This weekend marks the 167th edition of the oldest sailing competition in North America. Hosted by the New York Yacht Club in Newport RI. It began on Friday with a circumnavigation of Conanicut Island (Jamestown), and continues with several races through Sunday June 13th. Photo opportunities were ideal on Friday as the wind was out of the Northeast allowing for colorful Jennaker or spinnaker flying on all legs of the race. I was able to capture several shots of individual boats in various stages of competition but the attached photo is one of my personal favorites. It shows a group of four yachts approaching the Beavertail mark ( just out of the view on the right). The boats were close to each other as no captain wants to lose time by leaving too much water to the mark. Of course the telephoto lens compresses the view even more so they look like they are about to collide.

Tagged up with a friend to shoot a few locations near Chickamauga, GA in the hopes of catching some “sweet light” and fall color. Up at 4:30...on our way by 5:30...conditions were less than ideal but we had a lot of fun just getting out and made all the lemonade we could. One location I didn’t know existed before Thursday was the Chickamauga Coke Ovens. Around 1900 coal was mined near Lookout Mountain, shipped by train to the coke ovens to be processed into coke then shipped to various Chattanooga steel mills. The ovens are a row of brick kilns, domed or inverted beehive shaped spaces with a vent in the center roof, about five feet high and ten feet in diameter with a doorway opening large enough to shovel coal in and coke out. They must have stacked loose brick in the doorways to enclose the oven while they were burning the coal down. A mound of earth connects the brick ovens and further insulates the entire row. The coke ovens operated until 1951 when the coal mine vein ran out. I used a fisheye lens inside the ovens which yielded about the only composition I could imagine but I wasn’t prepared to control the ambient light from the doorway or vent. I’ve written a paragraph to explain my photograph because I’m not at all satisfied with this presentation. I only include it so you can zoom in to see the “melted bricks”. Hope you enjoy.

I have with interest observed the "Bokeh" worship and the razor thin focus worship.
I saw a new f1.2 lens introduction photo were the model's eye was the only thing in focus.
It got me to thinking how after we get over this Bokeh and thin focus fad how many of the current photos will become a dated joke like homes of the 80's are Architectural jokes now.
I personally like to see the whole face in focus not just the eye and ears etc. all fuzzy.
The photo of my grandmother to me beats an eye only in focus and will be timeless after the eye only is relegated to a silly fad and an embarrassment.

Iglesia del Sagrario in Granada, Spain

In 2017 I traveled with my church choir to Granada, Spain. One afternoon we made a walking tour to the Cathedral, but it was closed. I went instead into the adjacent Iglesia del Sagrario, a very beautiful church in its own right. These are photos of that church. I regret that I could not do full correction of perspective on some.

Exterior views

DSC_5837.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5839.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr

Interior views

DSC_5819.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5835.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5827.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5828.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5829.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5830.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5831.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5836.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5821.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5822.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5824.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5825.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr


DSC_5826.jpg by David Casteel, on Flickr

The USS SLATER is a WWII Destroyer Escort, which has been undergoing a continuous restoration project since 1993 when the ship was towed to New York City. The first in a long line of volunteer crews began chipping away at her in an attempt to restore her to her 1945 condition. This project has continued after the ship was moved to Albany in 1997, where she is moored as a floating museum. Throughout the years, the SLATER has undergone a thorough overhaul, which included the removal of all the modifications that had been done to her after she had been transferred to the Greek Navy, chipping and repainting nearly every inch of her hull, decks, and bulkheads, and the location and re-installation of several tons of authentic WWII naval equipment. The restored spaces were stocked with not only the requisite equipment found aboard every naval vessel, but also the personal items and gear of the men who once served aboard her.

On Sunday, June 5, 2020, the USS Slater made a trip down the Hudson River to the Caddell Dry Dock and Repair Co. Shipyard in Staten Island, to have further needed restoration work done to her hull in dry dock. She is expected to return to Albany once the work is completed in August. The USS Slater is also the only WWII Destroyer Escort still afloat in the United States.

These are a few photos I took as she sailed past Poughkeepsie, NY on Sunday, around 5:00PM. The conditions were not the greatest as far as the light goes. It was 96°, with hazy, bright sun.

If you are interested, I included the links to the Slater's webpage and FB page.

https://www.ussslater.org/

https://www.facebook.com/USS.Slater/

I took these photos in mid-May on my first visit to see my mother in nearly two months. Between Mom's decline and my dog Ted's decline and trying to catch up on rescheduling six weeks of cancelled grooming appointments, I didn't even look at them until a few days ago. By then we had had to close our shop AGAIN because I needed to get the coronavirus test and of course one cannot work with the public if there's a chance one is infected. The test came back negative, but in the interim I also lost Ted.

Where am I going with this? Good question; this has all the earmarks of a grief-inspired ramble, and probably it is. But when I revisited the spring beauty of the Sonoran desert through my images, with the yellow-blossoming Palo Verde trees and newly blooming saguaros everywhere, I was reminded of the many good things we have to be thankful for. As Curudgeon noted in his recent post, the desert is heating up in a serious way, and becoming almost unbearably bright, according to plan. Yet the Sonoran desert is a lovely place in any season. You just need to know when to go, where to look. There is beauty everywhere if we only take the time for it.

I hope you are all well.