Blue Moon 2009

Tonight is the second full moon in December 2009. In modern times this is called a Blue Moon. I've heard may explanations of where the term came from or how this particular phenomenon inherited the name.

Two full moons in one month happen approximately every thirty months or so. But the last blue moon to happen on a News Years Eve was in 1990. The moon doesn't look any more blue than any other full moon. It's just the name for the second full moon in a month.

Today's photo I made yesterday on the way home from work. I was amazed at how beautiful the sky looked with all the blues and grays and the almost full moon. As I drove, the sky kept changing, so I looked for somewhere to pull over to make a photo.

It looked so peaceful, maybe some how it could be a sign of what is to come in 2010. Optimistic I know, but I can still wish everyone a peaceful, happy New Year.

Frozen Cold Spring Pond

Today's post is of the frozen Cold
Spring Pond on Christmas night. Cold Spring Pond is not a pond at
all. It is said that the strip is man made, put there to make an
expensive development. Most of the homes on the strip are seasonal.
I'm not sure about the the A frame on the left, but my boys were in
school with the children that live in the other lit house. I think
the strip is beautiful this time of year, especially from our side of
the pond.

I used the Canon 5d and Photomaxtix
Tone Mapping Program for this image.

Bay Skiff

The frigid cold hit Long Island today. Since early this morning, we've had high winds and temperatures in the twenties before the wind factor. The wind is sill blowing relentlessly, and it's a mere seventeen right now. I'm glad I'm in for the night. My wife walked to a neighbors house a few doors away. He sister and mother, the neighbor Lorraine and my wife get together every so often and play games. As of late, they've been playing Nintendo Wii games. Tonight, as I understand it, my mother-in-law wants to play Rock band. I'm sure it's a sight to see, bur it's way too cold for me to venture out into the night air for entertainment. Even if it might be really funny.

Today's photo is from the dock around the corner, in fact, it's a few yards from Lorraine's house. This is one of the skiffs used by the baymen to harvest clams and oysters that grow in Cold Spring Pond. Except for the inlet into Peconic Bay, the pond is frozen over. After today, the inlet and Peconic might also be mostly ice.

 

Black Sand

Today's photo came from a walk I took on the beach. I'm not sure I'd ever seen sand this color sand in Southampton. Maybe, it's the winter tide or how much of the beach has eroded these past few months.

Whatever the reason it looked beautiful and I had to make a couple of photographs.

My wife and I rented the movie My Sister's Keeper with Cameron Diaz last night. If you like tear jerkers, this gets five stars. It's about an eleven year old's quest to get medical emancipation from her parents who had her as a child donor to keep her lukemia-stricken older sister alive. It's a bit jumpy, I felt like I was paging through a family photo album from various parts of the album. Other than that it was a great tear jerker. The actors and actresses did great job in the movie, even Alec Baldwin.

 

A day of quiet.

Christmas comes and goes so fast sometimes. This was one of those years for me. The blizzard we had last weekend didn't help. It took us two days of shoveling and snow throwing the driveway to get the cars out. There's a lot a work preping for the Christmas Eve dinner with the in-laws. Christmas Eve mass and putting the gifts under the tree makes for a long day.

It's nice to have a day that's close to the normal routine.

Today's post is of a flag waving snowman in Hampton Bays I passed on my way to pick-up the fish order for Christmas Eve dinner. With today's warmer weather and the rain, I'm not sure she'll be around for long.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a happy, health and Peaceful

New Year.

Shoveling

Evan Cel and I spend all day shoveling out and I'm not sure we'll be able to get out tomorrow

Needless to say, I an very tired.

My oldest son, Brian is driving home tomorrow form Potsdam. They felt it would be better to leave a day latter. I'm so glad I didn't suggest that.

Isabel does know what do do with the three foot drifts. She's not fond of snow.

Careful what you wish for.

I've been so looking forward to snow, but of all times to get it, it's the weekend Brian and Adam are coming home from school Brian and a couple of friends are driving back form Potsdam. The weather maps all show the heaviest of the snow here on Long Island. They should be fine, but I still worry.

Adam is taking Amtrak in Manhattan like he did for Thanksgiving. It's a lot safer than driving, but I still worry.

I made this photo at about four o'clock , it hasn't stopped since. The meteorologist are saying we'll get between six and twelve inches before five tomorrow. I got what I wished for.

 

Homeless for the Holiday

Last night, Sayville was transformed into something magical. Unbeknown to shoppers as they walking from shop to shop looking for holiday gifts. Quietly, like a nighttime snow, half a block away homeless families from Suffolk County Shelters are dining on prime rib and listening to a jazz trio and gospel singers. Not just any jazz trio, a phenomenal group of brothers, without formal musical training, the youngest, an eight year old drummer; they also are homeless.

Every Child's Dream, the not-for-profit who organizes the night for five hundred guests also arranges to have a Santa and gifts for all the children, and it’s all donated.

Bill Lindsay, the Presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature and Wayne Horsley a legislator from Lindenhurst collect gently used coats, hats and gloves. The families are free to browse through the racks of garments for whatever they need.

Buses were donated from a local company for those who needed to get back and forth.

I left as the volunteers were changing the table setting for the second seating.  As I stopped at the light two blocks from the festivities a bus from Little Flower Children’s and Family Services pulled up beside me. The glow from the children on that bus out did the holiday lights that adorned the well-decorated village shops.

Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus. He comes in all shapes and sizes, all colors and nationalities.  He was big and small, young and old and yes, I think he was even homeless. Everyone left there knowing what Christmas is really all about. 

