Daily Photos

< May 2025

May 1, 2025
In my neighborhood, there are more photographers per square foot than there are in your neighborhood. Why don`t we have robot window cleaners yet? My route to work grows ever more complicated. Live music is back at Levitt Pavilion Dayton! And there`s a brand-new feature on the grounds.

May 2, 2025
I had an eye exam in the afternoon, so I went outside in the morning to take photos (while I could still see). It was quite wet, but I didn`t get rained on. These magnolia blossoms were frozen to death on the tree before they had a chance to fall. Each bubble has a tiny reflection of me and my camera. It wasn`t a good bug day, but I did the best I could.

May 3, 2025
Gem City Roller Derby had a double-header today. I sat where skaters were always coming toward me. Gem City had a large crowd cheering for them. The skaters knock each other down, but it`s all for fun. The home team lost both bouts, but they were all smiles.

May 4, 2025
Windows and walls. It has rained a lot lately. It`s the time of year that streets in my neighborhood are barricaded -- and it`s time for me to complain about it. The irises appreciate all the rain. I`ve had the worst spring allergies of my life, but one dose of this stuff changed my life.

May 5, 2025
There are lots of vacant buildings in downtown Dayton that need to be secured. Don`t roll your eyes at me! Between a rock and a wet place. It has rained a lot lately. Many layers of myself.

May 6, 2025
Rainy day democracy. I`m older than the cars at a classic car show. He`s a duet now (see September 12, 2014; July 13, 2015; July 1, 2016; January 16, 2020; September 15, 2021; and October 20, 2022). I think we did this before on May 3, 2024. I`m still working through the 1079-page manual to my new(est) camera. Today I controlled it from my iPhone.

May 7, 2025
Tired out. I don`t like to work outside, but making fire is cool. Someone needs to move their crane (see May 1 above). Dignitaries from around the world are coming to Dayton later this month, and downtown is getting a facelift. About a zillion plants have appeared on Main Street.

May 8, 2025
The expectant mother has a bodyguard (see April 29, 2025). Notice the cones warning people to stay away. This is a picture of TWO birds. Again, the small one is a falcon defending its airspace (see April 24, 2025). A picture of just one bird this time. Thanks to the unknown person who planted this iris. I wrote the first draft of a short story in 1998. I came across it in 2025 and am working on the next draft.

May 9, 2025
I`ve been taking photos every day for more than twenty years, and this is my first track meet. I saw all sorts of ways people can get hurt. Now I remember why I was on the chess club in high school and not the track team. Taking photos of hurdlers was harder than I expected. My camera does facial recognition, so I can focus on my friend instead of the other runners (see April 30, 2025).

May 10, 2025
Dunno what it was, but now it`s a musical instrument. Songs with motions make me happy (see May 5, 2024). I put one camera on a tripod taking pictures every 60 seconds, which resulted in me photographing myself. Some people are good at working with children. I wouldn`t last ten minutes. Photographing rehearsal prepares me for the concert. I learn when the important moments are going to happen.

May 11, 2025
`I put my corduroy breeches on to work upon the railway [CLANG!].` For Mother`s Day, the singers gave flowers to their moms. I sang in many choirs, but we rarely sang funny songs. `Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord!` Another great concert by the Kettering Children`s Choir.

May 12, 2025
The facelift of downtown Dayton continues. The mural artist said, `It`s going to be boring for a few days. Come back later in the week.` The falcon doesn`t realize that there`s a video camera inside its nesting box at the top of this building. Highly-agitated geese were barking at each other. Another crane blocks the street (see May 7 above).

May 13, 2025
High above First Street in downtown Dayton. Progress is being made on the mural (see May 12 above). Good dog! Good duck! Help is hard to come by.

May 14, 2025
Dayton`s vacant offices and failed businesses are being covered up with pretty graphics, reminding me of the `whited sepulchres` of Matthew 23:27. Your daily mural update. I told the artist, `I`m not going to ask you what it is.` She said, `I wouldn`t tell you.` Long-needed repairs are being made all over the place. There are many cranes and lifts in the downtown area. Nothing says welcome like basic black.

May 15, 2025
Sending you peace from Dayton. Hopefully those two get along really well. One second later, it vanished. Not everyone is looking forward to the NATO Assembly. A protest is planned for next week. I`m staying away. Confirmed: pickup truck drivers can`t see the color red (see February 22, 2024).

May 16, 2025
I`m teaching a photography workshop here at 10am Saturday, so I came by at 10am Friday for a preview. Conflict resolution. I was hiding behind a tree when I took this. I have no dignity when it comes to taking outstanding photos. Small but loud. In case you haven`t seen enough birds today.

