The Office Wore Orchids

Large view

One of our local business establishments was sporting these in its lobby, so I thought I'd have a little fun with it....


Large view

At first I'd thought it was plastic. Then I touched it and realized it was the real thing. I'd been to the New England Flower Show several times, but this was the first time I'd really had a close encounter with an orchid. No wonder some folks are obsessed with them.



In addition to reversing the colors, I fiddled with color, contrast, gamma, and various other effects, using MS Photo Editor. Then I further manipulated the negative image:



Around 7:20 PM (EST) on February 20, I spotted Venus below the Moon. Venus is the single bright light about a third of the way up. An overexposed crescent moon, showing a bit of Earthshine and some high clouds (or a contrail), is up top. Photographed using a 4-second exposure at f/2.8.



The left-hand shot showing Earthshine was a 4-second exposure at f/4.5. The right-hand shot was a 1/30-second exposure at f/8.



The following day, Mary and I spotted this Tri-colored Heron at the "post office pond."



I used my 12x zoom for this photo. I've got a clearer shot of this species, taken from closer up, here, but this is the first time I'd seen a Tri-Colored heron in our neighborhood.

According to eNature.com, this bird, formerly called the Louisiana Heron, "is one of the most abundant herons in the Deep South. Although in the West it nests only in southern New Mexico, it is liable to turn up in late summer as far away as Arizona, California, Oregon, Colorado, and even Manitoba. The Tricolored Heron is extremely slender and moves gracefully as it searches about for frogs or fish. Despite its relatively small size, it forages in deep water; often its legs are completely underwater, and the bird appears to be swimming."

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