Winter has been flirting with Ohio. I think it is settling in, though. Not horrifyingly cold, but cold enough to make me glad for the fire.
One can enjoy a wood fire worthily only when he warms his thoughts by it as well as his hands and feet. — Odell Shepard
So, I have been working on the third painting of my present commission. Here is the first wip (work in progress) photo:
The underpainting, which is also the sky, took five layers, because I didn’t like it and kept painting over it. All the different layers, though, give it depth and interest. I really like it. It looks better in person than it does in the photo. (I think it does, anyway…)
Here are a few photos from my camera play over the last few days:
I set up the tripod in front of the kitchen sink, set the faucet to slowly drip, set the aperture wide open, set the shutter speed as fast as it would go (which was only 1/200 of a second with the light situation that I had), and ISO 1600. I set the camera to continuously shoot and took about 50 shots in rapid succession. This is the only splash that I got! LOL! And it was a good one! Yay! I was told that this is a “crown drip”. However, as good as this shot is, it is not very sharp. So…I was told that I needed more light, perhaps the flash. I tried using the flash and it didn’t do what I wanted it to do, so I set up some other lights. First, I filled the kitchen sink about halfway and set the faucet to slowly drip. I got a desk lamp and put it next to the sink aimed at the drips. I got a bright LED flashlight. I set the aperture wide open, ISO 1600, shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second, I turned on the flashlight, aimed it at the drips, and started shooting. I caught some nifty drips. No more crown drips, but very nifty, nonetheless.
On Tuesday, I heard what sounded like a bird hitting a window, but I was busy and forgot about it. Later, I took Toby out through the garage and when the door went up, this is what I saw:
I wish, if a bird had to commit suicide on our window, that it had been a starling or a sparrow. Not that I want any avian suicides, at all, but it happens. A little while back, we had a goldfinch do it, but we didn’t hear anything, we just saw the carnage on the window and found the body on the front porch. I have put stickers on our windows before, perhaps it is time to do it, again…
This is what I like to see:
Autumn birds speak cheerful poetry from their berry-stained beaks.
exists to create art which reflects the beauty and the glory of God, to use art to comfort and encourage people, and to inspire others to pursue the arts. 