Halloween

I understand that Halloween was a pagan holiday and many Christians don't allow their children to take part in the festivities that take place. To me, Halloween, as well as Christian holiday's have become overly commercialized. The meaning of Halloween has become character costumes and candy, not devil worship. I doubt many kids know what trick or treat even mean. I wasn't prepared to do any tricks when I was young. If someone said no when I said trick or treat, I, would have just moved on. Today, I think the pagan beliefs are even further removed.

So tonight, when the announcer for the New England Minnesota football game wished me, the viewer, a Happy Halloween, I said thanks and likewise.

Today's post I found on a walk I took a while ago. Made with my trusty Canon G10 and processed with ACR. The colorful autumn leaves are all turning brown.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween.

One Way

I came across this One Way sign in my travels the other morning. It beckoned to be memorialized.

This photo is a HDR photo made with the

Canon 5d mkII. Processed with Photomatix Pro.

Calverton Cornfield.

Coming home from a job yesterday I passed the corn fields and had to turn around and stop. There's something about a cornfield in October.

This photo is an HDR composite converted to gray scale.

I used ACR, Photoshop and Photomatix pro.

orange maple leaf

 

On a short walk yesterday I came across autumn happening in full blast. Long Island is at the beginning of peak. I love autumn.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

daises

I played around with a still life of daises. I started with a HDR composite added a layer for diffusion and another for the corner burns...

The second image is the HDR composite and a texture layer made by Kim Klassen, and a layer of yellow. I love what she does with her textures. She has a great site, and some excellent images. If you love creative photography, check it out.

Comming and going

My wife and I went to Vermont to visit Adam on Sunday. I was a little nervous because of the high winds we had Friday and Saturday, but the Captain said the conditions were calm. My wife gets sea sick easily, and calm was a relative term on Sunday. It was a good thing she took some Dramamine because I'd call the conditions rolling. We made it over fine. I was even feeling a bit queezy.

The colors were beautiful on the way up. Connecticut's leaves looked pretty much like Long Island; colorful, but still a lot of greens. As we entered Massachusetts, the colors intensified and the reds and oranges were explosive. By the time we got to Northfield, just south of Montpelier the mountains were all done. There were a few yellows left and some brown, but most green firs and gray branches.

Still it's always beautiful.

It was parents weekend at the school, but we just came up for Sunday. We take him food shopping and out for a restaurant meal. And of course, bring up winter clothing and take home anything he doesn't need any longer. He has classes on Monday morning, so it was just for the day. We had a great visit.

On the way back to the ferry, we decided to drop in on an old friend that we have been very concerned about. She hasn't been returning our phone calls. And her husband doesn't work.

We tried all sorts of ways of getting in touch with her. Our visit was a last resort. Thankfully, she is ok, just overworked with three jobs and a husband as lazy as an August day.

We don't know what we can do to help her but pray for her.

Today's photos were made At Orient Point NY on Sunday morning, and New London Connecticut Monday evening. The sunrise is an HDR photo, I was able to steady the camera on a ledge. The sunset was made at a very slow shutter speed, 1/6 of a second, I couldn't make the minimum three exposures for a HDR photo.It was also cropped so the horizon would be straight. Both were made with the Canon 5d mkII.

Thanks for putting up with my long windedness!

Charlotte

The morning sky was filled with gray storm clouds, rolling in an anticipated evening storm. I wasn't happy with the photos I made for the County yesterday at the Maritime Museum, mostly because of the sky, today's sky was perfect.

The photo of the port side was made yesterday, the bow was made today. There's not much sky in the bow photo, but enough.

Both photos are HDR images made with the Canon 5d mkII and processed with Photomatix Pro and Photoshop.

I finished the Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy. All were definitely thrillers, but I liked The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo best. Larsson is an engaging writer and develops his characters as if he is writing a biography. So the books start slow, but build to the point where I couldn't put them down.

I'm starting Hemmingway's To Have and Have Not,  today.

Never confuse movement with action.

Ernest Hemingway

Sailboat at the Maritime Museum

For me, one of the gems of Suffolk County is the Maritime Museum in Sayville. It houses a visual history of Long Islands rich maritime history right on the water. This sailboat, with its beautiful wood details, is on of the displays still in the water. How beautiful it looked, and how much work it must be to keep it looking beautiful. The place is small, but packed with great stuff.

This is a HDR photograph made with the Canon 5d mkII and processed with Photomatix Pro and Photoshop.

Autumn Reds

On my bike ride today, I saw a lot of reds, the ivory, sumac, and hydrangea caught my eye today.

It was a beautiful fall day today after a night of crazy rain.

I used the Canon G10 and ACR for all three images.

Autumn Yellows

 

I was interrupted from my yard work and had to snap a few photos. The shinny Greenbrier leaves are slowly turning yellow. The wild grape leaves are further into their slow decline. As they change, they remind me of a Jackson Pollock interpretation of Autumn. Or God's interpretation of Jackson Pollock.

The late day sun added some depth and contrast to both.

I used the Canon G10 and processed both with ACR and photoshop. The Greenbrier leaf is cropped.

No such thing...

Yesterday, I covered a peace rally in a community that lost a sixteen year old boy in a street shooting. It's sad, very sad every time I need to cover these things. I only imagine that as the income gap between the richest Americans and poorest widens more, communities like these will get worst.

I saw this sign across the street from the rally and had to photograph it. I guess when my father taught me there was no such thing as a free lunch, he didn't know about about the Mercy Inn.

Made with the Canon 5d mkII and processed with Adobe Camera Raw.

Green Water

I loved the way the branches are reflected under the floating leaves.

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

The Wind

It was gray and rainy most of today then, at about three this afternoon the clouds broke and the sun came out. I set with my tripod to try for a HDR photo, but changed my mind once I saw the wind.

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

Hers

I found this sign at Overlook Beach, naturally it's the sign for the ladies comfort station. Oddly, the men's bathroom wasn't labeled. I was thinking of His and Hers, but all I got was hers.

Made with the Canon d5 and processed with ACR.

Greyscale grey skies

I was at Overlook Beach today and was moved by the grey clouds that hung above the Great South Bay. The sky was beautiful all day even though this was the only chance I had to make a photo. I'm glad I had time to make this one.

This HDR photograph was handheld using the Canon 5d. I processed it with Photomatix Pro and Photoshop. I cropped it slightly to correct for a crooked horizon.

Early Bloomer

The first of the Montauk Daises are open and in a few days the small bushes will be covered with white flowers. I didn't know until today they were part of the Chrysanthemum family. They are usually the last flowers to bloom in my yard. They'll have flowers till the end of October.

I haven't been feeling my usual chipper self these past few days. Mostly, I'm just feeling down.

I think part of it is the political climate of this mid-term election. There's a lot of mean spiritedness and raw hatred, especially here in New York.

I don't know, I have a doctor's appointment for blood work on Monday and a visit for a check-up at the end of the week. I'll see if my diabetes has anything to do with my mood.

Today post is my 501^st. Wow. Thanks for visiting.