A Spring Long Sprung!

It has been a warm, dry Winter!  While it didn't break 80F until the end of January, there were 22 days that month over 70F, and lots more days in the 80s in February and March.  And dry!  We've only had .6" of rain this year, that back the first 2 days of March, so it has been dry, even for the desert.  As a result, we had a pretty dreadful wildflower season, and we're coming up fast on the cactus flower season, which will bloom even if we've had no rain, though not as plentiful or long-lasting as if we'd had more substantial moisture.  And I'm always looking to show off more examples of the focus stacking technique in macro shots, so was about time to get out looking...  I've got a number of posts on focus stacking, check out some of those results too!

These first shots were actually taken a month ago in March after the little rain we got.  The plant is Desert Globemallow, a native plant to the local desert that while considered a weed in most yards, I let it grow in our pea-gravel front yard...  I give the plants a squirt of water when I think of it, otherwise just leave it along and it gives a bit of color even with it as dry as it has been.  It was also a month ago that I went chasing after it with the macro lens and tripod, and even though it was a windy day, got a couple decent shots.

While the flower looks pretty big in the shots here, they are moderately small, about 1.5cm, 3/4" in diameter.  With the meager wildflower season we had, what few flowers there were around were heavily trafficked with pollinators.  With Arizona now populated by "killer bees" that moved up from South America, you have to assume bees and colonies are of the Africanized versions and you need to be careful not to upset groups of them.  This one in particular was small, and totally zoned-out on the pollen in this flower.  I took a couple multi-shot sets (several frames-per-second while cranking focus slightly) for focus stacking.  Since the 2 shots are clearly different, he was clearly paying no attention to me.  while I didn't quite get the full range of focus for every detail, sharpness is pretty good.  I think the wind was more of an issue rather than pollinator motion!

Now in April we're approaching cactus flower
season, and my neighbor Susan's prickly pear are covered with buds about to pop.  I had a few minutes before heading in for an afternoon shift at work, so again got out the macro and tripod for some focus stacking.  Wind was substantial, but affected the prickly pear less than wildflowers, so didn't have any issues.  With focus stacking, you don't need to stop way down to increase the depth of field, in fact, doing that increases diffraction which decreases overall resolution.  Keeping it at a moderate f-stop, in this case, F/8, taking several shots at different focal positions to get everything in focus, then combining them in Photoshop gives some excellent results!  At left is shown one of the subframes, and you can see the 2nd bud from the right is in focus, but the others are less sharp.  Loading all 6 frames and following the workflow (I follow the YouTube tutorial by Tony Northrup), only the sharpest part of each frame is combined into the final image, shown at right.  I didn't go too extreme and get the background parts of the cactus in focus, but all the buds along the pad shown here are shown in sharpest focus.

While the full-frame of the camera is shown in the above examples, the focus stacking technique seems to work right down to the finest resolution.  At left here, you can look pretty closely and I don't see any artifacts or defocus, which is very close to the resolution limit of the camera from the focus-stacked shot above.

I continue to be amazed with the technique, and once learned, comes second nature - easy to both take the exposures as well as run them through the software.  I can't wait to continue to apply what I've learned to my macro imaging!

End of an Era!

Today was Melinda's last treatment!  She made it through the two weeks of daily whole-brain radiation with flying colors.  No serious symptoms to speak of, minor headaches, and some dizziness - enough that they gave her a liter of fluids after yesterday's treatment.  They offered a steroid to lessen some of the effects of brain inflammation, which she started last night, and she thinks it is a little better today.  As a prize for making it through the latest round, they presented her with her "head cage" and a carnation...  The cage is what holds her head absolutely still during the 5 minute treatment, and was form fitted to her when she first started.  She demonstrated its use at right against the wall.  The mesh helps with claustrophobia since you can see and breath through it, but still, being bolted down to the table has got to feel strange...  Evidently the radiation stimulated her olfactory nerves, and told the techs that she could smell ozone or an electrical smell.  They told her that it was normal and some also see blue light from the optic nerve being similarly stimulated (which she didn't see).

