Friday, December 11, 2015

Thursday December 10, 2015 Xmas Lights

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Thursday December 10, 2015
While I am struggling with this sinus cold and the pharmacist's drugs are mostly ineffective, I realize that other things seem to be mending.  My shoulder is not a problem unless I do an awkward stretch anymore and is certainly not the cause of my insomnia.
I purchased some cheap magnetic onyx bracelets and the first night I thought I was going to die as my wrists ached worse than ever.  But I persevered with them and now my wrists are hardly any bother at all,... and no drugs....
Most of my day was spent purging Facebook because of a viral message that was plaguing me and most of my contact list.  The messages were so authentic-looking and, of course, coming from trusted contacts, so most of us clicked on them only to be re-directed to very odd sites asking for personal details.   As soon as I realized what was happening, I posted a warning immediately and responded to many messages asking me what I was sending them.  Then I changed my password, cleared my cache, and ran my virus-checker, twice.  I was gratified to see that I had no apparent infection.  Next I started deleting every conversation I received as they multiplied.  Facebook sent me another checker for malware and I ran that, and again, I was happy to find that I had no malware.  I have to respect the brilliance of these hackers who can produce such a pain-in-the-ass program that can almost paralyze a site as big as Facebook.  We all wish they could put those talents to much better use.
In spite of the cold, I find that my body responds better to the fresh air and exercise (that is why I am up at the moment at 5am and have already taken the dogs on a long walk).  I had intended to go out and take photos of some of the Xmas decorations along the Tomebamba Tuesday night, but we got lazy.   So, off we went on Toxic tonight, with Cristina helping me drag along my heavy tripod.  I knew that I would be taking nighttime timed shots, so a good tripod is a necessity.
As we passed the Broken Bridge we saw that there were a lot of bikes ready for the biker gang ride this evening.  We pulled in to say Hello and to make my apologies, we were only doing a slow ride for photos this evening.
After a couple of shots near the Broken Bridge, including some longer timed exposures of the river flow, we moved on to the great lighting in the Otorongo area.  Some magnificent blue rope lighting draws everyone towards the huge nativity scene at Otorongo Plaza.  Hundreds of people were wandering the riverbank with their cameras, families, and sweethearts.   Trying to get decent photos without crowds is definitely challenging.
I hope you enjoy the photos.  That was the day's excitement,   Cheers, Al 

Toxic, near the Puente Roto (Broken Bridge)

The lovely Todos Santos lights up the top right

There are hundreds of these along the river

I believe they are solar-powered???

Interesting results of long exposure river flows at night

A tripod is definitely a must to get clear shots

Years of experience in night photography helps too

Otorongo Plaza hosts this huge nativity scene, about 25' high

Lots of lights in this innovative scene

Is that a donkey and a cow?

It is fenced off or vandals (or kids) would have a field day

OK, I took a lot of shots, just in case

These are mostly 1-2 second exposures at a small aperture

Amazing use of rope lighting

This lighting hovers above the Tomebamba

This continues on past Otorongo Plaza

The scene from the other side of the Rio

They must spend a fortune on this display

This is looking back east towards the Barranco

I have always liked blue lighting the best

I have never seen this kind of lighting before

Different Xmas lighting up on La Condamine

Stretching east towards downtown

All the little bridges have some accent lighting

It certainly enhances the walking experience