Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Venus

Here is a picture of a rather bright Venus in the western sky. I tried to get a picture of the cresent moon but it went down.

Tomorrow I will try to get some pictures of the moon, Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury after sunset.


Sunday, December 21, 2008

Thistles

Here are some pictures of thistles growing in Cherokee Park in Louisville Kentucky in September of 2008.






Saturday, December 20, 2008

Quartz Crystals

Here is some quartz crystals from a geode that was broken open.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Berries on a Dogwood Tree

Here are some berries on a dogwood tree that was growing in Cherokee Park located in Louisville, Kentucky.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Pyrite

Here is a piece of pyrite, I think from Peru. I was testing my light box one day and tried to photograph this specimen but it is not really that clear.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Ducks on the Ohio River

Here are some ducks on the Ohio River taken from the bank in Louisville, Kentucky.


Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Louisville Slugger Field

I took this picture several nights ago and I thought it looked neat where the baseball seems to be flying off the sign.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Space Station Fly Over

Here is a picture taken in southern Indiana near the town of Sellersburg last Friday. It is the International Space Station flying overhead from southwest to northwest. The picture was taken with a Canon Powershot Pro1 using a 15 second exposure. It is the thin golden streak in the bottom left of the picture.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

John F. Kennedy Bridge

Here is the John F. Kennedy bridge connecting Jeffersonville, Indiana to Louisville, Kentucky and spanning the Ohio River.


Friday, November 21, 2008

Sparkles

Using a 10 second exposure on the camera I took a nail and a Dremel tool with a sharpening stone and started sharpening. It was in a dark garage and you can see at the end of bright lines a orange-brown object which is the filing bit cooling off. The yellowish streak is the spark trail from the filing flying away from the sharping wheel.


Monday, November 10, 2008

Shamrocks

Last time I was in Ireland, I got a chance to see genuine Irish shamrocks along a park path.

I found this picture this weekend looking for photos to put in a photo contest.


Thursday, November 06, 2008

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Lichens Growing on Persimmon Tree

Here are some lichens growing on the bark of a persimmon tree that grows in the Purdue University research complex in New Albany, Indiana.


Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Persimmons Growing at Purdue University

Here are some persimmons growing at the Purdue University research complex in New Albany, Indiana. This tree used to be on the farm owned by the Shine family.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Purple Flowers Growing at Purdue

Here are some purple flowers growing at the Purdue University Research complex in New Albany, Indiana.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Butterfly on Purple Flowers

Here is a picture of a butterfly on purple flowers. It was taken on the Purdue Research campus in New Albany, Indiana.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Trouble on Broadway

Riding yesterday down Broadway St. in Louisville yesterday it looks like the engine blew on the car. Luckily, a police car was nearby.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Panoramic View of Lake Cumberland

Using the PhotoMerge feature on Photoshop I made this panoramic view from the boat of Lake Cumberland. Pretty neat.


Monday, October 20, 2008

Lake Cumberland, Kentucky

Over the weekend, I got to go camping at Lake Cumberland, Kentucky and study the geology of the lake. The dam is being repaired so the banks of the lake are revealed which also shows all the exposed rock. This area has a lot of exposed Mississippian period fossils which consists mostly of the animal called a crinoid.


Sunday, October 19, 2008

Blue Wild Flower

Here are some blue wild flowers growing along Taylorsville Road in Louisville, Kentucky. They are mixed among rocks that contain fossils from the Ordovician period (450 million years ago).

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Wild Flower

Here is a wild flower at a housing development along the I-265 in Louisville, Kentucky.


Thursday, October 16, 2008

Banana Flower

Here is a blooming banana plant in October in the Louisville, Kentucky area. Our friends grow these and I guess they will need to bring it in because the Kentucky winters are much too harsh for this tropical plant.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Harvest Homecoming Festival - New Albany, Indiana

Yesterday, I volunteered at the Habitat for Humanity Floyd County/New Albany Indiana chapter at their Harvest Homecoming Festival booth. This event is the only fundraiser for the organization besides donations from organizations and individuals for the year. Things seemed to be going well with brisk donations for the raffle items. The chapter is working on their 19th house.

I did not see all the booths I normally see and the chicken dumplings did not seem homemade from the ladies at the local VFW. They seemed too oily but still tasty.

The weather was warm bordering on hot. In the past, I would be getting dumplings to stay warm but not this season. Also the apple dumplings booth across from our booth was selling at $6. Yikes, I thought it use to be $4.

The drinks were still $0.50 at the Fraternal Order of Police and Boy Scout Troop 36 at Holy Family so I always try to buy drinks from them each year.

I wish I had more time to spend there but had to volunteer as the Louisville Science Center.

Friday, October 10, 2008

A Blue Flower

Here is all that remains of a blue-purple wild flower that was growing in the Purdue parking lot area on Charlestown Road, New Albany, Indiana. After the landscapers came in this area was planted with landscaping plants and mulch.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Blue Flowers

Here are some amazing blue wild flowers that were growing at the new Purdue building in New Albany. Unfortunately, they were wiped out by the landscapers who covered the area in mulch.

Monday, October 06, 2008

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Last Day of St. James Court Art Show

In this photo, I was trying to capture the St. James Court sign through the falling water of the fountain. Last day of the St. James Court Art Show in Louisville, Kentucky.


Saturday, October 04, 2008

Friday, October 03, 2008

St. James Court Art Show

I attended my first St. James Court Art Show today and it is an amazing place. So many art venues and so much creativity. It provided a lot of great ideas for class projects. Some that stood out to me was a Louisville artist that does architectural prints, a photographer that takes neat pictures of fruit and vegetables, a Louisville couple that create Egyptian art involving hieroglyphics, and some booths that specialized in astrophotography.

Here is a picture of the St. James Court fountain. It seems to always play a part in the show poster each year.



Here is a reporter from Louisville's channel 41 getting ready to file a report about the art show.




Thursday, October 02, 2008

Purdue Building Dedication

It was kind of scary at times during the dedication because geese were flying over the area where I was standing I had this bad feeling I was going to be bombed by their waste. Here was off to the side showing the Purdue flag in the wind with geese flying by.
Here is a picture of the press taking pictures of this event. I can see WLKY 32 camera crew taking some video. I saw at least 8 cameras taking pictures. I think the Courier-Journal was there as well. Let's see what was reported.



Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Purdue University - New Albany, Indiana Building

Today was the dedication to the Purdue University Building on Charlestown Road in New Albany, Indiana. The land for the building (40 acres) was donated by the Shine family who once owned 1000+ acres across Floyd County but now only this plot was left. The Shine control Samtec Corporation which I believe has $300+ million in sales so they decided to donate this land to Purdue for part of the school and the rest for an industrial/technology park.

The photo below is Purdue University's president Dr. France Cordova speaking to the group on hand for the dedication.
Below is John Shine talking about the process of how his family donated this land to Purdue.




This next photo is Sam Shine, John Shine's father explaining about his family connection to this area and how he and his brother use to work on this property. He talked of a persimmon tree he tended to fall from and how he mowed the fields of this property when he was younger. His brother was observing in the back and brought up how he got stuck in the wetlands on the property in a tractor. His main theme was that his family be good stewards of the land and this was how they would do by this donation. They also hope the technology know-how and education brings skilled workers to this area for Samtec and other local businesses.



Here are a number of people cutting the symbolic ribbon to the building. Two students, Kristen and Jonathan are holding the ribbon being cut. They are in the Computer Graphics Technology program.