Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the readers and commenters of this blog. It is a real lift to know so many of you follow along during this adventure called NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month. This is the third year this blog has participated in the event. Coming along for the ride this year was an old friend from high school, Ken with his blog; A passionate Engagement, a new found relative, my wife's cousin Lauren; right brain dominant and a cyber fly fishing buddy John; Whiskey Creek Fly Fishing. They all participated and got their thirty posts up. I hope they had a great time too. I enjoyed reading all their posts an commenting when I had something to say. Ken sorta blew the doors off NaBloPoMo with over ninety posts and averaging three to four postings a day.

This year focused more on photography, because I thought it would be easier and save time. Not true on either account, but it was less angst ridden. Writing is very hard for me, so posting mostly photos this year was a nice respite. Going out and shooting and then processing the images was actually more time consuming. Total images posted for the month was thirty one. Of those seventeen were shot during the month. All the images were post processed in Photoshop Lightroom before being uploaded. Some had minor tweaks, while others had many adjustments made to them. I'm still learning but I know my former experience has helped in some ways.

Thanks again and I hope you'll be back soon.

During a light rain, this foam on the North Branch River produced a wonderful abstraction. I'm glad I was able to capture it with my point and shoot camera.

From the North Branch of the Contoocook River in New Hampshire. I wanted to experiment using long exposures with moving water. Looks like I need some neutral density filters to exceed one second exposure times. This was a lot of fun though.

This is the Ernst family. They were kind enough share their holiday with us this year. There was much talk of photography since Fred is the owner of a new D90 camera. To show our appreciation, I dusted off some portrait skills and did their family portrait. It is easy with such attractive subjects.

May you all have a wonderful day with family and friends in celebration of gratitude. To all those who must do work, render service or protect us from harm today, we thank you.

Here is the last of the swiss chard crop before it was harvested this past weekend. It will be part of this year's Thanksgiving bounty. With one last hurrah It's vibrant colors salute autumn's gold before we see winter's white.

And what it tells me may not be the best advice. . .

................. ...... ........................BAM!



Here's a fun camera technique that allows you to achieve an amazing motion effect. The non-manipulated image is below. This effect is achieved not with my trusty Lensbaby, but with a zoom lens and a slow shutter speed. That's all! I used my 18 - 55mm kit lens for this shot. First you'll have to select a shutter speed that will allow you to record the motion. Try something like 1/8 or 1/4 of a second. Adjust your f-stop accordingly for the correct exposure or use shutter priority exposure mode. While exposing the image turn your zoom ring smoothly either in or out while pressing the shutter. Start the zoom just before you press the shutter and continue to turn the zoom ring after the shutter closes. Starting before and ending after the exposure assures you that there are smooth zoom streaks during the exposure. You can use a tripod, but It is not necessary at these shutter speeds. I was able to make this exposure hand held. Go ahead and experiment with different motions and speeds. You will come up with your own unique and interesting effects.

Here's a somber image from the garden. This is Blue False Indigo or Baptisia australis. The flowers are beautiful in the summer when the plant explodes with delicate blue pea like blooms. In late fall it turns what looks like black, but it is really a beautiful deep indigo. The pigment is unmasked by migrating chlorophyll and displayed upon a decaying brown canvas. The color is deep and rich. This day the Lensbaby offered up a very sharp foreground leaf, adorned with a single droplet of water. The image was exposed using the f4 diaphragm magnet. This was taken at sunset on an overcast day at the same time this one was taken.

When I visited the site of one of Andrew Wyeth's most famous works, I was deeply moved as I viewed the interior and walked the grounds. Many images were recorded that day as I tried to capture what I was feeling. Our Canon PowerShot A40, a two megapixel point and shoot camera was used to record the images. From that experience, the seed was sown for reentry back to my abandoned craft. Upon subsequent viewings, I've experienced disappointed that I have not evoked the same feelings I had during the visit. As I start to convert these images into black and white, the feelings have begun to return.

