Scattered Thoughts . . .

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

I am getting ready to start building a Georgetown-style townhouse (sans window shutters) that I designed... a dollhouse townhouse, that is! I don't think little Miss Mackenzie is able to read just yet so I am probably safe writing about one of my Christmas projects for this year.  Not long ago, I asked Kenzie if she would like a nice dollhouse to play with whenever she visits and her eyes lit up, a big smile came to her face like the Grinch thinking about a nasty thought, and she scrunched down with her little hands on her thighs like she was going to suddenly spring up and jump for joy. I suddenly realized that I had just inadvertently committed myself to building a nice dollhouse for Christmas! Fortunately, I already had an idea formed in my mind. I started sketching and kept things very simple which is difficult for me. My projects always seem to evolve into more detailed projects with many fine details. My sketches have remained quite simple though which is good news fo

My health crashed again last night due to some typical Systemic Mastocytosis issues affecting my blood pressure and gastrointestinal tract so I had to take some emergency medications to help stabilize my body.  Today I am recovering. One of the emergency medications I had to take makes me extremely drowsy so I must recover from this drowsiness and avoid all potentially dangerous activities such as using power tools and driving because this drowsiness also affects my cognitive abilities (of course, my mast cell issues also affect my cognitive abilites). I also need some time for the medication to balance out my body allowing my health to recover. On days such as today (and I have far too many of them which is why you are seeing a flurry of blog entries lately) , I try to indulge in some art therapy by working on photos... sometimes painting... sometimes working on model railroading models. Today, I chose to work on some photos. As I mentioned yesterday in a blog post, I am trying

Move over Canon... move over Nikon... even Howard Stern had better watch out... there is a new 'King of all media' that goes by the name of Sony. Sony televisions... stunning (I should know, there is one in our living room). Sony video cameras... remarkably amazing as claimed by wedding videographers and cinematographers around the globe. Sony cameras... perhaps the most finely crafted piece of artistic machinery I have ever had the pleasure to hold and use... simply amazing.  Just look at this camera. It is rock solid yet operates like a fine precision watch. For me, this camera series is the leader of the pack of all cameras and is so finely crafted that it is like artistic engineering machinery. Even the well known Hasselblad has begun using Sony cameras rebadged as Hasselblad cameras! That is saying something! Move over Canon and Nikon... there is a new kid on the block who is making you look old, worn, tired, crotchety and unwilling to evolve further... and one of

During my down time while struggling with poor health... and there has been a lot of this particular time in recent months... I've been trying to keep busy by improving my photography through continued education.  Photography is something I have always enjoyed since I was a child. I started photography by taking courses in school and was blessed with a grandfather who provided photography and darkroom gear for me. Way back then, much of photography time was spent in a darkroom. Most people don't realize it but even digital photography requires a lot of time in a 'digital' darkroom and this digital darkroom requires extensive and never-ending education and practice.  The learning curve for any darkroom, digital or otherwise, is steep. The terms are the same... the effects are the same... even the results are very similar... but the specific tools are different today. Today the darkroom tools are digital and manipulated with any digital input device such as a mouse,

On the rare occasions when I am asked by friends to shoot some studio photographs, Sheila becomes my default assistant. We often will need to reschedule these few shoots due to my health and then try to find a 'good' day in between bouts of poor health so scheduling a shoot is always a bit of a nightmare. I enjoy studio work though and wish I had better health to do this more often. (Actually, if I were healthy, I would probably own a photography studio... among a few other things... I've even sketched my own studio designs!)   Just a quick photo shoot requires a lot of prep work such as testing all gear, recharging batteries, creating a shooting plan, moving gear, setting up gear, etc.  The easiest part of a photo shoot is the actual shooting time with the model/client  but don't confuse this with being "easy" because a lot of things can go wrong, a lot of things can be done incorrectly and shooting photos requires technical, creative and artistic sk

...consequences in the form of exhaustion, bone pain, joint pain and spinal pain. Slowly, but surely, I seem to get things accomplished around the house since developing Systemic Mastocytosis but it is difficult for me and exhausting.. This illness wears me down all the time which requires a lot of extra rest and sleep. I do, however, manage to accomplish little things on my relatively good days. The frustrating thing is that after a period of lousy health, I end up with a long list of basic things which need to be accomplished such as laundry, straightening up the house, cutting the lawn...  all of which are enough to wear me out for a few days. So, when I find myself in this hole, it is extremely difficult to get out which can become exceedingly frustrating. I'm left feeling as though I am just desperately treading water and accomplishing nothing. That being said, this weekend was one of those relatively good times when I had health well enough to make some headway on some

As autumn begins, we are booking our schedules through January at this point! Which really is crazy considering I don't know what I'll be able to accomplish even tomorrow due to my health. Between Sheila and I, we have some medical appointments booked already... some medical procedures scheduled... and we have some pleasant events on our schedule as well. Sheila just finished reserving our block of rooms for the annual Amherst Railway Society's train show in January. We spend a few days at this show each year and we look forward to the extended weekend out of town and socializing (something I don't get to do all that often anymore due to my poor health) . We put a few social events on our schedule... some time with the grandkids is always on our schedule... and, although it is hard to believe, we are booking things into 2016 already. We also just remembered that Rutland has a small train show each year. Last year, we got to see some autumn colors on our drive

After a few hours at 'Shelburne Farms' the other day, we were all quite hungry so we headed to 'The Olive Garden' for lunch. After filling ourselves with chain-restaurant pasta, we surprised the kids by bringing them to one of our favorite stores, 'The Christmas Loft'. On this very hot September day, Christmas may very well have been the day farthest from their minds but, as we entered the darkened barn-like building, they were excited to be suddenly immersed in Christmas and a Christmas village. The center of this large store is a Christmas village... a church... shops... homes... a bridge... snowbanks... snowmen... sledding... snowflakes... snow... lamp posts and lanterns... animated figures... and the sounds of a Christmas village on Christmas night. I think Kenzie would have been happy to just sit on the bench in the middle of this village and just sit quietly in wonder! Surrounding this village is room after room of Christmas decorations. Each r

I've already posted a few of Lukey's photos from Shelburne Farms... I suppose I should share a few of my own photos from Shelburne Farms too. We rode the wagon on our way to the barn... Lukey was excited about being pulled by a tractor... Kenzie... well... not as much...  Before the tractor even started up, I jumped off the wagon to get a quick photo of the kids with Sheila sitting on the wagon... Kenzie was upset that I might get left behind and wouldn't calm down until I was back safely on the wagon... A nice shot of Lukey just as we arrived at the barn... (I'm relieved that this shot came out so nicely since this is the basic kit lens that came with the camera and one which I recently broke... I dropped it on a dock at the Burlington Boathouse a few weeks ago! You'd never know I broke this lens by looking at this shot though... that's a relief, for now!) This calf was named "Nellie"... she took a liking to Lukey and