Daily Photos

< December 2025

December 1, 2025
Looks familiar: a parked car was hit by a bad driver and smashed into a tree (see October 17, 2022). Another annoying riverside ritual (see February 3, 2025). Autumn in the city. I took another picture from a better angle, but that`s when he fell on the concrete. Same branch seen on November 26, 2025, just colder.

December 2, 2025
And then something really bad happened. Send help. The world needs more responsible citizens like this. There were no school buses (or snow plows) on Jackson Street today. 9:33am. 9:46am.

December 3, 2025
Wright State was losing this game, until they won. Look at the number of people in the stands. This is why I can sit at courtside and get good photos. It was Rowdy Raider`s birthday, but he had to work. Basketball is about offense and defense. Be of good cheer.

December 4, 2025
What I was trying to do on November 18, 2005. A creative collaboration between choreographer, dancers and lighting designer (well, and photographer). It wasn`t all about the leaps, but I do love them. I was glad to be invited to photograph the rehearsal of Wright State University`s Fall Dance Concert. I had to get up and show her this photo at intermission.

December 5, 2025
Things that are ordinary in one home don`t exist in other homes. I don`t have to keep track of little shoes. The third king is still parking the camel. Wally and I are grateful for the same thing. These help keep three little boys busy. It`s a privilege to pass out the songbooks.

December 6, 2025
Quite possibly the same goose as April 21, 2025. I can`t take pictures of the dance performance today, but I did pretty well at rehearsal (see December 4 above). Two guys who didn`t graduate from high school now have a university named after them. My car doesn`t know what this is like. For me, this is winter photography. Don`t expect more.

December 7, 2025
I wore these shoes yesterday, and then I looked down. Half-off clearance, with a 50% discount, my $10 shoes. Last week`s snow is today`s rain. Birds of a feather freeze together. I`m nuts about squirrels.

December 8, 2025
Going outside today? Are you kidding me? It`s sunny outside, but I won`t fall for that. I attended a meeting this morning using my webcam. Cleanliness. Is it warm and hearty? Then I will eat it.

December 9, 2025
I haven`t watched television of any kind in more than 20 years. However, I recently made a donation to ThinkTV, the local PBS station, because I support what they do. They invited me to tour their studios (and they gave me a tote bag). They do excellent work at ThinkTV. The big camera is decades old and cost $250,000. The small camera is newer and better and cost $12,000.

December 10, 2025
I joined a gazillion of my closest friends at the Dayton Arcade for Holly Days. The event is packed with arts and crafts, food and shopping, music and dance. I go mainly for the dance. Yes, it snows inside the Arcade during Holly Days. Other photographers struggle with that bright screen. Take my workshop and I`ll tell you how to deal with it.

December 11, 2025
Are you wondering who? Cindy Lou Who, that`s who. Paul rises tall above them all. There was a different Clara each day. I saw three Nutcrackers in three days. I sat close enough to feel the swish of their tutus.

December 12, 2025
I take pictures with my camera on my lap, so it doesn`t distract the dancers, who are just a few feet away. I have achieved complete immunity from the virus of consumerism. This is already a challenging place for dancers to perform, and then the fake snow started to fall. These two are everywhere I go (see September 12, 2025, and November 9, 2024). Out of all the Arabians this week, she was my favorite.

December 13, 2025
As I took this, I was thinking about April 30, 2005. I was back at the Arcade for a behind the scenes tour. There are lots of creative people around here. The Dayton Arcade just keeps getting bigger and better. Once again I`m in someone else`s studio (see December 9 above).

December 14, 2025
It snowed all day and then I went outside at night and cleared off my car since it was going to be brutally cold. I was not disappointed when the concert I was supposed to photograph today got cancelled. I didn`t want to go outside and do this. Stuff with snow on it: an ongoing series. After nine days off work, I should probably shave.

December 15, 2025
A week`s vacation goes by quickly -- and slowly. My desk has been tamed (see November 26, 2025). My car rattled and groaned in the cold, but we made it. And so it begins. I`m going to get fat. Ready to go to work.

December 16, 2025
Winter is out to kill me. Can`t I just hibernate until spring? Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile. RAY EVANS When you work in an arts center (see February 26, 2025). He sees you when you`re sleeping, he knows when you`re awake. HAVEN GILLESPIE

December 17, 2025
A year from now I will remember December 4 above. Frank Sinatra was singing at me as I took this. And at this point Paul McCartney was singing. High above downtown Dayton. `Tis the season.