From the garden as it prepares for dormancy. This spectacular plant is showing some of it's "winter Interest." This was taken during a very gray sunset yesterday. I love the way the LensBaby has caused the color shifts with the background. There was no blue, purple or magenta to be seen until the image was rendered.

Heads or Tails {Trailer} from Mad Phil Media on Vimeo.

I hope this teaser turns into a full blown production. I'm already "hooked"!

From one of my favorite blogs. Moldy Chum:

We've all heard about the giant islands of floating trash in both the Atlantic and Pacific. These photographs of albatross chicks were made in September 2009 on Midway Atoll, a tiny stretch of sand and coral near the middle of the North Pacific. The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.

There is a reason the Marine Pollution Control Act specifically forbids the disposal of plastic ANYWHERE in the ocean. It never goes away. Yes, as you can see by the pictures it breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces. In fine plankton nets dragged several miles by ocean research vessels, plastic is becoming the prevalent content in these nets, not plankton. Next time you go out on the water, remember to bring a container so you can bring your trash home with you. In fact, plastic is no longer trash, it is for your recycle bin. I am elated that in my community we no longer set limits on what type or "number" the plastic must be to get recycled. All types are accepted. They even allow wax milk cartons. Please remember to think when you are out on the water. No one wants to have an albatross around their neck.

Since I am going to a birding club meeting this evening, I'd thought share picture from an avian event I witnessed a couple of years ago. This happened one snowy day very shortly after I took possession my new digital SLR camera. I noticed a dark flash and a commotion in the front yard. A pigeon size bird then flew off into a nearby tree. I grabbed my camera and went out to investigate. There were feathers an bits of frozen blood in the snow where the altercation had taken place. An unfortunate tufted titmouse had become prey. I noticed where the predator had perched and started taking pictures.

Over a hundred shots in strong contrasty light had been taken. They captured this sharp shinned hawk enjoying the spoils of the hunt. This image is heavily cropped and taken at a low resolution. I know better now how to get better results, but thankfully, the automatic modes still managed to document the event.

It is sometimes hard to believe the diversity of landscape in my own back yard. This is very close to my home, as is Ravenswood noted in recent posts.

More from the beauty of autumn. These leaves also have a compliment their visual beauty. The texture of the leaves is like velvet. A pleasure to touch.

This is Zeke! He's our neighbor. He has two humans Jeff and Renee. They cater to his every whim. Today Zeke decided to go for a walk in the woods and and swim. He let us come along on his adventure. Good dog Zeke!

This is one of Joanne and Mike's chickens. This girl is pretty funky with her dancing shoes, but rumor has it, she's dumb as a stick. We get eggs from them each week in season. Their eggs are wonderful, because of their strong shells and nice dark yokes. It may also have to do with the fact that these girls get to eat the things they forage for in the wooded area next to their home. They have quite a chicken complex and they are free range to the extent they are not allowed to visit the neighbors unexpectedly. Along with the chickens they also raise ducks. If you come to our house you may be treated to a duck omelet. It is hard to get used to to the idea but once you have one you'll be convinced. Duck eggs are slightly firmer with a larger yoke. These eggs also make a tastier egg salad. Joanne gives us fun facts with each egg delivery. Did you know you don't need a rooster to get eggs. I still have a hard time getting my head around that one. The color of an egg has to do with the chicken not the feed. If you want to know what color eggs a chicken will lay you check the color of their ear lobes. This photo was taken on a visit to "the source" this past summer.

SeaWorld 2004, taken with our first digital camera, a Canon A40. I love the blue tones in this shot.

This is a spanish moss draped tree from Devil's Millhopper State Park in Gainesville Florida.

Yesterday morning, on a long post "fall back" time change walk, a photographic opportunity presented itself. Before leaving home, I made a conscious decision not to bring my digital SLR camera, so as not to stop every two minutes and struggle with knobs and dials. We were accompanied by our neighbor Renee and her dog Zeke. Holding up Zeke's woodland explorations would be out of the question. The camera choice for the walk was the GPS equipped iPhone 3G. The GPS is a nice feature to navigate this stretch of woods which seems to have too many trails that cross and change direction with no logic. I humored myself with the thought that at least the phone had a camera of sorts. This is the older 3G sans "s". I long for the newer "s" model which has a better camera. While walking I remembered to do one important thing, clean the lens. It can get covered with fingerprints far too easily.

