Round Robin Challenge: Have Some Perspective!

For the Round Robin Challenge: The Right Angle, I asked to see anything that has one or more right angles in it, either as squared up as a camera and clever photo editing will allow, or...less so. I was inspired by a screen in our front room, all full of white quare panels with black borders. But when it came time to actually take pictures for this Challenge, I went in a different direction.

See, the problem with photographing right angles is that the camera doesn't see them the same way we do. It all looks normal to us. Squares look square, oblongs look oblong, and walls go straight up and down. Our eyes and our brains are wired to interpret things that way. But there's a thing called perspective, which I don't really understand. It helps our brains to get a sense of what's near and what's far, part of the visual cues for three dimensional perception. I have no idea how it all works, but I do know, from many frustrating hours of photo editing, that cameras capture the perspective stuff, at the expense of things actually looking square or oblong. 

Look at this office complex. I've done my best to angle the photo so that the section of wall under the "Window Tint" sign is perfectly vertical. But it isn't, is it? It's just a smidge off. The base is angled slightly downward from left to right, an effect that is more obvious as we look at the walls to the right of that central one. And the higher section of roof, above the blue one, looks almost steep enough to ski down. 

Furthermore, the right angles of the parking spaces don't look like right angles at all. From this perspective, half of the angles look acute, the other half obtuse. Or am I being obtuse myself?

Here are two shots from my drive home tonight, tinkered with from PhotoStudio's FX menus just for the heck of it. The embossed one is Tucson's downtown as seen from I-10. Most of the buildings do seem to sport right angles. But the road, the wall that keeps us from driving over the edge, and even the power lines seem to go off at different angles.

There aren't a lot of rectangles in the other shot, but look at all those poles. There is an implied right angle defined by the poles being perpendicular to the ground, or in this case the freeway. But see how the poles at right and espectially left lean in from the edge of the photo!

Finally, here's a classic box shape, even our eyes probably don't see it at all perfect rectangles, not from this angle. But we know that's what they are. Weird, huh?

Now let's go see what angles other Robins have found for this Challenge!

Linking List
as of Saturday, 9/8/2012 at 6:15 AM MST


Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin
@mavarin

Jeanette - Posted!
Net On The Net
http://netonthenet.blogspot.com

Sue. - Posted!
A picture is worth 1000 words!
http://susiesphotospace.blogspot.it/

Sinder Ella
"A Modern Day Cinderella"
http://sandysinderella.blogspot.com/

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Karen

Round Robin: Inside Out

For the Round Robin Challenge: Inside Out, Outside In, I asked to see stuff outside that you would normally find inside, or stuff seen inside that you would expect to see outside. My first post tonight (scroll down) was of outside stuff seen inside recently, namely critters. For this post, I'd like to show you the consequences of leaving inside stuff outside.

It was late September, 2011. John thought the monsoon was over. Tucson's rainy season officially runs from June 15th to September 30th, but is by no means that predictable. But John was anxious to start organizing stuff in the house, and to do that he needed the space. So he took a chance, and took many boxes of stuff in storage - books, magazines, papers, collectible figures, part of John's vintage and not-so-vintage Star Trek collection, our college films, old electronics, etc. - and put them outside temporarily. You can guess what happened next.

It was a major, major storm, with lots of rain and flash flooding. Water on the concrete slab in back was about two inches deep in no time. John was at work, so it was up to me to salvage what I could.

I spent a lot of time that afternoon moving boxes near the wall to help protect them from the elements, and stacking them to keep at least some of them from sitting in the water on the ground. Unfortunately, wet cardboard doesn't stack well.

I also managed to bring in a number of things, but nothing was completely undamaged. I spent several days sorting through the rest, saving what I could. And yes, it rained at least once more as I worked. What a disaster! Seeing so many irreplaceable bits of our past either damaged or ruined was truly heartbreaking. But on the plus side, it did motivate us to sort through our junk and get rid of many boxes of less important items.

