This is why we can't have good things.

Whenever someone says Muslims are decent people, and the extremists are a small portion of the whole, the refrain comes back, "if that's true where are the "moderates?"

Based on the reactions to being a moderate Muslim in Orange County, Calif., I can understand why they aren't as visible as all that.

A couple of weeks ago a charity group, which supports things like food pantries, women's shelters, disaster relief, etc. had a fund raiser in Yorba Linda.

The reaction was horrid. Crowds showed up to abuse them, calling them child molesters and terrorists.

Hateful, racist, protest in Yorba Linda

Those people aren't thinking. They are running a "gut check", and failing. I guarantee you some of those people are the sort who protest when someone in Gaza cheers at something blowing up in Israel.
I'll bet a lot of them are apologists when a Christian/Right Wing Terrorist attacks someone.

Those, you see, are isolated incidents, "lone wolves," they don't reflect on the nature of Christianity. Not like, "those people".

Assholes and bigots, one and all.

Back in the saddle again

My urge to take pictures has been a bit less than driving since sometime last summer. Some of it is logistical, carrying the rig is harder on the motorcycle.

Some of it has been, sadly, the result of loss. Somewhere in Wyoming last summer my favorite lens (a Nikkor 35-70 2.8) got damaged. One of the elements is loose inside the barrel.

But, lately, I've been hauling the bag with me, because there have been flowers, and other signs of spring. Today I decided to play with cross-polarisation.

The trick with the technique is to have two polarising filters on the lens. It's most effective with linear polarsiers, but those are almost completely extinct because they don't work with autofocus. What cross-polarising gets you is really intense colors. The effect is strongest with things like feathers and butterfly wings.

I shot some flowers and some mushrooms.


Reticulation


That is a single polariser. It's also, for some reason, a little flat. I'll need to play with it some more.

Toad Hollow


This isn't the best showing of the technique, because I've converted it to black and white. The detail in the shadows does seem to be a bit stronger than I'd expect.

Medusa


This is the one which really shines. The detail on the petals, and the clarity of the pollen are wonderful.

I also bought a Wacom tablet to use when editing. It's got a few things I need to get the hang of, but I think it will make the task of cleaning things up, esp. for spot correction, a lot easier, which will make working on photos more likely.