For those of you who don’t have kids in middle school or high school yet, and are wondering why we need Daylight Savings Time — this is the reason. This picture was taken with a flash. Without, you’d see nothing but pitch black.
Which is why I wait with Cait with a flashlight until I see the lights of the bus coming around the bend. She’s not afraid of the dark. It’s what’s in the dark… It’s the bats still swooping overhead. The fox who screams. And the family of coyotes whose nightly path takes them across the road just down a couple of hundred yards from where she stands. Life in the country…
On another note, does anybody know what these weird lights are in the photo below? I checked the lens; that’s not it. And the spots and lights show up on different places in other pics I took this morning — but not on all shots. There was no rain or fog to refract light either. Curious…
Here’s a close-up. (All photos are unretouched — straight out of the camera.)
We need daylight savings for grown-ups too! I’ve been looking forward to waking up to the sunrise tomorrow (instead of pitch black) for weeks now! :)
Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts. I did look at a photo taken in California where the fires are. And the ash captured in that photo looks similar to what’s in one of mine — which bears out the hypothesis that it could be something in the air.
I’m going to leave this one in the “unsolved” category because, while it could be something in the air, it’s definitely not my camera — I had it checked. And it’s interesting to me that they aren’t in every photo of this series.
When they do show up, they’re not in the same places or the same amounts. So even though it could be some dust, it’s weird to me that 2 shots taken in a row with a fast shutter would show one photo with these orbs(and other weird lights that I didn’t post)and the other photo absolutely clear. There were 10 photos taken in very quick succession and only 3 photos have these things in them.
Hmmm…..
Donn (professional photographer) says that it’s prob either dust motes or, most likely, some sort of seed or something floating down off a tree. The fact that they’re in different places for each photo seems to bear this out.
I am having a hard time convincing my girls that they need to wake up when it’s still dark out. We change time this week-end in France.
Thanks so much for commenting on my blog! I don’t have kids, but I do drive to work in the pitch black, so I sympathize.
Did want to say that I have a yellow lab (who at the age of eight is finally a little less silly and a better companion) and a walker hound–love the dogs.
I turned my ankle walking down the path this morning in the dark to take the kids to school. I understand.
Deb, It’s obvious you’ve written for publications before. But I think you have a book in you — if I do say so myself. That’s the voice, the story, I think you need to find. IMHO.
And I hope you do, because I love your writing. It has wisdom, depth and honesty.
Very interesting to say the least. And I’m glad it has not happen without a reasonable explanation, usually a form of operator error on my part.
I do not miss waiting for buses at 6:25 or hitting the commute line-up at 6:05 any more.
And we’re supposed to save how much energy moving from April change to March? Not in this house we’re early risers.
Karen,
Thanks so much for your comments. I really appreciate your insight from the other side. I do have some published content. I write a weekly community feature for the newspaper; and when I went back to university a couple of years ago I had two essays chosen for the campus annual nonfiction journal. But it’s like doling out individual Nestle’s morsels to a serious chocolate addict. You are spot-on about the voice though, I have trouble trusting it as genuine.
We’re outside at 6:40 am. Lovely time of dark. :)
Wow. What time does she get on the bus? It’s nearly 7 when my son leaves and it’s still pretty dark, but it’s light within 10 minutes (at least for now). I definitely wouldn’t tell Cait either, it kind of freaks me out. The coyotes definitely freak me out. I’ve obviously never lived in the country.
Jen, thanks for the site. Reading it makes me think it wasn’t dust or precipitation because the orbs don’t show up in all the photos I took this morning (some photos have none), and when they do show up, they’re in different places and different sizes on the photo. For instance, the top photo has none, and was taken after the next photo which does have them. Very interesting.
I’ll take some more pictures in the dark and see what happens. And it can’t hurt to take my camera to get it cleaned.
I think I’m not going to tell Cait about these. It’d be one more thing for her to be on the lookout for while we’re standing in the dark.
Ah here you go!
http://theshadowlands.net/ghost/orbs.htm
A decent representation without all the hype.
Or, it could be spirit lights… I was trying to find a site to explain them that didn’t have obvious fake orbs.. hard to find..
I’ll try to find time to blog about these… I’ve had this happen myself.
No, no condensation. But dust? Can’t see any with my naked eye, but I’m blind. I’ll have to take it to the camera shop and have them take a look.
Is there condensation inside the camera or lens.
Or maybe dust inside; it really looks like amplified dust/lint at close range.