J and Sarah's new puppy, Sunshine Daydream Benson, paid us a visit a couple of weeks back. This was the best shot I could get of her because she is constantly moving and everything just comes out as golden blur (see back leg). It was great having a puppy to play with; however, Callie, our cat, wasn't too thrilled with the new family member.
The view is facing south and the time is about twenty minutes after seven in the evening.
It's still surprising to think that just a couple months back the sun would have only started setting around this time and now it's dark.
Back in early fall I decided to get into the market for a new camera. I had spent the majority of the year shooting music festivals with my Sony Cybershot DSC-S50 and although I believe I was able to come away with some exceptional shots, at times, any opportunity for increasing print size went by the way because of the cameras low resolution.
Eventually, I settled on an ultra-optical zoom, bridge camera, Sony's CyberShot DSC-H1. And although it doesn't have many of the features that the entry level digital SLRs have, I felt it offered just the right features (12x optical zoom, interchangeable lenses, and 6 megapixel resolution) I was looking for without the digital SLR price tag.
Now I'm looking for some opportunities to get my camera pressed into duty. One of the ideas I had was to begin documenting my work commute, which I think at the first sound of the idea sounds pretty stale and boring. But fortunately for me, my commute takes me through some of northeastern Illinois' back roads. Back roads with enough roadside oddities to satiate a 1950's nuclear family for hours. This little adventure has everything from a woolly mammoth mural, a giant herd of longhorn steer, an iron family complete with pro-american signage, plus a myriad of other whimisical items and interesting characters.
My ultimate vision is that someday I may turn my commute into an actual coffee table book. A book that someone could look at and not only see the sites of my daily journey but also get a glimpse into roadside America, one that is fading into the background of our fast-paced culture.