Scene on the Road

January 1, 2008: Ames, Iowa

As I usually shoot at least one photograph every single day of the year, and I am on my computer every single day, I am resolving this year to post at least one single photo here - every single day - for the entire year of 2008. This is the first one, from Iowa, where I am covering the caucuses for the newspaper. Click here for an audio slide show I made on a previous trip two weeks ago. A new slide show will be posted on caucus day, Jan. 3rd.

Notice the entry date time stamp on this post. The file server is on Eastern Standard time, but I'm on Central. So it's actually 11:59 P.M. - January 1st. So I made it, as usual, on deadline, and at the last minute.

So far, so good. Happy New Year, TomG

January 2, 2008: Urbandale, Iowa

January 3, 2008: Madison County, Iowa

January 4, 2008: Detroit Metro Airport, Michigan

January 5, 2008: Manchester, New Hampshire

January 6, 2008: Manchester, New Hampshire

January 7, 2008: Concord, New Hampshire

January 8, 2008: Deerfield, New Hampshire

January 9, 2008: Somewhere over Connecticut

January 10, 2008: 12th & Race Streets

January 11, 2008: West Grove, Pennsylvania

January 12, 2008: Race Street, Chinatown 7 a.m.

January 13, 2008: Cherry Hill, New Jersey

January 14, 2008: Municipal Services Building Plaza

January 15, 2008: Haddonfield, New Jersey

January 16, 2008: Cherry Hill, New Jersey

January 17, 2008: Collingswood, New Jersey

January 18, 2008: Park Hyatt, South Broad Street.

January 19, 2008: Haddonfield, New Jersey

January 20, 2008: First Presbyterian Church, Germantown

January 21, 2008: Front & Thompson, Kensington

January 22, 2008: Philadelphia Stock Exchange

January 23, 2008: Mayor's Reception Room

January 24, 2008: Cooper River, top; Rittenhouse Square, bottom

I've always marveled at the illusion of the moon appearing larger near the horizon than it looks when it's higher up in the sky. That was the case this past Tuesday at dawn. I drove around for twenty minutes as the sky brightened, but I was unable to put anything in front of the moon for a photo before the sunrise blew it away (exposure-wise, anyway).

So the next morning I was prepared. I drove to the Camden waterfront intending to shoot the Philadelphia skyline but, as anyone who has ever watched moonrises or moonsets knows, 24 hours makes a huge difference in when each occurs. On Tuesday, moonset was at 7:31 a.m. When I made my second try on Wednesday morning, it wasn't until 8:04 a.m. that the moon went down over Philadelphia. With sunrise at pretty much the same time as the day before (at 7:17 a.m.) the moon was still high in the sky when the sun came up.

The U.S. Naval Observatory is the country's authority for "precise time and astrometry," as well as distributing "Earth orientation parameters and other astronomical data required for accurate navigation and fundamental astronomy." You can find out when the sun or moon set or rose anytime from Jan. 1, 1700 to when it will rise or set anytime up until Dec. 31, 2100 - anywhere in the world at this link:

I had given up on the low-on-the-horizon idea by Thursday, but I was still looking at the moon, and decided to try shooting it with geese, or something, anything along the Cooper River in Camden. That didn't work out either, but I did make one or two frames through the trees - just for fun - as I got out of my car.

Then I forgot all about it. I was't thinking of it even as I walked back from an assignment near Rittenhouse Square later in the day and noticed the Christmas Tree ornament in the forsythia bushes. I shot the bulb, from a couple angles - wishing it were red or green - half-thinking I could make it my "Photo of the Day." It wasn't until later in the afternoon, when I saw the images flash by on my laptop as my card was downloading that I realized both globes were in branches. And the silver ornament worked even better than if it had been red or green!

That's how I ended up with the moon-globe diptych for my Daily Photo yesterday, January 24, 2008.

January 25, 2008: The Philadelphia Stock Exchange

January 26, 2008: Cherry Hill, New Jersey

January 27, 2008: Haddonfield, New Jersey

January 28, 2008: Westmont, New Jersey

January 29, 2008: Cherry Hill, New Jersey

January 30, 2008: Exactly three months ago in Philadelphia

I'm at home this week, using up accumulated vacation time, which is why so many of my daily blog photos are from New Jersey lately. But watching the presidential campaign today as Democrat John Edwards bowed out of the race (and Republican Rudy Giuliani expected to quit later today as well) I recalled it was exactly three months ago that there were eight Democratic candidates all here in Philadelphia. Now there are just three (former Alaska senator Mike Gravel is still in). So today's daily photo, is from that MSNBC Democrat debate on October 30, 2007. Edwards was on stage at Drexel University along with Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Dennis Kucinich, and Bill Richardson. Gravel, who wasn't invited, was a block away at the World Cafe Live.

January 31, 2008: Cherry Hill, New Jersey