The Lamp

The Lamp (Copyright (cc) 2009 B Kahuna)

PANADURA, Sri Lanka -- An old brass oil lamp lit early this morning to usher in the New Year was captured several hours later using a Canon EOS 30D equipped with the highly non-bogus EF 50mm 1:1.8 II lens.

The New Year dawned at 00:47 hrs (GMT+5:30) today and the lighting of the hearth was scheduled at the auspicious time of 05:05 hrs. The partaking of the first meal was mysteriously scheduled for 05:50 hrs. The assorted mystics responsible for this scheduling clearly had no knowledge of cookery and the possibility of concocting the traditional milk rice and accompaniments within a period of 45 minutes was left as an exercise for beta testers.

In related news, Kahuna spent the last four days cleaning His lair which had become an entropic hotspot. Geologically significant layers of items deposited on His table over the course of many years were removed, such that the surface became visible again. And not a moment too soon, according to some geologists who speculated that it was only a matter of time before the formation of fossil fuels.

The photographs above were all captured on shutter priority: the first at 1/60^th of a second at ISO 400; the second at 1/80^th of a second at ISO 200 and the third at 1/80^th of a second at ISO 100. The white balance was set to incandescent, resulting in the rich blue hues. All images have been straightened in Picasa to correct slight perspective distortion.

That's all for now.

May the New Year bring you peace and prosperity!