Do you remember when we first adopted Beethoven how you could see his ribs and backbone? well, I’m happy to say that after six months he has filled out nicely. Click on Bay Bay’s old image above to see the new Bay Bay.
Also, I’m just as happy to say that Cabela, who was at about nineteen pounds six months ago, has been on a diet and now weighs about the same (fifteen pounds or so) as Bay Bay. You can see them both at the dog park in this photo.
While we were at the dog park today, I snapped some photos of the desert wildflowers around the perimeter of the park. There were several varieties in bloom including this Desert Marigold. We also saw several orange-colored Desert Mallow flowers next to the park. Click on the image to enlarge.
This is an accidental 3D image that Verna took of the Vulture Mine Historical Marker near US 60 and Vulture Mine Road in Wickenburg, AZ. I say “accidental” because she snapped two images of the same scene as the truck rolled slowly down the road. I took her pair of images and combined them into a red cyan anaglyphic image that can be viewed with a pair of 3D glasses. Click on the image to enlarge.
The Vulture Mine Historical Marker is located about 12 miles north of the actual Vulture Mine itself. The remnants of Vulture City which sprang up in the mine’s heyday are scattered around the mine shaft. There is a souvenir shop in one of the old buildings where you can get your map of the self-guided tour of the area.
Just in case you don’t have your pair of 3D glasses handy, you can see the 2D image here.
I ordered some solar filters for all of our cameras so we can try to get images of the annular solar eclipse in May. The filters aren’t very substantial since they are made with cardboard tubing and have polymer filters, but they are cost-effective (~$10 each) and they work.
Image: Solar filter over Canon SX-40 with inset of solar photo I took – click to enlarge
The filters come with an adhesive felt liner that you install to allow a snug fit when you slip the filter over the objective lens of the camera. Once installed, the filter doesn’t interfere with the auto-focus mechanisms nor with any other camera function.
After some experimentation, I found that trying to use the cameras in auto modes (other than auto-focus) does not give good results; camera motion would blur most images. I tried using a tripod, but getting the image centered in the camera was taking too long. The eclipse would be over before getting all the proper adjustments.
I finally settled on using the camera in manual mode where you can independently set the film speed, aperture and shutter speed. I settled on ISO 3200 film speed, F5.6 for the aperture and 1/1250 second shutter speed. Holding the camera in my hands, the image was good enough to resolve sunspot 1445 currently transiting the solar surface. I uploaded a large image of the sun to the image viewer. Click on the link to view.
The first four flowers on one of the hedgehog cacti have opened. There will be dozens of them this spring according to the number of buds I see on both cacti. This one is very pretty. Click on the image to enlarge.
Bob and I had a wonderful visit with our friends Jim and Karen when we went to their riverside home on the Colorado in Earp, CA. It’s just across the river from Parker, AZ. We had a lot of fun and met a lot of great people that live in Jim and Karen’s riverside community.
This is Karen and I walking Bear, Cabela and Bay-Bay on the shores of the river just a stone’s throw from their home. We had a lot of fun during our visit. Click on the image to enlarge.
