Daily Photos

< May 2009 >

May 1, 2009
If you want to be a good photographer, you have to learn how to control the iris. It was a drippy morning. Come again some other day. After their big push to get through finals, students make one more push to squeeze their dorm rooms into a car. It`s hard to play ping-pong while taking pictures, and vice versa.

May 2, 2009
Backyard beauty. `WOOF!` Fortunately, it draws attention away from the weeds. He`s debating whether to attack his own reflection (see April 1, 2009). University of Dayton president Dan Curran greets graduating students and their families.

May 3, 2009
In the 1860s, baseball was played by polite gentlemen who called each other `Sir.` The nicely dressed umpire had little to do, since there were no called balls or strikes. The umpire did have to make calls on close plays. A gentleman would never slide into a base, or try to disrupt a double-play. And nobody wore gloves, which made catching a fly ball difficult.

May 4, 2009
Dare to be different. Gimme a hand. I thought this might quack you up. Spiderman visits the flower shop. One flew over the roofing crew.

May 5, 2009
PIRATES! If a saxophonist practices in the middle of an uninhabited forest, does it make a sound? If somebody made a wish with one penny, could it have been much of a wish? Ready for your closeup? Pendants of pink.

May 6, 2009
Scenes from a gallery, looking up. Scenes from a gallery, looking down. Scenes from a gallery, `Monarch Moon` by Kay Hissong. Scenes from a gallery, `Wood Spirit` by Bob Coates. Outside the gallery, I finally make a picture of my own.

May 7, 2009
Nice toss, actually. First and Jefferson. Having a bad feather day. Smile! This huge vacant lot used to be a school. I suppose there was a reason for tearing it down.

May 8, 2009
`It is also called kingsfoil,` said Aragorn; `and maybe you know it by that name, for so the country-folk call it in these latter days.` `The Return of the King` by J.R.R. TOLKIEN Except for permanence, it has all the characteristics of a diamond. To the rolling of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells: To the tolling of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells. EDGAR ALLAN POE Purple iris, streaked with amethystine memories of the night, health-glossed and firm are those ripe wings of Oriental butterflies. MICHAEL STRANGE This fallen iris petal is a regal passenger aboard a lily pad.

May 9, 2009
`Hey -- that tickles!` A mother nearby told her child, `That`s where hamburger comes from,` but I don`t think the cow heard her. Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody`s around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I`m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they`re running and they don`t look where they`re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That`s all I do all day. I`d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it`s crazy, but that`s the only thing I`d really like to be. J.D. SALINGER Handle with care. We call it maize.

May 10, 2009
Tiny drop of nectar inside a tiny flower. Some pictures you can prepare for, and others appear right in front of you and you just have to be ready. Rose dream. Remember to brush every day. You just have to be ready.

May 11, 2009
There`s a good chance that I took the photo on this banner, but it`s hard to be sure at this distance. To prove his point, Hippocrates died. Wait, that can`t be right (see March 23, 2009). Buddhist monks return to Dayton to painstakingly create a large mandala of colored sand (see August 16-19, 2005). Why I spend disturbing amounts of money on cameras and lenses: so I can stand ten feet away behind a barrier and still get shots like this.

May 12, 2009
This one I can see better, so now I`m certain I took this picture. I`ll see you in court. What`s your angle? `King Lear,` a two-ton sculpture by J. Seward Johnson, towers over Courthouse Square. Lots of progress since yesterday.

May 13, 2009
Close encounters of the furred kind. In a way that I can`t quite comprehend, this type of thing gives some people a sense of satisfaction. True colors. I`ve been sitting in this same chair since February 9, 2009. Creating a mandala is a form of meditation for a Buddhist. Meanwhile, the woman next to me was saying, `Sir? Is that some kind of zodiac? SIR!? What are those symbols?`

May 14, 2009
Scene on a bench. Lincoln spoke here. Preparing for Urban Nights tomorrow. J. Seward Johnson`s sculpture `King Lear` up close. Try not to sneeze.

May 15, 2009
Who filled the fountain with Ny-Quil? Never volunteer for anything. Friday night in my neighborhood. Performing in a parking lot near you. You do know, don`t you, that as soon as this is finished the monks will destroy it?

