Brr. (What more is there to say)
Frosty pioneers
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Brr. (What more is there to say)
Brr. (What more is there to say)
Washington Times: “Make way for the Bismarck Earmark.”
Now, according to this Washington Times story, Senator Conrad is going to try to make good on that promise. My response to this is not that it’s good for North Dakota; no, it’s symptomatic of a problem in Congress. Even worse, it’s distracting from the real problem: President Obama’s attempts to socialize even more of the economy.
The federal government is broke. It doesn’t have any money; it’s up to its eyeballs in debt. The last thing it should be doing is promising to loan out more money, but even more so to legislate itself a monopoly and take the student loan industry completely away from other banks. Someone should ask Senator Conrad the following: if this takeover of the student loan market is bad for North Dakota, then how can it be good for the rest of the nation?
Instead of addressing the real problem, the radical left agenda of his political party, Senator Conrad is trying to put a “bureaucratic band-aid” on the situation by pursuing special favors for his state. That doesn’t serve our state or our nation well. Instead of more politics as usual, Senator Conrad needs to use the example of the Bank of North Dakota as a reason why the federal government should not mess with the banking industry even further.
The only thing Senator Conrad has accomplished in this case is make North Dakota look like Louisiana or Nebraska, states rightly vilified for seeking special treatment in dysfunctional legislation that the people don’t want. Way to go, Senator. We North Dakotans sure are Hoping for Change when you’re up for re-election!
It’s a matter of perspective, really
That’s an actual photo up there, folks. I did not cut out the moon and paste it next to the capitol, nor did I enlarge it in any way. Thus the title of this post, and the challenge I faced in chasing this shot.
First, I needed a prominent foreground object to showcase this moon. What better object than the capitol? That’s what I thought, although that presents its own challenges. Read on…
Second, I needed to get far enough away from my foreground object. Why? So it would appear small, and thus make the moon look relatively large. I can’t vary my distance from the moon to any significant degree, but a little bit makes a BIG difference with the foreground object, even one as large as the capitol. But with distance, my challenge was compounded. Why?
Third, I needed to be able to get a clear shot of the capitol from just the right position to get the moon next to it. Think that’s easy? Not hardly. I needed high ground, and even a few dozen yards makes a big difference in the perspective.
Fourth, I had to find this magic location at just the right time to catch the moon approaching the capitol. I didn’t want it above the capitol, nor did I want it directly beside it. I knew I didn’t want to Photoshop it, either…so I had to get it all right.
That’s why it was such a fun and stressful challenge to get this shot. I had to triangulate relative distance, position, and time for things to work out. This shot is the result of standing on a freezing sidewalk, shooting between two houses and just past/through a small tree. It worked. I was able to catch this unique sliver of moon next to our cities’ most prominent landmark, and I was able to do it without any digital trickery. Then it was a quick grocery errand for my lovely wife, and back here to share the photo with y’all.
Frosty Friday
Take Back Washington rally a 110% success
I’ve gone back and added a few things to these photos now that I’ve got the time, so check ’em out a little more closely:
Ross’s stories of the people he’s met along the way are amazing. I got to chat it up with him at lunch earlier in the day. He proudly wears a bracelet bearing the name of a fallen ND soldier. The bracelet was given to him by a woman he encountered on his walk. Why, yes…he does have a website: www.ourgreatwalk.com.
I already took my coolest photo of 2010
I was sitting in the rocking chair with my two little boys on my lap, telling them an extemporaneous story about The Little Motorcycle and His Big Race, so I missed a call from my buddy MGK. A check of his voicemail later told me all I needed to know: the light spikes were BACK.
I ventured out, thinking I’d head toward Hillside Park. Then I saw that the spikes were jutting skyward in the west! No matter; I whipped the truck around and headed toward the river. When I got there – you guessed it – not a spike of light in sight!