That's it for me for this week! Let's check out the other Robins' entries:

Linking List
as of 8/25/2012, 3:05 PM

Karen - posted two entries!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin
@mavarin

Jeanette - Posted!
Net On The Net
http://netonthenet.blogspot.com

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Sue - Posted!
A picture is worth 1000 words
http://susiesphotospace.blogspot.it/

Sinder Ella **Welcome, new participant!** - Posted!
"A Modern Day Cinderella"
http://sandysinderella.blogspot.com/

Rita - Posted!
Cashjocky and the "Old Salt"
http://cashjocky.blogspot.com/2012/08/inside-out-or-outside-in_25.html

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com


And don't forget: everyone is welcome to join in on the Round Robin meme. Click here for details!

Karen

Round Robin: Outside In

For the Round Robin Challenge: Inside Out, Outside In, I asked to see stuff outside that you would normally find inside, or stuff seen inside that you would expect to see outside. I have examples of both for you. This first post is of outside stuff seen inside. Namely, critters! From time to time, representatives of many species of Arizona wildlife find their way into the house, from black widows to geckos. For example:

This lizard turned up next to our bathroom scale on July 18th. I photographed him before catching him to release outside. We get lizards in the house fairly often.

This was in my tub on August 2nd. I thought for a moment that it was a centipede, but soon realized it was a caterpillar. I Googled "Arizona red caterpillar" and soon discovered it was a pipevine swallowtail butterfly - or would be someday.

But I couldn't let it stay in my bathtub! So I caught it and put ot on the bathroom windowsill, expecting it to crawl away. But no: it liked the edge of my window, and decided to stay.

The caterpillar changed color over the next few days, until it was fairly obviously a pupa or cocoon. On August 13th, I noticed a slit at the top. The butterfly had emerged! But where was it?

I gently lifted the Venetian blinds. Behind them, two pipevine swallowtails struggled to get a grip on the window, or escape outside, or both.

One of them quickly escaped. The other struggled a moment longer.

Finally it got hold of the edge of the window. Then it was gone. Oddly, I found a lizard on the ledge a few minutes later. It darted away when I pointed my camera at it.

Then last week, John told me there was a new pupa in the bedroom, over the air conditioner. I'm watching for further developments.

I'll have a second post in the few minutes. Meanwhile, check out the other Robins' entries:


Linking List
as of 8/25/2012, 3:05 PM

Karen - posted two entries!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin
@mavarin

Jeanette - Posted!
Net On The Net
http://netonthenet.blogspot.com

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Sue - Posted!
A picture is worth 1000 words
http://susiesphotospace.blogspot.it/

Sinder Ella **Welcome, new participant!** - Posted!
"A Modern Day Cinderella"
http://sandysinderella.blogspot.com/

Rita - Posted!
Cashjocky and the "Old Salt"
http://cashjocky.blogspot.com/2012/08/inside-out-or-outside-in_25.html

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Karen

Round Robin: It's (Not) A Dry Heat

For this week's Round Robin Photo Challenge: Hot! Hot! Hot!, I asked to see pictures that somehow convey the impression of heat. Short of showing a thermometer or a fire, this is a little tricky, and I'm not sure I've quite managed it. But here are some shots taken in Tucson in July and August, during the summer monsoon when we have both heat and humidity. This morning it was in the 80s, with humidity in the 40s; this afternoon it hit 108 with only 14% humidity. Hot enough for you?

The dogs catch some shade at the ramada (a sheltered area, with a roof but no walls) by the Boneyard (airplane graveyard). This must be when I lost that washcloth!

Protection against the heat: my hat and the dogs' foldable water dish.

Not much shade at the moment at Michael Perry Park.

A dry lakebed at Agua Caliente Park.

The dreadful orange sky of a stormy sunset reminds us of the heat of the sun itself.

Now let's see what other Robins found that was really hot!


