Tallahassee Trip

By Charles E. Roop

I woke up at 8:30 a.m. Friday by Erin with a spontaneous idea: She wanted to go to Tallahassee to visit her sister, Andrea. Erin also wanted to use Andrea’s Windows machine so Erin could use her GRE study software (just in case you did not know, we are a fully a Mac household since my Windows machine died in December).

I decided to call my friend, Steve, who lives in Tallahassee to see what he was doing. While she studied, I hung out with Steve. I managed to grab a few photos in the process.

Erin (bottom) and Andrea (top).

I do not know why anyone would order something titled “double deuces.”

Steve driving in Tallahassee.

Hamfest, Gainesville Style

By Charles E. Roop

A weekend ago, I decided to check out the Gainesville Hamfest, a place where amateur (”ham”) radio operators and the like check out the vendors and meetings. It was very small, unlike the Orlando Hamfest (which is around every mid-February).

I found someone trying to sell this old radio with an eight-track player. Man, those are like tapes for my generation (and like CDs for the kids in K-12).

Some antennas and an anemometer on a small search and rescue trailer. I should start a weather instrument photo book.

A small mobile ham radio set on 20 meters (14 MHz) inside that trailer.

Wandering Monday.

By Charles E. Roop

While taking a break from studying for my General level amateur radio license, I decided to go around campus and get some photos. I did not find much, except for an alligator sitting beside a pond near the Graham residence area.

Since some rain was coming, I decided to head back to my car…and just in time.

Just another day, really.

Young, Crazy and Half-Naked

By Charles E. Roop

I covered the Great Underwear Dash 7 last night. It was my second time shooting it and the photos were much better than the first. This time, I borrowed a Canon 580 EX II flash with my shoe flash cord.

Some of the best photos are on my Flickr account as well as The Gainesville Sun’s Web site. Also, I encourage you to check out Brandon Kruse’s photos of the event on the Sun’s Web site.

Semester Over For Me; Waiting For Grades

By Charles E. Roop

It feels good to be done with classes at UF. This ends my fourth straight semester with at least four more to go. I have accomplished a lot in the last few months…more than I expected. I hope that this will continue for the rest of my UF career.

One class’ final grade looks certain…and it was a close call. Intro to Journalism (a required 1 credit-hour beginner class I realized I needed to take) looks like an A - a 90.04 to be exact. I surprisingly surpassed my expectations on the final test and it bumped me to an A. For Human Geography, it’s too close to call. It could be a B, but I will not know for sure until the grades are released on ISIS on the evening of May 5 - a week and a half from now.

Climatology looks very close. I might either get a B+ or A. For Communication on the Internet, it is uncertain. The tests were hard and the final project I handed in on Tuesday can be across the board. I will be checking WebCT constantly for the next few days.

Since I am done with all of my classes, I will be finally be able to go out and shoot some photos. As I wrap up my internship with the Gainesville Sun, I will be shooting the Great Underwear Dash 7 (event info on Facebook) tonight on campus. The student who has been putting this together for years will be graduating in a few days, so it will be interesting to see if the torch will be passed to someone else. Expect photos to be posted sometime tomorrow.

I am free for the next two and a half weeks until Summer A starts. I’ll keep myself busy, though. The apartment needs to be cleaned, for starters. Expect more frequent posts on this blog now that things have settled down.

Flowerz

By Charles E. Roop

During my search for features, I stopped at a trail in Paynes Prairie just south of Gainesville. Only one thing came to my eye: some flowers on the side of the trail.

Cedar Key Sunday

By Charles E. Roop

Erin and I took a small trip on Sunday to Cedar Key - a small town on the gulf coast 85 minutes southwest of Gainesville. They had an art festival with plenty of talent being displayed. Here are some shots from the town…

C-Man weather station run by NOAA

Vote for my photo

By Charles E. Roop

I have been reading JPG Magazine a little more lately after discovering it on the newsstands last year. I have just recently been participating online. I am now attempting to get something published in the magazine. If the above photo gets enough votes, it will be published.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Advice or opinions on the photo (or any of my photos) is welcomed.

To vote, visit the photo page.

Note: To vote, you will need to create a JPG Magazine online account. The process is quick and painless. They do not spam you and you get to look at some cool photos.

