Scattered Thoughts . . .

We hadn't seen the resident Bald Eagle pair in a couple of days so we were wondering where they were hiding. We also hadn't seen any other significant wildlife such as bobcats and bears so I was feeling I needed to wander out to find something worth photographing. Sheila and I headed out on our kayaks yesterday morning. I had three cameras in my kayak... a Sony action video camera, a Sony full-frame camera with a 70-200mm lens, and a Sony crop camera with a 400mm F5.6L lens which gives me an equivalent of 600mm. I also brought along a wide angle lens for any landscape photos that may present itself. With these cameras, I was confident I could capture photos of loons, Bald Eagles, bears, bobcats, turtles or whatever wildlife appeared.  About a mile from our lake house, I pulled to the shore to check a nice sandy beach on State land for any tracks... I saw none. We continued on down toward the dam at the end of the lake.  As we approached the end of the lake, I noticed a r

That time of year came around and visited us yesterday... Sheila turned another year older yesterday!  Sheila had to work all day but we had a chance to celebrate a little bit when she arrived home from work. I had a nice dinner planned... some gifts... and Sheila was bringing home some cake...  While I was cooking a nice, tasty dinner of chicken parmesan, fettuccini, and some bread (I'm not a huge chicken fan but that meal was delicious!) , Liza and the kids stopped by to give Gee her birthday presents. They stuck around long enough to eat some tostada chips and help Gee open one of her presents. It was nice to see the kids even if it was a quick stopover before heading home to get ready for school in the morning.  Sheila stopped at La Brioche in Montpelier yesterday to choose two cakes for us to eat after dinner  (a large piece each) . These two "cakes" (although they don't deserve to be called "cakes") tasted as though they were really just dry, pla

I put together some of my favorite photos from the past month and thought it would be nice to share them here and write a short blurb about each image. I've shot a couple of thousand photos in the past month so there were a lot of photos from which to choose... some are better images than the few included here but... as of tonight... at this moment only... these are some of my favorites... This first one is a beautiful photo of the house... illuminated by the golden glow of the setting sun reflecting off the lake...  I love the warmth and clarity of this image...  nice little sailboat on the lawn too!  (We just need a nice little wooden runabout tied to that dock...) I have to admit that I happen to have quite a few shots of Lukey in a pose just like this... the classic shoulders half turned and yet still set back with no slouching, great eye contact, chin pointing out, nice jaw-line... however, I am drawn to his eyes in this one... he is well lit and there are few distract

Every now and then, for one reason or another, I go digging into one of my hard drives looking for a photo I may have overlooked. Tonight was one of those nights where I found myself a bit frustrated with the direction the world of photography is headed so I decided to go digging into one of my hard drives with the hope of distracting myself and finding something more pleasing. What I found tonight is a photo of Lukas which I had overlooked when I first shot it. This is a photo from our backyard last May. Lukas and Mackenzie were playing on the kayaks at sunset... the sun setting behind and to Lukas' left... so the image has that warm golden glow of sunset... all-in-all, not a bad photo.   It could be better, but it is worthy of being in print and hanging on the wall, I think.   Anyway, this was my little distraction for tonight and I thought I should share the photo.  Now it is time for some much needed sleep!    

A small splash for the girls, but I was hit from behind by the wave that caused this splash!  I was down low in the rocks... We enjoy being out on the water, kayaking and sailing, whenever the weather is cooperative.  This environment, however, has always made me nervous whenever using any of my cameras.  Just a little bit of splashed water can ruin a camera.  If it is salt water, that is even worse!  The corrosive properties of salt water will completely destroy the electronics of today's digital cameras. We were at the beach a few years ago, visiting family on Long Island, and I managed to damage one of my cameras.  Sheila and I were out on a jetty shooting some photos of the kids.  We managed to get some nice shots but suddenly, out of nowhere, a large wave crashed down onto the jetty soaking all of us and my camera gear.  Not only did my camera get very wet, but it was covered in corrosive salt water.  Not a good thing.  Salt water is like a deadly virus...  not only doe