At left, our cat Annie comes to investigate the cage.  Since I'm such a fan of moiré fringes, the shot shows the start of fringes formed by the mesh holes lining up, or blocking each other... 

So our adventure from the last 7 months is ending! No more treatments on the horizon!  She's got more doctor appointments weeks and months away, along with PET scan and MRI monitoring on a quarterly basis or so.  But otherwise she is declared cancer free!  It is interesting to be suddenly over the treatments after weeks of waiting for the end to come.  We've sort of forgotten what "normal" is like, but hope to find out in the weeks to come.  For those of you who have showered your prayers and good wishes upon us, thank you so much for your support!  For those of you in Tucson that would like to tip a celebratory beer with us, we'll be at Barrio Brewery about 5:30 tomorrow (Saturday)!  Happy Times!

A Scouting Adventure!

One of the engineers at work, and fellow photographic adventurer Steve West is fond of telling me that "Luck rewards the well-prepared".  I guess that is true as experience goes a long way towards a successful conclusion.  This last weekend, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) had another ARGOS run, which uses a laser to help correct the atmospheric distortion of the telescope image.  I had some fortune in imaging the laser beams from a distance the last observing run in November, and wanted to improve on it.  I consulted with another staff photographer and the implication was that we weren't welcome at the Observatory this run, so decided to check out Heliograph Peak (HP) - shown at left here when I last visited the LBT last October.  If we had a good view of HP from LBT, conversely there should be a good view of LBT from there!  Time for a scouting reconnaissance run...


Fortunately the 2 day run fell on a weekend, but clouds early on Saturday delayed my plans - we decided to take in a movie instead of the road trip, even though it cleared late...  Oh well, that left Sunday.  Even though thick clouds were moving in, I decided to hit the road to scout out the situation.  Actually, there had been some homework to do first.  I checked with the Forest Service about access to Heliograph Peak earlier in the week.  No permits were needed, but unfortunately, there was a locked gate where the access road met the main road - motorized access for the antennas and fire lookout only.  I also wanted to run a couple cameras and a small telescope from a single tripod to save weight, so tried and found that one of my adaptors would hold both the little Meade 80mm APO plus hold the 70-200 zoom with my wife's camera.  The setup is shown at right.  So I figured the tripod, pair of cameras and optics would be packable.  Good to go!

It is a good 3 hour drive to get to the top of Mount Graham.  While it had been weeks since we last had rain, I was a little surprised to see snow on the upper elevations of the mountain, given the warm temperatures we've had lately.  I got to the locked gate about 45 minutes before sunset, loaded the lil' scope and zoom in a backpack with a water bottle and snacks, made a sling from some webbing for the tripod and had 2 cameras in a lightweight case.  Hitting the trail, I was immediately hit with the quadruple whammy - first, I'm not in that great of shape, second, the hike started at over 9,000 foot elevation and the mile-long hike included over 600 feet of elevation gain, third, the hike was over mud and slushy ice and snow, and fourth, I was humping about 30 pounds of gear.  Let me tell you - that hour-long hike to cover that mile was the closest thing to real work I've done in recent years!  My heart rate climbed faster than the elevation, and even stopping frequently, like every 40 yards, it was hard to get the heart rate to drop or catch my breath. 

By the time I got to the switchback that provided the view I was after, I was soaked in sweat and just about exhausted.  And it was so dark that there was barely enough light to use live-view for focusing the 2 cameras - but it has potential to be a great vantage point!  The view to the left is the wide-field view with the zoom set to 200mm.  Besides the Large Binocular Telescope, the Sub-Millimeter Telescope (radio telescope), and the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope are labeled.  While it looks pretty light yet, it is a 16 second exposure!  At left is the view with the 80mm F/6 (480mm equivalent).  I'm thinking if it was possible to drive to the site, it is just about perfect as there are very few places where there are good vantage points of the Observatory on the Mountain because of the forestation.  For about the first time since leaving the main road, there was also good cell reception, so was able to check in with Melinda, and also with fellow photographer Ray who was shooting the ARGOS from San Pedro Vista on Mount Lemmon.

