tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61626532011-11-27T19:42:03.827-05:00Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-62548235159736383452011-02-10T15:38:00.000-05:002011-02-10T15:38:51.102-05:00

http://www.fark.com/comments/5932934/Photoshop-this-innovative-revolutionary This seemed too obvious for no one to do it...

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-34275359446711894132011-01-11T23:00:00.000-05:002011-01-11T23:00:05.159-05:00

From Covington Blog Taken by my sister Kathy.

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-24805188905024452962011-01-10T10:08:00.003-05:002011-01-10T10:09:29.606-05:00

The violent rhetoric need not directly incite those like the Tucson shooter to make such events more likely. In a culture boiling with tough-talking dipshits, the truly dangerous don't stand out enough to attract attention and intervention until it's too late. This is simple common sense. A few years ago, if someone showed up at a republican political event carrying a gun, he would be treated

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-11149816892047841302010-12-17T21:11:00.002-05:002010-12-17T21:37:09.465-05:00

The UFO sighting explanations like "swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus" always seemed insufficient to me.  That's not to say I believe in flying saucers. I was living in Phoenix during the Phoenix Lights event in the 90's, and half of my friends were shocked by what they saw.  I, unfortunately, was in the law library all night.  I

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-64831264258925632552010-10-31T17:52:00.000-05:002010-10-31T17:52:47.948-05:00

Happy Halloween! It was tough to get any good shots in the dark, ancient catacombs under Paris - I couldn't use flash or tripod.  Nor would they let me build a platform out of human femurs.  Even the ones I brought with me.

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-42562009075491392162010-10-28T13:00:00.001-05:002010-10-28T13:00:57.448-05:00

The wind storm a few days ago was pretty impressive.  I hoped to get some shots during it, but the rain was too much for the equipment to bear.  However, it was a beautiful sunset afterwards: I'm not promising anything, but I am going to try to overcome my curmudgeonly instincts about this social networking thing over the next few weeks. On that subject, Twitter exhausts me even in concept.  

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-79965022051912813882010-02-20T14:46:00.000-05:002010-02-20T14:46:02.697-05:00

I haven't posted any photos in a while, because I haven't been taking any.  First I loaned most of my camera gear to a niece who received a compatible DSLR for Christmas.  Then I embarked on the herculean task of organizing the 165,000+ frames of my own photography, which built a massive aversion to adding any more to the mess until I get it under control. I guess that's the downside to taking a

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-57156636647658050362009-12-02T15:10:00.000-05:002009-12-02T15:10:12.307-05:00

I submitted a slightly lighter version of this shot to the Capture Cincinnati book, which comes out today.  I'm not sure if any of my photos are included, but this is one of my favorites I've ever taken. I was on my porch trying to catch cloud-to-cloud lightning very late at night when this one lit up the sky and scared the hell out of me.  I scurried back inside with the massive steel tripod

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-34822834240850843212009-11-24T22:41:00.003-05:002009-11-25T02:58:49.379-05:00

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-28260980308834657062009-11-20T00:13:00.001-05:002009-11-20T00:17:05.236-05:00

I'm not sure what this stack of driftwood on the riverbank today is... perhaps Covington's version of crop circles? I should have twisted up a couple of those Blair Witch totem twig/wicker dolls and left them scattered around to complete the vibe. From Covington Blog 2009 Reviewing the post, I realize that the perspective and the very short lens makes it look like a little campfire stack. I

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-85634006068650381302009-11-17T08:11:00.000-05:002009-11-17T08:11:53.027-05:00

From Covington Blog 2009It was almost completely overcast at 5am when I tried to catch the Leonid meteor shower, but I did capture a couple through brief gaps in the clouds. Tomorrow is supposed to be raining here, but Asia may get a brief outburst of up to 500 per hour as we pass through the debris trail left by the source comet in 1466.

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-1632809627784255282009-10-29T21:04:00.008-05:002009-11-20T23:54:33.733-05:00

The zombie crawl starts at Molly Malone's, where I'm told they are going to have the makeup and clothes to turn you undead if you don't already have a costume. The Downunder has built quite a reputation for being where the real Halloween madness unhinges, between Amy's and Anna's boundless enthusiasm and artist Bret Schulte's occult summoning of assorted voodoo priestesses and sundry critters of

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-66534186027965447432009-10-27T07:53:00.000-05:002009-10-27T07:53:56.304-05:00

From Covington Blog 2009From Covington Blog 2009From Covington Blog 2009From Covington Blog 2009

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-59891843402799095452009-10-22T23:05:00.007-05:002009-10-30T12:13:47.223-05:00

We'll have a "Blue Moon" on New Year's Eve this year, going by the currently most popular definition of the term, meaning a second full moon within a single calendar month. That definition is, itself, a misinterpretation from the 1940's, popularized in the 1980's, and debunked more recently once the sources were finally tracked down. But the new definition has stuck and won't be going away.

