Daily Photos

< December 2018 >

December 1, 2018
It`s cold and rainy. Will anyone come to my photo class? Wait, don`t go! Tradition! Oregon District sunset. I`m going to my first fashion show. What should I wear?

December 2, 2018
Fashion! Turn to the left. Fashion! Turn to the right. Oooh, fashion! Oh, bop, do do do do do do do do. Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion! DAVID BOWIE

December 3, 2018
It`s Christmastime in the city. Another vexillological metaphor (see March 16, 2011). In cartomancy, the five of diamonds symbolizes positive relationships or a solution to a problem. Just a reminder that it`s still fall. Winter awaits. Shattered dreams.

December 4, 2018
First attempt at double exposure: miserable disaster. Second attempt: not a disaster. Stripes from my blue shirt appear on green and orange cloths with no stripes. It`s cold outside. Let`s try some double exposures! Single exposures are much easier to control. Not a double exposure, just messing around with a flashlight in the bathroom mirror.

December 5, 2018
Snowcatchers. Today I learned there`s something called a SnowJoe. He has one and I don`t -- but at least I HAVE GLOVES! Today I looked out the window and thought, `I guess I have to take pictures of the STUPID PRETTY SNOW.` Neither of us are enjoying the snow. There`s a story here.

December 6, 2018
I didn`t know what else to get you. Do you like it? You can`t possibly imagine how glad I was to be able to walk on the sidewalk that has been blocked FOR YEARS while this building has been under construction. I`m freezing and she`s jogging. I suffered physical pain while taking this picture. I thought 38 degrees sounded comfortable, but it wasn`t. I will be happy when I can walk across this bridge again.

December 7, 2018
Art This Way. Any photo with fire is better than any photo without fire. Adam Alonzo, Fish Portraitist. For jazz in Dayton, Eddie Brookshire is the man, and has been for a long time (see February 13, 2009). Artists are known for their creativity, not their neatness.

December 8, 2018
`Tis the season for Leroy Anderson. Donkey riding over the bumpy road, carry Mary, all with her heavy load. JOHN RUTTER Cuteness abounds in the Kettering Children`s Choir. Sweetly singing o`er the plains. In three days, they had four performances and two rehearsals, so they`re allowed to blow off a little steam.

December 9, 2018
I`ve been taking pictures of the Kettering Children`s Choir for a very long time (see December 12, 2004). The King of Instruments. Gaudete, gaudete! Christus est natus ex Maria virgine. Letting off a little steam between two concerts today. Discipline and musicianship harmonize in the KCC.

December 10, 2018
You like free stuff, right? When it`s cold enough outside, I might even stoop to taking a self-portrait in a snow globe. Don`t get matte at me for taking such a dull picture. Despite the cold, I can still get great nature photos. I shall create a new world for myself. FREDERIC CHOPIN

December 11, 2018
Mirkwood was once a beautiful forest, but a sickness has fallen upon it and it`s now a wild, dark place into which the sun rarely shines. I don`t usually come to the river at night. They`re pretty when they`re fake. Traditional incandescent lights leave solid color streaks, but newer LED lights break apart into little dashes. Loft, sweet loft.

December 12, 2018
We`ll get through this together. No skating. Making tracks. Sittin` on the dock of the bay, watchin` the tide roll away. OTIS REDDING I like being outdoors, but not all day, in the cold.

December 13, 2018
Macaroni and cheese makes everything better. When dinner and a tank of gas are paid for by gift cards. I had other plans for pictures today, but then it rained. What else is there to listen to? I looked for bubbles in two stores and couldn`t find any, so I fell back on skills learned in childhood.

December 14, 2018
I got the idea to take photos of Christmas lights tonight. So did about 42,000 other people. The closest thing we`ve got to the Champs-Elysees. Of course, I couldn`t just shoot it like a normal person. Making the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. Taken while I had a shouted conversation about cameras with the driver of a passing pickup truck.

December 15, 2018
It`s dark and rainy out, so I`m in the creepy basement (see February 15, 2016; September 14, 2014; and October 20, 2013). The basement becomes even creepier by my presence. Probably won`t make my Top Ten Photographs of 2018. Vinyl became obsolete, but now the tables are turning. A bicycle was never a significant part of my life.

