Happy 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

to all

and may all the clicks of your shutters

be superb images!

Reflections - of snow

A snow covered yard reflected in the door window.

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James of Newtown Area Photo.

Reflections - red and gold

I hope you have a ball this

Christmas

Reflections - Sunrise December 15

The sunrise reflected in our shed window. For some direct images of the sunrise check my Sky Watch.

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James of Newtown Area Photo.

Gates and Alleys - To the back

Alley in shadows

Gated alley

Reflections - Carroll Creek lights

The faint reflection of the Christmas lights strung in a tree near Market Street and the lights along the creek reflected under the pedestrian bridge.

Reflections - or UFO's?

What are those bright lights in the dark sky? Actually, they are reflections inside the optics of the camera lens. The bright lights in the parking lot bounce around in the lens and are detected by the sensor.

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James of Newtown Area Photo.

Reflections - Rear view

The view behind me on Market Street where I had stopped briefly.

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James of Newtown Area Photo.

Gates and alleys - Gate to where?

The buildings on this plot of land were demolished several years ago. All that remains is a section of fence and this always open gate. The double gate in the alley below provides access to the backyards of the neighbors on either side.

Reflections - Carroll Creek east

View east from the pedestrian bridge. Last week's reflections were taken on the north side of the creek of the two buildings on the right in this view.

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James of Newtown Area Photo.

Reflections in Carroll Creek

Delaplaine Arts Center

All Saints Street Parking garage

Eastern sky, late afternoon

Verified words? - 14-th edition

The last edition of Verified Words was in August and blogger just keeps on creating new words. Occasionally, some real words (sallows, taming, brink) appeared as I commented on your blogs, but here are three more "word verifications" that required definitions. Below are my definitions along with the suggestions of dictionary.com and wikipedia. First edition was posted as Round 1. Today's words:

ablef
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "abled".
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "able".
Lew's definition: able-f - the right f-stop for a photo.

sesesses
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "assesesses".
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "senses".
Lew's definition: s-es-es-es - an over abundance of s's (plural to the max).

pition
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "piation".
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "potion".
Lew's definition: pi-tion - 1/3.14159 part of a pie.

Gates & alleys - Chapel and Maxwell

In the cities and towns that date to the 1800's (or earlier), there are narrow streets and alleys. Many of the plots of land are narrow and deep, making access to the back of the property difficult without the alleys that run along the backside of the property. The old section of the City of Frederick has a number of alleys, some of them used frequently by travelers. Chapel Alley (above) is one such alley running one-way north. Interestingly, Maxwell Avenue (below) is one block west of Chapel Alley and is one-way south, leaving little distinction between alley and avenue.

Reflections - More windows in Frederick

The windows of Patrick's Irish Pub are always good for reflections. The restaurant is on the south side of the Patrick Street with other interesting buildings on the north side. Below is another window reflection in Frederick.

Gates and alleys - New gate

With a few pieces of lumber and some deck screws, I made a new gate to replace the one that collapse on us earlier this year. I had called or visited most of the fencing places in the area and found they only had three-rail style gates. It seems that the housing developers and homeowners assocaitions in new developments have decreed that only three-rail fences are allowed and thus the disappearance of gates to match our old fence.

Here is the old gate still on the other side of the house that will also be replaced soon.

And with this post I am staring a new theme Gates and alleys, which will appear here from time to time. Downtown Frederick has some interesting gates and alleys and I will post some shots of them.

Reflections - Across the lake

This is the far end of Greenbrier Lake (Sky Watch second image) on a breezy afternoon with muted reflections of the trees.

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James of Newtown Area Photo.

Reflections - On Market Street

While in Frederick last Sunday for the Rose Hill Carriage Drive, I captured the above reflection of the sun from the windows on the left onto the wall. And after the carriages passed, this 1956 Ford offered reflections of the buildings nearby.

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James of Newtown Area Photo.

War birds

On Wednesday Marianne yelled at me to get my camera. She had spotted a large bird on a fence post in our yard and several more in the field. As I raised my camera to get a shot through the window, several turkey vultures took flight. Outside I found five of them riding the wind higher and higher. As I took a few shots of these birds, I heard the distinct sound of an old prop plane somewhere beyond the trees. Then between the trees I saw a WW II B-17 that was circling towards the Frederick Airport.