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-63706056890881929232009-10-13T22:28:00.004-05:002009-10-14T12:29:55.090-05:00

I believe I took this at the same time as the flood photo below... the continuing sleet created interesting atmospherics. Bone-cold and moody, it was definitely a night for black and white. From Covington Blog 2009 ...update: after the jump, the hardy ducks who shared the night with me... I don't know why these ducks aren't migratory, but they're here all winter, through some amazingly

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-13135138488629680532009-10-13T22:20:00.000-05:002009-10-13T22:20:22.960-05:00

The river's likely to get pretty high if we get more rain through the rest of this week. I'll take some shots of it, but until then here are a pair I took a few winters past: From Covington Blog 2009From Covington Blog 2009

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-78439236023636427932009-10-13T22:09:00.000-05:002009-10-13T22:09:33.570-05:00

This experiment wasn't quite successful... I need to reshoot the series at a longer focal length.  The "fisheye" effect of a wide angle lens made the panorama of stitched images uneven, and the Scripps building (the kids in my family call it the "Darth Vader Building") leans like the tower of Pisa. From Covington Blog 2009

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-4772550273704860042009-09-18T08:32:00.005-05:002009-09-18T11:41:56.834-05:00

I was asked in email just how I managed to get such a sharp photo of the skyline... I have a few simple tips to share: First, it was a nice windy day, which blew out the typical Cincinnati late summer haze, and that makes a huge impact. Second, use a tripod. If possible, not one of the ubiquitous, convenient, and light aluminum ones, but a heavy, sturdy steel or carbon fiber monster.

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-58716702288799102652009-09-17T20:42:00.001-05:002009-09-17T20:48:13.149-05:00

Because it's fun and really brings out the details in the clouds, here's the below skyline shot (stacked with its exposure-bracketed siblings) in HDR: From Covington Blog 2009 And the original for convenient comparison: From Covington Blog 2009

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-39103997838459880682009-09-17T07:38:00.002-05:002009-09-17T08:21:33.384-05:00

Comet Holmes is back in the news.  If you don't recall, that's the comet that suddenly, and unexpectedly, outgassed a cloud of material in October 2007.  It quickly became visible to the naked eye, even from large cities.  Before fading, the visible cloud grew to larger than the Sun, and in our night sky was half the size of the full moon. Here's a shot I took of the comet from right in the

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-57957131970692455932009-09-16T23:44:00.000-05:002009-09-16T23:44:28.252-05:00

Just a bit more information about the Riverside Drive vacancy below... the queen bee of Covington tells me that the owner is a wonderful and interesting person, having spent many years with the Peace Corps.

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-70379336305874954682009-09-15T19:50:00.000-05:002009-09-15T19:50:44.589-05:00

While I'm not coming back to blogging to be a real estate agent, and don't know the owners or current residents of this apartment building, I had to laugh at the obvious truthfulness of the "river view" note on the sign: From Covington Blog 2009 From Covington Blog 2009John Roebling himself could have held my camera bag while I took the picture: From Covington Blog 2009 Here's the Google

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-79046438072527748732009-09-15T16:43:00.001-05:002009-09-15T20:29:23.737-05:00

Bee collecting in the alley between Governor's Point and Daniel Beard's (founder of the Boy Scouts) childhhood home: From Covington Blog 2009

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-15140431064016456912009-09-15T16:27:00.002-05:002009-09-15T20:29:50.272-05:00

To get away from the HDR, as much as I love playing with the technique, here's the view from the roof of Governor's Point today (no I don't live there, but it's a delightful community): From Covington Blog 2009

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-46373628795756628762009-09-14T23:43:00.002-05:002009-09-14T23:44:22.915-05:00

Great thanks to Cincinnati Blog for noticing this site stirring back to life: Cincinnati Blog: Covington Jim Returns to Blogging!

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-58572311791087670882009-09-14T22:59:00.002-05:002009-09-15T18:14:03.972-05:00

Thanks for the compliments on the shot of the bridge.  Here's another HDR image with the spooky turned up to 11: From Covington Blog 2009 The original William Booth Memorial Hospital was converted to residences, and now is the Governor's Point condominium complex in the heart of the historic district on Second Street. Here you can find a series of postcards showing the various incarnations

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162653.post-80797170264821118042009-09-13T22:00:00.021-05:002009-09-14T09:33:54.742-05:00

Covington Blog is rebooting. The focus is now on Covington and the surrounding region. So... we'll start off with the gateway to the city, its most recognizable structure.  Below is the Roebling Suspension Bridge, connecting Covington, KY to Cincinnati, OH.  It began construction in 1856, and by 1866 it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. From Covington The image is an HDR (High

Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768276704546185456noreply@blogger.com6