May 17, 2025
Back at Eastwood MetroPark today for a photo class. I warned these guys my class would take their picture. The geese were not as noisy as they were yesterday. I want to give equal time to ducks. I walked to a different vantage point to make it look like the birds were closer together than they actually were.

May 18, 2025
My second butterfly photo of the year was better than the first (see April 24, 2025). See the pollen falling off the bee? This is why I sneeze. I was supposed to meet somebody for a portrait shoot, but she didn`t show up so I shot bugs, birds and blooms. Great Moments in the Food Chain. May brings the flowers to bloom, it brings the green leaves to the tree, and the fatally sweet perfume of what you once were to me. PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

May 19, 2025
I take your picture, you take my picture. Hours later, this huge crane was gone (see May 12, 13 and 14 above). Much progress was made over the weekend. New decorations have appeared on the freshly-painted poles (see May 14 above). The flip side to all of those nice WELCOME signs (see May 7 above). Downtown Dayton is going into lockdown.

May 20, 2025
Do Your Thing, as long as it`s behind the barricades. Looks like the mural is finished, but I don`t think I`ll be allowed back here for the next week. This picture hits different with the barricades up (see May 12 above). Surveillance towers on every corner. That`s not creepy. A fleet of those unmarked vehicles is cruising downtown.

May 21, 2025
An art installation called Think Freedom is hanging suspended above the Dayton Arcade rotunda. It`s the work of artist Edina Seleskovic, a native of Sarajevo. She met the public and media this morning. Countess V. Winfrey and Devin Baker of Dayton Contemporary Dance Company performed together. They were accompanied by violinist K. Frazier Robinson and pianist Tim Shafor in music from `The Mission.` Dayton`s Poet Laureate Sierra Leone told the audience, `Peace is a verb, first to be sought within, and then to be actively shared with others.`

May 22, 2025
I`m sure you recall that I bought a big beast of a lens (on the left) on March 13, 2025. It was a bit too big for daily use, so I acquired a smaller lens. It doesn`t have the red stripe of a professional lens. But the new lens has an extraordinary zoom range from 24mm to 240mm. That`s a lotta mms! Here the lens is zoomed out. Here the lens is zoomed in.

May 23, 2025
Downtown Dayton has been overtaken by the military (see May 20 above), so I went to more friendly confines. Bands I don`t recognize . . . artists I don`t know . . . I`m exactly where I want to be. I think she was painting the room, so if I stood still long enough I might have made it onto the canvas. If Johann Sebastian Bach was alive today. It wasn`t a disco band, but the ball was standing by.

May 24, 2025
I took my new lens outside today (see May 22 above). The 240mms came in handy. No. 9 had a pretty good day: she scored six goals. This play resulted in a penalty kick goal. The goalkeeper was able to stop this shot, but the final score was 15 - 0.

May 25, 2025
Beauty and brevity go hand in hand. I took a picture of the flower and only noticed the baby grasshopper afterward. Other people`s photo shoots. I find things and take photos of them. Then I take another photo and it`s better. Repeat, repeat, repeat. This would be better with a dancer (see May 26 below).

May 26, 2025
It`s springtime, and time for outdoor portraits. She told me that I`d taken her picture before (see December 7, 2021). I was unaware of the connection. Favorite of the day No. 1. Favorite of the day No. 2. I told you so (see May 25 above).

May 27, 2025
Enjoy the arts -- if you can climb the twelve-foot fence (see February 27, 2025). The finished mural by artist Atalie Gagnet, with text by Alice Young-Basora, Executive Director at The International Peace Museum (see May 20 above). THANK YOU! The barricades are coming down. I try to be bold, though sometimes I`m italic. The Guitar Man performed at the Dayton Arcade.

May 28, 2025
What are they doing? (See May 15 above) Oh, it lights up! From a storefront art installation by Samantha Hughes. I came across another unfinished story, this time with a floppy disc (see May 8 above). I don`t throw stuff out. On today`s date in 2003, I stopped watching TV and my life has gotten better. The cable is still here but useless.

May 29, 2025
Winged creatures fight over a chicken wing. To paraphrase Paul Laurence Dunbar, I often like to `pause to pick [or click] a flower beside the way.` Our habitat overlaps: they fly into my parking garage and I walk by their river. Which one of us is the intruder? Thanks to workers of the Miami Conservancy District for maintaining the levee and keeping me safe and dry. Adam Alonzo`s impressionist period.

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