Will you Take Me As I Am

 

I just finished Michelle Mercer's book “Will You Take Me As I Am, Joni Mitchell's Blue Period.” Mercer is a good writer, though I was a bit disappointed. Probably too much information about Mitchell's long list of lovers. Other than that is was ok.

One of the things I loved about her was her ability to paint a detailed landscape with her poetry.

Today on my walk I was looking for detail in a landscape. This study is more like a Georgia O'Keeffe than a Joni Mitchell.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

Habanero Peppers

These have to be the prettiest peppers along with the hottest. It has a Scoville Heat Unit rating of between 150,000 and 325,000. For comparison, a Jalapeno is 5,000 and a Cayenne Pepper, 40,000.

They are not the hottest peppers, but very close to it.

I grew these and made a Barbecue Sauce, a hot Barbecue Sauce. But before I chopped them up I had to make a photo.

Made with the Canon G10's macro mode and processed with ACR.

Butterflies

For the past seven years I been trying to get a great butterfly photograph. We have a number of Butterfly Bushes in the yard and like the name implies, they do attract butterflies. So I've tried for years to get something respectable.

This is the second time I used the Canon G10 to photograph butterflies, but it's the first time I had some success. I used the camera's macro setting and processed them with ACR.

Poison Ivy

Among the first leaves to be changing color was this Poison Ivy leaf. Nice to look at, not to touch. Some people, like my friend Pete, only have to be in the vicinity of Poison Ivy in order to get a bad case of itching.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

Connetquot River

Today's photo was made this morning on a walk through the Connetquot River State Park. I'd never been in the north part of the park, the head waters.

It was in the eighties today and some of the leaves are starting to change, especially the poison ivy.

I wish the photo was sharper, I can't be sure if was the moving water or me.

Made with the Canon 5d and processed with ACR.

Sting Ray in Blue

At the golf outing yesterday there were three classic cars in the parking lot. I took a liking to the Corvette and made this photo.

I had some fun playing with the sliders in Adobe Camera Raw.

Monday Monday

Today I worked at my last golf outing for the season, what a long day. This was my first time working for the Plumbers Association. They hold an annual outing to raise money for a charity. Nice bunch of guys!

Today's photo, and yesterday's post were both made on Friday at the Peconic River boat launch in Calverton. It' one of the places I like to stop at for inspiration.

This was made with the Canon 5d and processed and converted to gray scale with ACR.

Indian Summer

 

We had a great weekend here on Long Island, a classic Indian Summer. My wife and I transplanted six bushes and planted a new Beach Plum that was given to us for our twenty-fifth anniversary. Our anniversary is not for another few days, it's my in-laws way of making sure I don't forget.

I was able to squeeze some time to make a photo here and there. I just was too tired to sit at the keyboard and post them.

This was made with the Canon 5d mkII and processed with ACR.

The Bike Ride

 

I took a short bike ride this morning, what a beautiful day. The morning was still and dry and mother nature was out in full glory. I just love the colors and shapes in this scene I found in the parking lot of Lobster Inn.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

Sunflower Seeds

My sunflowers are all over and I guess it time to make bird food. But, not before a photograph or two.

This gray scale image was made with the Canon G10 and converted with ACR.

Football has started

Well the season has started. Evan's first game was Saturday. He's giving us a hard time about playing football this year, and this is the first time he actually looks good out on the field. My wife and I have this rule that while in high school you must play a sport, any sport each season. He's not happy with us, but seems to be pulling his weight on the team. Saturday he made two important plays. The youngest always has to push their parents to the limit.

I finished the Betty Smith classic, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, this weekend. I don't know how I missed reading this book when I was younger, it's fantastic.

Today's photo was made at Saturday's game. I keep seeing numbers, this time it's 30 with the three in the box and the yard marker, the zero. I used the Canon 20d and processed it with ACR.

Coindre Hall

 

Today, I had a job to photograph this place and the property it sits on for the county. This building is now being used as a catering hall, but there's another building down on the harbor that's all boarded-up.

It looked very interesting to me, the only info I could find on the net said it was built in 1912 and modeled after a French Chateau.

This HDR image was made with the Canon 5d mkII and processed with Photomatix Pro, ACR and photoshop.

Fall Colors

I guess that the extremely hot and dry summer made some of the trees and bushes turn sooner this year. On our trip up to Vermont two weeks ago we noticed some leaves changing and down here on Long Island the same is happening.

I love the colors of fall. I found this bush yesterday, outside the H. Lee Dennison building in Hauppauge, NY. It was early in the morning and the sunlight was still warm.

Made with the Canon 5d mkII, and processed with ACR.

The End of Summer

The highway traffic is heavy tonight with vacationers heading home. Many of the schools start tomorrow. Except for Friday, business here in Southampton seemed to be booming. Maybe Long Islanders just stayed local instead of traveling this summer.

I remember going to Maine for the Maine Photographic Workshops. The locals hung a huge sign on the highway overpass saying good by. I've thought about hanging on at the end on my driveway...see ya next year.

This is a Morning Glory from the garden, a volunteer growing between the Iris plants and Sunflowers.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

Boots

 

While we were up at Norwich University this was a typical scene in the windows belonging to cadets.

Norwich is half military and half civilian. Adam is a civilian there.

Most of the boots were just but on the window ledge. The owner of this pair was a bit more creative and hung his pair. I had to record it; it's just something you do get to see often.

Recorded with the Canon 5d and processed with ACR and Photoshop.

Sunny Skies

The skies were blue and the wind was blowing today. There were no signs of Hurricane Earl. The real problem I see and all the news reports and prep work getting ready for the weather event and then nothing happens. 
What will people do next storm?

This Thistle photo was made with the Canon 5d mkII. I should have checked depth of field to include the whole flower head.

Earl, the Storm

 

As far as Hurricanes are concerned, Earl has been mild so far. The ocean waves are awesome, and it was worth getting wet to make a few photos. There were plenty of people watching the ocean take away the beach sand. Erosion will be the big problem after this storm passes.

My wife and I were married the day after hurricane Gloria in 1985. That was nerve racking, but it all worked out. Most our guests never forgot our wedding.

These photos were made with the Canon 5d mkII and processed with ACR. They were made just after 6 PM, two hours before the peak.

Beautiful eyes.

I saw this little gal eating ice cream and looking out the ferry window as we were pulling out of New London. I pointed the camera and she looked at me and I squeezed the shutter release.

Converted to gray scale in ACR and made with the Canon 5d.

The Cross Sound Leaves New London

I love making photos on the ferry. It reminds me of Walker Evans. I have a captive subject like Evans had in his subway series. He hid his camera, I don't.

This photo needed to be altered in photoshop, there was a guide line coming out of the first little lady's head. I tried a couple of different angles as a snapped photos, but none of them worked for me like this one.

Hey, isn't that way we have photoshop anyway? Well you can call it cheating, and even I would if it were a news photos. But, in the world of looking and seeing an making photos because you can, alteration to make a stronger image is fine by me.

This was made with the Canon 5d and processed into a grey scale image with photoshop. I used the clone tool to get rid of the guide line and cropped the image to make a better composition.