Resa’s Tree
Marina’s Incognito Pear Tree
Dale’s Peach Tree
Shey’s Tree
GiGi’s Tree
Susan’s Tree
Lavinia’s Tree
Tiffany’s Tree
Gabriela’s Tree
Teagan’s Trees
Christine’s Tree
Note: There are three photos of each tree from different angles. Some of them look very different depending on which side you are on. Holly’s Tangle Heart Tree, Mia’s Tree, Lyn’s Chitalpa, and Rebecca’s Black Bamboo were not included because they don’t change color in fall.
Buried mom today
Rows of tombstones soldiers lie
Ashes to ashes
Cindy Georgakas of Unique Times was smitten by Holly’s Tangle Heart Tree. After I gave her the history of the trees, she wants a tree, but she wanted a heart in her tree similar to the Tangle Heart Tree if possible. The Tangle Heart Tree is unique, but I found what I think is the perfect tree for Cindy. Not only does it have many of its branches making multiple heart shapes, it has a figure of a saint praying where a large branch broke off many years ago. It’s also multi-dimensional, varies from classic cottonwood to, strangely shaped cottonwood depending on which side of the tree you are on.
I named the praying saint Santa Cynthia, thinking there was probably no real Saint Cynthia. I looked her up, and the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary have a listing for Saint Cynthia [Cinthia] [249], sainted on February 8, 2000, who, according to Catholicism.org, “…was an Egyptian girl who was martyred under Decius. Because she would not worship idols, her feet were tied to a horse and she was dragged through the streets.” She has been praying in Cindy’s tree for many years. Long before she became a saint.
You can make out some heart shapes in the 2nd photo and 3rd photo.
Depending on which side of the tree you are on, it has really interesting shapes.
The first photo shows a decent heart shape. Views of Santa Cynthia.
Jupiter with four moons.
Venus in focus through blurry tree (Bazooka). Mia’s Tree with Venus (iPhone 13 Pro). Tree in focus with Venus in the background (Bazooka).
Jupiter with three moons shot with the Bazooka. Moon shot with iPhone 13 Pro. Moon blasted by the Bazooka.
I traded in my iPhone 12 Mini for an iPhone 13 Pro. I decided I wanted the camera with the LiDAR scanner†. As you can see from the two moonshots, the iPhone has a long way to go before it can compete with the Bazooka, but I’m really impressed that I was able to control the exposure well enough to get as much detail as I did shooting a bright moon at 15x zoom†† on the iPhone. I had to lock the focus on the moon while I adjusted the exposure because the moon was jumping all over the screen with the slightest movement at 15x zoom.
Here’s the kicker, since I got a decent discount on the iPhone 12 Mini when I bought it, between Apple’s trade in allowance and T-moble’s trade in allowance, I got $75 more in trade-in value than I paid for the iPhone 12 Mini. The iPhone 13 Pro is larger than the iPhone 12 Mini, but I think it will be worth the larger size for the camera upgrade.
†The Wiki article on LiDAR states LiDAR scanners are available on the iPhone 12. That is not true. It’s only available on the iPhone 13 Pro, currently.
††15x Zoom on the iPhone Pro 13 Pro is equivalent to 390 mm. The Bazooka on the Canon 7D Mark II body is equivalent to 640 mm.
Sun bleeds into sky.
Scorched earth cracked and dry.
Toad stands guard.
No balloons today
So I give you textured clouds
Yellow orange grays
Splash and Dash are when pilots land their balloons in the Rio Grande and then take off again. The river is low enough right now that the gondolas can sit on the bottom of the river since there are only a few inches of water in most places. When the river is running higher, they truly “splash and dash”, or they risk getting carried away by the current if they linger in a higher, fast-flowing current. In 2015 one balloonist hit the water like a Kamikaze. You can see the post at https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2015/10/splash-down. Today the pilots mostly sat their gondolas in the swallows for a few minutes before taking off again. Several balloons splashed in more than one location. The 5-minute video below shows balloons floating in for their splashes and dashes.
Today was the special shapes rodeo. I did not see as many special shapes as in years past. Many of them barely rose above the trees and then went back down.
All the contrails for the morning jets.
Clouds are best at making special shapes.
Today is Laurie’s birthday and the second day of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta with a mass ascension.
Off Center & Not Even 