dry overnight before tackling the trees and buildings. I find myself letting things dry, then ruminating about the next step before actually taking the next step. Fear of making a mistake? Oh yes!

Anyway, it didn’t come out too bad just a little wonky. I see things I would change the next time I try something like this. On the whole I think the wash came out okay, and I used the negative space like I was supposed to. The rock wall was supposed to be a hedge but, I added my own spin on it, I wanted a wall instead. On y va!

I’ve been birding a lot so, I’ll have bird images to share soon.

I hope you’re all having a good week.

140lb 100% cotton paper| M.Graham and Da Vinci Watercolors| iPhone 14Pro

more to come…

Whatever Weds. American Kestrel

January 3, 2024January 2, 2024Posted in birding, Birding in Nevada, Birds of Prey, Photography, Whatever WednesdayTagged American Kestrel, Birds in the Wild, Blue Skies, Cottonwood tree, Female Birds, Nature, Nevada, Nikon, Washoe Co, Whatever Wednesday48 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

This is a Kestrel I saw in December. I’ll show her from the two sides I got to observe her from. It’s a treat to actually get two side views of a bird.

When I first spotted her high in a Cottonwood tree-

They’re one of the smallest birds of prey, but so cute.

Here she is from the other side, with her chest showing.

Fun Facts:

- Sports fans in some cities get an extra show during night games: kestrels perching on light standards or foul poles, tracking moths and other insects in the powerful stadium light beams and catching these snacks on the wing. Some of their hunting flights have even made it onto TV sports coverage.
- When nature calls, nestling kestrels back up, raise their tails, and squirt feces onto the walls of the nest cavity. The feces dry on the cavity walls and stay off the nestlings. The nest gets to be a smelly place, with feces on the walls and uneaten parts of small animals on the floor.
- It can be tough being one of the smallest birds of prey. Despite their fierce lifestyle, American Kestrels end up as prey for larger birds such as Northern Goshawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Barn Owls, American Crows, and Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks, as well as rat snakes, corn snakes, and even fire ants.
- In winter in many southern parts of the range, female and male American Kestrels use different habitats. Females use the typical open habitat, and males use areas with more trees. This situation appears to be the result of the females migrating south first and establishing winter territories, leaving males to the more wooded areas.
- Unlike humans, birds can see ultraviolet light. This enables kestrels to make out the trails of urine that voles, a common prey mammal, leave as they run along the ground. Like neon diner signs, these bright paths may highlight the way to a meal—as has been observed in the Eurasian Kestrel, a close relative.
- Kestrels hide surplus kills in grass clumps, tree roots, bushes, fence posts, tree limbs, and cavities, to save the food for lean times or to hide it from thieves.
- The oldest American Kestrel was a male and at least 14 years, 8 months old when he was found in Utah in 2001. He was banded in the same state in 1987.

“Like neon diner signs”! 😂 I loved that description.

Fun facts gleaned from allaboutbirds.org

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends, and visitors!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 500mm| PS CC 25.3.1

more to come…

What Ever Weds. Silver Fox

November 15, 2023November 15, 2023Posted in Animals in Controlled Conditions, Fuji X-T3, Wildlife, Zoo AnimalsTagged Blog Post, Foxes, In Captivity, Nevada, Silver Fox, Whatever Wednesday, Wildlife36 Comments

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I don’t have much in new content so, I’m reaching into my archives. This image was from a trip to a safari zoo here in Nevada during a time #1 Grandson was here on a visit.

I love its eyes! Not looking at me but, very aware of my camera and presence. Very keen and crafty for sure!!

I hope your week is going well. We’re halfway through it!

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC

more to come…

Whatever Weds. House Finch

November 8, 2023November 7, 2023Posted in Backyard Birding, Birds, Birds in the WildTagged blog, Fuji X-T3, House Finch, Male Birds, Red, Whatever Wednesday50 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

I’ve been MIA again and I’ll probably be on and off again for awhile. A family member is having some medical issues we’re working through.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

I’ll catch up with you all soon. Stay well!

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 24.6

more to come…

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