I had planned to stay a while in case it cleared, and while there were some stars visible, there seemed to be some low clouds hanging over the Mountain.  But I had also started shivering, and knew I needed to get back down, as the temperature was dropping below freezing and my sweaty clothes weren't helping me much.  I repacked and headed down by flashlight - fortunately going down was much easier, though the mud and slush was starting to freeze.  There were a couple slippery spots, but was mostly good going.  Reaching one of the western switchbacks, I got a text from Ray, who had heard from LBT that they were going to shoot the laser shortly.  By then it had nearly totally cleared (of course, since I was headed down), but my decision was made and it had been a good choice.  Rounding a corner to head towards the NW towards the LBT, bam - there was the ARGOS beam!  While from my previous observations from tens of miles away the beam was at best barely visible, from here at only 4 miles distant there was no mistaking this beacon.  I stopped, too tired to even set up the tripod, but mounted the fisheye lens (the only lens I had packed besides the zoom and little scope), leaned it on a rock and exposed for 30 seconds.  It looked very much like the picture - the brightened areas are evidently where there were a thin layer of clouds to better scatter the light.

Even stopping to take a few exposures, the hike down was faster than the trip up.  I waited to get back to the van to munch on my snack and ran the heater on the drive down.  It was an uneventful trip back to Tucson, arriving about 12:30.  But even with the death march, it had been a good evening, and I learned a lot about the area.  I need to see how many hoops I need to jump through to get access past the gate next time!

Know Your Tucson Landmarks - Window Rock!

There are a lot of interesting landmarks in the Tucson area, some harder to find than others.  The one that comes to mind is Window Rock.  Not only is it directly visible from much of Tucson, the Spanish word for window (Ventana) is a very popular name for streets, neighborhood and Canyon on Tucson's east side below it.  But while visible, few know about it, even those who've lived here for a long time, so here is your insider's guide to locate it!

The Santa Catalina Mountains form the northern limit to Tucson's northern edge.  The front range contains many trails for recreational hiking, and provide easy access to native desert in just a few minutes of hiking.  The trail to Window Rock climbs about 4500 feet elevation and is over 12 miles round trip.  Much easier to spot it visually or in binoculars!  The picture shown here at left was taken a couple miles from our house this morning, at the intersection of Campbell and Water, just north of Grant.  From the Chase Bank parking lot on the SW corner, the highest peaks of the front range are shown.  Not visible in the thumbnail shown, click on it to load the full-size image.  The Window is towards the right side near the top of the mountain profile - a large clear natural hole through the cliff allowing the sky to come through.  I've never done the hike, though Googling "Window Rock Tucson" brings up many hike descriptions and close-up pictures of it.  If you don't pick it out of the profile picture at left, the right image is labeled so that you can more easily pick it out.  These pictures are a 3-frame panorama with my 70-200mm zoom set to 115mm, and also are HDR images to get details of the storefronts in shadows as well as in the sun lit mountains.

Of course, the images above also readily show another landmark, Finger Rock.  Anyone driving north on Swan Road sees it straight ahead up on the Catalina's profile, and it is quite spectacular.  I've blogged about it before (enter "Finger Rock" in the search box at upper left), and this morning's close-up of it is shown here.  The most spectacular views of it are from the Finger Rock trail which starts at the end of Alvernon Road from Skyline Drive.  As you ascend the trail, you get closer as well as climb in elevation.  I've read that you can bushwhack to Finger Rock itself, but the trail itself climbs to Kimball Peak to the right of Finger Rock, ending at over 7,000 feet elevation.

The Window is easily visible over a wide swath of Tucson, from down near the airport up past the University area.  It is easiest to see in the morning when the rock face is in shadows and the light of the sky comes through.  It is much more difficult to see in the afternoon once the rock face is illuminated by the sun.  It can also become visible on heavily overcast days when direct sunlight is blocked.  Of course, with optical aid, even binoculars make observations easy.  When I was a patient at UMC, it was always readily visible from north-facing rooms, and Melinda often spots it around sunrise from her work there when she is in the appropriate-facing rooms.  This image was taken this morning (about 0830) with the William Optics 11cm diameter F/7 APO (770mm focal length).

