This is a simultaneous cross-post from my photo blog: pixelated (and back again)

The days are getting noticeably shorter. The sun is rising a little later each day. It no longer peaks through my window before my alarm goes to warn me of the impending day.

And that is making for some amazing light shows: If it weren’t for the new distracted driving regulations, I would have pulled my camera out of my bag as I was driving through Smyth Crossing this morning shortly before seven, the sun just peaking above the horizon and framing the trees and apartments in this amazing orange silhouette.

I didn’t, obviously.

But I did bring my camera to work, wandering over to Churchill Square at lunch to snag a smokie from the Fat Franks cart and sit in front of the fountains for a few minutes — days obviously numbered for the downtown attraction, at least this summer — and snapped an abundance of pictures, the low noon light, bright but hanging closer to the horizon each day, glinting off the droplets of water arcing in front of City Hall.

I wanted to stand there and take hundreds of pictures. But a guy in office-wear snapping shots into a crowded square gets odd looks. What’s so odd about me taking pictures on my lunch break? Do people expect only tourists are interested in snapshots of the city?

I had neither my good camera (dragging the old Rebel XT along as before) nor any decent lens (just the stock 18-55mm) but I cranked the shutter speed to 1/4000 and let the camera do the real work. I just framed it, snapping a dozen or so before I got the composition I liked in this one.

I’m debating just keeping the camera at work for a few days… weeks maybe… in my locked desk, of course… and seeing what I can capture on my lunch breaks. Then again, carrying it home and back each day might pay off eventually, too.

*sigh* …so many options.