Scattered Thoughts . . .

My health has been less than stellar lately so I have not accomplished a thing on the house in weeks. The exceptionally wet weather isn't helping get any renovations accomplished either. For a change, however, my health and the weather are in sync... they are both on the bad end of the spectrum but they are in sync. Needless to say, I'm not getting a thing accomplished on the house.  I'm doing a lot of sleeping and resting so my health can heal but I'm also searching for things to keep my mind occupied. One of the things I often do when faced with this particular dilemma is to sift through recent and old photos.  I came across a few loon photos and thought I would write a bit about them here. This first one isn't too bad.  The early morning sun was up because we had no fog on the lake this particular morning. Although it is quite early in the morning (around 6:20am), this loon has some light on him so I was able to capture a decent photo. It could be crisper and

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...

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

This time of year, we are always wishing we had the time to head to the lake again. Actually, I have time... it is energy that I lack! Regardless, it would be nice to spend some time at the lake house again before the snow flies.  I like paddling around with my photography gear when nobody else is out on the lake... early morning is the most pleasurable for me. It is quiet and there are far fewer bugs than an evening trek at dusk!  When I'm in the mood for wildlife photography, I know I need to set aside a lot of time because most of wildlife photography involves being still and quiet while patiently waiting for a photo op to present itself. You just sit quietly and observe... you need to be aware of your surroundings to ensure the best backgrounds in your photos... you need to find the best location to take advantage of the angle of the light... you need to constantly and carefully jockey the boat around to stay pointed in the correct direction... and you wait... you carefully

Whenever we are at the lake house, I try to get up out of bed between 6am and 7am so I can get out on the lake in the kayak. At this time of day, the lake is often so calm it is like smooth glass... there is a mist rising off the lake as the sun rises... it is completely quiet until wildlife slowly wakes for another day... and, after all, it really  is the only time to get the chance to see the lake come alive as it does only each morning. This past week we had one particular morning which provided us a beautiful morning on the lake with the grandkids. This is something I typically do alone with my photography gear stowed on my kayak but this past week we had a chance to get out with the grandkids too (unfortunately, the grandchild used up the space for my photography gear). To capture this first time early morning excursion with the grandkids, I had a camera mounted on the bow of my kayak. Lukey was in my kayak while Kenzie was with Gee in her boat. Sheila's parents met us on th

The six foot tall piles of snow outside our bedroom window have now melted enough to allow the early morning light to stream into the windows affording me a view of the kayaks and sailboat sticking out of the snow in the yard. This, naturally, reminds me that the boats and car roof racks will need some work before we can take advantage of the incredibly short boating season here in Vermont. The melting snow also reminds me it is Springtime and I need to get started on my to-do list which was put on hold due to weather conditions. I have plenty of home improvement projects which need to get done too but getting the boats ready for summer is always the first priority. I have learned that if I delay getting the boats ready, it will be too late in the short season to even try to get the boats ready and then we never get out on the boats at all.  My focus is on getting the boats ready for use for the start of summer in June... and that gets me thinking about getting back out on Lake G