I stopped by the airport as I ran some other errands and found three WW II aircraft parked: a B-24 Liberator, a B-17 flying Fortress and a P-51 Mustang. The planes are part of the Collins Foundation Wings of Freedom tour, a "flying history" tour currently hopping from airport to airport along the east coast.

The B-17G Flying Fortress is one of 14 B-17's still flying in the US. This aircraft was completed in April 1945 and did not see combat, but did see service in air/sea rescue and military air transport. In 1952 the plane was subjected to three nuclear explosions and after a cool down period was sold as scrap. Aircraft Specialties Company restored the plane and it served as a fire bomber, dropping water and borate. In 1986 she was bought by the Collins Foundation and restored to her original wartime configuration by Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft. The "Nine-0-Nine" designation honors the the 91-st Bomb Group, 323-rd Squadron plane of the same name that flew 140 missions without an abort or loss of a crewman. The original plane was scrapped after the war.

Looking up the bomb bay

The B-24J Liberator is the only restored flying B-24 in the world. This B-24 was built in 1944 and served under the British flag in the Pacific Theater. It was restored by Collins in 1989 and painted with the insignia of the US 15-th Army Air Force. It now carries the insignia of the 8-th Air Force to honor those who served in England in WW II. The original "Witchcraft" B-24 (assigned to the 467 Bomb Group) flew 130 combat missions. After the war the original Witchcraft was scrapped.

50 caliber protection

The allied bombers needed more protection on the bombing missions into Europe and the P-51 Mustang was developed to fill this need. The P-51 began to accompany the bombers deep into Axis territory in 1942. Nearly 5,000 of these single-seat fighters were built for British and US forces. A few were modified to carry a passenger in a second seat. The Collins P-51 is the only dual-control P-51. The markings and name "Betty Jane" honor Col Charles McCorkle, a P-51 pilot and commander of the 31-st Fighter group in the Mediterranean Theatre.

B-17 and escort head east to Westminster, MD

Plane reflections

Reflected B-24 and its shadow

On Wednesday the Collins Foundation brought its Wings of Freedom tour to Frederick Airport. I happened to spot the B-24 andB-17 as they approached the airport and went to see why they were here. There was also a P-51 on the tarmac. Frederick was the third stop for these three WW II vintage aircraft. The Collins Foundation has restored them and takes them to communities around the US as a living history tour. While viewing (and photographing) these magnificent aircraft, I spotted some unusual reflections. More images of the planes in another post soon.

Reflection of the B-24 on the side of the P-51

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James of Newtown Area Photo.

Reflections - Night at Carroll Creek

After Saturday in Frederick at Oktoberfest and First Saturday, and dinner by the creek, I took some night shots as we walked along the creek back to the car. For some day time shots of this area see my Sky Watch from September 10.

Oktoberfest in Frederick

Oktoberfest was celebrated in Frederick last weekend. The event is spearheaded by two Rotary Clubs of Frederick and raises money to support Rotary Club efforts and local charities. Frederick has had a tie to Germany since colonial days when German immigrants settle in this area. This year feature music by Die Immergrün Musikanten.

While the band played and people danced at one end of the hall, food was served at the other. The people standing at the right edge of the image above were waiting to eat (including me behind the camera). At the end of the line there was sauerbratten, bratwurst, knockwurst, potato salad, sauerkraut, strudel, German chocolate cake and Black Forest cake. Plenty of bier was available (but I am the designated driver, so we had apple cider). Later we grabbbed some delicious strudel from this vendor.

Arts and crafts vendors are a big part of the festival. We were disappointed that some of our favorites from last year did not return, but the chain saw sculpture was their and we bought a new wooden jack-o-latern. (Marianne posted more shots.)

And if your wear traditional German dress (drindl or lederhosen) admission was free (otherwise it was $5). I like the hats (this gentleman did qualify for free admission).

Reflections - of me

Often the photographer is caught in an image where mirrors are in the field of view. For these shots I purposely included my reflection. The first two were taken during my walk through Ballston and the third is our van reflecting some of the neighborhood. Do you recognize this yellow device with the reflective center?

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James of Newtown Area Photo.

Reflections - More from First Saturday

Flowers and mirrors in a window

The whole window and reflected sky

Reflection under the bridge