This pair of images were taken late yesterday just before sunset.  You can see that with the afternoon sun shining on the west-facing cliff face, the brightness difference makes the window a little harder to see, though, of course, with optical aid, the color difference now takes over.  As you continue north from the University, driving towards the Mountains up Campbell, eventually the front range blocks the view.  The left image is taken as above on Campbell near Grant, and the left one a mile further north near Ft Lowell.  Another couple hundred yards to the north and it disappears below the top of the hill to the Window's left.  We can't see it from our house as it is below that same hill.

So there you have it!  Next time you have a good view to the north of Tucson, and you are south of Ft Lowell and somewhere between I'10 and Swan, scan the north edge of the Santa Catalinas and see if you can spot it.  Earlier in the morning is better, but give it a shot!

The "R" Word!

We've travelled a hard path for the last 7 months.  Melinda's initial diagnosis of small-cell lung cancer was a shock, but we jumped into the battle without hesitation.  We've done everything Dr. Garland has wanted us to do, and she has an aggressive outlook on treatments.  We know there is no cure for small-cell, but today we finally heard the word, brought on by yesterday's PET scan, the definitive measure of her cancer.  When Sandy, Dr. Garland's nurse first called this morning, Melinda thought there must be bad news, until she said the radiologist report said "continued complete metabolic response to treatment", in other words, there was no detectable cancer activity!  When Melinda first dared ask if her cancer was in remission, Sandy confirmed that was the case!  HAPPY DAY!  She still has a week of the full-brain radiation to zap the microscopic cells that may or may not be in her brain, but when we see Dr. Garland on Monday, we're expecting confirmation of Sandy's news leak, more details and likely get to see some images too.  At that time she'll go over the schedule for continued long-term monitoring for a possible return.  While we've hoped for good news, it looks that it has finally arrived, and it is time to celebrate. 

Addendum: For those interested in the tech speak, from the radiology report:

IMPRESSION:
Complete response to therapy. The primary right pulmonary hilar mass and paratracheal lymphadenopathy are no longer identified. No new FDG avid disease is identified.

Today's Box at the Door!

The ingenuity of our friends knows no bounds!  Melinda has continued to get cards and notes to keep her spirits up as her radiation treatments resume again today for the home stretch.  This weekend we got an "Edible Arrangement" of fruits, she has a prayer shawl waiting for her to swing by work and today, another box waiting for us at the door as we returned from the hospital.  Most, or at least some of you likely know the radiation warning symbol at right.  Well what way to poke fun at the process than little cookies of radiation symbols!?  They were sent by Gretchen, who lived up the street when the Johnsons were still living in the 'burbs of St Louis.  As Homer Simpson would say, "Hmmmmm, radiation cookies!"

The View From Here!

The struggle is nearing an end!  When we started all this cancer stuff back last August, we knew we had a fight on our hands.  Melinda made it through 6 cycles (3 consecutive days every 3 weeks) of chemo, ending in mid-December.  Then she started 2-a-day radiation to her chest for 36 treatments (!) in January plus another chemo round to make those cancer cells more susceptible to radiation.  Some of the side effects (esophageal burns, low blood counts) threw her into the hospital for a couple stays, but she has come through this step 2 as strong than ever.  All that remains are 10 more once-daily treatments of full-brain radiation in case any cancer cells made it into her brain. That starts 17 March after a week off, so by the end of the month, we're hoping to be all through the treatments the oncology experts deemed to throw at her!

So while we're not sure what side effects will pop up the next few weeks, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, not unlike this view of the Catalina Mountains past the entrance to the Diamond Children's addition.  We've been walking past this view on the plaza between the main hospital and the Cancer Center for all her radiation treatments to get to the lonely elevator that brings us down to Radiation Oncology...  And finally when the sun popped out to brighten our sky Friday, it seemed to indicate the end was in sight.  She has heard from some of the other patients that brain radiation is nothing to worry about, so perhaps the worst is behind us!