Taking a Wider View...

I have been experimenting with panorama photography recently, taking multiple images while turning the camera around, and "stitching" them together in Photoshop to make one big picture. These are my first efforts. They leave a bit to be desired, as I don't have a nodal slide, and a couple of them were shot handheld....

(Blogger has cropped these images, so you need to click on them to see the full width of the pictures)
This is the Western Skies Scenic Byway between Panora and Stuart in Guthrie County.
It's a composite of twelve images.

Next up is the magnificent High Trestle Trail Bridge between Woodward and Madrid, taken from the road bridge on Highway 210. This is a "first draft" for a picture that I'm planning. I shot it handheld, as I just wanted to get a feel for the scene, and didn't bring a tripod. The light was tricky too, as I was shooting into the sun. Fifteen shots went into making this composite.

Next time you're on the Highway 210 bridge, don't forget to look to the north too. This eight-image composite shows the beautiful S-curve of the Des Moines River. Again handheld, I think I'll revisit this shot as well.

Hypobloggia

Only two posts in the last two months! It has been quite a time! To catch up, here are a few of the things that happened, with pictures :)

It all started on the 3rd of August, when my brother Colm, and my daughter Aisling showed up on our doorstep. Apparently, I was the only person on the planet who was unaware of the visit!
Here they are with Maggie:

Maggie, Laura, and Becky did a triathlon

We took our visitors to the Iowa State Fair. They got to line up to see the Butter Cow, eat incredibly unhealthy food, and admire some very expensive agricultural machinery.

We also went to the Adel Sweetcorn Festival. There wasn't much in the was of exciting machinery, but the food was better.

There was the Magic Sample Sunday at Prairieland Herbs.

There were two other visits of family from Ireland (these I did know about), completing what will go down in history as III11(The Irish Invasion of Iowa '11). My wonderful niece, Claire, called in on her way to Australia, and my parents came over too.

Some more random pics: The epitome of Iowa - corn and sky.

And pretty wildflowers.

Oh, and I did a fun photography workshop!

Out with the old...

I finally said goodbye to my old Bike, a very elderly and clunky Cherry. It's been donated to the Des Moines Bike Collective, who do wonderful work repairing and restoring old bikes, and selling them at very reasonable cost to new owners. 

...and in with the new

My new one is this awesome Scott S40. It fits me, it rides beautifully, it's light and comfortable, and I'm very happy with it. RAGBRAI, here I come!

Hitting the Trail

I got the bike out for the first time this year, and went for a ride on the trail that runs behind our house. It was only a couple of miles, but it was nice and invigorating, and it was good to be able to get out.

Our local authority do a good job of clearing the path, and making it accessible.

(pic: Nikon F100; Voigtländer Nokton 58mm f/1.4; Fujicolor Reala 100; 1/125 sec; f/8; desaturated in Photoshop)

My bike!!

I got a bike! It's a bit old-fashioned, and not exactly the type I'd have liked. It's dusty and stiff and needs some oiling and TLC, but the tyres are hard, the wheels go round, and the brakes seem to work ok.

Oh, and it cost only $8.99 at Goodwill!