This morning as I sat in the quiet of the start of the day…it was softly snowing.
(the faint “squiggles” behind and under the branches are the falling snow…wide open lens makes the squiggles :) )
Off and on…light flurries.
A soft scattering of snow.
Not everyone likes to be outside using the grill when it is snowing…
I guess I am not everyone.
Lunch…al fresco…in Montana…in November.
The storm and the snow ????
Except for one brief squall yesterday (Thursday)…nada!
Bear and I took a quick run to the garbage dump and a walk down the road…about 4:45 this afternoon (Friday).
That’s it…snow up high, above 6000 feet I think – my house is about 3300.
No snow here.
P.S. The brunt of the storm went/is south of me. It IS cold at 26F and feels colder as the dew point is 19, i.e. the humidity is relatively high which equals cold to the bone….brrr!
So…Bear and I were at the clinic this morning for our check in except that I misheard or didn’t hear or ??? The surgery is scheduled for Thursday, DECEMBER 6.
There was some hope of getting in this afternoon but it didn’t work and just as well since it is snowing and blowing and very cold and forecast to continue. Much as I’d like to have it behind us and on the recovery road, I was somewhat concerned what things might be like tomorrow morning for picking Bear up so we go with the flow.
This morning’s drive in was absolutely beautiful…heavy frost under a wintry sky in advance of the winter storm. We stopped for a walk on the way.
I am sorry to have put all on alert for naught but hope you can save those thoughts and prayers for next month.
Yes, I had some “pre-op” things on my todo list but mostly, this day, was a day to be enjoyed. A good workday, a good and normal day – before the routine changes.
It started out at 53F and stayed balmy until late afternoon when the first of a forecast cold front started making itself known with a bit of wind and off and on rain. But Bear and I had our normal noon outing as well as our pre-sunset outing. The pre-sunset outing is now at 4:30 and it will be ever earlier as we head to the Winter Solstice: 44 days!
We were chased in by a cold rain a bit before sunset but an extra treat in the sunroom made up for the slightly shortened outing.
Mr. Bob is loving his “new house” – especially since it got a bit of fleece…
And it turns out that the light box works for cat photography :) !!
Our Wednesday.
As per usual…when I step out of the way of worry and allow things to unfold without trying to control everything…they do.
A number of things fell into place and Bear will have his surgery tomorrow (Thursday 11/8). I’m told that they will probably want him to stay until Friday morning but this clinic is home to Flathead Pet ER and so is fully staffed 24/7. I will be glad to get him home and don’t like leaving him for 24 hours, but I trust this place and the people and most importantly: God’s care of all his creatures.
Meanwhile, we are all resting up – well some of us are…some of us are doing the stuff that brings home the bacon and kibble!
For something like 5 months I’ve been talking about making a light box to take better food photos. A friend here (Tina of ‘Montana: Unplugged’) bought the same camera and lens I have – 5 months ago. It came with a nifty brochure that talked about different ways to light things. She lent it to me and it got me interested in a way to light my food shots.
I don’t use a flash and sometimes finding a good spot of natural light is tough…gets much tougher this time of year.
Now, there are portable light box things on Amazon and they are not very spendy but I’d already looked at this Wiki-How to do anything post and I TOLD people I was going to make my own.
Time marched on…I didn’t have the right size box. I didn’t feel like messing with cardboard and tape. Etc. Etc.
Ha!
Tina also gave me a bag of this wood that is available from Plum Creek Timber Co. certain times of the year. She uses it for kindling in her wood stove. It works great! It is all mostly the same length so I decided to make my box with it. A little spindly but good enough for a first go.
I draped a white sheet around the box frame and used a light that was already on the table as well as one of the herb grow lights for a quick test.
All I can say is WOW! The little piggie figurine is about 3 x 3 inches. In the box, with the light diffused through the sheet, there is no glare, no shadows and all of the detail is visible.
…same with the owl that is about 5 inches tall.
Now for some food.
I was able to shoot in the light box at ISO 800 Shutter 1/60 vs ISO 3200 Shutter 1/8 for the same item in the kitchen. (- both at F5.6 )
I did not use a tripod for these unless you count that I had my elbows on the table – so I was fairly steadily braced vs standing. When I take food photos in the kitchen, I often have to get in an odd position to get an angle with the least glare, reflection or shadow. With the box, I can shoot comfortably as noted…with elbows on the table.
Dbl-click these and look full screen – still good although I’d probably go with a bit more light on the food next round.
So…a wood box frame, an old sheet, two lights = a lot of fun and food photos I’m much happier with.
About an hour later…
I thought I heard Bob come in but couldn’t find him???
“Thank you for the nice house!”