Daily Photos

< April 2009 >

April 1, 2009
This is the same cardinal I photographed yesterday (the last day of last month) fighting his own reflection. That cardinal is not the only one fascinated by windows. In many ways, they are preferable to people. Hey, mussels! Lost during its annual migration, this moose wanders Oakwood, harassed by designer dogs and SUVs.

April 2, 2009
I photograph many events on an annual basis, but there`s only one important enough for me to take days off of work. Every year the best color guard teams in America, Europe and Asia come to Dayton for a three-day competition. Every year I`m in the front row with my camera. This is the fourth time I`ve done it, and I have a great new camera. Today I shot for ONLY eight hours, while the professional photographers have to stay for about 15 hours each day. Though I`ve watched countless teams perform, they are still able to surprise me with their artistry and athleticism.

April 3, 2009
I shoot color guard differently than the professionals. My pictures often feature one prominent team member in the foreground with others in the distance like a visual echo. I rarely zoom out and photograph an entire team. I`m almost always zoomed all the way in to shoot individuals. I try to capture the passion and the joy of a performance. More significant than ordinary games played with balls or bats, color guard routines have meaningful themes, such as self-acceptance, environmentalism and civil rights. Color guard is truly the most beautiful sport, combining music, dance, costume and props in exciting ways.

April 4, 2009
Weird lighting on wall, part 1. Weird lighting on wall, part 2. Weird lighting on wall, part 3. I was carrying around a plastic bag for a long time today, then noticed that there was a fly trapped inside it. The fly found its way out of the bag, walked around my desk a while, then managed to end up in the bag again.

April 5, 2009
Remember that ramming scene from `Ben Hur`? Watch out for the tree, Spiderman. Where Mrs. Paul gets her fish sticks. Know your boundaries. This picture would be less effective if either one of us had shaved lately.

April 6, 2009
Revisioning November 21, 2006. Revisioning September 3, 2006. Revisioning April 30, 2005. Revisioning July 21, 2004. Revisioning April 7, 2006.

April 7, 2009
Either winter is making a comeback, or my dandruff shampoo has stopped working. Wasn`t that a Paul McCartney song? Another totally unposed scene at the Library Circulation Desk (see August 27, 2008). Today the entire science fiction section was moved, by a handful of employees strong in the ways of the Force. Did you see today`s paper? Am I better at writing or at photography? CAREFUL how you answer.

April 8, 2009
Bloomers. Heavenly textures. During a late afternoon walk through the neighborhood. Red and black: always a good color combination (just ask a black widow). Life moves faster than autofocus.

April 9, 2009
Wallflower. Cute redhead. After tranquilizing this tree, I was able to attach a tag to help track its migration. Funeral home banister. The small among the mighty.

April 10, 2009
Where I park my Aston Martin V12 (with wings, rockets and lasers). We must all take steps to fight global warming. The light at the end of the rusty old pipe. Wilbur and Orville argue over whose turn it is to put gas in the airplane. SURF DAYTON!

April 11, 2009
It`ll be a big pane to clean these windows. The last moments of Icarus. Springtime in the Oregon District. So who was the ingenious Venetian who invented blinds? Springtime in the Oregon -- wait, I already said that.

April 12, 2009
Unlike the paranoid cardinal outside my office (see April 1), this one really does have a rival in its territory. Green transportation. Procrastination or anticipation? I had four days off for Easter with little to do but hang around. They`re supposed to live in the forest and eat nuts, but instead they live in my neighborhood and eat garbage.

April 13, 2009
One of my new favorite places in Dayton. It has rooms dedicated to my main man, Paul Laurence Dunbar. Oh yes, it also mentions the Wright brothers. I paid six dollars for some ten cent stamps, just because they have Paul`s picture on them. Some people eat strawberry Pop-Tarts for breakfast and think they`re getting the real thing. Half price.

April 14, 2009
Drops of spring. Gym floor no more. Springtime litter (compare to November 3, 2008). Are geese invading our space, or are we invading theirs? The Oregon District`s landmark is in need of renovation.

April 15, 2009
Almost showtime, please take your seats. An eager audience awaits. I envy choreographers because they can get people to pose any way they want. It`s hard not to have fun when singing gospel. I usually sit in the very front so I can take pictures. Or I sit in the very back so I can take pictures.