Let's get back said photographic opportunity shall we. . . Early in the walk this beautiful collection of lichen and moss encrusted on a large rock presented itself. I took one shot and was thoroughly satisfied. Upon return home, the image was post processed in less than five minutes and submitted to the blog album. The many colors, textures and shadows make a wonderful natural collage that I really enjoy. I hope you enjoy it too.

Well folks, It's time again for late nights and remote posts. This year there may be a strong concentration of photography. I'm learning a bunch of new things and I will have to share them. I hope you will enjoy the images and feel free to give feedback. We'll see how it goes. I also want to invite and inspire a few more folks to join the fray. Happy NaBloPoMo everyone.

We ventured to the Berkshires this summer for a weekend of music, gardens and mountain vistas. The goal was to attend two concerts at Tanglewood and take in some of the sights. We made it to the Berkshire Botanical Garden, The Norman Rockwell Museum and to Naumkeag. All with wonderful plantings and landscape design. We're so lucky to have the mountains in the west and the seacoast in the east. The combination of the lush landscape, iconic american images and the amazing music made for a decadent weekend retreat. There are some pictures from our weekend in the Photo Album.

I took a walk in the woods today to try my hand at some macro photography. It was a beautiful fall day with lots of vibrant colors and textures. Take a look over at my photo album to see the rest of the pictures.

Created by The Oatmeal

Please take a listen. We really enjoy her music. She is contagious and then becomes addicting.

Now that I know how to spell hydrangea, I can now write about them. This is the single bloom that came from our potted h-y-d-r-a-n-g-e-a (the e-a kills me), that sits on the front stairs of our porch in the summer. In the winter it lives in the basement. It has finally come fourth with a small contribution to our floral display, and it's a beauty. You may notice I use plural possessive pronouns when I refer to the upkeep and ownership of the garden. Although technically an accurate use of said pronouns, it is really my wife who takes care of the garden. I get to enjoy it. My domain is the lawn, vegetables and compost. Yep, monoculture, food and rotting organics. This picture was taken with my Lensbaby G2. I really have a lot of fun with this lens and I'm finally getting used to it.

Surrounding the birdbath is one of my favorite plants in the garden, gooseneck. Many shun it due to it's invasive qualities, but in our difficult dry shade environment it is kept in check. Anything we can keep growing year after year is a victory. I love it's s-curve shape and the way the compound flowers open gradually from base to tip. The insects love the many flowers and there is never a time in daylight when something isn't buzzing about accepting its offering of nectar in exchange for pollination help.

The creation of this photo is another step in my struggle to become reacquainted with photography. I have now stepped fully into the digital SLR world. This has lead to a whole new way of working with images and includes many new skills both before and after the picture has been shot. I'm now working on my workflow skills utilizing Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2. I want to thank Eric for all his patience in helping me to get acclimated to this new software. The learning curve is steep but the rewards are amazing.

We went out to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday with my family and to take in the annual sporting spectacular. These pictures are more about the adaptation of my photography workflow than anything else. Hopefully this new process will allow me to be more "agile" in getting my photos sorted and published from now on. There are plenty more things I have to publish. The pictures are now in the photo album for you to enjoy.

This Saturday at 8:30 your local time, turn off the lights. It's good for you and good for the planet. Visit Earth Hour to find more information.

I took a detour at the end of a January business trip to Mosquito Lagoon near Titusville Florida. The lagoon is located in the shadow of NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Florida's east coast. There I met up with Captain Scott MacCalla of Back Country Charters. We had a wonderful day and I caught my first fish of 2009. There was a record breaking cold spell going on during this week so the fish were not too interested in feeding until very late in the day. We ejected the bananas (bad fishing mojo to have them) that were in our lunch bags and once that was done the smell of skunk was gone. We soon found tailing redfish as the sun was setting. I've posted some of the pictures from the trip in the Photo Album.