May 16, 2009
There was a sense of tranquil urgency as four monks worked together to finish the mandala in time for the ceremony during which it was to be destroyed. Buddhist mandalas exist in different styles or themes. This one represents peace -- between people, between religions, and between mankind and the environment. With much ringing of bells, blowing of horns and chanting of prayers, the beautifully designed and skillfully created mandala is swept up into a mound of colored sand. Carrying the sand in a glass jar, the monks then led a noisy procession through downtown Dayton to the muddy banks of the Great Miami River. The mandala is a lesson in impermanence. What happened to it will eventually happen to all of us.

May 17, 2009
Black Beauty. I avoid participating in any sport that might result in my serious injury or death. Ping-pong is about as far as I go. In stable condition. Chomping at the bit. When you don`t know which way to turn.

May 18, 2009
Oh great, the picture is ruined because it blinked one if its 8000 eyes. `Leaf me alone!` A peony to call its own. The color contrast was not accidental. The only two-legged creature in today`s photos.

May 19, 2009
Late bloomer. A hint of why there are no more frogs in this park`s pond. Gated community. Your daily bug shot. Everything old is new again as Chevrolet re-introduces Camaro. The 2010 model is made to resemble the 1969 Camaro, which happens to be my favorite car of all time.

May 20, 2009
Eleanor Rigby. I`m fortunate to have a job, first of all, and also glad it`s on a picturesque campus. Lunchtime shadows. Believe it or not, this is the library. A harp sounds pretty and looks pretty.

May 21, 2009
We were both on our way to work. Yesterday they were childless, today they have septuplets -- and their own reality TV show. The fire alarm eight feet from my desk has been going off periodically over the past two days, so I`ve just learned to ignore it (which is probably not a good habit to get into). Duelling leaf blowers. Late afternoon shadows.

May 22, 2009
They`re preparing to demolish the old, smelly, leaky, dirty photography building. Can you tell I`m not sorry? The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of a nation, is very close to the center of a nation`s purpose - and is a test of the quality of a nation`s civilization. JOHN F. KENNEDY Yesterday`s goose family was not seen on campus today, but I think I tracked them down in a nearby pond. You see, I told you (see April 21, 2009). Every well-decorated conference room should have some of my photos -- and a plastic tree.

May 23, 2009
Don`t try to take it away from him. Having a blast at RiverBlast. Some things are just too hard to explain in a caption. Jump back, honey, jump back! `Here, let me help you with that.`

May 24, 2009
Big dragonflies are easy to spot. But when it comes to dragonflies that are about an inch long, you`ve really got to be paying attention. Lots of bugs today. I like purple too, but not that much. What, no bugs?

May 25, 2009
I came here five years ago today, bought a camera, and began putting five photos on this Web site every day. Though the camera store is gone now, I`m still going at it. Orange petal dream. Fencing master. We all know who won the race between the tortoise and the hare, but what about the tortoise and the tortoise? Marines shipping out.

May 26, 2009
How many years has THAT been there? Morning walk in the park. I walk around until I hear nearby church bells ringing 7:45. An attempted self-portrait gone horribly wrong. Today was a bad beginning to my sixth year of picture-taking, but I persevere.

May 27, 2009
They didn`t grow here, they leaped off a nearby tree. Blossoms were hitting me on the head as I shot this. I`d like you to meet my friend, Chuck Wood. Where the secret Council of Eight meets. Today I became a member of Carillon Park, primarily so I can get into Old River for free when it reopens next week. Where the rubber meets the road.

May 28, 2009
White clematis is not as showy as its more colorful cousins. Built ram tough. If a tree falls in the middle of an uninhabited river, does it make a splash? A rarely seen albino rainbow. Peace and tranquility -- soon followed by a thunderstorm.

May 29, 2009
Rain forest outside the UD Bookstore. Let me guess: not native to Ohio. `Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day. I`ve got a wonderful feeling everything`s going my way!` Summer school, and the living is easy. Wait for your cue.

May 30, 2009
I`ll leave a light on for you. Fill `er up with ethyl, Ethel. I`m all in favor of driving a hybrid, but are they safe? Wilbur and Orville`s tools. Back then, history class was a lot easier since there wasn`t so much of it.

May 31, 2009
If you don`t happen to LIKE pictures of flies drinking dewdrops, I guess you`ve come to the wrong Web site. I know this is none of my business, but I really think it`s time we had a talk about . . . your problem . . . with pollen. What an amazing coincidence this flower has a long, thin tube the butterfly drinks from using its long, thin tongue. This park is currently running a photography contest, but I suppose I can`t enter since I`m one of the judges. I had my flower-and-bug lens on the camera when this huge woodpecker came by, but I took a picture anyway.

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