Wazopia: The Web Blog of Jim Fisher

I love it when the pictures just come right to you!

This happens every couple of years. It's a nice quiet weekend at home. I'm reading a book or watching Nascar. Mary comes down the stairs and says the balloons are right outside.

I know what that means. They are landing in the cul-de-sac on our street. For once my camera is ready and available. The chase is on!

Two hot air balloons from the Blossom Festival are coming down.

It's a community affair. Neighbors from everywhere pour in.

Dropping the baggie.

This hot-air balloon gives a couple more blasts before falling.

Getting it ready for falling. Our house in the background, neighbor Vicki and new baby in the foreground.

Here it goes. Our neighbor Mark, to the left, helps keep it down on the ground.

What's in there? Just a lot of hot air.

A sprint to the front in full pajamas! What a great night.

Labels: air, balloon, Chagrin, cleveland, hot, Ohio

The Falls at Chagrin Falls

Friday was a beautiful day in the Cleveland area. The sky was blue, the weather was mild and the leaves are lovely. I took a short stroll around the Triangle in Chagrin Falls. Enjoy!

The falls are a perfect place for couples taking pictures.

Here's a closer picture of the falls itself.

On the other side of the street is the "pre-falls". The wall or dam makes a pretty pond before the river starts cascading over the rocks.

Feeding the ducks is fun for both the young and the experienced.

The bridge over the river had nice planters with flowers.

Labels: 5D, bridge, canon, Chagrin, ducks, fall, falls, feed, flower, Northeast, Ohio, park, photo, river, riverside, water

Squaw Rock

No, it's not Jabba the Hutt. This is a hundred+ year old rock carving found in South Chagrin Reservation in Cleveland.

Labels: artist, canon 5D, carving, Chagrin, cleveland, image, metroparks, photo, reservation, river, rock, south, squaw

Camera Tossing (gulp!) sort of

How did this get started? I read an online article about "camera tossing". It had to do with the package art for Adobe Acrobat. The boxes had these cool, twirly Spiroscope-like images. The story said they were created using a technique called camera tossing.

Flickr has several groups discussing this technique and some of my favorite desktop wallpapers have come from this site.

Take some time and review these sites and check out the images to learn more. I did and after sitting with my Canon 5D and 24-105mm L lens on my lap I said no way is this thing going out of my hands. No camera tossing for me.

But, while taking a hike through South Chagrin Reservation, I had an epiphany (it took awhile) about how to simulate a camera toss while still hanging onto my camera. I use a handstrap instead of a neckstrap on my camera. I could fling the camera loosely in my hand without worrying about letting it loose. My fling pattern could be better controlled and perhaps my results could be more predictable. Here are some results. Enjoy!