213/366 - "Keyboard"

(F/7.1, 100mm, 10 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

I love how the keyboard lights up when the lights are out.

212/366 - "Back Together Again!"

(F/7.1, 73mm, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

Today the Gilchrist's arrived to stay for a while.  So the cousins are back together again for a little while.

211/366 - "Holy Harvest!"

(F/7.1, 27mm, 1/25 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

Today was a gorgeous day and we spent the majority of it outside.  Sue was in the garden trimming and harvesting what was ready.  Well, this is a photo of that harvest.  There are nine cucumbers, one beefsteak tomato, and a handful of cherry tomatoes.

210/366 - "Having Fun"

(F/5, 40mm, 1/60 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

I was out on the deck taking pictures of reflections in water after the rain.  Sue came out to join me and I took a few shots of her messing around posing like it was 1995.  Most of them looked like goofy senior portrait pictures, but this one turned out really nice.

209/366 - "Scotch"

(F/8, 50mm, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

I discovered that today was National Scotch Day and my inspiration was born.  My scotch of choice is Macallan.  I wish I had something in the house a little more aged, but I will "suffer" through my bottle of 12 year.  Enjoy your scotch of choice responsibly today.  Cheers!

208/366 - "Back Buttons"

(F/5, 100mm, 1/100 sec, ISO 200, Canon 5D Mk II)

These are the "back buttons" on my camera.  I use the Focus Point Selection button all the time, yet I have never utilized the AE-Lock (*) or the AF-ON buttons.  This past Saturday I configured my camera so I could use these and what a difference.  I will probably rarely use the AE-Lock button, but the back button auto-focus is my new favorite feature on my camera.  

207/366 - "Salsa Time"

(F/2.8, 100mm, 1/200 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

Looks like it is salsa time.  I love the fresh salsa that Sue makes and it looks like our tomatos are ready.

206/366 - "Beer and Bikes"

(F/8, 17mm, 1/60 sec, ISO 200, Canon 5D Mk II)

If anyone ever says biking and beer don't go together, I have proof they do.  It is a perfect fit!  This is four cases of empty bottles just waiting to be bottled with the next home brew and my bike.

205/366 - "The Deuce"

(F/3.4, 7.15mm, 1/250 sec, ISO 80, Canon PowerShot SX200)

We are in potty training mode and this is what Harper gets when she drops the deuce.

204/366 - "Studio"

(F/8, 50mm, 1/60 sec, ISO 200, Canon 5D Mk II)

Today was a brew day at Jim's house.  Jim has guest posted on this blog several times and also has a studio in the basement of his home.  I took my camera anticipating the chance to play around with his lighting setup.  The first shot is Jim setting up the lighting and asking me to take a quick test shot.  I actually like the way it turned out, so it made the cut for today's photos.  The second shot is Jim showing me how his ring light works, and the third is my actual shot of the day.  This is Jim's son Jameson.  Jim asked him to model for me for a minute, and as you can see Jameson wasn't thrilled.  Anyway a big thanks for letting me try out the lights!

203/366 - "Toadstools"

(F/7.1, 100mm, 1/160 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

I was getting ready to cut the grass today and I spotted these toadstools.  I ran in to get my gear took a few shots and then cut them down.

202/366 - "Re-Entry"

(F/2.8, 100mm, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

Jonah has spent the last week at my mom's house.  So starting last night and this weekend Jonah will be re-entering and conforming to our normal schedule.  Detox from a week of fun at grandma's can be tough, but he seems to be doing just fine.

201/366 - "10:20"

(F/2.8, 100mm, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

Last night I went out for drinks and dinner with some guys from work to talk about our upcoming brewfest.  Trying to pick a date, a name, and what beers to brew was quite the challenge and tonights photo reflects one of our decisions.  We are calling this The 10/20 Brewfest or something along that line.  When I got home I moved the hands of the clock to 10:20 snapped a couple pictures and went to bed.

200/366 - "New Rose"

(F/6.3, 100mm, 1/6 sec, ISO 200, Canon 5D Mk II)

Tonight when we got back home there was fresh rain on the flowers.  A perfect chance to get some macro flower shots.

199/366 - "Hillary"

(F/3.2, 100mm, 1/200 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

This is Sue's friend Hillary.  She came over for some dinner and beers.  After dinner we went out to check out the garden and I was able to snag a photo of Hillary in a very expressive conversation with Sue.

198/366 - "Drop House"

(F/6.3, 100mm, 1/40 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

I was playing with drops of water and leaves from my neighbors tree hoping to get her flowers in the drops.  Well, as it turns out I got my house instead.  If you look close or zoom in, you will see out house upside down in the drop.

197/366 - "Dinner"

(F/4, 100mm, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

Sue made one of my favorite dinners tonight.  It is a cheese ravioli with roasted sweet potatoes (roasted in olive oil and thyme), and then topped with goat cheese.  It is so good and deserved to be the photograph of the day.

