I bought a Neutral Density (ND) filter to use with my circular polarizing filter to preserve detail in the clouds and around the sun while shooting into sunlight or bright skies. It takes some getting used to, but I’m getting the hang of it. The changeable skies we’ve had lately are giving me plenty of opportunity to experiment.

Taken today (9/29). Cloudless sky. I used a fill flash, too.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Red Sox – The only reason they’re 2-1/2 games up on the Rays is because their game with the Yankees got rained out. They didn’t play so they didn’t lose and the Rays did. Pretty sad when getting rained out is a good thing.

Weather – It’s been cool and foggy in the mornings, but the light has been great for grabbing some interesting pictures on the way to work.

Patriots – Still early, but so far, so good. Still racking up 30+ points per game.

There was heavy fog this morning that lifted and gave way to clear blue skies. The light was pretty dramatic while it all was happening.

And a variation on the first image.

We don’t get much foliage out here in corn country, but we do get colors of a different sort.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Fall Weather – I love the warm days, but the foreboding skies and cold, rainy days can be an ominous sign of the coming winter.

Red Sox – They won tonight to keep their heads above water, but they’re dangerously close to playing golf in October instead of baseball.

Clumsiness Part II – So it turns out my sprained ankle is really an avulsion fracture where the tendon pulled a piece of bone out of place. No wonder my ankle and foot are still swollen and turning ugly colors.

Fall Weather – Warmish days and gloriously cool nights. I love it.

Red Sox – They’re still losing. They’ve lost the last 3 series and aren’t looking too sharp against the TB Rays in this series. And the Rays are closing fast in the Wild Card standings. If the Sox don’t turn this around soon, they could rival the 2007 Mets for the biggest September collapse in recent memory.

Clumsiness – I was walking out to my car on Tuesday and didn’t see a depression in the parking lot. I twisted my ankle severely and went down hard. The next day my ankle was the size of a football and turning purple. Nothing is broken or torn, but I won’t be running a marathon anytime soon.

New Toys – Besides my new flash, I picked up a remote flash kit so I can put my flash unit somewhere else and trigger it from the camera. That allows me to shoot from one side of the subject while the flash lights the other.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Heat Wave – Enough of this. Summer is supposed to be ending this weekend. Thank God.

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Red Sox – They lost the series to the Yankmees and then lost to the Rangers tonight. Now they’re in second place. They really need to fill the holes in their pitching staff. Although to be fair, even though they got bombed tonight, they didn’t score a single run. You cannot ever win a game if you fail to score at least one run.

Four Day Weekend – I really needed this break. Although I’m still doing work on the phone and through remote desktop. Just can’t get away completely.

Hurricane Irene – Practically washed Vermont away. Nasty storm.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Red Sox – Back on top, but they blew another chance to gain a game tonight. This quixotic quest for Wakefield’s 200th win is costing them games. They need another starting pitcher or we won’t go far in the post-season.

Hurricane Irene – This storm could make a mess of New York and New England.

Formula One – After a 3 week summer break, it’s back this weekend at Spa, one of the world’s great tracks.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Red Sox – Hanging in there, but they ceded first place to the Yankmees tonight. Still two chances in this series to grab it back.

Standard & Poor’s – They reduce the credit rating based on a $2 trillion mistake and then won’t retract their statement? Is saving face worth launching another recession?

Cooler Weather – We’re finally getting into relatively cooler weather. I was getting sick of high 90s and killer humidity.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Red Sox – Still on top in the ALE, but they must address the holes in their pitching rotation. Only Josh Beckett is healthy and performing well. Hopefully Buchholz and Lester will return to health and be back very soon. Lackey is still undependable and they have no dependable #5 pitcher. Wakefield can occasionally pitch a gem, but he’ll lose just as often. And tonight’s drubbing at the hands of the Rays showed that Miller is not the answer going forward. Luckily, the Yankmees also lost tonight, so no ground was lost in the ALE standings.

Prosecutorial Incompetence – A couple of high profile cases this week have shown that prosecutorial incompetence is sadly all too common. The Roger Clemens perjury prosecution ended in a mistrial almost as soon as it started because the bozos representing the government showed a videotape that had been expressly forbidden as evidence by the judge. All that taxpayer money wasted because highly paid lawyers had a brain cramp. The whole affair has been ludicrous anyway. Congress had no business “investigating” steroid use in baseball. Clemens had no business voluntarily testifying and like a dumbass he lied to Congress through his teeth. Now lying to a bunch of liars may seem like no big deal, but if Joe Schmo down the street would face charges for doing so, then Roger should as well. But chances are good there will be no retrial and Clemens will face no punishment beyond the fortune he must have spent for his lawyers.

Then there’s the prosecutors in the Casey Anthony trial, who botched the case from step one by going for a capital murder charge when they had no case to support such a charge. Had they gone for second degree murder or negligent homicide, Anthony would be starting a long prison term instead of getting ready to walk out a free person.

Nutcases – While I’m on the subject, there have been threats and incidents in FL over the verdict in the aforementioned Anthony trial. Some nutcases have been threatening to kill Anthony and some poor girl who happens to look like her has already been assaulted. You have to be pretty sick to want to kill someone because you think they killed someone else. Where does that cycle end?

Technology – Sarah conducted a webinar yesterday for a bunch of librarians in Massachusetts without ever leaving the comfort of home. We set up Skype on both ends and she was able to converse with them and show them her presentation. It all worked perfectly.

Rupert Murdoch – In Tomorrow Never Dies the actor Jonathan Pryce played a maniacal news mogul who controlled so much of the news media that he was able to shape worldwide events. His character may have been intended as an exaggerated personification of Rupert Murdoch, but recent events in Great Britain have shown it may have painfully close to the truth. Murdoch’s News Corp has been accused of illegally hacking in to cell phones of too many people to list, ranging from the families of 9-11 victims to a murdered British schoolgirl to victims of London’s 2005 bombings. This is a pure example of why the monopolization of the media is such a bad thing. When one person or firm gains control of too much of the available media outlets, the news and information that flows out to the viewer becomes whatever the person in charge decides it should be. I would like nothing better than to see this scandal break up the News Corp empire.

Heat Wave – We’re in for a real blistering heat wave starting tomorrow afternoon. Temps in the middle to upper 90’s and humidity well into the tropical range will be with us for the following week. Oh boy.