Linking List
as of Saturday, August 11th
(almost) Midnight MST


Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin
@mavarin

Freda - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Carly  - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Rita - Posted!
Cashjocky's Photos
http://cashjockysphotos.blogspot.com/2012/08/wheres-smores.html



Karen

Round Robin: This Odd House

For this week's Round Robin Challenge: That's Odd!, I had the idea that I would show you some recent shots of the strange and  semi-wonderful stuff on display outside a local antique mall, including three winged bison (buffalo wings, get it?) and most recently a rather odd giraffe. But about the same time I posted this topic, I discovered an even weirder collection of oddities, outside a house at the other end of my own neighborhood. For years I've referred to our house, Casa Blocher, as the Museum of the Weird, a term that comes from an early concept for what became Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. We have lots of weird and odd stuff in our house, from an extremely silly Cugat painting to a canned earthquake to Star Trek Silly Putty. But after seeing the front yard and especially the fence in front of this other Terra Del Sol house, I'm tempted to cede the name to my neighbor's home. Now, that's really odd!

I first noticed this house about two weeks ago, and it took me about a week and a half to find it again, so long that I almost began to suspect it was magically hidden from me. And why not? There's a lot of supernatural imagery here: jack-o'-lanterns, ghosts, witches, skeletons, at least one devil and I think even a few zombies in the background.

But what really catches the eye as one walks past this house is the assortment of heads on spikes. Sure, they're only doll's heads, mostly, and some aren't even heads. But how often do you see dolls' heads impaled  on fence posts?

Still, the fence is mostly full of smiling faces, and there's actually a welcome sign. I think it's safe to walk by this weird and wonderful house!

Karen

I'll be posting more photos on FaceBook and Google+ momentarily.Meanwhile, check out the other Rbons' oddities!

Linking List
as of Saturday, July 28th
1:24 AM MST

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin
http://www.tumblr.com/blog/mavarin
@mavarin

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Freda - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.comKaren

Round Robin: A Convocation of Angels

...on my neighbor's wall!

For the Round Robin Challenge: On the Wall, I've already shown you some of the lizards, terra cotta suns and other items that decorate the front walls of my neighbors' homes (scroll down). But there is also a large concentration of items sitting or standing on top of a high wall near Terra Del Sol Park. Let's look at that next.

I didn't notice these until this morning, mostly because it's usually dark outside when I walk through that part of my neighborhood. What is all that stuff on the wall?

Are those angels? Are they all angels? As in, St. Michael and All Angels?

Well, they are all angels, but not all angels are there, if you know what I mean. I didn't see a St. Michael., for example, although I could have overlooked him.

Now let's check out what other Robins found on walls!


Linking List
as of July 14, 2012, 7:30 AM MST

Karen - Two entries posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin
@mavarin

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/#!/ondinemonet

Freda
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Sue - Posted!
A picture is worth 1000 words
http://susiesphotospace.blogspot.it/

Rita aka Cashjocky ***Welcome back!*** - Posted!
Cashjacky and the "Old Salt"
http://cashjocky.blogspot.com



Karen

Round Robin: Neighbors Leave Things Hanging

...on their walls, that is!

For the Round Robin Challenge: On the Wall, I had the rather romantic, overly optimistic notion that I could show you a photo of a real live lizard on the side of a wall, possibly even the large, colorful one I saw climbing a wall at church a few weeks ago. Alas, none of the live lizards I've seen since that day were on walls. Fences, but not walls!

But this morning as I walked through my neighborhood, I saw lots of fake lizards on lots of walls. It quite a common motif around here. And I do have an old photo of a live lizard on our back wall, so I'm throwing him in here for comparison.

Even more common than stylized lizards on the fronts of Tucson homes are terra cotta or ceramic suns. Here are a few of the many found in my neighborhood, Terra Del Sol. That means "Land of the Sun." Appropriate, no? Even though it did rain a little bit today.

There are lots of other bits of decor hanging on brick walls (and a few wooden ones) near my home. Here are some of them.

I have a completely different category of things on neighbors' walls I'd like to show you, but I'll put that in a separate post. Meanwhile, let's check out what other Robins found on walls!


Linking List
as of July 14, 2012, Midnight MST

Karen - Two entries
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin
@mavarin

Carly
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/#!/ondinemonet

Freda
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Sue - Posted!
A picture is worth 1000 words
http://susiesphotospace.blogspot.it/

Rita aka Cashjocky ***Welcome back!*** - Posted!
Cashjacky and the "Old Salt"
http://cashjocky.blogspot.com

Karen