Images

Back in the day, it seems everything was a piece of art, even the drinking fountains

Back in the day, it seems everything was a piece of art, even the drinking fountains. (Mostly I get a kick out of the idea of a historic drinking fountain. There’s a plaque and everything.) #WHPfromthewater #park #drinkingfountain #shell #manhattanbeach

Photo taken at: Manhattan Beach Pollywog Park

Back in the day, it seems everything was a piece of art, even the drinking fountains. (Mostly I get a kick out of the idea of a historic drinking fountain. There’s a plaque and everything.) #WHPfromthewater #park #drinkingfountain #shell #manhattanbeach

Sunset in the Corner

Sunset Silhouette

When I have time to compose a scenic photo, the rule of thirds is usually on my mind. Even if I’m not putting an object off-center, I’m trying to line up visual borders with the 3×3 grid — a horizon, or the top or side of a building, or a treeline. Sometimes symmetry works better, though…and sometimes I’m just trying to get a snapshot of someone or something.

In this case, I stopped by a store after work and arrived just as the sun was about to set, at the top of a hill, giving me a clear view to the west. When that happens, you don’t go inside, you stop and watch!

(What I really wanted was to catch a nearby farm-style windmill silhouetted against the sun, but unfortunately the best place for that was in the middle of a crosswalk across a busy street, and I wasn’t going to trust in my ability to stop, aim, take a few photos, and get back to the side.)

Photo challenge (WordPress): Rule of Thirds

What a glorious feeling…

What a glorious feeling...

So I had this big plan to set up a still life with J’s tap shoes for the Singing In The Rain theme. Let’s just say that didn’t work out.

Then it started to rain, and of course four-year-olds love walking in the rain, so we went out, and on the way back I noticed he was twirling his umbrella, totally unprompted, so I pulled out my phone.

Sometimes the off-the-cuff moments trump the planned ones.

One-color version

Symmetry: Eye of the…Mall?

Eye

In downtown San Francisco, there’s a multi-level shopping mall with an atrium and a skylight. If you stand in the dead center of the atrium and look up, it resembles an eye, looking down at you through a giant microscope.

A response to the Symmetry photo challenge.

Golden Age Flash vs. the Measles

In “Play of the Year” (March 1943), a theater producer sabotages a rival’s production by faking a measles outbreak among the cast. The boarding house where they’re all staying is immediately quarantined.

Of course, this is a Jay Garrick Flash story, so there’s a madcap solution: the Flash will perform every part in the play at once!

Golden Age Flash vs. the Measles

As someone who grew up after the measles vaccine, I tended to think of it as not a big deal, just one of those childhood diseases that previous generations had to deal with. So back in the mid-2000s when I was tracking down every Golden Age Flash story I could find, I was surprised to see that Flash Comics #39 treated it as serious business (which, of course, it is).

Late afternoon sun reflecting off a decorated window into the shadow of an umbrella

Late afternoon sun reflecting off a decorated window into the shadow of an umbrella. We went out for frozen yogurt to celebrate finally putting all the Christmas decorations away, only to find that the shop still had their Halloween decorations up. (You can just see the edge of a bat wing at the right.) I didn’t feel quite so bad after that! #silhouette #shadows #umbrella #reflection

Late afternoon sun reflecting off a decorated window into the shadow of an umbrella. We went out for frozen yogurt to celebrate finally putting all the Christmas decorations away, only to find that the shop still had their Halloween decorations up. (You can just see the edge of a bat wing at the right.) I didn’t feel quite so bad after that! #silhouette #shadows #umbrella #reflection