Jason Parker-Burlingham

Root beer confusion

jasonp@panix.com — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:51:21 GMT

Henry kicks back with a beer
Originally uploaded by Nooks

When Henry and I stopped at the refreshment stand near the Lincoln Memorial I read the menu to him, including "beer". Henry allowed as he'd really like another beer such as he had in this picture---ie, a root beer. Such subtleties are a little lost on him, I guess.

What's not to love?

jasonp@panix.com — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:59:58 GMT

Bumblebee
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Bumblebees have to be my favorite kind of bee, I think I really should devote some time to learning more about them. I do wish they'd move a little more slowly while I try to photograph them though.

Summer camp continues to be a blast

jasonp@panix.com — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:11:14 GMT

Kitty-cat facepaint
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Yesterday Henry came home from summer camp to report that he'd walked past our local Chinese restaurant to go to the pet store to get a frog. Invention? Oh no. They walked the whole mile there and back, holding hands with one another to get another frog for his classroom. He was amazed this morning to arrive and find it had more than doubled in size overnight. Well, that's unfair of me, he was dubious at first that it was the same frog, but convinced himself all the same.

Today they walked down Forbes Ave to a local park; Henry wanted to return there with his new friends W and M (6 and 4 respectively, I think) and W's mother and I consulted in the secret body language of tired parents and settled on "some other time".

Dragonfly

jasonp@panix.com — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:51:53 GMT

Dragonfly
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Taken in the fields near the farmhouse while Ann and I walked to the end of the road and back. I'm going to miss doing that while Henry and I are living in Pittsburgh for the summer.

This little beastie led quite the merry chase, clicking and buzzing loudly the whole time. It was quite large when it comes down to it.

Burk Hill Horse

jasonp@panix.com — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:39:09 GMT

Burk Hill Horse
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Spotted this wonderful animal on our way to buy birdseed a few weeks ago; it was straining over the fence to eat the presumably greener grass thereon. Of course it perked up as I approached but I like the barn in the background.

Pure cheek on my part

jasonp@panix.com — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:01:09 GMT

LED bulb casts a rainbow
Originally uploaded by Nooks

I happened across a rainbow being cast on the floor of our building's lobby while I was walking to the car with a gift of LED light bulbs from work so I took a few minutes to try for this pretty obvious picture. Fun shot, finding an angle to reduce shadow was somewhat difficult and I had to get all the way down onto the floor to make it really work.

A study in yellow

jasonp@panix.com — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:26:44 GMT

Hard-workin' bees
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Closeups of bees are tricky as all get-out, on account of their skittishness and apparent six sense with regard to when you'll try to open the shutter. But I can't stop trying.

jasonp@panix.com — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:15:34 GMT

My day started with a blow from a tiny little knee to the groin. How's your day?

Too much breakfast

jasonp@panix.com — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:20:20 GMT

61c Cafe, Murray Ave, Pittsburgh
Originally uploaded by Nooks

On Saturday we tried for a light breakfast at the 61c Cafe on Murray. The proprietor (I assume) was nice enough to the dawdling family who couldn't make up their minds, consulted their five-year-old about everything, took forever to order and very nearly tried to pay with a credit card: I was rebuffed by the CASH ONLY sign on the register. What is this, the dark ages? We scraped up $20 between us to pay, but it was a near thing for a moment.

Brunch

jasonp@panix.com — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:30:30 GMT

Gullifty's Pancake Stack
Originally uploaded by Nooks

On Sunday Ann and Henry and I went to Gullifty's, which appears to be something of a staple here. Actually I was getting it confused with a couple other places I wanted to try eating at again, but no matter.

Henry bravely ordered the pancake stack and promptly proceeded to violate the "never eat anything bigger than your head" rule.

He and I will be looking for a location for a regular Saturday or Sunday brunch for the next week or two.

A butterfly because of Henry

jasonp@panix.com — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:09:52 GMT

DSC_0550
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Nothing new today, have a butterfly macro instead (ooh, lol-insects, there's a concept). I only have an old photo because Henry is asleep in the next room where I'd normally sit to organize my upload queue. He and Ann arrived safely this afternoon, he'll be staying with me and going to the Spanish Immersion summer camp for the next 8 weeks.

I did it twice!

jasonp@panix.com — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:47:43 GMT

Saving the environment one step at a time
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Yesterday I was brave enough to ask two complete strangers if I could take their picture.

I spied this woman a few times as I wandered down the street, she was riding her bike and delivering flyers, they looked like material from a familiar environmental group focusing on wind and solar power in this coal-obsessed state.

I love her hair and piercings and her vivid blue overalls. This is the second of two shots; in the first she's looking at the camera and posing a little (but not too much) but it had a smidge of motion blur because I was too nervous to check the shutter speed. I quickly snapped this before she got impatient---I figure she has important stuff to do.

They'd been watered mere seconds before

jasonp@panix.com — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:37:16 GMT

Floral Bokeh
Originally uploaded by Nooks

An f/1.8 macro lens would be truly wonderful; the 50mm prime just sucks up light and produces pictures I find particularly pleasing.

Anyone want to offer an opinion as to the name of these lovely flowers?

iphone panorama

jasonp@panix.com — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:10:42 GMT

soper road (w/ iphone)
Originally uploaded by Nooks

I'm pleasantly surprised how well this turned out, given that I just held the phone and rotated it to take the pictures; I've had tripd-mounted source images not work as well as these did when it came time to stitch.

