August 30

Today was kind of an aimless day for me. I didn't get out of the house until nearly 4 pm, then piddled away the rest of the day shopping. Around sunset, as I noticed the pretty orange sunlight on the clouds, I realized I needed a photo of the day.

It was for the best, really. Shopping is hardly photogenic.

I've taken all kinds of photos of Boston at night, and if I was going to try to pull the same trick out of my hat, I really needed to find a different perspective. I ended up at Charlestown Navy Yard, thinking perhaps the USS Constitution in the foreground would make for an interesting shot. I'm still sure it would, provided I can find parking.

This shot is really the third or fourth option I would have chosen, but the only one where I could remain near my car so it wouldn't be towed. I still like it, but I'm going to go back in the future to get the shot of the ship in front of the skyline.

242/365 -

June 20

It's a miracle I manage to get anything done sometimes.

My teen photography workshop is next Wednesday (June 24), and I was beginning to feel the panic because I haven't completed either the handouts to go with the class or the presentation I have to give. My friend Anna agreed to meet with me for a late lunch today, followed by helping me put together my talk and critiquing it. God bless Anna for sitting there and listening to me talk for two hours, mostly uninterrupted.

After finishing the presentation, we meandered about a bit on a photo walk. This shot was the shot that wasn't yesterday -- I lined up my image and my camera battery died. Tonight's capture worked perfectly, though, producing the above image of the John W. Weeks footbridge over the Charles River near Harvard.

I love it when things work out.

170/365 -

June 05

There's a perfectly rational explanation for this photo. Really.

Late last night, my friend Anna stopped by my workplace after going to the nearby Barnes and Noble. As she had today off, and I hadn't had dinner yet, she proposed that we go out and dine after I got off work. Easier said than done, considering I get off work at 11:30 pm.

Not to be deterred, we decided to go to IHOP, the old reliable 24-hour standby. When we pulled into the parking lot, we spotted this poor Boston Globe box -- sad, neglected, upended. I briefly opined about metaphors and the toppling of the print newspaper industry before telling Anna to go stand there and pretend she killed it. Hey, at 12:01 am, after a long day's work and no dinner, that's funny.

OK, so not perfectly rational, but still funny enough.

156/365 -

March 20

Today is the first day of spring. And while I know and understand that spring comes every year, this year's winter makes me absurdly grateful for the arrival of the new season.

From my workplace, I have a good view to the west of the Christian Science Church complex, and occasionally the sun setting behind its iconic dome. I thought it would be nice to say goodbye to winter with a pretty sunset, even if the weather outside is a mite chilly. It's better than New York, where Spring arrived with snowfall. I think, were snow to fall today, I'd lose it (or the tiny amount of "it" that I've ever had).

79/365 -

March 12

It's going to be a long day -- and night. My coworker Chris, who normally covers the overnight shift, is on vacation, and it fell on me to cover his overnight shift tonight. I arrived at work this afternoon at 3 pm and will leave tomorrow around 7:30 am.

On the plus side, working the double-shift overnight lends itself beautifully to this photo idea. Here's the building where I work, in daylight and darkness. I marked the space on the sidewalk where I placed my tripod legs, thus getting close to identical shots about five hours apart. Placing them side-by-side in Photoshop was simple enough, and while the match isn't perfect (it's very windy outside and hard to keep the camera steady on the tripod), it's close enough.

I'm interested in seeing my photo of the day for tomorrow; I've made plans, but if I'm too tired to stay awake and go into town it's going to be a crap shoot what I come up with.

71/365 -

February 18

It’s snowing again. When I look out, the blowing snow resembles nothing so much as a swarm of malevolent Tinkerbells. Originally, the forecast called for mixed rain and snow and little to no accumulation. When I checked it online a few minutes ago, they were calling for about an inch of snow.

Well, an inch is about an inch too much for me.

For what it’s worth, it’s also fiendishly difficult to get a good photo of snow falling at night. This is the best of a pretty mediocre series of shots; I popped the flash at the beginning of the two-second exposure to try to catch the blowing snow in suspension.

The snow should end tomorrow – if the forecast holds. It won’t be a moment too soon, either.

49/365 -

January 15

Makeshift sharps containers on the windowsill. What do you do with a used hypodermic needle? It's not the kind of think I'd had to consider before Pogo was diagnosed as diabetic, and on the list of things to worry about when you have a diabetic dog, it's not terribly high on the list. Nonetheless, you have to do something with the things.

Of course, disposing of used needles has to be done properly. You don't want to just put them in the garbage, where trash collectors can get needlesticks, or drug users could come upon them and start rifling through your garbage looking for more. You need to have the sharps in a reasonably robust container, and you need to make sure you can dispose of them properly.

Our solution was to use soda bottles (which we have on hand in ample numbers). We periodically take them to the veterinarian's office when Pogo has appointments, and the vet disposes of the needles properly. It's really an excellent system.

In an ideal world, I wouldn't have to worry about this problem. But then I wouldn't have a wonderful canine companion like my Pogo. And that would definitely be less than ideal.

15/365

January 10

Moon shot.

Last night, as I drove home, I noticed that the moon was very pretty, and decided to try and get a shot of it. Unfortunately, it's easy to overexpose a moon shot -- the very bright moon and the very dark sky makes for tricky photography. This was the first try, complete with flare, overexposure, and the like.

Still, I kind of like it.

10/365 -