Patience is not among my few virtues, and I gave up at this point; however, I saw some light spikes to the south and thought perhaps I should pull a wait-n-see. The steam above the river was slowly drifting northward, so perhaps the ice crystals and their lovely light artifacts would soon follow! As a matter of fact, they did.
Not only do I have a great little spot marked out for this shot, but it’s also got ground underneath the snow instead of a churning Missouri River! As the spikes formed, I heard a train coming from the east. Perfect. I held the shutter release down for about thirty seconds before the train arrived, and for a total of 96 seconds as it rolled past. Bingo. I didn’t even get too cold!
This is my favorite photo not just because I had a cool location out on the ice and froze accordingly despite my winter weather gear, but also because of all the little features therein That’s why I decided to upload a larger version. In fact, it’s so big that you will probably have to click on it AGAIN in your browser so it displays full size. If you have a little magnifying-glass cursor when you roll over the photo, click it to zoom in. Check out these details:
– The steam above the river. On the left side of the photo, the light streams through the trees and hits the steam. Very cool.
– The train. I started my exposure before it got to the bridge so that it would “ghost” into the photo, being semi-transparent. Its headlight also illuminated the bridge beams in front of it.
– The refinery. The giant plumes of steam from the Tesoro plant are drifting northeastward, forming a nice pillowy look due to the long exposure.
– The snow on the river. I’m standing just at the point where the ice starts to turn to slush, on the ragged edge of safety. There’s a thick blanket of snow out on the river, so if you are not familiar with the shoreline in this area it’s a good idea to NOT try coming out here.
– The stars. I had a perfectly clear night, and the brightest of stars didn’t disappoint. They made a grand appearance in this picture, streaking ever so slightly because of the duration of the exposure.
There you have it…so many things came together in this scene, things that were beyond my control. I’m just the lucky sap who was there at the right place at the right time, shutter release in hand, to capture it. Moments like this don’t come along easily and, while I had the presence of mind to wait for it, they don’t always pan out like this one. That’s why I suspect I may have already captured my best photo of the year.
Soon to be revealed
I took note of the verse on this sign the other day and thought it was pretty amusing, considering the end of the verse. It kinda says it all, considering how many North Dakotans are starting to look forward to Spring and all this white stuff to melt away! I just want it warm enough to let my toddlers play in the snow, and I look forward to building snow forts and snowmen with them. The winter blanket will melt soon enough. When it does, the rest of this sign shall be revealed.
History starts in Bismarck this Friday
Click the image to visit takebackwashington.net
Conservatives involved with the grass roots “Tea Party” movement are aligning with the Republican Party, since we’ve got common ideas. Don’t like something about the GOP? Bring your voice! Change things from within and hold people accountable to the conservative ideals we hold dear.
According to the site home page, there’s a star studded lineup of supporting organizations, including:
Citizens for Responsible Government
The North Dakota Family Alliance
Concerned Women of America
The North Dakota Farm Bureau
The North Dakota Taxpayers’ Association
The National Rifleman’s Association
Campaign for Responsible Health Reform
Hopefully this event is just the beginning of Take Back Washington rallies in all of President Obama’s “57 states!” Come on out, let your voice be heard, help build the momentum, and let’s bring about some real “change we can believe in.”
You can sign up for free at the Take Back Washington website. It starts at 3pm and runs throughout the afternoon and evening with different panels and speakers – the agenda is on the main page. Let’s make history and start taking this country back from the radicals trying to ruin it forever!
Fun with light en route to Mandan last night
Having accomplished what I needed to in Mandan, I came back and took a few minutes to see how my camera would react to the light. Since I needed to do a long exposure anyway, I decided to hold the shutter open long enough to make the taillights of passing cars streak across the frame. I experimented with the settings a bit to make sure I got the blazing beam of light on the bridge’s north edge, the taillights, and the other regions of the picture all exposed the way I wanted to. Fun!
Night on the river
I hear we have a cold snap around the corner. If we have some high pressure delivering clear skies and very frigid (sub-zero) temperatures, we could get more of those light spikes soon too!