Daily Challenge The April 2020 Challenge - day 29

What to say? We redid our kitchen and had to close up two windows, leaving this one. I asked if we could make it a bit deeper, thinking of plants. I seem to love creating little still life scenes all around the house, and this one evolved bit by bit. We have a 'bunny' thing going in our house, so that explains those. The turtle? He opens up and holds our garage door opener. The plant on the right comes from a philodendron I took from my mom's condo in Florida sixteen years ago after she died. I do love standing at the sink looking at the little world I've created. Neither rain nor Covid nor snow can keep me from smiling inside. And oh, the cylinder on the right holds our compost, and that allows me to feel that I'm being respectful of life. From dust to dust.

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Day 29: garbage collection day in quarantine in a small (Oregon) town

Today, Wednesday, is garbage (aka trash aka rubbish) collection day, at least in the area of the smallish (population approx 7,500) Oregon city where I live. Life in a small semi-rural town is definitely different than existence in a large bustling metropolitan area and, in this time of quarantine and Corona-virus-induced shelter-at-home lockdowns in so many parts of the world, I know what I experience in a tiny town is different than what I have read about. Starting in several cities in Italy and Spain where very severe lockdown-stay-at-home provisions have been a matter of life-and-death, literally, and have been strictly enforced - I read (and watched the viral videos) and was moved by the stories of spontaneous applause, in Italian and Spanish cities (and later the Big Apple), when the sanitation workers (a euphemism for many things, including garbagemen) came by on their nightly rounds. Those cooped up and penned up inside - wanted (and still want) to give public thanks and recognition to those who don't have the luxury of 'sheltering' - those who must get out there and keep performing exhaustive and often filthy societal tasks which probably put them in infection's way more often than those of us staying inside, (those of us 'sheltering' at 'home', words which have so many meanings). So---

So, yeah, today was garbage pickup day in my town. The garbage-persons drive by every Wednesday morning, in their truck, to pick up (or empty) the trash bins, carts or receptacles one leaves out for them. In a real sense, the garbage persons are 'forgotten' or 'invsible' people of society - those whose labors we depend upon, but, we really never see....and almost never look at. As a related sidenote, Peter Turnley has been documenting many of them in his current ongoing (and truly extraordinary) series of documentary photographs over the last month (check his feed on Instagram, @PeterTurnley, for some remarkable images, and even more remarkable stories). But--

But here in a small southern Oregon town, it hit me - I depend on my faceless sanitation workers just as much as the folks in NYC or London or Mexico City or Tokyo do - and I never recognize them, or even say thank you.

This morning, I decided to try to do something, in my own small way, to change that. And left a present, atop my trash can, out on the street, awaiting its morning sanitation pickup. Here it is---

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For the rest of the story - and a few more pictures - look in the Outtakes & Alternatives thread, where I will post it-slash-them, shortly.

Moral of the story (not that the story or any story needs a moral, because it doesn't, not really): photographers are supposed to see things in different ways...but it astounds me how little I allow myself to see, all too often. Sigh.
 
What to say? We redid our kitchen and had to close up two windows, leaving this one. I asked if we could make it a bit deeper, thinking of plants. I seem to love creating little still life scenes all around the house, and this one evolved bit by bit. We have a 'bunny' thing going in our house, so that explains those. The turtle? He opens up and holds our garage door opener. The plant on the right comes from a philodendron I took from my mom's condo in Florida sixteen years ago after she died. I do love standing at the sink looking at the little world I've created. Neither rain nor Covid nor snow can keep me from smiling inside. And oh, the cylinder on the right holds our compost, and that allows me to feel that I'm being respectful of life. From dust to dust.

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This is really lovely!
 
Day 29, On a bike ride after rains last night. I stopped by this spillway at Oyster Creek. The sound and light caught my attention. It made me remember that we are all ~60% water. Water is the main ingredient that makes our world so full of life. So diverse and beautiful. With one more day left in this challenge, I wanted to thank everyone who has contributed. For me, it has made this troubled time a bit more tolerable. As each of you use photography in such different ways to show us all some of your part of our world’s beauty.
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I missed yesterday. This week has been a bit off so far with multiple doctor appointments, tests, tele-health chats, early wake-ups and lack of sleep, deliveries, and very early curb-side grocery pickup. My brain is wiped out right now and what little creativity I had is on vacation. So...

M O O N

X-H1 + 100-400, handheld, approximate 30% illumination this evening.

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It will take me a day or two to get caught up on the threads.
 
Educate me. Is this lens a macro? Wondering how you get so close and get most of that thready thing in focus and everything out, but nicely so.

