Nothing much.

Everybody's out and about and busy getting ready for Christmas. I had to work today. Nothing strenuous, just some more distributor calls. I chose to ride despite the freezing temperatures and fog. Getting a later start, Katie had come out to sit on the couch with me for a bit this morning. She has a robe that feels like a big, soft, kitten. Katie told me she just couldn't figure out why I still like to ride in this cold. Cuddling next to her, I wondered about it myself.

Since there's not much going on, I decided to post a few pictures I took at Washington Square Mall this morning. I planned my schedule to allow some practice time with indoor camera settings unaided by the use of a flash. This is the area that I seem to be having the most trouble with. I don't want to use too high of an ISO setting due to the "noise" factor. If I set the aperature at about f8 or smaller the shutter speed is slow which makes my photos blurry since I'm not using a tripod while walking about. I'll get there. These photos are more for exposure than composition. Bear that in mind before you comment on their quality!

This post is appropriately titled as this really doesn't amount to much. I'm having a Conchscooter moment. There's a great appeal to wandering around snapping photos then posting them with comments. My comments won't be as witty or wise as Conch's though. Again, I called the post "Nothing Much" for a reason!

Cold and foggy all day. The temperature never got over 37 degrees ( f ). I saw a couple of other civilian bikes during the day. Both were BMW riders. Between Beaverton and Hillsboro I saw three Washington County motor cops at scattered intervals. All three officers gifted me with big waves.

This water had been ice just a few minutes before. It melted while I dug the camera out.

There are always so many sparkly things to see in a mall. Especially during Christmas. I seem to be a sucker for blue LED's for some reason.

Sparkles take many forms.

As Mike had already shown us, some sparkles are more compelling to us than others.

Santa's pad at the mall is well decorated. I had a small issue here. The next few photos are just some exercises in aperature settings as they affect shutter speed.




Then there was this kid watching the proceedings. The line to have a photo taken with Santa was long. I'm sorry to say I screwed up the settings and don't have a picture of the mile long line.

Mama was pretty indulgent about me taking a photo of her son. I really want to take some kid photos. I'm not sure how to go about it. In today's society I could be mistaken for some pervert taking pictures of people's kids. I guess I'll wait until I have the grandson with me and take a lot of pictures of him.

I am using both the G11 and the D40. I went a bit far when I took a photo of the photographer in the Santa booth.

It wasn't long before a woman came over and told me I wasn't allowed to take photos around their operation. Yeah, I could have argued about it, but I also respect the fact that they sell photos and don't want folks trying to get their own for free. They aren't the only show in town, anyway.

I did discreetly snap a photo of a couple of kids at play. That's an advantage of not using a flash! The play area was surprisingly empty. Perhaps they were all at this store.

I once found a Lego in my daughter's diaper, but that is a whole other story that won't be told here. This store looks like entering some sort of time tunnel or something.

One of these was taken with the G11 and the other with the D40. Not that it matters at all.

There were some other photos but I'll save you from them. This is kind of like family vacation slides, isn't it?

When I got back to Elvira, I found her showing a Charger which end of her it would see once we got onto the open road.

Business called so it was time to get with it. With no electrics I have to admit that I was a true Iceman when I got home. I think literal ice water was running through my veins. Still better on the bike, no matter how cold!

Miles and smiles,

Dan