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.

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.

The End of August

Adam is back at school, we returned from Vermont last night. The drive is a bit easier, especially with one and a half hour ride on the Cross Sound Ferry. With my two sons up at college, summer for the most part is over.

I have a golf outing today and the heat is up again. The weather announcer said something about the low ninety's tomorrow. Hot!

I just finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first book in the trilogy by Stieg Larsson. I understand why so many people are talking about the series. I liked it and plan to finish the other two.

Today's post is from Randolph Vermont. We stopped to get a bit to eat and I made this from the McDonald's parking lot. They had some nice original black and white photographs on their walls. A nice change from the usual out of the box stuff I usually see in chain stores. Very impressive.

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

After three days of rain

Many of the plants out in the wild are burnt and dry, like this one I came across in Westhampton. My lawn doesn't look much different, if what I have you can call a lawn. I needed to keep the garden watered, so I neglected the lawn. It looks like I sill lost a bush or two even with all my watering. 

We needed the rain, even if it was a bit late.

This photo was made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR and photoshop. After converting it to grayscale, I changed it back to RGB and added yellow and red to get the warm tone.

Rusty old lock

On my walk this afternoon I kicked-up this rusty old padlock. I was looking for something I could turn into a grayscale image. This had the texture and the color to make an interesting subject. I picked it up and placed it on the fence post.

I used the Canon G10 and processed it with both ACR and photoshop.

Hydrangea #2

Hydrangea has to be one of my favorite bushes. I find their flowers photogenic at any point in their life. I came across this one on my walk Saturday.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

Cotton Candy Clouds

That's what Cel, my wife called the clouds today as they appeared to be wrapping themselves around the top of the Adirondack Mountains. Strands of white gray clouds moved freely against the dark rain clouds and up the purple mountains. 

God is incredible.

We made good time getting home tonight despite the rain. Not that we were trying to make a record or anything. It's just nice to get off the road and back home.

This is an HDR photograph made along Old Military Road, Lake Placid, New York. Old Military Road is the by-pass around the center of Lake Placid and the Olympic Training Center.

Rainy trip to Potsdam

Yesterday was the first solid day of rain we had all summer, and even with the dry weather, many people complained that the summer was too hot. It was too hot to get much done and the dryness made a short growing season for my garden. I was able to jar 9 quarts of tomatoes and about 10 pints of Jalapeno Salsa. That's about the same as what I did last year, and there's sill some stuff on the vines.

So, today's the drive home. We hit a lot of traffic yesterday and it made the long ride tiresome. It's gray and cool with the forecast calling for more showers.

Today's post is part of a sign I found in East Quogue.

Back to semi-normal

My wife's cousin and her husband left for California today. After having house guests for a week, it will be nice to return to some semblance of normalcy. It was a great visit, and we all had a blast. Sadly, they missed a connecting flight and are spending the night in Philadelphia. Too bad, we could have had one more night of fun.

Tomorrow my wife and I leave to bring Brian up to Postdam for school, so really it will be Tuesday before things are normal again.

I made today's photo while waiting for shop to complete an oil change on my car. I don't know what kind of plant this is, but I really love them.

The sun sets over Cold Spring Pond

The craziness of the election season starts today for me, campaign photos, e-mails about campaign photos, phone calls about campaign photos...it's a living. I'm thankful to be working.

I took a bike ride yesterday evening and on the way back home stopped at the boat ramp and made this photo.

The scene reminds me of late September or October, not August. Those houses you see in the photo are on a man-made strip. That strip separates Cold Spring Pond from Peconic Bay. As the season ends, come evening, less and less of the houses on the strip have any lights on. Last night the strip looked dark. The vacationers are either gone, or green or sleeping early. I stood there enjoying the sunset, wondering if summer was ending early. 
If it was, someone forgot to tell the gnats.

The inn is full.

My wife's cousin and her husband are in from California for the week, this we were planning for. What we were not ready for were my son's girlfriend and his college room mate. Thankfully there's enough space for everyone to find a spot. There's no more room at the inn.

This first weekend has been loads of fun starting with my mother-in-law finding this yellow parakeet in the bird feeder. She had my father-in-law catch it and try to put it in a bird cage. It flew around their house for a few hours until the two of them netted the little bird and put it in the cage. Did I mention my mother-in-law getting bit a couple of times in the process?

Sunday we took the kayaks out on the pond. We had the whole pond almost all to ourselves due to the grey skies. My sister-in law, wife and their cousin went for a swim afterwards.

After dinner the parakeet flew in from the bedroom. Either the bird is smart about sliding birdcage doors or the bars are not close enough. I did manage to get the little fella back into the cage without any pecks or nips.

August Sunflower

I've needed a muse this past week and my sunflowers didn't let me down. I just didn't feel all that creative. This past week I turned 53 and worked a grueling golf outing on my birthday.

I also needed to get a slide show of the Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride up and running for the Town of Babylon.

We have family flying in from California for a week and then the boys go back to collage. Time just goes way too fast.

I needed some time to stop and notice the sunflowers.

Voice of America

Voice of America was the mane of a radio show broadcast in the theater of war. It is the official external radio and television broadcasting service of the United States federal government. Today's photo is my tribute to VOA.

Red Fox

Last year at the Tuckahoe golf outing a White Tail Deer ran across the course. We see a lot of deer in our neighborhood and this outing was held close to where we live, so the deer was no surprise.

Yesterday, I photographed a golf outing 45 minutes west of here. I was totally unprepared for this little guy that ran across the golf course. I was driving around in a golf cart with only a 35 to 105.

I've always wanted to make a photo of a Red Fox. I have two more golf outings this August. I wonder what else I'll come across?

Hey 19

 

Here's another image for my numbers series. I don't remember too much about being 19. I do remember being able to buy alcohol legally at eighteen and maybe that's way I can't remember anything significant about 19.

The title comes from the Steely Dan song, one of my favorites.

Click on the 60 West photo in the sidebar  if you'd like to see all the numbers in the series.