This little Lumix LX 100.2 astonishes me every day I use it. It's the always-with-me camera.
The Leica zoom lens (2,8/12-40) is of an unbelievable quality and all the regulations can be done on the outside (even a ring on the lens for personal option what you want, I use it mostly for ISO quickchange). And yes, it has a macro (close-up would be more appropriate) option where I can get as close as less than 1 cm to the front lense. Yet very little DOF as you can see.
The only thing they forgot (at that price!) is a movable LED display, alas!
 
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This little Lumix LX 100.2 astonishes me every day I use it. It's the always-with-me camera.
The Leica zoom lens (2,8/12-40) is of an unbelievable quality and all the regulations can be done on the outside (even a ring on the lens for personal option what you want, I use it mostly for ISO quickchange). And yes, it has a macro (close-up would be more appropriate) option where I can get as close as less than 1 cm to the front lense. Yet very little DOF as you can see.
The only thing they forgot (at that price!) is a movable LED display, alas!
After the less-than-successful interlude with the GR III (a camera too different from the GR I had before and somehow "go"), I'm really starting to miss the effortless reliability I experienced from the LX100 - a very versatile, very well thought-through camera. I know it's not everybody's cup of tea, and I opted (with some reluctance) for the other great compromise camera, the Canon G1X III - but I have to say that the LX100 was a very rewarding camera to own and shoot, even more so than the G1X III. The G1X III is the more versatile camera thanks to its weather-resistance and flip screen, and it has a more usable EVF and slightly snappier performance, but the lens on the LX100 was most definitely superior. The LX100 II is a very enticing camera as well because it shares the very good :mu43: sensor of the GX9 ...

Just a little additional information: The lens is a 24-72mm equivalent with a variable aperture of f/1.7 to f/2.8 - but all focal lengths perform well enough for just about any subject at f/2.8, so that's what I used to set the aperture ring to - that or f/4 ... (the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 is a superior lens - but much, much bigger and heavier). This way, you get very, very compelling results and can just about snap away ...

M.
 
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This little Lumix LX 100.2 astonishes me every day I use it. It's the always-with-me camera.
The Leica zoom lens (2,8/12-40) is of an unbelievable quality and all the regulations can be done on the outside (even a ring on the lens for personal option what you want, I use it mostly for ISO quickchange). And yes, it has a macro (close-up would be more appropriate) option where I can get as close as less than 1 cm to the front lense. Yet very little DOF as you can see.
The only thing they forgot (at that price!) is a movable LED display, alas!
This one? Panasonic Lumix DC-LX100 II Digital Camera with Accessory Kit
 
Second to last, and thus, a real one-off: 3^3-3^0=2^2+3^2+4^2 - a prime, even a twin prime, though this month without its twin ... singular, so to speak.

Sorry, maths trivia and word play again, I'll save the last treat for tomorrow ;)

M.

P.S. The "nickel" thing was in fact "28" - the number of protons in its transitional heart ... I still like that song anyway, though ...
Maths trivia and word play, what could be better??!! Thank you for these bits of brightness you have injected into each day of this challenge.
 
I would echo what Walter says above, I have the Leica D Lux 109 which equates to the original Lumix LX100. I find that the self opening lens cover is an excellent accessory. Be warned that with it in place as designed that you can't put the likes of a protective UV filter on the lens. Being an engineer I've made a small modification such that I can. In terms of the accessory kit B+H are advertising it's only a memory card and soft pouch, so no big deal either way I would suggest. I've carried out lens tests comparing mine to a Panasonic GX7 with 15, 25 and 45mm primes and I can say that the Leica zoom lens on it stands comparison with those lenses, much to my surprise.

Barrie
 
I'm sitting here in my zone, sipping an Ardbeg, listening to Vigil In The Wilderness of Mirrors by Fish on my AKG K601 connected to the iFi hip-dac. Suddenly your order came to mind. Inquiring minds.... did it bring what you hoped it'd do?
Oh, yes, and then some :) The Mojo is a fantastic piece of kit, and a sound revelation indeed; didn't have time to fully set up the Poly, but I'm not missing that for the time being. Listening through the Mojo pushes the Sennheiser HD 560 Ovation II and the HD 25-1 to new heights - and it makes the former fully mobile-friendly. The B&W PX5 doesn't seem to profit as much - it falls behind the HD 25-1. But that's without any adaptations, just plain signal. Overall, it's a joy, sourcing from both the smartphone and the computer. As for other setups, that's for another time - very busy right now with stuff that needs doing, and this wants leisure.

As for the Ardbeg: I raise you an Oban Little Bay :) Sláinte mhath!

M.
 
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