This is the western end of the farm, the houses you can see on the left belong to neighbors. You can also see Ann in the distance: we were out walking, I think Henry decided he didn't want to come after all and stayed home.

Where's that toad when you need it?

jasonp@panix.com — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:12:08 GMT

Borage and housefly
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Ugh, houseflies. I would have preferred a more interesting subject to explore the borage, but at least it did not fly away when the flash went off.

Ann has the setup shot for this

jasonp@panix.com — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:35:11 GMT

Male goldfinch at the feeder
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Nothing more complex than the macro lens on a tripod with a remote shutter release. Later I got a little more fancy and used a focus trap, but this is manually focused using a small twig as a guide. The camera was in shutter priority to try to freeze motion but this was a mistake since the shutter speed stays constant by varying aperture and affecting focus. Later pictures with lower ISO, slower shutter and wider aperture worked just as well, but had less compliant subjects.

I could have gotten closer but that makes focusing even more chancy (there are lots of pictures of very blurry goldfinches in my collection now) and the birds seemed to not appreciate a camera closer than a few feet away.

Lessons learned: go full manual next time, don't bother with the focus trap, I think it just made trying for a shot more difficult. An actual cable release instead of an IR remote makes taking a shot less chancy. An off-camera flash may be useful. A sandbag and string to keep the feeder still could be useful too.

Interestingly only a few male finches ever came anywhere near the setup: a shame since they're a vastly more colorful bird.

Summer's first cookout

jasonp@panix.com — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:33:21 GMT

Sparks flying
Originally uploaded by Nooks

On Saturday night we were having trouble deciding where to eat and settled on buying hotdogs and the makings of smores and lit a small fire in the driveway. I got to light the fire and Ann was exceedingly patient while I did (we both like lighting fires, what's not to like?). After a time I decided it might be fun to have some pictures of the flames and Ann suggested a long shutter speed would be good. Henry helpfully ran a long stick over the length of a burning log to throw up some sparks.

Sunset at nearly 9pm: check. Hot dogs: check! 70—80F heat: check! I do so enjoy summer—it's part of the reason I adored the Bay Area, where summer is a season 6 months long.

The wooden snake

jasonp@panix.com — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:31:59 GMT

Wall-walking
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Henry wants to have a little toy called a Bakugan, but sometimes he will settle for an old-fashioned wooden snake, bought with his own pocket money.

The snake is also called Henry, meaning one can occasionally hear two "Yes?"es when calling for either the son or the snake.

No Borage yet, little one

jasonp@panix.com — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:47:29 GMT

Frog or Toad?
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Henry and Ann spotted this little toad by the front steps and she happily posed for a time while I carefully got close with the tilt/shift and snapped off a number of pictures, this possibly being the best one.

Googling around, I've decided this is probably Bufo americanus, likely B. a. charlesmithi, aka the Dwarf American Toad.

Another Strong butterfly

jasonp@panix.com — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:53:24 GMT

DSC_0526
Originally uploaded by Nooks

In the aquarium

jasonp@panix.com — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:58:41 GMT

Okay, I have no clue what this is.
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Shades of the cuttlefish XKCD comic here, that is one baleful gaze to be sure.

The tie was completely his own idea

jasonp@panix.com — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:43:07 GMT

Assistant (to the) regional manager
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Sometimes a picture hardly needs any description.

But I guess this is not one of those times: Henry is not a victim of child labor but is playing at the Strong National Museum of Play, where there's a mini-grocery store that allows kids to collect a cart and choose items to "purchase" which they then ring up—I guess if the place had not been basically empty at the time there would have been an emo six-year-old blowing bubble gum to ring Henry up instead of making him play both roles (no, he wanted to do it himself rather than have me play along).

Playing catch-up

jasonp@panix.com — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:34:06 GMT

California Reservoir
Originally uploaded by Nooks

I'm still sorting tilt-shifts from the weekend, many of the pictures are good but most of them don't take advantage of the special features of the lens. I think I may need to try much harder, perhaps by getting up early to catch morning light and have a few hours to take pictures.

In the meantime here's a picture from a few months ago which I just now managed to stitch. It's from somewhere in California, perhaps shortly after getting off Highway One heading north toward Mountain View or Sunnyvale.

I've tried fiddling with the color and exposure quite a bit but can't quite make it pop. For once, the focus is pretty good, though.

Kites and teeth

jasonp@panix.com — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:14:49 GMT

Pulling down on the string makes the kite rise
Originally uploaded by Nooks

I try to entertain Henry as best I can when visiting so this weekend after many delays and stalls we went kite flying together in one of the back fields and walked back to the house. He only lost the string once and I had to run like a mad thing to catch it (of course). He's very excited at the prospect of a kite with real control lines, and so am I.

The other big surprise from this weekend was that one of his adult teeth is erupting behind his baby teeth. Apparently this is pretty common when there's crowding in the kid's mouth, which there is. All weekend he has been proudly telling anyone who'll listen about how his Big Boy teeth are coming, and how this proves he now knows how to take care of his teeth long-term.

I can't say no to a fountain

jasonp@panix.com — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:53:30 GMT

Playing in the fountain
Originally uploaded by Nooks

Fountain near the cafeteria and Little Shop entrance at Pittsburgh's Carnegie museum of art and natural history.

I really can't walk past a well-lit fountain without trying for a long-exposure tripod shot, or a picture like this: hand-held with a very fast shutter. It won't win any awards but I'm out of fresh material until I manage to sort, cull, process and upload all umpty-hundred pictures from this weekend. Stay tuned.