Autumn colors just starting here in NC

 

I've heard (and seen, through pictures) from my friends and family back in Indiana that fall colors there are in full glory, which is not surprising. I recall taking a swing through Indy's Garfield Park on this very date in 2004, and the colors were vibrant that day.

Leaves are just now starting to turn colors here in North Carolina. Leaves on trees are still mostly green, but fallen leaves -- as you can seen in the pictures in this post -- are colorful. The second photo below, which focuses on the leaves on the roof alongside my office window -- are almost all yellow, orange or brown. 

It has been a while since I added a post to my "View from the Office Window" series, so I figured these would be a nice change of pace, at least short term. This was a quick turn-around; I shot these pics with my iPhone 11 only 10 minutes before I activated this post. That might just be a speed record for Photo Potpourri. 

If nothing else, the pictures show how foliage on the Crepe Myrtle tree just outside my office has gotten denser still the last "View from the Office Window" post, leaving me little open view of the detached garage in the distance. 

I have been immersed in several projects for the past few months. The that has consumed most of my team mostly involved writing, but there were some pictures involved as well. I completed that project early this month. 

Two of the projects I'm currently juggling involve lots of pictures, although none of them are from recent or new photo shoots. All of these projects are keeping me busy in my mostly stay-at-home days while riding out the COVID-19 pandemic. 

I'll be presenting samples of one of those picture projects in this blog in the next week or so. This project entails revisiting a photo shoot from 2011.  

In the interim, enjoy this small and brief glimpse of a North Carolina autumn in COVID 2020. 

View from the office window: Photographing elusive cardinal

For a couple months, I've seen a cardinal or two foraging for food or nest-making material on the roof of my sun room as I've looked out the windows while working in an upstairs office.

Of course, each time I saw a cardinal I immediately thought "pictures!" but this colorful bird can see me through the same window I saw him, and the moment he saw movement inside the office -- i.e., me dashing across the room to grab my camera -- he made himself scarce.

The more I saw the cardinal(s), the more I wanted to photograph them. So about two weeks ago, I decided to set up my camera with the appropriate long-range lens and keep it on my desktop at all times unless I was using it out on a shoot. Several days passed without any luck.

It finally paid off early the morning of Oct. 1 -- a few hours before I would leave the house to do the Lake Benson photo shoot (see previous post). The pictures in this post are the result.

Photo geek stuff: I had to make some quick adjustments on the camera's shutter speed and ISO to make things work on my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm Di VC PZD lens set at the maximum focal range (300mm) and an ISO of 4000 (remember, it was very early morning, just a couple hours after dawn). So there is some noise in the images, and at 300mm, and because of that -- and because I had to shoot through a window, I had so-so luck with optimum sharpness.

Renewable energy is coming our way

Today's post is a combination of my "View from the Office Window" series and a recent experience watching solar energy panels installed on the south-facing side of the detached garage at home.

The photo leading off the post shows the installers from Solar Dollar Energy of Raleigh in mid-project; the supporting rails have been afixed to the roof, and they are progressing toward putting in all the panels. The project began on June 13, and as of today, Tuesday, the 19th, all the panels are in, and we are supposedly activated.

Our electric utility, Duke Energy, has not installed its dual meter or officially put us on their energy credit account just yet. That should come in the next day or so (Note added on July 2: Duke installed the new dual meter on June 28, the date our monthly electric bill officially started benefiting from the panels' energy generation).

The pictures in this post were taken with a combination of my Canon 6D camera (equipped with a Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens and the camera on my iPhone X.

Above and next three below: Early stages of the installation, when workers installed the panel-supporting rails. The metal flashing-like pieces were slipped under the roofing tile in each spot. In the second photo below, you can see the crew member loosening the one tile where a metal piece would go.

Above: Solar panels are stacked near the ladder, ready to be carried up to the roof. 

Above and below: Long-range and closeups of the installation work as seen from the window in my office. Late on below, I'll present a closeup of one of those blooms on the flowered tree you see on the left.

Above: The finished roof of panels in a photo taken at the end of the work day Monday. A swing set for the grandkids to enjoy while visiting is mostly out of the picture on the left. 

More shots taken from the office window. In order, from above to the next two below: The bloom from the tree next to my office, a shot of some patio stones (part of a separate project to rebuild the deck on the back of the house) and a view of the new fence we put along the lot line behind the swing set.