After Christmas thoughts...

Here is my dog, Ralph; he will be 5 years old next month...the strange thing is that it seems like yesterday when I brought him home on my lap in the car. He was small enough to hold easily in my two hands...he has brought me on a journey in the past few years; despite the fact that he can drive you crazy playing with his toys and wanting you to throw all the squeaky balls, he has taught me humility and the joy of small pleasures...he doesn't worry about his appearance, he wakes up happy every day looking forward to the adventures ahead of him, no matter how small they may be...just a walk is a joy for him, playing with a toy I toss is enough for Ralph, being beside me is all he asks of life. In many ways he has enhanced my life, and in many ways he has been my tutor in the joy and fun of being alive and appreciating every day...


Here are a couple of recent images taken on my walks with him.

Two more images taken yesterday with the G12..

haven't been able to get anything really good lately..hate the weather in winter..everything is drab; trying to do my best until there is snow or ice to photograph..although, maybe it isn't the weather but my way of looking at things..sometimes, when I am walking, it's easy to see images or envision a composition..lately, not much has struck me as interesting...

New point and shoot!

These are a couple of images taken with my new Canon G12 point and shoot camera...for years I have used the G9, which is a fantastic little camera..but my husband surprised me with this one a couple of days ago..the advantage to the G12 is the articulating LCD screen..you can use it in the normal position on back of camera, but if necessary, it can be snapped out and rotated 180 degrees making it easy to take images with the camera in any position...the images I've taken so far, appear sharp and crisp with good dynamic range..it still has the ND filter..which comes in very handy at times..more images to come..the other one in b&w is a macro..the major complaint I've heard about this camera is that the spot for your thumb is small...but it's ok for me because I have a small hand, but for a man, it could be a problem avoiding hitting buttons on the back accidentally...what's interesting is that I was going to get the Sigma D1x..but when I read Darwin Wiggett's review and found that it had a lens cap (which must be removed prior to shooting) and poor performance in low light despite the large sensor, I knew it would be a pain in the neck..it's a lot better to have a retractable lens with built in protection, which the G12 incorporates.

December mornings

Weather here has turned cold, nights in the 20s, and I'm having a hard time finding good images to shoot up in the woods...there is a lack of color..everything appears brown or dull green, so black and white images are going to be the norm for this month; at least until there is some snow...took this one in a clear cut area that was logged a few years ago..this is one of ony three standing trees. Just a lucky tree, I guess..

thoughts on aging

This image of sunset was taken a few days ago...a cold front was moving into the area that evening and the sky was spectacular..I should have taken a few minutes to drive to the reservoir to get some reflections of this incredible color; instead I was walking Ralph in the backwoods so had to shoot through the trees...

Now that I'm over sixty, it is often that I reflect upon the aging process and the changes it has upon a person...the one thing that is irritating me lately is the senior citizen discount offered by so many businesses...I often wonder what that's all about..does it imply that seniors (and who came up with that word for older people anyway?) cannot afford anything anymore and have to be taken care of by being offered a discount or is it a way to lure people back to their store or restaurant? It definitely is not a reward..there is something insidious about it..like we are doddering old codgers...

Now that that's off my chest..the other early morning image was taken the other day just as the sun touched the trees as it cleared the horizon..

Two days before Thanksgiving

Today is predicted to be in the sixty degree range of temperatures; strange for November, but not that unusual...this image is a twisted, gnarled stump taken on my daily walk...I like the weird pattern and movement in it...this is the time of year that I miss my parents the most; because it is a time of memories...remembering all the Thanksgiving dinners my mom cooked when I was a kid...and how brief that childhood was, although at the time it seemed like forever...

Wind and cold

This was taken a couple of days ago at the reservoir..a lot of wind, a lot of clouds..but a few good images..

Dreary morning

This morning is still dreary with rain and wind...able to get off a few shots but nothing I'm crazy about..I do like the framing of this tree by the large trees in foreground...I guess the ferns, which for some reason are still alive and green in November, are my best image from this morning..will go out later with slr and try to shoot the brook way up in back..

After the rain...

These two images were taken this morning after a nasty rain and wind storm..

didn't seem to see much this morning on my walk, but came out with a couple of images that are usable...the light was only good for a short time, then it was just too white very quickly and lost the color of sunrise..the lower image was changed with the polaroid transfer filter in tiffen dfx..I like that effect on this particular image..the other is just morning sun catching the trunks of oak trees...

Monday blues

Originally, it was my intent to post an image per day...that may have been too ambitious; the idea has undergone some changes with the intent to now post images every few days...because I just can't get a good image every day; some days I come home with stuff that's just dull

..there are three images today, all taken with the Canon G9, as are most of the images posted here..I always carry my camera with me, especially when walking Ralph through the paths in the woods, and just shoot anything that looks interesting to try to develop a better eye for composition.

Here are two more images..the one on the left was taken at Beavertail last Friday during a time of low tide..this enabled me to climb down to the base of a ravine with rocks on either side..

Thursday and Friday

Here are a couple of images taken in the last two days...

the yellowish colored image was taken using a Singh-Ray blue/gold polarizer..I have not had much luck with this filter except in winter on ice or frozen brooks..that is fog in the background out at sea.

Monday and Tuesday

This is the reservoir near me taken at sunset...

Friday

This is the Scituate Reservoir taken toward sunset..not a good night sky, but a few good clouds and interesting light..but I have seen

much better in this area...it was still fun to try

to make the best of what the weather gave me.

Thursday

Morning with a lot of mist and humidity; it makes for a few interesting images..I love the effect of fog in the distance, especially when trees are involved..

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

There are three days represented here because I have slacked off on my uploading to the blog..the idea of posting a daily image is not easy because many of the images I take in the morning are just not very good..

these are the best of that lot of mediocre images..but it is such a challenge to carry a point and shoot on walks with Ralph and try to compose on the fly.

Stormy Friday

Stormy morning..with high winds and rain, but a few good moments to take some pictures..love this Canon G9..just the right size to take in my pocket, yet it gives me some great images with acceptable dynamic range..most of the time it is necessary to use the Manual setting, as it gives me the best results..but it requires me to make a lot of changes to ISO and shutter/aperture settings..but that's part of the fun.

Thursday morning

Today wasn't a good day shooting..the light didn't seem right and the images weren't very good..this is probably the best one taken this morning...I used a slight blur to soften the color...

Wednesday

Today's image is taken at the reservoir near my house...the sky looked like it might be amazing at sunset, and it was...

Tuesday

Here is today's image..taken on an overcast morning with the Canon G9..this camera has been great for a point and shoot style camera; it will even shoot raw images plus has a neutral density filter option available...the new G12 has an LCD screen that will pull out and rotate making it easier to take macro shots in difficult spots...but the G9 is great, too...and can be purchased for a lot less money.

Daily image

I'm going to push myself to shoot a daily image, worthy of posting, too..it won't be easy some days but it will be a challenge to push myself beyond my current capabilities; and force myself to create more interesting compositions until I can return to the Canadian Rockies...this is the first one today, with more to come...

September in Canada

Back from Canada after nine days shooting in the Canadian Rockies and Kootenay Park, among other places in Alberta...

Spring musings

It is almost April...

that means spring here in New England.

There is a lovely brook not far from me; it's been a source of photographic inspiration for me all winter long. If it weren't for the long walks to visit that place of solitude, the winter would have been almost intolerable this year.

These images were taken at diffent times of day, mostly early morning; it is magical walking there as the morning sun peeks through the trees; the light can be truly stunning.