lensbaby

Writing Retreat 2024: 6

Posted on by Patrick
15-image panorama of a group of 4-5 trees at the edge of a cultivated field

Anoth­er day, anoth­er bike ride. This was about 16km, and start­ed at the cof­fee shop, where I noticed I was that weirdo who wears a Slaugh­ter­house-Five T‑shirt but reads Blue­beard.[1]A Von­negut book is a Von­negut book, though.

Then I noo­dled around town for a bit, and out into the coun­try­side, where I took pho­tos of a tree…

A tree at the edge of a field; the focus is very tight on some of the branches, and everything else is weirdly blurred
ah, Lens­ba­by

…and some hydro lines.

Five hydro wires overhead, and a shot down the row of hydro poles supporting them
pow­er to the people

Then back into town, where I saw—

Look, I know some of you can’t wait for Pump­kin Spice Cable-Knit Sweater time, but I’m not ready to let go of sum­mer yet. So this lit­tle clus­ter of yel­low leaves felt par­tic­u­lar­ly cru­el, at least to me.

A cluster of yellow leaves among the summer-green leaves of a tree; the focus is very tight on the yellow leaves, and everything else is very blurred
I’m not ready

Ah well. So it goes, as Kurt Von­negut[2]Full cir­cle. would say.

Series: Bike Ride Photos

The entire series: Down by the riv­er; Bike ride birds; The ex-gar­den and the weir; Snap­shots of a ride; Across Town; Black­bird; North Hill cam­pus; Lilacs and coun­try roads; A pop of colour; Back lane flow­ers; More Breniz­ers; The riv­er is high; A bird and a reflec­tion; Rideau Park; Writ­ing Retreat 2020, Day 7; Writ­ing Retreat 2020: The Num­bers; Storm dam­age, sun­flow­ers; Eleanor Kidd gar­dens; Scenes from today’s ride; All right, autumn can be pret­ty; Bike ride, April 10, 2021; Bike ride wildlife; Bike ride, May 16, 2021; Some flow­ers for you; Lilacs; Under the bridge; A fence, a tree, and the sky; Tur­tle Cross­ing; Ceme­tery crit­ters; On Reflec­tion; Week­end rides; Upon Reflec­tion; Deer and paparazzi; Sep­tem­ber Bike Ride; Corn & Sun­set; On Reflec­tion: Oct. 1st; Autumn Trees; A bit of graf­fi­ti; Novem­ber bike ride; Geese; Day 30; Quack quack; Skin­ny deer; Mon­day bike ride; Sat­ur­day snaps; Deer + Flow­ers; Bike Ride — July 17, 2022; The mead­ow; It seems to be autumn; Por­tal fan­ta­sy; Sla­va Ukrai­ni; Writ­ing Retreat 2023: Thurs­day bike ride; Bike Ride, May 20, 2024; Shy; Cana­da Day ride; A long ride; Cook­ie Ride redux; Writ­ing Retreat 2024: 6; Writ­ing Retreat 2024: The End; Bike Ride, Sep. 22, 2024; Today’s Ride — Oct. 6, 2024; Souris Val­ley; Bike Ride Pho­tos — May 19, 2025; Bike ride, May 24; Art in the trees.

Series: Writing Retreat 2024

The entire series: Writ­ing Retreat 2024 (1); Writ­ing Retreat 2024 (2); Writ­ing Retreat 2024 (3); Writ­ing Retreat 2024 (4); Writ­ing Retreat (5a — Milky Way); Writ­ing Retreat (5b — Auro­ra Bore­alis); Writ­ing Retreat 2024: 6; Writ­ing Retreat 2024: 7; Writ­ing Retreat 2024: The End.

Foot­notes

Foot­notes
↑1 A Von­negut book is a Von­negut book, though.
↑2 Full cir­cle.

Writing Retreat 2020, Day 3

Posted on by Patrick

Mon­day, I:

  • wrote 1,100 words in the morn­ing (even­tu­al­ly)
  • went for a 11 km bike ride (top speed, com­ing down a hill: 48.5 km/h)
  • Morn­ing coffee
  • Mason­ry
  • Flow­ers
  • Close­up
  • I heard you like canola fields
  • Leaf and sign
  • Mixed mes­sages

This rein­forces my pre­vi­ous expe­ri­ence with the Lens­ba­by lens: it’s great for macro shots, like the one with the sin­gle stalk of flow­ers against the grass, but in most oth­er uses it reduces most if not all of the frame to an impres­sion­is­tic blur. If that’s your aes­thet­ic, great, but more often than not I’m dis­ap­point­ed in the pho­tos I take with it.

It’s still fun to play with, though.

  • wrote 1,000 more words before sup­per (a lot of con­ver­sa­tion; sto­ries being told)
  • evad­ed clouds and fog (oh my so much fog — I had to change loca­tions 3 times because fog rolled in) to cap­ture shots of Comet NEOWISE and the Milky Way
  • Comet NEOWISE, just as the fog start­ed rolling in
  • Comet NEOWISE
  • Comet NEOWISE
  • Milky Way and a shoot­ing star
  • Also the Milky Way, and also a shoot­ing star

The bluer pho­to of the comet, the close-up, was tak­en with my 50mm f/1.8 lens. Look close­ly, and you’ll find I caught both tails. You might have to view the pho­to at full size.

As always: if you’re inter­est­ed in prints of any of these pho­tos, let me know. We’ll see what we can work out.

Series: Writing Retreat 2020

The entire series: Writ­ing Retreat 2020; Writ­ing Retreat 2020, Day 1 & 2; Writ­ing Retreat 2020, Day 3; Writ­ing Retreat, Day 4; Writ­ing Retreat 2020, day 5; Writ­ing Retreat 2020, Day 6; Writ­ing Retreat 2020, Day 7; Writ­ing Retreat 2020, Day 8; Writ­ing Retreat 2020, Day 9; Writ­ing Retreat 2020: The Num­bers.