April 16, 2009
A significant occasion every spring is the first day that I can take pictures in the morning before I go to work. First there was Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. Then in 1976 Jermaine left the group, and the youngest brother Randy became the sixth Jackson. `Okay, he said he`d give you two more days to turn in your research paper. Will you please come down now?` Days like this are what we wish for all winter long. Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow.

April 17, 2009
Hot on the heels of the color guard world championships comes the indoor percussion world championships. Percussion is kind of like the more-intelligent-but-less-popular sister of color guard. The competitors are more talented musically, and are able to perform very impressive marching and dance routines. However, interest in percussion is not as high as that of color guard. Even the final rounds draw small crowds. Frankly, my own interest in percussion is also low. I don`t take days off of work to attend, like I do for color guard.

April 18, 2009
As with color guard, I sit near the front with my camera and try to capture patterns within groups of performers. My pictures of percussion performances follow the same rules that I so thoroughly explained on April 3. From time to time, I like to prove that gravity still works. Little drummer girl. Some of the performances are quite theatrical.

April 19, 2009
`POLLINATE ME!!` One if by land . . . . . . or two if by sea. GET THEM AWAY FROM ELECTRONIC DEVICES! You are unique and beautiful.

April 20, 2009
There were raindrops all over me and my camera too. One moment the sun was out . . . . . . and the next moment it was cloudy. And windy! I had to stand and wait for the trees to stop moving. My neighborhood has been around for a while.

April 21, 2009
This wall will soon be hung with my photos. I hope the fish like them. I wonder sometimes about people: decapitated tulips. I wonder sometimes about people: trash proudly displayed. Having second thoughts about spring: there was sleet today. The incredible spinning boy.

April 22, 2009
End of semester frustrations. One among many. Inside the shelter: sunset behind, clouds ahead, rain above. Manmade pond, natural beauty. Before the next wave of storms, I had about one minute to take sunlit pictures.

April 23, 2009
This morning I left the city and drove to a place where this was the only type of skyscraper. Suddenly rising from the corn fields was a large convention center (notice the statue on the right). Though I was there for a customer service seminar, they were ready for somebody -- anybody -- to get married. At least my name was spelled right. The statue was of an organ grinder, with a monkey that looked like something straight out of Stephen King.

April 24, 2009
She was 20 minutes late, then spent 30 minutes in the ladies` room getting ready -- but it was worth the wait. This one made both her and her mother/chaperone/makeup artist/wardrobe assistant say `Wow.` Sixteen, homeschooled, farm-raised, articulate, intelligent, polite, self-confident, humorous, tall, thin and very cute. It was awfully windy to be holding a bunch of balloons. I couldn`t help feeling I was shooting a Revlon advertisement.

April 25, 2009
The early bird. A participant in the photo workshop I led this morning. Vernal abundance. Vernal isolation. Through a glass brightly.

April 26, 2009
I wonder if somebody stole my thingie. I doubt that it just peeled off by itself. Proof that I put on a new thingie. The voice of the people. There`s a new skyline in town. I went delete-happy and ended up with only four pictures today. It took many hours over the next couple of days to recover this photo from my camera`s memory card.

April 27, 2009
More wildlife outside my office window. Don`t call me at work -- I`m too busy taking pictures. Driving through a car wash is like being swallowed by a Muppet. Blinded by science. Without slowing down the cyclist said, `That man got some SKILLS. I can tell by the way he`s holdin` that camera.` I was surprised to see a picture of mine on a poster (see May 18, 2007).

April 28, 2009
Notice anything odd about this stairway? Notice anything odd about this stairway? Uhh . . . thanks. Single parent. Due to some repair work, the hood of my 1996 car is about six years old. Why is the paint on the hood peeling, when the rest looks fine?

April 29, 2009
Fine and dandy. Morning in Newcom Park. Songbirds are nature`s alarm clock, though I sometimes wish I could set them to go off a little later in the morning. I love a good fireworks show. Landscapers might dig the holes and plant the flowers, but they cannot claim credit for what happens afterward.

April 30, 2009
When repairs and repainting are done, I will no longer live in a grape-colored house. I have no idea who my neighbors are . . . and I`m okay with that. A long way from Drug Emporium. If it isn`t green, if it doesn`t grow out of the ground, it probably isn`t good for you. I see a pattern repeated one time.

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