Beautiful. On a separate note, when will Apple’s Intelligence adjust for metering the light of the moon for clearer images?
Super Moon
Photography
Changes
As a result of some new changes in website design and future-proofing my database, I’ll have to resist the temptation to add images to posts. I want this site and the database to be lightweight and streamlined. In the near future, I will add blog-related images to a specific Flickr folder designated “Website Images” or something to that effect. Maybe even add links to both that are easily accessible to the public here and there. That was the original intent of the social internet after all.
Flickr
Back in December I was pondering whether or not I wanted to go back to Flickr after extinguishing my account back in 2019. After shutting down my photography website due to various reasons, including a lack of interest from anyone but myself, I need somewhere to store/display/backup my images.
Since 2004, Flickr has stuck it out as a platform and I was with them for 15 years. Now with their own changes and growth, I can see myself starting up a brand new, unlimited Flickr Pro account and upload decades worth of images. But, that will have to wait until funds are available. Once that happens, I am all in on Flickr again.
168/366
I set a photography goal for myself to shoot a photo with the Hipstamatic every day, for 366 images this (leap) year. Today is day 168. I had them all on my photo website that I recently took down but for now, I’ll just add a few from the past two weeks here.
Starship 4.0
This morning I stood on the Cape Coral beach looking southwest waiting to see a rocket ship fly over us. I was there at Starbase observing the tallest, most powerful rocket ever to be launched up close. 100 yards away we camped on the beach where the Rio Grande emptied into the Gulf with Mexico on the other side. We were asked to leave the beach the next day before the test fire of the 34 Raptor engines. That was delayed so we made our way back home and missed that one. But it was exciting to see!
Still can’t believe how close we were permitted to get. Boca Chica Beach, Texas.
Today I had hoped to see this gorgeous rocket in flight and one day go to the Moon and Mars.
Starship’s fourth flight test launched with ambitious goals, attempting to go farther than any previous test before and begin demonstrating capabilities central to return and reuse of Starship and Super Heavy. The payload for this test was the data. Starship delivered.
On June 6, 2024, Starship successfully lifted off at 7:50 a.m. CT from Starbase in Texas and went on to deliver maximum excitement for the next hour until it arrived in orbit, re-entered orbit and then corrected itself for a splash down in the Indian Ocean successfully.
Liftoff
Alas, the flight trajectory that Space-X typically takes is in between Florida and Cuba. Today, the flight path took it south of Cuba. I didn’t have a chance in hell of capturing it. Not even a trail in the sky.
In the past few years, there have been 353 (!) launches from three launch sites from Cape Canaveral Florida, to Boca Chica Texas and Vandenberg AFB in California. 287 of those launches have been re-flights using rocket boosters that auto-land back to earth (!) No one has been able to do this before including NASA.
My View, Pre-launch, Launch, 33/34 raptors firing, In Orbit! De-orbiting, Re-entry burning through a fin, Splashdown, Success!
I can only hope that Starship 5 will be launched at night. Space-X’s other rockets are launched from Florida at night and we can see those easily.
Why Photography?
I love looking through the photo archives. Photographs, to me, are a record. They show me how things were “way back then”.
Lately I have been wondering what are the new photographs I have, as well as future images for?
This is causing a thought-shift in how I approach photography and why I should choose to pursue it.
It is a fair question to ask if what I leave behind will be appreciated by others after I am gone but I am not so sure. It’s possible my daughter can peruse the archives as a record and hopefully share in my life, my memories and of our time together. But after that? No one else will care and decades worth of images will become digital dust. Sobering thought.
We just recently acquired and discarded decades worth of photographic memories of a loved one who documented everything. But those were their memories, not ours. No one else in the family wanted them either so into the bin they went. This saddens me deeply.
I’d like to print at least 50 of the best images for each year in the past and moving forward, as physical mementos that my daughter can pick and choose to keep if desired. I hope she finds joy in looking back and sparking her own memories. Other than that, who wants to keep around all that crap? They’re just photos after all.
I suppose the answer, currently, is that they are for me and my memories. I also enjoy the photography process and the pursuit of that elusive master shot.
The battery is charged again, so off I go to make more memories.
Why Photography?
I love looking through the photo archives. Photographs, to me, are a record. They show me how things were “way back then”.
Lately I have been wondering what are the new photographs I have, as well as future images for?
This is causing a thought-shift in how I approach photography and why I should choose to pursue it.
It is a fair question to ask if what I leave behind will be appreciated by others after I am gone but I am not so sure. It’s possible my daughter can peruse the archives as a record and hopefully share in my life, my memories and of our time together. But after that? No one else will care and decades worth of images will become digital dust. Sobering thought.