Cold-%&$ Weather Ahead.

By Charles E. Roop

Above is a forecast graphic for Tuesday night. This usually looks like something would be earlier in the year, but it’s not a joke. For the next two or three nights, north central Florida will see near-record lows and cooler temps in the day. Let us put it this way…

For Gainesville, Fla.

Today: Average Low: 54 Actual Low: 47 Record Low: 40 (1907)
Tuesday: Average Low: 54 Predicted Low: 38 Record Low: 38 (1950, 2004)

(Source: NWS-JAX)

But, why the smacketh down of cold air? A deepening upper-level trough is expected to be in the southeast today, according to the a recent Area Forecast Discussion from NWS-JAX . This will bring in some of that cool air down to our region today and tonight. Also, this will bring in some moisture later on today and tonight for a slight chance of drizzle. Southeast Georgia could even see a chance of mixed precipitation.

For Tuesday night’s weather, here’s a part of the AFD…

MUCH DRIER AIR WILL BEGIN TO FILTER OVER THE AREA TUE NIGHT INTO WED AS THE SURFACE RIDGE TO OUR NORTH STRENGTHENS SOUTHWARD AND THE SFC LOW OFFSHORE MOVES FARTHER EAST. EXPECT THE COOLEST NIGHT WILL BE TUE NIGHT/WED MORNING WHEN RECORD LOWS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE CHALLENGED WITH COLD AIR DRAINAGE FUNNELING THE COOLEST AND DRIEST AIR WEST OF TRAIL RIDGE. THERE WILL BE A POSSIBILITY OF A LIGHT FREEZE AT SOME OF OUR NORMALLY COLDER LOCALES IN THE SUWANNEE RIVER VALLEY EARLY WED MORNING AS WELL AS PATCHY FROST. ANOTHER LAKE WIND ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED FOR COASTAL AREAS WED.

RECORD MINS FOR 4/16
AMG 33/1962
SSI 39/1950
JAX 39/1950
GNV 37/1962

So, bring out your Florida-style parkas one more time and cancel your outdoor swimming plans because if you are a native Floridian like me, you might need it.

Rainy Art Show

By Charles E. Roop

I covered the Santa Fe Spring Arts Festival in downtown Gainesville on Sunday. The weather kept the crowds down a little. My camera and I nearly got soaked from only being there for less than an hour.

Art shows are a little hard to shoot since it’s practically the same thing everywhere you look. However, the rain made things a little more interesting.

Women’s Rugby Match…Prom Style

By Charles E. Roop

I was given an interesting assignment for Saturday. The UF Women’s Rugby Club planned on having a match for charity and it involved old dresses. It’s something that happens annually at UF and it was one that gave an opportunity for good photos.

Ride on an Old Air-o-plane

By Charles E. Roop

I was assigned to check out the Gainesville Regional Airport and find a group that is flying old U.S. Navy aircraft. I was a little lost at first, but I found what I was looking for. The non-profit group Flight History actually give people tours.

Experimenting With Light

By Charles E. Roop

I had an itch last week and it was an itch for some interesting photos. I spent one night with the camera on a tripod, with the flash off the camera and a flashlight. This is one of the best shots I came up with…

For this shot, the shutter was open for about 20 seconds. I popped the flash and went nuts with the flashlight.

Looks a little creepy, doesn’t it?

Authenticate My Autograph

By Charles E. Roop

James Spence is a man who authenticates autographs and I was asked to get some photos of him last Wednesday.

Lightning show…sort of

By Charles E. Roop

Since I upgraded to digital nearly three years ago, I have successfully captured lightning only about three times. Tuesday night was a slight accomplishment. On my way back from a Skywarn training class (how interesting), I noticed some lightning off to the east. It’s also interesting that I got my shutter release cable via UPS just six hours before this.

I did not notice any lightning bolts until I got back to the apartment. I then decided pulled out my mono/tripod (it’s both a tripod and monopod) and set up the camera. There were trees in my way, but I was able to pull out one decent shot.

It’s not the best, but it’s not bad.

For the next few days, there is a slight risk of showers and thunderstorms. In fact, I am hearing thunder right now in southwest Gainesville. I better leave for campus soon…and bring the camera.