Dailies
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A platter of solitude. Happy week end!
Crooked Lane Old Mansion property
Emma is braver than me! This place is getting so creepy. We used to be able to actually get into some of these old buildings but now, I can barely bush-whack my way to an entrance. Like a lot of these old, abandoned properties, it seems like a shame.
This is shot from atop a hill called Enfield Lookout. It's part of the Quabbin Reservoir. I hadn't ever seen rain off in the distance like that. The clouds were very strange there. One minute, very sunny, the next it almost looked like night.
Thanks for your tips on my image from yesterday. I'll be checking a few resources that some of you sent my way. And also, thank you very much for all your kind comments over the last few weeks.enfield maenfieldquabbinquabbin reservoircloudsrainmountainmountainslandscapelakerain cloudsskyenfield lookout
Plymouth, Ma
Well it wasn't a very exciting sunrise but, it was uncharacteristically still. I like wandering around through tucked away places, like out on the piers, off the beaten path and behind barns. Everywhere your mother warned you not to go!PlymouthHarbormarinaplymouth masunriseplymouth harborboatswater
Another shot from "My Favorite Place", yesterday's Daily. That first half hour after the sun rises can sure make for some gorgeous lighting.
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I almost trashed this image as the blow-outs were overbearing. I have the DAP program and thought the image had enough color and pop to work as a "painting". I kind of like it! If you've never tried any of the digital painting programs before, you should. I can't even hold a paintbrush but I love paintings~ oil, acrylic and watercolor. This program gives me a little creative freedom in a world otherwise, shut off to me.
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I love tossing spent flower heads down stream. Every time I do it, the results are different.
Boston Public Gardens
This little guy didn't quite know what to make of this "statue". He kept coming back to her and looking at it from all different angles. I think he's waiting to see if she blinks!
I've worked at a bustling, local farm stand every fall for the past 6 years. It's the best job ever! The customers are fantastic. My boss is nuts, in a great way. The corn is to die for. And the photo ops are endless!!
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Nothing like a beautiful sunrise to start the day.
The stern wheeler in Plymouth Harbor at sunrise. I would love to shoot this from a different angle but, there just isn't one, other than going into the water!
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Happy Thanksgiving from the Mayflower! I ventured to Plymouth this morning for a very cold sunrise. I've always wanted to shoot the Mayflower on Thanksgiving and I finally did it! It's not that easy to shoot as there is some ongoing construction as well as touring platforms surrounding a good portion of the "ship". I can now cross that off my bucket list of shots!
Cranberry boxes two minutes before sunset.
Plimoth Plantation after closing. What a treat with the rising full moon. I used a fence post to steady the camera for this 4 second exposure.
I had the great pleasure of attending a Rick Sammon seminar yesterday. It was held at Plimoth Plantation in one of the meeting rooms. When it was over, I was so excited to go shoot! I ventured down into the Plantation as it was getting ready to close for the evening. I had about 2 minutes before the sun would be gone. This is one of only 3 images where the sun was to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, I only had my Lumix and not my D300s where a tiny aperture would have been perfect here and ten minutes later, I could have really benefitted from the incredible ISO settings of the D300s. Oh well...I think the Lumix (FZ28) and Lightroom did a great job here.
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Went to a Dedication gathering for my little baby niece, Emmeline. Here are her discarded clothes while she ate some cake.
Redwing Blackbird taking a rest on a Crooked Lane cat nine tail.
I found a nice, quiet bridge with a gentle breeze. I lost myself there for an hour...
Swamp reflections.
After the sunrise itself is over, there are a few places I like to visit while the sun is illuminating them from the side. This Highland Road swamp is an example. No one is ever there. I know why though....I ruin whatever shoes I have on!reflectionabstractfoliagefallautumnswampstumpsmorninglakeville malakeville
Boston Public Gardens in the fall.
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This little twig showed up in every sunrise picture I was taking. I was actually annoyed with it, even wondering if I had the know-how to PP it out of the images. Then along came this dragonfly and suddenly, a few of my favorite things began to coalesce ~macro, reflection and dragonflies. So, here you have it, some of my photographic lemonade!
Hot off the press! I just got back from a gorgeous sunrise, chose a picture, and posted it! Here ya go..
Last ride on the Round-up...
After the hot air balloons and fireworks were over, there was still an almost empty midway to be photographed. I had never done this type of photography before and it really is a whole other animal. I was surprised to see that I wasn't the only one taking pictures either. There were about 10 others there, tripods and all. I had no tripod, as usual. Perhaps I could have benefitted from one but, I'm not one for lugging anything extra around. Must stem from raising 5 kids!
Well, I finally got to go to a Hot Air Balloon event. It was definitely fun to see the process from the truck to the tethered sky. The bummer part was that only one tethered balloon went up into the sky! And it was for exactly 7 seconds and it came back to the ground! None of the other balloons even attempted to go up as conditions were too windy. I did manage to watch 5 balloons go through the inflation process, which is quite a process. It must have been a disappointment to the balloonists as well as the 200 or so people that spent the previous 2 hours standing in the "balloon rides" line. So, I never got any of those "beautiful" hot air balloon shots that I've always dreamed about. I did pretty good with what I had to work with. I was using my new camera and that was a challenge in and of itself.
