Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a beautiful country. This is a view from the highway back towards the center of town. I am not sure how traditional it is to build out over the water like these homes, but I've seen several areas like this from an airplane.

Woman on a Gas Cylinder

This woman was sitting on an old gas cylinder on the side of the road on the way out of town. Port Moresby is a sleepy kind of place.

Ruby Throated Hummingbirds

I am back to photographing birds again. Interestingly, the hummingbirds made it through Ike just fine. I don't know where they perched during the storm (they weigh about as much as a nickel) but they were all around Cody's feeder both before and after the storm. The males are feisty little guys too. Anyway, they provided some entertainment when the electricity was off.

And here is the little female...

Snowy Egret

This Snowy Egret and the Tricolor Heron below were photographed from the Lake Houston Parkway bridge. They were fishing within chatting distance of each other the entire time I watched them.

Tricolored Heron

The Tricolored Heron was formerly known as the Louisiana Heron and is somewhat variable in color. This one was a fine fisherman and must have caught 10 or so shad while I was watching him.

While walking across the lake, I also photographed Turkey Vultues and a Neotropic Cormorant. The pictures weren't that good though. I think I'll start a picture album with Texas birds.

Final Ike Report

Today we got power and things are getting back to normal for us. There is water, internet, television, stores open, and I am back to work - we pretty much have everything. The only thing we lost was an ornamental bush at the front of the house. Others are not nearly so lucky, and many still don't have power or even water.

If you are reading this from somewhere outside the area that was damaged by the storm, it is probably hard to identify with it. Just like it is hard to really identify with victims of earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters when they aren't experienced.

I am fascinated with how long events like this stay newsworthy - Ike will be news only for so long, and then it is back to Paris Hilton, the latest "reality" show, and maybe if you are a little more interested in current affairs the election. There are people who lost everything though and they will be rebuilding long after it is out of the news.

I wonder sometimes about Galveston, New Orleans, and other cities on the coast within distance of the storm surge from hurricanes. What is storm surge? It is the area where flooding occurs due to water pushed up by the storm and is constrained to a fairly small area. These areas are dangerous to be in during the storm and recovery takes longer - they are likely to be wiped out in the next storm too. Wind damage occurs over a wider area, but in many ways is easier to design for.

Some of these areas I don't think should be rebuilt, at least with public money. I am not saying the people shouldn't get assistance - I am just saying the assistance should probably go towards locating them somewhere a little safer.

By the way, the artistic collection in the photograph is courtesy of high water caused by Ike and various folks who littered along the San Jacinto River. People, Lake Houston provides drinking water for the city...

V = 12,051

Ike Update

Today the water was back, and I got to shower. In general, things seem to improve every day. More people have their power back, but not us yet. The lines for gasoline are getting shorter. There is food in the stores, and ice. Teresa went to the POD in Humble but the line was too long, so no MREs for us. We have a gas stove and ate pasta with chicken instead.

Ike Update

Bad old Ike. It doesn't pay to get too cheery after a hurricane. We lost our water pressure just after dinner. Maybe we will get it back in time for me to take a shower tomorrow before work.

Ike Update

It is another day without power (that is getting repetitive isn't it) and some are saying it could be until October for us. I went into work today and traffic was light. There was only one place to get lunch but I was thankful for that. I charged up all my electrical stuff like computers, phones, etc. while I was there. At least I had hot water to take a shower before I went in since we have a gas hot water heater. Not everybody has hot water.

Ike Update

It is another day without power. I have cancelled my trip to Japan, Australia, and PNG. Fortunately the weather remains cool and we are starting to get more ice, gasoline, etc. A lot more of the stores are open. We saw the power company in our area so maybe there will be power soon. Teresa talked to them and this group had come all the way from Illinois.

Ike Update

It is another day without power. I have cancelled my trip to Japan, Australia, and PNG. Fortunately the weather remains cool and we are starting to get more ice, gasoline, etc. A lot more of the stores are open. We saw the power company in our area so maybe there will be power soon. Teresa talked to them and this group had come all the way from St. Louis.

Ike Update

We have water, ice is starting to show up, and batteries too - but of course being without power wears after a while. Worse, we went down to Mothers and a large tree smashed into her house but there isn't any water damage so even there it could be worse. No work tomorrow for me...

