Nature – Page 9 – tim mcmurdo

donkey!

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

Carriage HIll Farm now has a donkey. No name for the little addition just yet, but if they don't name it soon, I'll name it for them. Why did they get a donkey and why is it in the same pasture as the sheep?

The farm has been having a problem with coyotes killing the young sheep. Turns out that a donkey is more than capable of protecting the sheep from the coyotes. Indeed, donkeys have been known to kill the predator. I don't care how big your teeth are, you don't mess with a donkey. No Sir. Just leave the donkey and his friends, the sheep, alone.

late summer color

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

As the summer crawls to a close and we approach the fall, most of the beautiful blooms have already passed and we are left with just a few flowers to admire. Yellow seems to be the predominant color and that is not such a bad color to have lingering in my memory. Brilliant, vivis yellow. I think it is a color that leaves a happy impression on almost everybody.

three white horses in the fog

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

Milk Weed Seed Pod

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

The oddest objects can trigger old memories. When I was a kid, we used to pick these sticky pods and throw them at each other. When we went home, we would be covered with the seeds.

Looking back at fond memories is always a welcome past time.

Sorghum

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

You have never seen sorghum? I am not surprised. Sorghum is not a common plant any more and when you do see it, you might be forgiven if you think you are looking at a field of corn.

Just like corn, sorghum grows on a tall stalk with long hanging leaves. However, if you look closely, you will see that there are no ears on the stalks.

At the top of every stalk is this bunch of fruit that looks like berries. These are the seeds.

What do you do with sorghum? Well, you make syrup with it. The canes are cut down and passed through a grinder, squeezing out the juice in the process. The juice is then boiled down to make a sweet amber colored syrup. Think of slightly bitter sweet molasses and you will have some idea of what sorghum tastes like.

While not very common in the North, Sorghum syrup can still be found in some areas of the South, like northern Georgia. I have eaten biscuits with sorghum syrup many times and can tell you that it is worth eating, if you can find it. Just like maple syrup or honey, a jar can sit on the shelf for a long time, so bring one home and enjoy the sweet flavor of sorghum syrup for months to come.

Consider this a tip from your friend Tim. I would not steer you wrong when it comes to good eating.

gimme shelter

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

When I first took this shot, I liked the contrast between the bright color of the mushroom and the dark surroundings. It was not until after I got home that I noticed a smaller mushroom was being sheltered underneath the larger one. I write "smaller", but the largest is only about an inch tall.

It's nice to find an unexpected surprise in your pictures.

the set up – cincinnati sunrise

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

I've gotten a lot of great comments and questions about the Cincinnati Sunrise series and thought you might appreciate knowing how I planned for the shoot.

The original idea was formed during one of my many return trips from Atlanta. Inevitably, I would end up going through Cincinnati at night and always thought that the view of the city at night was spectacular. I would think about how it would look at sunset and sunrise. Being a morning person, I naturally tended to gravitate towards the sunrise version.

One of the most common questions that I have recieved was 'How did you know where to go?' I don't know Cincinnati that well and finding a place to shoot the sunrise with so little time to experiment seemed daunting. When I don't know an area, I turn to google maps and this time around Google was able to nail the location for me. I use google maps quite often and it has proven to be pretty reliable.

I knew that Mt. Adams, to the east, of downtown had great views of the city and the river. If I wanted to catch the sunrise reflected off of the buildings, Mt. Adams would have been a great choice. I wanted to capture the sun rising behind the city, so Mt. Adams was out. I did know that there was a ridgeline to the west of downtown and started looking in that direction.

Zooming in and switching to terrain view, I could see that there were two parks on the ridge to the west of downtown that might fit the bill. Wilson Common was closer to the city but, Mt. Echo had the Ohio river between the park and the city. To me, Mt. Echo seemed like the better location. To check, I searched google images for photos from the park and was able to confirm that the park had the perfect view.

The next step was to nail down the sunrise itself. To do that I turned to a wonderful and free program called The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE).

