Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Photography

Camping Day 6 – Roswell, NM

Image above: one of the aliens that abound in these parts pointing to his “other” home.

We’re camped in the central area of Roswell, NM this evening after driving from the Texas Panhandle I didn’t get a photo of the camp site, but showing the little green greeter at the campground instead.

I did get a photo of the RV while we were still in Texas at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, however, pictured below.

The “Little Grand Canyon” of Texas, near Amarillo, is nice, but having been to the real thing many times over the years, this place was OK, but not on the same scale as our Arizona “5th wonder of the world” Grand Canyon. Damsel got a couple of photos of the little canyon one of which is shown below.

We will be taking another rest and relaxation day tomorrow with only a couple of chores, Damsel may want to do some shopping for creepy little UFO and Alien souvenirs at the gift shop here. We will be headed southwest Thursday, planning to get back closer to Arizona, but still at a leisurely pace.

I’ll post anything significant (or maybe mundane) tomorrow.

17 Oct 2023 by Notions Photography Travel Wanderlust

Camping Day 2 (and 3) – Albuquerque

Lot of driving and stops for supplies and fuel today. There will be no camp picture until tomorrow since it was too dark to get a decent photo this evening. We are safely camped and getting ready for the eclipse tomorrow. We paused at Petrified Forest NP today and got a picture of painted desert. We didn’t go through the entire park due to time restraints.

Painted Desert:

Balanced Rock near I-40 in western New Mexico:

Giant Navajo Pot Gallup, NM:

All Photos courtesy of Damsel.

Maybe some “Ring of Fire” photos tomorrow.

13 Oct 2023 by Photography Travel Wanderlust

Red Bird of Paradise
Flowers Now Opening

Now that the 2023 Red Bird of Paradise Flowers are opening, the butterflies seem to know that they are available for nectar browsing. This little beauty visited this morning.

These flowers dominate the courtyard in the summertime. This is one of the first flowers to appear this year.

The “Red Bird of Paradise” a.k.a. “Pride of Barbados” shrubs are ready to “take over” in the courtyard now. More about these from Desert Tropicals:

The Red Bird of Paradise is a relatively frost sensitive Caesalpinia, and it is generally better to trim it close to ground in winter. This keeps it more compact without seeming to delay it in spring. The canes tend to freeze in all but the warmest areas, and even if they don’t, the new growth in April is somewhat ungainly. For this reason many gardeners cut the bush to the ground at the end of November, and it will grow back green and compact in mid spring.

Image information: Canon EOS Rebel J6i, Action Program, ISO 100, T=1/800 sec., A=F5, Lens EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. Click on either image to enlarge.

03 Jun 2023 by Arizona Critters Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Spring Flowerburst

We spent the early part of the Holiday yesterday in remembrance of those who were unable to return from the battles that kept America a Free and Sovereign Republic. We also recognize that all of our battles aren’t necessarily “out and out warfare” in the classical sense. We have plenty of troubles domestically with those wishing to disarm and enslave us. So, prepare accordingly.

Now, we will post some of the beautiful flowers that are opening daily in this late spring season in and around our Arizona home. Photo credits are both Damsel and CapnBob. Click on the images to enlarge.

Cherry Red Cactus Flower Cluster:

Cactus flower of unknown species – a gift from our sister, BB:

A Fish Hook Cactus Flower:

A Flower Trio from our Argentine Giant Cactus:

These are but a small fraction of the flowers we see here each spring. Some cacti are native and some are imported from elsewhere. We hope you enjoyed your Holiday and our flower photos. Come back soon.

30 May 2023 by Arizona Family Flowers Photography

Solar Astrophotography

In anticipation of the Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023, I got out the Canon SL1 camera and associated accessories to photograph the solar disk. I used the Canon EF 100-400mm lens along with a Thousand Oaks Optical threaded SolarLite® filter to get the (clickable) image above. I had to experiment with the camera settings to get the image and further had to adjust it using a photo processing app.

The setup resolved the solar disk and a couple or three sunspots currently visible; the two larger sunspots visible are 3297 and below that 3294. Those numbers are according to SpaceWeather.com.

As I mentioned above, I had to experiment with the camera settings a bit. Using the camera’s Programmed (P) setting, the images were overexposed. I switched to the shutter speed priority setting and tried several exposure times from 1/1000 second, 1/2000 second, and 1/4000 second. The latter, which is the fastest shutter speed on the camera, captured enough of the details needed to produce the image seen above and will certainly be good enough for the annular eclipse. For the total eclipse in April of 2024, it will be necessary to remove the attenuating filter during totality in order to capture the details of the solar limb and the spectacular appearance of the solar corona.

06 May 2023 by Astronomy Notions Photography Retirement Something Shiny Technobabble

Gold Rush Days 2023

Our little town has an annual event called “Gold Rush Days” in honor of the town’s reason for being: the discovery of gold in 1863 by Henry Wickenburg. Vulture Mine became the most productive mine in Arizona history. This weekend marks the 75th celebration of Gold Rush Days.
The festivities included a Rodeo, a carnival, a giant flea market, a classic car show and a parade.

The carnival featured food concessions, fun houses and a number of rides from gentle kiddie merry-go-rounds to full-on vomit comet rides. The midway completely encircled our town’s community center. We walked through the midway but did not participate in either food or rides. We took a lot of photos, though.

The flea market had most of the usual stuff like home-made arts and crafts, souvenir vendors, apparel vendors and a myriad of other interesting things to see. That’s Damsel in her big shade hat perusing wooden pots and bowls.

We toured the classic car area on Friday afternoon. The usual cars were on display. There were a lot of old classics, some Hot Rods and a couple of rare cars.

The parade started at ten AM AZ time on Saturday Morning (02/11/2023). Damsel and I saw the whole parade of equestrians, local organizations, classic cars on parade, a politician or two and law enforcement/fire department vehicles. The parade went for over an hour.

Damsel and I enjoyed our visits to the exhibits, vending, classics and who doesn’t love a parade. Between the two of us, we took a thousand plus photos this weekend. There are only a few of them shown here. Click on any image to enlarge.

11 Feb 2023 by Arizona Entertainment Nostalgia Photography

Annual Charity Car Show

We had less than the best weather for the annual “Cops Who Care” and “Remember When Cruise Association” Toyz for Totz Car Show Event. Still, we got up and out to the Civic Center to drop off our unwrapped toys for the local Christmas presents to the under privileged kids. The weather was drizzly and like a wet fog more than rain, but we wore our foul weather gear and attended the show in spite of the conditions.

Normally, the cars that would show up for this event would be nearly overwhelming, but the funky weather seemed to keep about 90% of the usual attendees home. I guess I can’t blame them. I’m sure that their toys for the admission to the show will make it to the Cops in time for the Holiday toy distribution.

Meanwhile, Damsel and I were able to see a few of the classics that did show up today:

Classic Pontiac Le Mans

Classic Studebaker

Classic Roadster with Checkered Engine Compartment

Spooky Hot Wheels Mustang

There were a lot more than these above. but not as many as would have been had the weather cooperated. Click on the images above to enlarge.

04 Dec 2022 by Charity Nostalgia Photography

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