Pine Cone

I took a short walk today at one of my usual trails. I didn't come across anything of interest but a couple of pine cones on some Black Pine Trees. This is the first one I made a photo of. The way the sun filtered into the wooded area and lit the cone made it stand out against the out-of-focus background. I thought the detail was unreal.

I made this photo with the Canon G20 and processed it with photoshop.

Green Wall

It’s funny how something I see a few times a month can all of a sudden look different. I park against, along or across from this wall whenever I visit the dry cleaner. This one morning I must have been there at the right time to catch the light.

The one spatter of yellow on the green wall just added to the whole thing.

I used the Canon g10 and Photoshop for this image.

 

Christmas Window

 

Inspired by a line in a Mary Chapin Carpenter song, I made a couple of images of store windows dressed for the holiday season. This is my favorite of the two. Believe seems to be a reoccurring theme this Christmas. Macys has it on their bags and this little shop in Hampton Bays has it in their window. I liked the depth this window has and I’m a sucker for white picket fences.

I made this photo with the canon G10 and processed it with ACR.

Leaves and twigs

Looking down, good advise I picked up from a fellow blogger, Georgia at itsjusthowiseethings, brought met his image today. In the steady rain I caught a brake and made this image. Actually it’s three images, all at different exposures for a HDR composite.

The camera was the Canon 5d Mark II and it was processed with Photomatix Pro and Photoshop.

Tree of Honor

Ellen McVeety, the Deputy Supervisor, of the Town of Babylon, has decorated the Town Hall Christmas Tree a bit differently this year. Instead of traditional Christmas ornaments, their tree is dressed with red, white and blue stars as well as white lights and American Flags. McVeety has asked town residents and employees to supply a photograph of an friend or family member in the service, They can be active or in the reserves. The photos are then attached to the stars and hung on the Tree of Honor.

She just wanted people to remember the men and women serving our country during the holiday season.

One mother wrote to Ellen about how difficult it will be this Christmas without her son Matt there. Hopefully all of us can remember the service people and their families this season.

These are some photos of the tree.

More peace; it's still a good idea.

I had to have been really tired last night because I had to edit yesterday’s post twice. It was the photos that had to be changed not my English! Sad.

Today’s photo is the last of the peace wreaths. Maybe when I go back to the village I’ll see more.

Same camera and processing.

Southampton Village Peace

Southampton Village is all decorated for the holidays; the reoccurring theme this year is the Peace Wreath. I did a family portrait Saturday night and my client told me about the wreaths. She said it’s because of the 40^th Anniversary of Woodstock.

These were made with the Canon5d Mark II and processed with Photomatix Tone mapping program.

Patchogue in the rain

Patchogue looked very cool in the rain through the windshield, so I just had to make a photo. This was the best of a half dozen or so images. You can see a red car on the left of the frame.

I made this image with the Canon G10 and processed it with Photoshop.

Purple seed pods

I came across these seed pods on a walk last week. I've seen them before, maybe they're some kind of plant in the milk weed family.

This time I stopped to get a good, close look. I especially love the way they drape down and their color. This group had a seed or two still in one of the pods. It also had the remains of a spiders web around the top.

I used the Canon G10 in macro mode and processed it with ACR.

 

Busy Saturday

It’s a very windy and cold night. We had rain all day sometimes it was mixed with snow. Our house is situated higher than all the property on the north side of us. Cold Spring Pond also sits to our north. When the wind comes from the north, nothing stops it and it sounds fierce. Sometimes I think I’ll find the siding all torn apart, and once it peeled back a piece of the flashing used on the roof. Tonight is one of those nights.

I worked all day today. This morning I photographed Jeffery Canada, a man doing amazing things in education with children in Harlem. He came to speak before the first graduates of The New Beginnings group in Wyandanch; the town Mr. Canada came from. This evening I want to Patchogue, where the Fire Department was holding a surprise welcome home party for a member returning from Iraq. Both were very emotional events.

Today’s photo is from the Village of Patchouge. I made this image from the Fire House parking lot. I thought the lone Christmas tree in the window looked cool. I made this image with the Canon G10 and processed it with ACR

 

Hard Hat Area

A little irony is always a good thing. With all those hard hats it’s easy to see this is a Hard Hat area. I found this while waiting for a press conference to start at a buildings trade school. The pattern the hats made remind me of the computer game Tetris I used to play. It was so addicting. I just got a Wolverine ESP photo safe that reads media and makes backups. It has Tetris loaded on it. Hey, is that a ladies hat on the bottom right?

Photo was made with the Canon 5d Mark II and processed with Canon’s Digital Photo Professional and Photoshop.

Mr. Cool, calm and collected.

I don’t often post photos made on the job. But I was so impressed with how composed this person was I needed to make this image and post it.

Last Tuesday at the general meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature, this candidate for a commissioner’s spot in the county was there to answer questions.

The legislature grilled this guy. I couldn’t believe how he sat there cool, calm and collected and answered their questions for two and a half hours.

This photo sums up how he looked for most of the ordeal.

Canon 5d Mark II Canon’s Digital Photo Professional, and Photoshop were the tools used.

Blue

Another tiring day, not with a lot of work, just a lot of running around, I even did some Christmas shopping.

Blue. I just had to make a photograph of the side of this storage container; the color just jumped out at me.

Made with the Canon 5d Mark II and processed with Photoshop and Canon’s Digital Photo Professional 

Birch Trees

Today’s post was made near yesterday’s cattail photograph. Nothing  different, Canon 5d Mark II and processed with both Canon’s Digital Photo Professional and Photomatix Tonal Mapping program.

Birch trees are my favorite trees and they make great subjects.