The End of a Perfect Day

This scene is on the west coast of the island of Oahu in Hawaii, where the sunsets are often beautiful. This one, though, is striking and for me is memorable. The man appears to be a fisherman, but in reality he is a photographer setting his camera. My camera--not his-- was set with an aperture of f/8.0 and a speed of 1/1000 sec. The focal length of the lens was 28mm and the ISO setting was 100. This picture brings back a flood of memories.

The Petrified Tree

This petrified tree is within Yellowstone National Park. It is still standing (unlike most petrified trees which have long fallen). It has an interesting texture which reminds me of dried wood. All of the organic matter has been replaced by minerals--this is what is called petrification.

Taking this picture required considerable body contortions on my part, because the tree is completely surrounded by a fence of iron spear-like posts--each with an arrowhead-shaped tip facing upward. To take this picture, I had to get almost flat against the ground and aim the camera upward between two of the fence posts. The picture was taken at 1/100 sec at f/5.6 aperature.