We just recently acquired and discarded decades worth of photographic memories of a loved one who documented everything. But those were their memories, not ours. No one else in the family wanted them either so into the bin they went. This saddens me deeply.
I’d like to print at least 50 of the best images for each year in the past and moving forward, as physical mementos that my daughter can pick and choose to keep if desired. I hope she finds joy in looking back and sparking her own memories. Other than that, who wants to keep around all that crap? They’re just photos after all.
I suppose the answer, currently, is that they are for me and my memories. I also enjoy the photography process and the pursuit of that elusive master shot.
The battery is charged again, so off I go to make more memories.
Palm Sunday Project
Welcome to the first newsletter sent from Cape Coral, Florida where a new latitude calls for a new and different photo project. In the past I would capture unique faces, diverse neon signs, wall art, etc. Anything that is in abundance and varies will do for me. Today is the start of “Palm Sunday”, where once a week I will share images from all the Florida frond foliage found and photographed, and probably even share a few words about them.
Palm trees are usually what comes to mind regarding beautiful, exotic islands and vacationing. But with all trees, there is so much more to learn and think about.
A lot of civilizations use products made from these trees such as cosmetics, cooking oils, lotions, jelly, wine, and biodiesel. However, not many know about the symbolic meaning of these large, evergreen plants.
There are over 3,000 species of palms, making them some of the most common and easily recognized plants. They thrive in tropical regions and are considered among the hardiest trees in the world as they’re resistant to most pests and diseases.
Coconuts are some of the most popular palms, with their nuts known for their nutritional benefits and distinct taste. Their hard brown shells protect the nut from damage when they fall from the tree, and the white flesh inside is used for making oil and cooking in many Asian countries. Coconut oil is considered the healthiest oil made from palms.
And because today is a Sunday, here are a few quotes: In Psalms 92:12, those who are righteous were compared to palm trees. It states that righteous people shall flourish and grow “like palms and cedar trees in Lebanon…” In Psalms 7:7-9, the palm tree is associated with victory, where getting hold of its fruit was compared to triumph.
Next week, I’ll share some palms taken from either Sanibel Island or Fort Myers beach. Oh, and as a little bonus, here is an image of a girl chasing seagulls on the shore:
-Chris in Cape Coral
Palm Sunday
Welcome to the first newsletter sent from Cape Coral, Florida where a new latitude calls for a new and different photo project. In the past I would capture unique faces, diverse neon signs, wall art, etc. Anything that is in abundance and varies will do for me. Today is the start of “Palm Sunday”, where once a week I will share images from all the Florida frond foliage found and photographed, and probably even share a few words about them.
Palm trees are usually what comes to mind regarding beautiful, exotic islands and vacationing. But with all trees, there is so much more to learn and think about.
A lot of civilizations use products made from these trees such as cosmetics, cooking oils, lotions, jelly, wine, and biodiesel. However, not many know about the symbolic meaning of these large, evergreen plants.
There are over 3,000 species of palms, making them some of the most common and easily recognized plants. They thrive in tropical regions and are considered among the hardiest trees in the world as they’re resistant to most pests and diseases.
Coconuts are some of the most popular palms, with their nuts known for their nutritional benefits and distinct taste. Their hard brown shells protect the nut from damage when they fall from the tree, and the white flesh inside is used for making oil and cooking in many Asian countries. Coconut oil is considered the healthiest oil made from palms.
And because today is a Sunday, here are a few quotes: In Psalms 92:12, those who are righteous were compared to palm trees. It states that righteous people shall flourish and grow “like palms and cedar trees in Lebanon…” In Psalms 7:7-9, the palm tree is associated with victory, where getting hold of its fruit was compared to triumph.
Next week, I’ll share some palms taken from either Sanibel Island or Fort Myers beach. Oh, and as a little bonus, here is an image of a girl chasing seagulls on the shore:
-Chris in Cape Coral
Astronomical
Over the past month or so I have witnessed a few stellar phenomena such as the total solar eclipse in Arkansas on April 8 and a record solar flare-induced aurora light show in Florida (of all places.) Throw in a Space-X Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral and it’s been a great month. I may have access to a telescope soon that I can hook up the iPhone to and maybe view/capture something else- like an orbiting Tesla?
Astronomical
Over the past month or so I have witnessed a few stellar phenomena such as the total solar eclipse in Arkansas on April 8 and a record solar flare-induced aurora light show in Florida (of all places.) Throw in a Space-X Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral and it’s been a great month. I may have access to a telescope soon that I can hook up the iPhone to and maybe view/capture something else- like an orbiting Tesla?
108/366
Today is the 108th day of the year and I have 108 images posted for the 366/2024 photo project. One photo a day, every day for a year so far using the Hipstamatic model 10 camera.