December 16, 2018
Nature`s Slip-n-Slide. George Washington was here (but don`t tell Martha). The temperature is dropping too. Pondering the pond. Today`s theme: WATER.

December 17, 2018
Someone told me it was sunny outside. I said, `IT IS?` I grabbed my camera and went out to absorb some rays. It was just me and a few gulls out there today. Textures. Too much water isn`t a bad problem. Main Street mirror.

December 18, 2018
Here comes Christmas, barreling straight toward you. Part of a sculpture by Jon Barlow Hudson (see June 5, 2018, and November 4, 2017). I found me some nature. How I get passersby to look up. Another day at the office.

December 19, 2018
How to confuse your camera: take a photo of something dark that`s close, and something bright that`s far away. Like the mysterious obelisk in `2001,` this pipe suddenly appeared in the street (see September 4, 2017; May 19, 2016; and March 17, 2015). The world`s worst driver -- for today. All the pretty lights. They`re pretty when they`re fake (see December 11 above).

December 20, 2018
My photos are on display on a giant screen, beautifying downtown Dayton (see October 4, 2018). Taking the long way home on a rainy night. No wonder small children start crying. The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh. Home at last.

December 21, 2018
Red car, red light. Just another day downtown (see March 19, 2012). Probably not a good day to dip my feet in. He wished me `Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, or whatever.` You can fly. Why aren`t you in Florida right now? Someone gave me a nice gift: a 1921 volume of PLD.

December 22, 2018
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN The most confident critics are generally those who know the least about the matter criticised. ULYSSES S. GRANT It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes. ANDREW JACKSON The only path to a subversion of the republican system of the country is by flattering the prejudices of the people, and exciting their jealousies and apprehensions. ALEXANDER HAMILTON America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ABRAHAM LINCOLN

December 23, 2018
At this time of year, there are cookies everywhere I look. In case you couldn`t tell, I`m at a retirement home. The magical child. The gregarious child. Shimmer.

December 24, 2018
Historic district treasure. The Goddess of Coffee. `Forget it, I`m not going out tonight. Where`s the remote?` Brilliant. Graffiti on the wall and car. Who wants a partridge in a pear tree anyway?

December 25, 2018
It actually snowed on Christmas. It is December, after all. There was a lot of good food and drink. Certain little people couldn`t be here in person. So the littlest child in the house wasn`t very little.

December 26, 2018
I hated mushrooms, then they started to grow on me. There`s something special about a redhead. Autumn encased in winter. Hanging around the garden. `It was very peaceful and quiet. I wondered why it was that places are so much lovelier when one is alone.` from `Rebecca` by Daphne du Maurier

December 27, 2018
Inexplicably, no one gave me bubbles for Christmas (see December 13 above), so I bought a giant bottle. My ambidexterity was severely tested with a bubble wand in one hand and a camera in the other. The trouble with bubbles. California grapes: better take two bites. These came with the book (see December 21 above).

December 28, 2018
Just me and Frosty. I haven`t spoken to another human for three days, and my quality of life is undiminished. Happily, it was a warm and sunny afternoon. He was vulnerable while taking a bath in the street . . . . . . but she was watching out for him from a nearby tree. A narrow escape from the truck-shredding tree of Hess Street (see November 3, 2016).

December 29, 2018
A warm day in winter. Disco is not dead. Refuse to fall. `Put down the camera and give me food!` If it`s thoughtfully made by hand, it isn`t vandalism.

December 30, 2018
Temporary measures. And Mary said, `My soul doth magnify the Lord.` LUKE 1:46 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. LUKE 2:52 How I feel about winter. This robin and I spent a lot of time together, and while taking pictures I was unconcerned about the cold.

December 31, 2018
Okay kids, you`ll need some mylar balloons, sturdy paper, scissors and tape. Cut a piece of mylar so it`s about the same size as the paper. Precision is unnecessary. Tape the mylar to a piece of paper. Roll it into a cylinder (with the reflective surface on the inside) and attach it to a camera lens. Start doing weird things with it.

×