Well, as you can probably see I am not in New Mexico right now... I am in San Francisco and enjoying some free time before the start of the AIA National Convention in the morning so today I went and picked up my registration material and wandered around Yurba Buena before jumping onto a trolley and riding it to Fisherman's Wharf where I hung out watching people watching the sea Lyons (and I also ate some clam chowder in the sour dough bowl, yumm). I took this picture as the sun was getting ready to set and I think it came out pretty cool. Tomorrow I will be spending the entire day in a structures seminar to prepare for my next exam on Monday. I will post some more images and maybe some of my sketches when I get a chance. I will be back in Albuquerque on Sunday evening.

A Daytime Moon...

This is a photo taken of the Moon sometime before sunset on Saturday, March 28th just prior to the beginning of the Messier Marathon at GNTO. It was taken using a new adapter I had just received for my camera that allows me to mount the camera directly in front of the eyepiece. It seems to work fairly well but will take some practice to get it just right.

Sorry, it has been sometime since I posted anything to the blog, I have not been extremely busy just a little bit lazy I think. I have not been out photographing as much as I would like to and have not been sketching much either, I have spent a lot of time studying for my next ARE exam and am kind of stressing a little about it because I am not sure I am really getting the material, I will keep on working at it though and eventually I think it will be fine.

So, I received the results from my last ARE exam (Architectural Registration Exam) Site Planning and Design and I FAILED, that sucks, but I was kind of wondering over the last few weeks about it. I was worried about one of the design vignettes and it was one of the areas I did not pass. I did not have any major errors, just some minor ones on two of the sections of the exam. I was a little sad but I decided not to let it get to me (too much) and I scheduled my next exam for May 4th. I need to keep going and keep on preparing for the other exams and then in 6 months I can take this one again and kick its butt this time (I hope).

I am determined now not to fail any more but who knows, it may happen again, and I will keep trying until I have finished them all.

Here is another GNTO sunset photo taken a couple weeks ago, it is the one I promised to post in the last post I made. How can you stay too sad when you see the wonders of the natural environment like this, sunsets in New Mexico and all the wonders in the heavens. It is inspiring me and I am ready for the next challenge.

Crescent Moon...

Another image of the Crescent Moon taken at GNTO on Saturday, February 28th, 2009. Taken with Nikon Coolpix S210 Camera mounted on Tri-pod through the eyepiece of my 13.1 Telescope. I think that I am getting better at this and am noticing more detail in the surface of the moon. I may consider trying to take a photo of the Moon this way each night for a month (or so) from the first sign of the Moon after New Moon to the last crescent of a moon after Full Moon. (No promises, that is a fairly large commitment and I am not sure I can do that yet, we will see.)

I also have a pretty terrific (in my opinion) panoramic sunset photo from GNTO that I will post soon.

Moon, Moon and again the Moon...

I am really enjoying taking pictures of the Moon through my telescope, as you can probably tell from this blog. This image was taken from the parking lot at the UNM Campus Observatory on Friday, February 6th and I think it is fairly amazing at how much clarity there is in the surface detail with a digital camera placed at the eyepiece. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I am, I am going to print a large one and try and identify some of the features visible.

Nikon CoolPix S210, F3.1, 1/152 sec., ISO-64

Don't Stir up the Dust...

It was a wonderful night for observing the crescent Moon, the air was still and the night was clear so the image through the eyepiece of my 13.1" scope was spectacular and unreal (as many said when they looked into the scope). I took a few moments in the crowds of people to take some photos through the eyepiece and am glad that I did, the lighted side of the Moon was well overexposed but the terminus is clear and crisp. The moon is still one of my favorite objects to observe in the telescope and especially at this phase so I am not surprised that others would be excited by it but I was surprised to have one of the people looking at it move away to wipe tears from her eyes as she said "it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." And as someone else said "I am afraid to sneeze because I do not want to stir up the dust" it was a good night for the moon and for me.

Friday, January 30, 2009
UNM Campus Observatory
Nikon CoolPix S210 Camera

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Well, it has been some time since I posted anything to the blog, bad me. I do not have any new photos to post, I was planning on going to Old Town to photograph the Luminaries but was not feeling very well (getting over strep) so I decided to avoid the cold and stay indoors. I was also preparing for another exam (licensing) over the holidays and with preparing for that and the holidays did not do much else.

Now that the new year is here I am thinking more about photography and other things but will try and get something new to post soon. I am looking foreword to this year and am hopping to finish my licensing exams and internship so that by the end of 2009 I will have my license to practice architecture and will have some more free time to go out and photograph.

I wish everyone a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.