One quick note on my NikonD300s....The ISO factor is a new twist for me. I never ever changed that setting on my other camera as any setting besides 100 was uselessly grainy. I'm working on shooting in manual, as opposed to my usual aperture mode. I know there's a button on the camera somewhere that once depressed, will illuminate the top screen where all the numbers and settings are but, I couldn't find it ~because it was dark out!!! I did manage to get some incredible fireworks shots (I spared you them) and excellent midway night shots as well. All in all, it was a great night and I'd do it again.
Pond side flowers in the drizzly rain.
I thought it would be interesting to see how this image changes with sunshine. The green in the background is the surface of a pond covered in, well, I don't know....some kind of pond algae. Even the turtles that were sunning themselves (in the rain!) were covered in it. I think this pale pink beauty will be washed out with bright sun. Time will tell.
Chapin's Beach....Dennis, Ma
I don't know these folks, I just liked them. Sometimes, I like to think about what older couples might be thinking about. Are they worried about their health? Are they thinking about a grandchild? Are they remembering when they were young parents and brought their children here? Do the smells bring back memories? Maybe just contemplating what's for dinner....I don't know. I just like to think about it.silhouetteoceanbeachcape codcape cod manew england coastlinecoastal new englanddennisdennis ma
The setting sun at Plymouth Beach Point.
There are incredible numbers of terns and plovers nesting in the miles of sand dunes leading to this desolate spot. No vehicles are allowed (not even 4 wheel drive ones) past ~3 mlie mark. There was still over 2 miles of empty, gorgeous beach that I got to walk, leading up to this area. The birds were none too happy about my presence either. They were dive-bombing me while I was trying to take pictures . Once I realized they weren't going for my head, I was able to relax and shoot. Beautiful night overall.
This is Plymouth Beach. It's actually a very long peninsula extending from the mainland out into Plymouth Harbor for miles. It's gorgeous! There are no vehicles allowed out there, even the 4 wheel drive ones have to park and walk the the last 2 miles to the point. It's a protected area because of the many species of terns and plovers that nest in the dunes. I was pretty much alone out there and I can't remember the last time I felt that peaceful. There were no other people, other than the dozen or so fellow photo club members. I tend to drop back very quickly from group photo things because I get so caught up in the tiniest of things. Before I realize it, the group is way beyond me. I find I like it better that way. I think I take better pictures when I can just take my time and not worry about holding people up or or trying to keep up. The down side of that tonight was that I barely made it to the Point for the setting sun! I was running down the beach for the last half mile or so, with my tripod (which I never even used!), camera, sandals and water bottle! It was worth it though.You can see some of my fellow photog friends along the shore line, way in the distance. The expanse of beach there is amazing. There was more beach behind me than there was stretching before me, a lot more. In this image I was almost to the end!
I came across this spread of cranberry bog beehives about a month ago. I was pretty excited about it, not only from the photographic perspective but it also had the "cool factor". The first day I saw the hives, it was overcast and gray but it didn't stop me shooting off about 25 shots from various angles. The pictures lacked pop. So I went back a few days later on a brighter day and took a few more. Still, blah. I decided it needed something in the way of lighting so I went again a week later and was more than thrilled to see the overheads on. I shot off about 100 shots. I know that sounds insane but, in my defense~ there's also a barn (off camera to the right), very pretty wildflowers in the foreground, the amazing show of light and mist from the sprinklers AND it was a gorgeous sunset. I was actually surprised it was only 100 shots. That shows such growth and diligence for me as a photographer! A year ago, in my excitement, I would have recklessly fired off about 300 shots.
The next time I saw the hives after this shot, the hives were all established and the bees were swarming - and I mean SWARMING!- around the hives. I took 30 or so shots and decided I need to come back again at sunset so I could get the "bee cloud" with the sunset sky behind it.
So last night, I did just that. Much to my chagrin, the apiary haulers were there having loaded up eighteen wheelers full of all their hives. The bees were still swarming but it's just not the same picture with the eighteen wheelers and the beekeepers (in full garb, head to toe) doing their thing. They were wrapping up the whole truckload (as one big package) of hives to haul back to Pennsylvania. I can't imagine being behind that truck at a red light!
A little PP fun!
Sunrise at Betty's Neck....a little fogged in today.
Tried to make the best of a clouded over sunrise shoot. This image was captured about an hour after sunrise during one of the few instances where the sun actually came out. If I had to give it a title, it would include the word "heaven".
Oliver Mills a full month after the flooding.
Westport Harbor at night. I like this spot for trying my hand at night photography as there is no traffic and the sawed-off poles of the pier make a great tripod. Not to mention it's a very pretty spot.
This is an 8 sec exposure.
Trains from a train.