196/366 - "The Toad and The Hop Fly"

(F/4, 100mm, 1/50 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

I went outside after lunch to clean up the mess from the trees, see Day 191.  During my raking, I stunned a rather large toad.  I actually thought I killed it since it did not move for over 15 minutes.  After I was done raking, I placed my rake over the toad trapping it so I could get my camera.  When I returned the toad was attempting to escape.  I was able to get a few shots before he hopped away.

I normally post Jim's guest posts separately.  Since these two photos go together I decided to make this one post.

Jim was taking pictures of his hops that are growing in his backyard when a fly landed on a leaf of the hop plant.

195/366 - "Mini-Sunflower"

(F/4, 60mm, 1/200 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

We were over at the Green's house tonight for dinner.  Outside they have all kinds of flowers and this one caught my eye.  I think because to me it looks like a mini-sunflower.  I have no idea what it really is called but I like the way it looks.

194/366 - "Ice Cold"

(F/16, 100mm, 1/25 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

I was watching the replay of the Tour de France trying to figure out what I was going to take a photo of tonight.  Then I spotted Sue's glass of water that was just starting to form some condensation, so I got setup and took some shots.

193/366 - "Dictionary"

(F/2.8, 100mm, 1/125 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

So when people see this photograph they will fall into one of two categories.  The first are like me and will easily recognize the spotted pages, nice binding, and thumb cutouts for easy access to different parts of the book.  This will recognize this as a dictionary because we relied on it as our pre-computer form of spell check.  The second group will have no idea what this book is and may have only seen it in their grandparents bookcase and rely heavily on computers and smartphones for spell checking.

Guest Post - Jim

Jim sent in a guest post for today and I found it funny, especially after getting back from my bike ride tonight.  I guess the bike rack isn't for bikes....nice!

192/366 - "Wild Flower"

(F/16, 100mm, 15 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

When we got home today Harper and Jonah picked some "Wild Flowers" from our yard, a.k.a weeds.  Sue put it in a small bud vase, and I decided to take a macro shot of it for tonight.

191/366 - "Dirty Trees"

(F/11, 17mm, 3 Exposures, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

I posted back on Day 9 a photograph of the wonderful shade trees that line our street.  In the last week these glorious trees (Sycamore) have dumped countless leaves, bark, and dead branches in my yard, roof, porch, and sidewalk.  I would love to remove these trees and replant "cleaner" trees.  My yard should not look like this until October.  Our cute little town of Oakmont has rules and I am unable to just remove them or I would.  I wish the Shade Tree Commission would work with me on this, but they will not.

190/366 - "Rough Day"

(F/5.6, 50mm, 1/50 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

Harper had a rough day today.  We went outside in the morning and she lost a battle with the concrete driveway.  See exhibit face and elbow.  Then prior to lunch she managed to get her index fingers (yes both) caught in the slider part of the garbage drawer.  See exhibit finger.  Hopefully tomorrow is a better day.

189/366 - "Kit"

(F/2.8, 50mm, 1/60 sec, ISO 400, Canon 5D Mk II)

We had some friends and their kids over for dinner.  After dinner I was able to snag a picture of Kit.  I love the Bumsted combination of bright blue eyes and blonde hair.  Check out her sister Annie here here.  I snapped the photo of Annie when we went to Bermuda a couple years back.

188/366 - "Cooling Down"

(F/4, 40mm, 1/60 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

After dinner we decided to head outside for a popsicle to cool down a bit.  Luckily Harper lets me take her picture.

187/366 - "Grass Road"

(F/8, 17mm, 1/25 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

The grass is growing on the street by our house making it appear very green as you look down the road.

186/366 - "Clock Tower"

(F/7.1, 45mm, 1/200 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

After dinner I ran out to get ice cream and took my camera with me.  This is Oakmont's Clock Tower and flag lined street.  Happy 4th!

185/366 - "Waiting"

(F/4, 17mm, 11 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

Last night we went to see some fireworks.  This was the first time for us at this location and I was hoping to get some good shots of the fireworks.  Unfortunately, our location was not ideal for photos of the fireworks.  This photo is during the time we had to wait for the fireworks while I was messing around with some time lapse photography.

184/366 - "Daisies at Sunset"

(F/7.1, 100mm, 1/80 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

I think the title tells the story here.  It goes without saying by now that this is from my neighbor's yard.

183/366 - "Nap Time"

(F/4, 45mm, 1/50 sec, ISO 3200, Canon 5D Mk II)

I remember when I was little taking naps with my Grandpa.  Well, after lunch Harper and Papa took a quick nap.  I am glad they shared this moment.  I don't think Jonah ever napped with him.

182/366 - "Hunter"

(F/4, 105mm, 1/200 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

Yesterday we went to Wheeling for mom's surprise 60th birthday party.  So most of my family was around for me to photograph.  This is Hunter, my nephew.  I was able to corner him on the side of the house while he was playing and he let me take a few shots.