David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Views of art from around the world
Single Stalk of Grass. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 800, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec).
I took a similar image in the autumn six years ago using a macro lens. This time it was with a hand-held telephoto lens.
Northern Atlantic Ocean Through Glacial Ice at the Beach near Jökulsárlón and Vatnajökull National Park in Southeastern Iceland. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens and 5 stop Singh-Ray neutral density filter (ISO 50, 45 mm, f/34, 8 sec).
Clump of Mushrooms on a Tree Stump. Forest in Haukadalur, Iceland. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). In camera B&W.
Several years ago as I was about to do a road trip across the United States, I did two things that changed my life. One was to take a recommendation from my brother to get a DSLR to take pictures of the trip. I ordered a Nikon D200 camera with a kit 18-70 mm lens and added an 80-400 mm VR lens. The other thing that I did was to get a satellite radio for the car. In those days there were two options for satellite radio XM and Sirius. Just before leaving I got both an XM and Sirius receiver and figured that I would try both out during the trip. Just for baseline, I didn’t have a cell-phone (let alone a smart phone). The car radio received AM, FM and weather channels. It also played music from a cassette and a 6-CD player. I was looking forward to listening to radio as I drove across the country without having to constantly searching for channels. Searching for channels on previous road trips had a real pain if you wanted to listen to something other than top 40, country, or rural news about wheat, soybean, or corn futures. When I did find a NPR/APR station and start listening to a program (Prairie Home Companion) or news, I would have to be prepared to search for another station playing the same program as I moved from city to city. Thus, I really was looking forward to see what satellite radio could offer. Back in those ancient times the car radio/music systems didn’t have an auxiliary input for other sources. The two options for the satellite radio receivers were adapters that used a cassette module or converted the signal to a low power FM radio signal. I tried both, but found that the cassette module was more reliable. I started my trip across the country. It was great that I didn’t need to change channels as I passed from city to city – but there were too many channels to choose from. It was good to find that some of the NPR/APR programs – but was disappointed that they did not play NPR news. I guess that the local NPR stations felt that if NPR news was on satellite that their local fund-raising would dry up. For me the real jewel was to find Sonic Theater on the XM satellite channel. I could listen to unabridged Books and Radio Theater (including Joe Frank, and ZBS that I hadn’t heard since I was in Pasadena or Boston. There was also an old-time radio channel (I don’t remember if it was XM or Sirius). I could drive for hours and hours lost in the programs and find myself one or two states closer to my destination. After this cross-country trip, I was totally hooked on Digital Photography and Satellite Radio. Move forward a few years and Satellite Radio (Sirius) was included in my new car. I would time my commute to and from work to listen to programs on the Book and Old Time channels. I did miss a few programs on XM radio (including The Loft and Vin Scelsa’s Idiot’s Delight program) which I listened to on the old XM receiver in my house. When I got my RV (Road Trek) for my road trip to Alaska in 2009 it had an XM Satellite radio. For most of the trip to Alaska I was actually able to receive a signal all the way to Anchorage as long as the satellite antenna was on top of the RV (and in a few cases, I had to have the vehicle point south). Fast forward again, XM and Sirius merged – but still needed two radio receivers to get all of the programs. Book Radio became my favorite channel and I would time my commute to and from work to listen to the books being read. Last year after I retired and was no longer doing the long (1-1.5 hour each way) daily commute, I would go and sit in my car in the morning and afternoon so not to miss the books being read. It must have looked weird for the neighbors to see me sit in the car each morning and evening. When I upgraded my home stereo, I made sure it included a Satellite Radio receiver so I could listen to the programs inside. Fast forward again, I just returned from nearly two months on the Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. I heard a comment on one of the Book Radio programs that they were going off the air in mid-July. I couldn’t believe it, but then heard it again on another program. When I did some checking on the Internet, I saw that Sirius channel 80 which had been Book Radio will be replace by Rural Radio. So Books and Radio Theater are being replaced by farm prices, and rodeos. I guess that I should have seen this coming since the advertisements on the Book Radio channel had been degrading to the same ones that show up on “late night TV” – thus Sirius/XM was losing money on this channel. For me, unless I find something else I like on one of the other satellite channels I will not be renewing my two to Sirius/XM subscriptions. Actually, the radio (and GPS) wasn’t working in my car for my recent trip to and from Florida so I have all ready started to withdraw from my daily fix from Book Radio. RIP – Book Radio
It had been misting and raining for several hours before sailing into Oslo Harbor. The rain was heavy enough at one point for there to be standing water on the decks. It gets light very early this far north, but it was overcast so I didn’t see the sun rise at 04:13 AM. The mist and fog prevented us from seeing much of the channel and islands as we got close to Oslo. We left the ship as soon as the Norwegian Customs and Immigration officials cleared the ship. Our first goal was getting a Oslo Pass (good for museums, bus, tram, train, and ferry). The nearest tourist office at the port terminal was closed. We were told that it would open at 11:00 AM as soon as a larger 4000 passenger ship arrived — I guess that the MV Explorer with 750 passengers isn’t a large enough ship to rate. The next tourist office was a 15 minute walk, just behind City Hall. This one was open, and we were lucky we arrived early. After taking a number you wait for the lighted sign to indicate your turn to see a tourist representative. In addition to getting the Oslo pass, we got a booklet, maps, and directions. They also exchange currency (but don’t have an ATM) and will make reservations hotels and trips. By the time we left, the tourist office was filled with 40+ folks waiting to see a tourist representative.
Next we walked to the ferry terminal to take Ferry 92 to Bygøoynes. The first stop on the Ferry is within walking distance to the Norwegian Folk Museum (Norsk Folkemuseum) and the Viking Ship Museum. After visiting the Viking Ship Museum we walked to the cluster of the Kon-Tiki, Polar Ship Fram, and Norwegian Maritime Museums. This was a longer walk than expected, and after figured out that we could have taken the ferry to the 2nd stop, or take Bus 30 to get these Museums. The Oslo Pass quickly paid for itself by providing free admission to the Museums. An interesting note about the Fram Museum is that the primary language for all of the displays are in English.
The next goal was Vigeland Sculpture Park. To get there we took Bus 30 to Olav Kyrresplass, and transferred to Bus 20. Two stops later we arrived at the Park. The morning rain ended and the sky started to clear. There were six Tourist and School buses in the parking lot at the entrance, but not too many people for a 73 acre park. The trees were green with fresh spring leaves, and tulips were in bloom. A large part of the gardens had newly planted rose plants (not yet in bloom). In addition to tourists visiting the park, there were lots of locals including several groups of school children out to enjoy the sun. For this segment of the trip, I am focusing on taking pictures with prime lenses. With the sun shining through, I was able to get some sunburst images with the sculptures. A great future project will be to photograph the sculptures in all seasons and weather conditions. Yes, I want to return.
To get back to the ship we went to the bus stop. An electronic sign at the bus stop indicated it would be a 25-30 minute wait for Bus 12. Across the street was a stop for Tram 12 with trams running every 5-10 minutes. As soon as we got across the street, the tram arrived. A short time later we were back at the City Hall. All in all, a great day in Oslo.