If you are not familiar with TPE, it is a nifty little program that gives you all of the information that you could possibly about the moon and sun. You get times and directions to both the setting and rising sun/moon. In addition, you get the times for all three morning and evening twilights. We all grew up thinking that if you wanted to find the sunrise, you turned due east and there it was. In actuality, due east is not really correct. The direction varies with the date and location.

TPE uses the Google Maps API and draws lines from the location you chose to show where the sun and moon rise and set. Following the lines from Mt. Echo, I was able to see that the line for the sunrise bisected the downtown Cincinnati area. Perfect. As an added bonus, TPE showed that the moon would also be in the east during the sunrise.

So, before I even left my house, I was able to know the following:

1. That Mt. Echo was in the perfect location and had a great view of downtown Cincinnati

2. That the sun would rise behind the city

3. The time of sunrise and twilight

4. That the moon would also be in the eastern sky during sunrise

At this point, I was comfortable about the time and location. Another web search informed me that the weather would also be good. All that remained was to prepare and pack my gear. Here is what I brought along:

Sony a55v body

18-55mm lens

70-210mm lens

Heavy tripod

Remote shutter release

Small flashlight

Spare battery

Spare memory card

With those items packed in my back pack, I was ready to go and I had a reasonable expectation that the shoot would be a success. The next time you are searching for a location for an image that you have in mind, look on the web. Check google maps, the weather and google images to find the perfect site for you. You will be surprised at how well prepared you can be without even leaving your couch.

cincinnati sunrise

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

I recently celebrated my birthday by treating myself to the sunrise from Mt. Echo west of Cincinnati. Mt. Echo is 9 minutes away, so I had to get up at four in the morning to be on location with pleny of time to set up my equipment. Afer seeing the resulting images, I have no regrets about waking up so early. The view was spectacular and the sunrise did not disappoint.

I created a few shots with my 70-210mm lens but most of the images were shot using my 18-55mm. I liked the wider angle for shots from this distance. To steady the shots, I used my heavy duty tripod and a remote shutter release.

As the sun rose behind the city, the buildings were silhouetted against the light and reflected on the surrounding buildings. I managed to see a gorgeous light show that morning. I continued shooting until the sun was well above the skyline. Along the way, I shot a series of images that I will eventually stitch together to form a panorama. I'll be sure to let you have a peek at the results when I am finished. Meanwhile, enjoy the sunrise over Cincinnati.

wilderzebraffe-a-beast

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

While I was at the zoo, I came across this critter and could not find a sign showing the animal's name. I wish that I had because, I don't think I could even dream up an animal like this. I think it is half zebra, half wilder beast and half giraffe. Once again, my imagination has nothing on reality.

Wilderzebraffe-a-beast, I will remember you for a long time to come.

you can take a cross town bus… zoo part two

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

Earlier this week, I posted about the wonderful birds that I found at the Columbus Zoo. Located in, of all places, Columbus, Ohio the zoo is a popular destination for folks living in the area. Today, I wanted to finish up our trip to the zoo by showing some of the animals and also by giving you my overall impressions. To start off, here are some of the animals that I saw:

My wife doesn't like zoos at all. She thinks that the animals must be sad to be locked up in cages and enclosures. After visiting some questionable zoos like the Cincinnati zoo or the Atlanta zoo of the seventies, I can understand where her feelings come from. I like zoos. I enjoy the opportunity to see exotic animals from foreign lands. I don't want to see any animals living in poor conditions. However, I think that zoos have a role to play when it comes to education and conservation and as long as the animals are well cared for physically and mentally, Bring em on. I want to see some animals!

The Columbus zoo is a world class zoo. The animals are sheltered in habitats that closely match their natural environments. From Brown bears to apes, I saw animals with plenty of room, ways to entertain themselves, and safe. The zoo has done a remarkable job of balancing the publics desire to see the animals with the animals need for a healthy home.

That last two images might be part of the zoo's success. The animals are placed in environments that are engaging. Activities are built into the animals daily lives. The zoo is used to train researchers. I saw the student's throughout the site, making notes and recording video. I think we can thank Jack Hanna for the way the zoo sees its mission. His vision of a modern zoos role in education and conservation has produced seed changes in the way modern zoos are run.

Thanks Jack. You've done well.