December 18, 2025
Getting ready to shoot a headshot -- BUT I DON`T DO HEADSHOTS! This headshot turned out nicely -- BUT I DON`T DO HEADSHOTS! When you arrive late to the function. Trumpets usually get all the attention. But sometimes the tuba steps into the spotlight.

December 19, 2025
Scenes from an Indian restaurant. An opera about Paul and Alice Dunbar. I recently interviewed the composer Richard Thompson. I normally go to the ballet on Sunday afternoons, but my plans were changed by a sprained ankle (not mine). Yesterday`s headshot was better. Gestures of kindness left on my desk.

December 20, 2025
I made a brief visit to church today. It seems this must violate some privacy policy. A kind couple invites me every year (see December 2, 2023). This is their other child. Who won the shoe game?

December 21, 2025
Spanky deserves a closeup. Backyard visitor. There`s no place like someone else`s home. I take photos of other people`s trees since I don`t put one up. We become our greatest selves only when we open up and release what`s inside. Every year I become more detached from Christmas, but the rest of the world still seems to be all in.

December 22, 2025
This is about as festive as I get. Ancient pagan festivals used fir trees and holly to ward off evil, so green and red were adapted for Christmas. In winter solstice festivals, evergreen trees represented the endurance of life through cold and darkness. It`s Christmastime in the city. It wasn`t too cold to stand there and try this shot again and again (see September 9, 2025). It turned out nicely.

December 23, 2025
I don`t speak gull, but I don`t think this one is happy. Always on duty. What other people do while I work. I hope those windows aren`t drafty. Why let the baseball stadium sit idle all winter?

December 24, 2025
In happy homes the brown oak-bough vies with the red-gemmed holly now, and here and there, like pearls, there show the berries of the mistletoe. PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR No dancer this time (see May 26, 2025). With some relationships, all that`s left behind are scars. I was making ecstatic utterances in the prairie today. If all goes well, lots of little praying mantises will emerge from this egg pod in the spring.

December 25, 2025
When I was a kid, crayons were only black and white. Something to keep the kids busy for a while. Is someone keeping statistics about the transfer of wealth that occurs on December 25? I obviously wore the wrong shirt today. All I want for Christmas is food and camera stuff.

December 26, 2025
Ready to pull the plug on Christmas. It`s the most wonderful time of the year. Should I pay an extra $10 a month to park in a better garage? I`m thinking about it. They should pay me money to park in this garage. Apparently I was a party in a lawsuit against Amazon, and this is my slice of a $2.5 billion settlement.

December 27, 2025
It`s cute when the dog glances away like that. But maybe not the cat. A nature photo on a busy city street. As I took this, someone nearby was being solicited by a panhandler. Better them than me. The end of a perfect day.

December 28, 2025
It was in the mid-sixties today, so I got the bright idea to do an outdoor photo shoot in December. What I didn`t plan on was high winds. Her hair suffered, but she kept smiling. We spent lots of time trying to find shelter from the wind. This was my first medieval photo shoot. Zella did a great job with her outfit and hair. You will see more of her.

December 29, 2025
Nobody`s there. The office is closed. Nobody is here either. But I`m here. Feel free to send me mail. Cops are at work, as always. I`ve been a great Steinbeck fan since my youth, but am just starting this novel today.

December 30, 2025
Going out in the cold for a basketball game? Not hardly. I hope everyone had a fun time. I`m apparently one of those people who wears worn out clothes (see December 7 above). I`ll admire them first, and then devour them. Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak mid-winter. CHRISTINA ROSSETTI Nothing happens in Chapter 1 of East of Eden, but I love Steinbeck`s tribute to the land.

December 31, 2025
During Anita Graef`s recital (see November 23, 2025) she mentioned Beethoven`s dynamics and I scribbled it down on my program. Five weeks later, my scribbling is turning into a radio program. I washed dishes on a Wednesday afternoon, because it doesn`t matter what day or time it is. At least I THINK it`s Wednesday. I`m supposed to have the day off, but that just means I work from the kitchen table. I had to make a list to keep track of all the characters in East of Eden.

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