Last night I spent some time on my patio working and reading.

Not the greatest photos, that’s for sure (the second was was taken through our living room window in our apartment with an iPhone), but I find rainbows just great. Recently we’ve had an awful lot of rain, and particularly when it rains in the evenings the sun is shining through the rain and mist, making rainbows!

I’ll try someday to catch much better photographs of rainbows. But I figured I’d share them anyway.

Date taken: December 20-24, 2008

Date taken: July 15, 2003 – New York City.

One of the things that struck me about this photograph is how you can manipulate the iPhone while you’re taking a photo. I shot this photo in landscape mode, by tilting it backwards prior to rotating it, which ended up giving me a portrait result. I think that’s kinda neat.

Also, if you’ll notice the depth of field. I think I might try playing with the iPhone’s DOF, albeit not its best feature, but it is there, and I think I might be able to start to come up with some neat results given the proper conditions.

When I left for work the morning of this photo, it had been raining as if in a hurricane. I drove to New Jersey, somehow getting ahead of the storm. Thirty minutes after arriving it began to rain a torrent. Once the storm had past I drove back to Pennsylvania and, just prior to getting home, I was greeted with this scene.

The iPhone does not do this sun-scape justice. But it doesn’t have to, I’ll remember it all the same.

Date taken: August 17, 2008 | A cloud above Las Vegas, Nevada.

Date taken: August 23, 2008 | Trees dying in a swamp.

While on my run.  The clouds over the past few days seem to be much fluffier and far larger than I’ve seen in a long time.

Date taken: July 18, 2008 | Seneca Lake Marina in Watkins Glen, New York at night.

Last night, while we were watching a movie, there was a constant flashing outside of our window.  The flashing kept getting more and more consistent and, seemingly, closer.  One of the strikes was close enough for the power to hiccup and so, after turning off and unplugging just about everything in the house, we managed to shoot a few photos of the lightning barrage.

These photos were taken with Eliza’s Canon Digital Rebel XTi in manual mode with an ISO of 100, F/3.5, and a 30-second exposure.  I think.

It took quite a bit of changing the settings, and snapping long exposures, to get the shots that I did.  Next time I’ll know what settings seem to work best and I’ll setup on a window without a screen.

Date taken: June 21, 2008 |  A small plane flying in a big sky. Destination unknown.

Date taken: April 13, 2008. | A vine post near Seneca Lake in New York.

This particular vineyard and wineary had each of their grape vines marked for the type of grape that they had planted.  These few rows were marked with Gewurztraminer.  I remember the wines here being very odd in color and not great in taste.  However what they lacked in wine they made up for in show.  One of the winearies was decked out like a hillbillies cabin.

The photo doesn’t do the view justice, as usual.

The bridge above Clarks Summit at the northern most end of the Northeast extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

There is an Air Show this weekend and so many planes, including two Blue Angel fighter jets, were practicing overhead at Jones Beach on Long Island.

The GW Bridge costs $8USD to cross (for a car). Better than the $12USD you have to pay to go through the Holland tunnel to the south.

Date taken: May 18, 2008 – 10:24pm EST – The moon, as seen from northeastern Pennsylvania.

I found this as I was rifling through a few of my photos that I haven’t yet imported into my photo library.  Getting a photo of the moon without the proper equipment is extremely frustrating.  The awe-inspiring view of the moon on this night, led me to run back upstairs after taking out the garbage to get my camera and tripod, and this photo does not do that view any justice.

One day, you will visit this site and see a photo of the moon that will take your breath away.  I promise.

Date taken: November 26, 2007 | A foggy view of the field. (unknown subject)

Date taken: December 1, 2007 | McDonald’s – Hollywood style.

Date taken: December 1, 2007 | They have a better view than I did.

Date taken: November 10, 2007 | 1. Drop coin in slot. 2. Pull handle down all the way – let go. 3. To clear vision – turn red knob.

Date taken: October 26, 2007 | Might as well jump.

Taken: in Phoenix, Arizona on October 26, 2007. This is one thirsty plant.

Date taken: July 14, 2003 | A brilliance impossible to hide.

Date taken: September 18, 2005 | Not a house at all.

Date taken (left): August 23, 2001 | An Egret standing his ground in Tampa bay. Date taken (right): March 23, 2002 | A beacon of safety on the east coast.

Date taken: September 21, 2001 | Red. White. Black. Blue.

My telescope

Last night the moon was nearly full and the sky was crystal clear. So I decided to take my Meade 114 eq-asb telescope that Eliza bought me for our seventh wedding anniversary out for a spin to do something relatively simple; look at the surface of the moon.

At least I thought it would be easy. The moon being the nearest celestial object to Earth one would think it would be easy to zone in on it, look at its surface, and get back inside. Not when you have no idea how to properly use your telescope it would seem.

I did manage to see a little bit of what I wanted but I really need to start taking this telescope thing much more seriously. Here is a photo I took of the moon last night that really does not do any justice for the brilliance of the moon. As with all good things in life, using a telescope takes time and effort to master – and I look forward to trying again on the next clear night.

Oh, on a somewhat related note I read over on Wil Wheaton’s blog today that a free eBook is available called What’s Up – 365 Days of Skywatching which gives you a quick, easy, and printable reference of the night sky for each day of the year for 2007. Brilliant.

If you have any other tips, tricks, or resources that you’ve found useful – please feel free to pass them along. I’d love to get better at using my telescope so that it is much more enjoyable and less frustrating next time.

Lightning illuminates everything, click above for more photos

Wow. We were just treated to an extraordinary display of nature. Thunderstorms, while not uncommon in our neck of the woods, typically pass very quickly. Tonight we had a thunderstorm that went on for a few hours, and is still fading slowly as I write this.

Eliza managed to video tape at least 8 really great bolts that ripped through the night sky. I’ll see if I can get her to post them up online and jot down a description for you all.

While Eliza was doing that, I was trying to take some photos of the bolts, but that is much easier said than done. Out of a little more than one-hundred tries, I was able to get these 24. Out of these 24 only a few are really good. But they were worth the effort and the wait.

Conclusion: Lightning rocks.

[tags]weather, photos, lightning, lightning bolt, sky, night, thunderstorm[/tags]