Thursday, July 25, 2024

smoke season arrives

The wildfires are in full summer bloom in the western USA. Another Oregon Star Party has been cancelled: the USFS has too much going on to allow for a group of 500 to show up for a week. The 2020s have not been kind, as two Covid cancellations and major road work took out three of the first four this decade.

Well north of the brown smoke shown here, the township of Jasper AB was substantially consumed by a fire yesterday. Over 25000 people were safely evacuated from town and park, but emergency crews had no chance against the swirling winds and walls of flame.

Tough times. 


Thursday, July 18, 2024

the small kit, v.1

Here is the small kit I'm taking for this weekend. Plans are to shoot family indoors, a concert at a park, and hopefully a few decent landscape images. 


The camera is an e-M1 and Olympus 17/2.8 lens. For indoors and lightly cramped family the 35mm/e should do fine. A small RRS-style plate is attached to the camera.

In the small bag is the Laowa 10mm/2, Oly 14-150ii and TTArtisan 23/1.4. Those will cover any low light and long images if we're late to the concert and must hang out in back. Included in the bag are a polarizing filter, two batteries and a plug-in microphone whose mount is sticking out in the photo. I should bring the flash for extra security - luckily I have a spare pocket on one side that's doing nothing :^).

This plus a tripod or monopod should be sufficient!




Thursday, July 4, 2024

firecracker weather!

 

Typically around here we begin summer on July 5-7th, whenever the last Pacific storm visits with enough strength to keep us in the upper 60s. We are starting a day early this year, and we're trying for 100° this weekend. Just 80 today, it appears - but we may not see another day in the 80s until a week from now. Thankfully the coastal cities and beaches only suffer two days of heat before the onshore flow is sufficient to bring back the 70s - so that's a daytime destination we are considering strongly!

Wrap up: well, that was unpleasant. Portland reached 100° and Salem was a few degrees warmer. We didn't visit the beach, but A/C and mist on the deck were fully employed.


Wed max was 16° cooler after a 10° drop in the morning. A decent west wind broke another 15-foot branch from a tree in our yard.. that's about the fourth of similar size to come down this year!