Theme day - Looking out

Each month, the City Daily Photo Blog community choose a theme and many of us post our interpretation of that theme. CDPB December 2013 Theme Day Click the link for many photos from round the world!

Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm F3.5-5.6
F Number	9.0
Focal Length	42.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 84.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/125
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	400
Advanced Scene Mode	Off
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

CDPB Monthly theme day - Heights

Each month, the City Daily Photo Blog community choose a theme and many of us post our interpretation of that theme.  This month, the theme is Heights.  CDPB November 2013 Theme Day Click the link for many photos from round the world!

This month is an easy one for me, because I love climbing.  In June and September, I am part of a group of amateur radio operators who set up towers on Mt Greylock, MA as part of a weekend of radio contesting.  And I do a lot of climbing on those weekends!  I was planning on showing the view looking down from the top of 'my' tower, but when I was looking through my pictures I realised I took one with people in it.  I don't often do that, but these ladies knew I was snapping their photo, so I feel OK about it.  I'm about 40 feet up, near the top of the tower as I'm taking this photo.  The view is always spectacular, because I'm above almost all the trees and I can see forever in a full 360 degree arc.

Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
F Number	5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/60
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	200
Advanced Scene Mode	Intelligent Auto (5)
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Monthly Theme Day - Façades

On the first of the month, the City Daily Photo blogging community take a theme, interpret that theme and post the results.  Please visit the portal and see the amazing photographs based on the theme of Façades.

This is the front of City Hall, on Jay Street.  Technically, it's not a façade; it's just part of the front.  But this part is a historical marker of sorts, and is unique to Schenectady so I felt justified posting this.  It reads:

Schenectady
Founded in the wilderness beyond feudal control inherits the spirit of liberty and progress.
Here our forefathers established a college free from sectarianism.
They helped to develop the steam railroad and inland water transportation that carry through her gates the commerce of our nation.
In places of business in workshop and laboratory her citizens still labor to promote the advancement of civilization.

Lens	Minolta MD 50mm f/1.4
F Number	8
Focal Length	50 mm
Exposure Time	1/200
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Monthly Theme - The Beauty of Decay

On the first of each month,  the City Daily Photo community members choose a theme and then post a photo that represents how they visualise that theme.  This month the theme is The Beauty of Decay.  Please visit the link and see the beautiful photos our members have taken from round the world!

This is a photo from Vale Cemetery.  It's something of a green and natural oasis in the middle of the city.  This section is not quite steep enough to be called a gorge or canyon, but it's a steep climb from the footpath to the top as well as down to Cowhorn Creek below.  So when trees finally fall, they are generally left there unless they cross the path.  The tree on the left broke up above the frame, but nature has reclaimed the stump to the point that we can see straight through it.  Skunk cabbages are growing around it, and a tiny sapling has taken root in the middle.  It's hard to imagine that all this is quietly happening a few hundred yards from the main city street.

F Number	5.6
Focal Length	35.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 70.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/200
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Monthly theme day - The Creative Artisan

On the first of each month, the City Daily Photo community choose a theme and many of us post our interpretation.  This month, the theme is The Creative Artisan.  Please click the link to see the photos from around the world which realise this theme!

This is a difficult one for me.  I don't take many photos of people, and I was sorely tempted to post a photo of the unusual but beautifully green skunk cabbage and post it as Mother Nature The Artisan.  But I felt that would be not really in the spirit of the theme.  So I started looking back through the archives until I found this.  It was taken in April of 2012 at the Schenectady Greenmarket.  Several of the vendors there are crafters - artisans in the classic sense.  This is Christine, and she works in glass.  Mosaics, to be more precise.  I love to look at her work, which she does between customers.  I never took a close-up of her work because it feels rude to me, but perhaps I should make a point of asking her.  She does large work like the chess set and mirrors, and she does some amazing small work too; real works of art, like paintings done in glass fragments.  The posting here is a crop from a larger photo.  I didn't have my Minolta lens adapter, so I'm afraid it's a bit grainy.  But somehow, that seems fitting for someone who works with mosaics!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/60
Exposure Program	Aperture-priority AE
ISO	3200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire