Scattered Thoughts . . .

...other than sharing very similar palettes. I shot each of these three photos a number of years ago. Two of them were actually shot with very old point-and-shoot cameras before I started buying used (but better quality) digital SLR cameras. I can see the flaws with these photos but I'm a perfectionist and most people probably can't see them. I thought these old photos were worth revisiting. I've never had any of these three photos printed but I think the first photo (the colorful springtime image) would make a nice print.   I shot the spring photo while out on a walk about five years ago almost to the day... it was May 6th, 2011... I can tell you it doesn't look anything like this out there this May! The lack of a normal winter and having continuous unseasonably warm weather has taken its toll, I do believe. I definitely prefer the bright, sometimes pastely colors of springtime over autumn foliage and this photo is a good example of springtime color...  Th

So, while I am still recovering from another week or two of lousy health, I'm revisiting photos of events, vacations and wildlife I've shot. Since the lake is now on our minds, this blog entry includes photos I like from our times at the lake.  I have this first photo in two versions... I shot it in landscape orientation (picture frame in horizontal position) but also took a shot in portrait orientation (framed in the vertical position). I will sometimes take a shot of a subject both ways so that I have the option of displaying it on a wall either way depending upon the circumstances. Truth be told, I actually prefer the landscape version of this photo but I'm on a search for photos in the portrait orientation to hang in our living room. (I occasionally rotate photos through our frames on our walls and I have three frames to fill which are in portrait orientation.)  This was one of those "last night at the lake" times... it was our last paddle around the lak

The other night while sifting through old hard drives in search of nice photos, I found a photo of a duck that was...  well... not so great but it had potential. I loaded it into my editing and post-processing software... I still wasn't too optimistic that I could save the photo or make it interesting though. I shot the photo one early morning while out on my kayak... it was foggy... the duck was hiding in the dark under some brush hanging out over the shore of the lake... there was very little contrast and almost no color... but, when I zoomed in to view the duck's head, the focus was pretty good considering the amount of fog and lack of contrast and color. I had a digital negative to play with though so I wondered if I could make something of this image.  After using a few different techniques over the course of about an hour or two, I managed to find a way to produce an acceptable image. I don't have too many good photos of ducks so I was excited to have found this o

Early morning is definitely my favorite time of day at the lake house.  First off... I like waking up to a quiet, peaceful and an organized house. I enjoy getting out on the lake in my kayak as the morning fog is lifting and being burned off by the warm sun as it rises over the mountains behind the house... the lake slowly comes alive and brightens as the sun burns through the fog... it is quiet... it is serene...  Photography and videography seem to be much easier during these times perhaps because I am refreshed and there are no distractions... It is nice coming back to the house after an early morning kayak outing to find the house quiet... I awaken everyone by starting the coffee and putting some bacon in a frying pan...

Last summer, as with most summers, we had guests coming and going at the lake house constantly. We had a really fun time with everyone! Among those visitors were Tom and Karen. Tom and Karen brought their kayaks with them so we could do some paddling around the lake together. The weather was beautiful albeit a little windy so we paddled all the way down to the south end of the lake where the dam is located. The wind made paddling back a little tough but it was nice to get out on the lake with them.   Most of the land south of the house is State land on our side of the lake so it is a great direction to paddle if you want to spot some wildlife so that is the direction we headed. Also at that end of the lake is a bit of marshland which I quickly learned is a wonderland to Karen. We paddled into the marsh until we hit some beaver dams which were blocking our way so we turned back and visited the man-made dam at the end of the lake.  I've been to the dam a number of times

Since I'm having some rather poor health this week, I've been trying to focus on improving my photography and videography. Over the past eight or nine years, I've done a lot of coursework in photography and, as a result, my photography has improved significantly over time. I just started studying videography very recently so that still needs a lot more coursework and practice. In the meantime, I have photography to help feel a bit productive on days when I'm struggling with my health. Our time at the lake is again close upon us so this is foremost in our thoughts now. Since the lake is what we've been thinking and talking about everyday, I've been revisiting old photos from the lake. I am sharing two panoramas here...  This first panorama was shot while I was in my kayak... I shot five handheld shots while sitting in my kayak... it was our last night at the lake this particular year. Sheila, Adam and I went for a short paddle before tying the kayaks on the

Last week, for the most part, I experienced a lot of lousy health which interfered with getting anything accomplished on the house. We're pretty antsy to get this other bedroom finished but my health is making that seem like an insurmountable task. I don't even remember what the health problems were last week... some combination of typical Systemic Mastocytosis symptoms... but I spent most of the week sleeping. I felt halfway decent on Saturday but only managed to accomplish about an hour of work before the overwhelming fatigue took over and rendered me useless.  On Sunday, I felt great! It was Sheila's last day of a usual short weekend and it was Mother's Day too so I decided to use my new energy by spending time with Sheila rather than working on the house. I figured I could put this time aside for Sheila and then work on the house the following day.... Wrong again. My health crashed again. At some point this week, I did manage to squeeze in an hour or two of

For Mother's Day, we invited Sheila's parents to join us for dinner.  Later this afternoon, Will and Sue will come by for a few drinks and we have some planning to do with them for an upcoming journey to Dayton and the National Museum of the US Air Force.  This morning, I prepared our Mother's Day dinner... my mouth is watering already! We'll be having  shish-ka-bob on the grill... it is now marinating in the refrigerator... it should be delicious! Now if we could just get the rain to stop in time for me to fire up the grill and cook dinner, I'll be a little bit happier about cooking outdoors!   (Unfortunately, I have not found the time nor energy to finish building our outdoor kitchen area which will have a roof over it... other problems keep delaying this project.)

This morning, Liza and the kids came to the house for a quick visit for Mother's Day.  Kenzie had a bouquet of flowers in her hand and she firmly and clearly stated "these are for Gee " as she held them away from me. She was so firm in her intentions that I think she might have knocked me over if I had reached for Gee's Mother's Day flowers. So, we now have a bouquet of flowers on our kitchen table and I wanted to shoot a quick photo of them to share here.  After shooting the photo and uploading it to my computer, I couldn't help but notice something rather significant... a photographer's happy mistake... The one flower which naturally caught my attention... the flower which instantly captured my undivided attention... the flower which I intentionally put in clear focus... this one flower is standing tall, standing proud... standing beautifully... as though she is standing tall over her children and grandchildren providing comfort, protection and lov