Ike Update

We are all OK. The power went out just at midnight early Saturday morning as I was blogging and we still don't have it back - not sure when we will get it either. A few stores are opening now but no ice or perishables. Some restaurants were giving away free food to empty freezers. No work tomorrow for most of us either. I am entering this by cell phone! Have to log off now to conserve batteries.

Ike Report, 12:00 Saturday

The storm is expected to land in Galveston in about one and a half hours.

Ike Report, 11:30 Friday

Ike's eye is about 40 miles off Galveston. There is heavy rain from downtown Houston east to along I-10 east of the city (more than 2" per hour). Downtown Houston is getting gusts to 65 mph. Along the coast there is a lot of rain and most of the west part of Galveston is under water.

Ike Report, 11:00 Friday

There is a very light rain at the moment but we still have power and the wind hasn't changed much in the last hour.

Ike Report, 10:00 Friday

The winds continue to pick up and are said to be up to 50 mph in parts of Houston (must be gusts). They are less than that here and we still don't have any rain. Storm surge into parts of Galveston Bay are said to potentially get to 20'. For an idea of what that could mean, go to this site to see before and after scenarios: Storm Surge

Ike Report, 9:00 Friday

We still have all utilities, but according to the news, about a quarter of a million people have lost their power now. Curfews have been declared in most towns, including Humble. I stepped outside and we are having winds, but still haven't really received any rain. I am sure it is coming...

Ike is coming

Ike is definitely coming. These are the last photographs I am likely to take before morning. The wind is picking up and apparently power is out in some places south....

Sunset before Ike

Red at night, sailor's delight. I don't think so...

Haiku for Ike

boarded homes
streets and stores empty
Ike comes

Another Self Portrait

It must have been a better day at work - I am much more relaxed in this photograph :-) And you may be thinking I have become my own favorite photographic subject, but not really. It is true that I am quite fond of myself, but not as a photographic subject. Teresa has been a good sport, but I take a lot of time fooling around and trying to find the right setup.

My rule of thumb used to be it took 10 shots to get a photograph I thought was pretty good. My standards have gone up though and most human subjects get bored before I get the picture I want. So lots of times I am stuck with inaminate objects or when I really get desperate, myself.

In this case the goal was to find lighting that looks good on me. It took about 20 shots to get this one. It is soft light with me looking almost directly into an umbrella bounced flash. There is a white reflector camera left to soften the shadows. Another flash is pointed at the wall just to lighten it a bit and for separation. It is time to go back to pictures of inaminate objects again...

Self Portrait

This is me after a really bad day at work and then the dog bites me when I get home and there is no beer in the refrigerator. Except that I don't have a dog. But it was a hard week at work and yesterday there wasn't any beer.

You get this kind of look in Photoshop by increasing contrast, taking out color, and highlighting wrinkles and such. I let the eyes shine through (double click and look at the eyes). Creepy in a cool kind of way.

Helping Hand

I have taken an interest recently in lighting and portraiture. Edgy lighting appeals to me, but it isn't always flattering to the subject. So I tried photographing my own hands. Hands in some ways are as expressive as faces and men are supposed to have rough hands anyway. For this picture, I had hard direct light from camera left, and then blended some color from the original back into a B&W version of my hand. I then increased the contrast and added noise to make it look grittier.

Ring lit Teddy Bear

Over the weekend I was squandering my time and got to looking at different kinds of lighting used in photography. The ring light is a fairly esoteric light that completely surrounds the lens and gives a flat, but at the same time somewhat soft light - especially to close items. It is used mainly for lighting super models and insects from what I can tell. Oh yes, they are expensive.

So I made my own ring light out of styrofoam, reflective paper, duck tape, and poster board. I didn't have a super model at hand but pressed Megan's old teddy into service. It gives really nice light as you can see, but it can also highlight any imperfections. That is why you don't see a picture of me posted here.

Teddy is lit from two directions. Daylight is coming in through the window to camera right. The ring light of course is coming straight from the camera. If you click on the photograph and look in the bear's eyes you will see the window in his left eye and the ring light in both. OK, I am ready for super models now. Or bugs. More likely, bugs.

Gecko on the Screen Wire

This little gecko was eyeing me through the screen on the window while I was working at the kitchen table. He wouldn't leave me alone until I got up and took his picture. He was a small one - maybe 3" long.

Geckos are good.