New Year’s Eve
12/31/11
Times Square, New Year’s Eve, the Millennium 2000. Yes it was wild and crazy. I have never been to Times Sq on New Year’s. It was the one and only time on !2/31/99. The kids and I walked over there in the afternoon. There were celebrations every hour marking New Year’s as it happened in each time zone around the world. We did not stay until midnight.
Pemaquid Light
12/27/11
This was a favorite lighthouse for me to visit in Maine. It just wasn’t too convenient to drop in on frequently. Here again I especially liked the pools that would reflect the image of the lighthouse. There were no restrictions except for common sense when climbing around on the rocks.
Pirhana
12/28/11
Amazon jungle, Peru. I have read about but never seen a piranha up close. The guides tell me they can clean a whole cow to the bones in short order. We fished and used small pieces of raw beef. Sure enough our effort was rewarded. But it was just like fishing at home. The piranha did not fiercely attack the bait. There was coaxing and cajoling involved. Alone they don’t look so bad. But all those teeth add up. It was catch and release on this day.
Fisher man
12/27/11
Mermaid parade, Surf Avenue, Brooklyn. If you haven’t been there you should try it once. Lots of people do go. There is a children’s section and an adult section. At some point I’ll get around to posting more pictures from the parade. It’s quite a scene, what with all the mermaids and such. Some folks should definitely keep their clothes on. The makeup here was really done well. And the folks don’t mind posing.
Coati
12/26/11
At Iguazu Falls in Argentina, David encountered a coati. The animal was sitting in the rain near a trash bin hoping to get some food. David was nice enough to share his apple. And the coati was very polite until it had its hands upon the fruit. Then it snapped at David causing him to jump back. And off went the coati.
Guinea Pig
12/21/11
Cusco, Peru. We were there for a day before making the train trip to Machu Picchu. It was a day for a religious festival. There were saints carried around on pallets. All around the square local merchants set up tables of food and goods. I had heard that one of the local specialties is guinea pig. Here I was face to face with a platter. I don’t know how they prepare them, get the hair off, or kill them. I would rather not be faced with the teeth. After all these are the pets I see all the time. My son was more than willing to try this delicacy. And he eventually did so. I will also say that this same child refused to eat pasta with sauce because he had to see the pasta naked lest there be a secret ingredient. Shall we say that I took a pass on eating and just took a picture?
Christmas Tree
12/25/11
Soho, New York. In a pouring snow-storm I took this slide. It was a wet heavy snow. There was a Korean green grocer on the corner. You can’t tell but they like to stack their produce in a nice neat geometric pattern. I just like the drama, the fog from the steam pipe construction, and the snow covered trees waiting for Christmas.
Parrot II
12/20/11
Buenos Aires, Argentina. My son was at work. Lisa was down with dengue fever. I had the park to myself and wandered. I came upon a tree where the parrots were feeding. They would fly to the ground for a minute or so and then take off. While feeding they were content to let me get a little closer so that the big zoom could get some detail. I wonder if the Argentines think I’m as silly as I feel when tourists are taking pictures of the squirrels in Central Park.
Parrot
12/19/11
Buenos Aires, Argentina. I don’t know if the parrots are native or they are escaped pets. The central park has many nests high in the palm trees. You can see the parents flying to and fro to feed the young. It was pretty hard to get good shots. They flew quickly and were pretty high within the dark canopy of leaves. Here I was able to get the parrot in a panned shot. The background is nicely out of focus and I am happy to have made this shot.
David Smile II
David posed for this shot some years later. We both loved the earlier shot. He was cooperative and tried to do the same pose. I wasn’t quite able to get it right. Our kitchen is renovated now. And David has gotten to be older yet. No retake on this.
David Smile
12/18/11
I also talk about this picture in PhotoCritical from the perspective of the film used. David cooperatively posed for me in our kitchen while I practiced my bounce flash technique. I regret that I used Polaroid slide film. Its quality is really inferior to what was available at the time. It’s only in retrospect that I realize that I missed a special moment. Well, not really missed. I do wish I could process this image but there’s not enough quality in the original. What a wonderful smile! It was a special moment that passed. Looking back you can only realize how special it was after time has passed.
Cormorant… and Turtle
12/18/11
It was one of those rare afternoons that this heron posed fishing among the cone flowers by the side of the lake. I got a reflection of the clouds and that nice beam of sunlight shining on the feathers. I was just in the right place at the right moment.
John
It’s my brother John’s birthday today. We haven’t kept up as much as adults. I would remind myself to call and mostly managed to do so. It comes right before Christmas so he always seems to have the special days combined. His wife was always good to John. Here he is with each of my children when they were young. And that’s our first dog Reggie. If John looks afraid that he might drop Julia, I can say that I know the feeling well. Somehow he held on. It gets easier as you can see with David a couple years later.
Heron
It was one of those rare afternoons that this heron posed fishing among the cone flowers by the side of the lake. I got a reflection of the clouds and that nice beam of sunlight shining on the feathers. I was just in the right place at the right moment.
Occupy Wall St
What there is left is seen here on 12/10/11. The Santacon happening a few blocks away drew a hearty crowd intent on a good time and not social engineering. Twitter lives, the revolution is winding down. Or perhaps it has just gone inside. I have seen the take down of Oakland, Philadelphia and other large gatherings after Wall St fell. It is indeed time to regroup. There was this one woman who claimed to be a librarian. Otherwise it was panhandlers and fringe radicals with messages ranting on cardboard boxes. One woman was selling reggae CD’s. It’s quite a difference from a few weeks.
Santacon
Santacon. I saw a picture sometime this past year. It says it’s not for kids. It says, bring food, presents for the needy and tots. It says it is not, I repeat, not a bar crawl. That said it is indeed a young adult party. It is a bar heavy event. Everyone who didn’t bring their own booze, certainly drank at the bars. The moveable party went all over from South Street to Times Square and on to Brooklyn. I couldn’t help thinking that anyone who was robbed and claimed it was Santa would have thousands of suspects to choose from. All in all the crowd was peaceful in the early part of the day. Communicating by social media that crowd was free flowing. There was minimal police presence. When I went on down to Occupy Wall St, it was an entirely different story with significant police and barriers still around. What do you say when you are among a crowd of thousands dressed as Santa and his helpers? You can find a gallery and more at Imaged Event my other blog.
Santa Can Jump
Santa Drank and Was Merry
Monarch Butterfly, Cone Flower
During my childhood in West Virginia monarch butterflies were everywhere. Now they are not common for me. I had a great photo op one day in Central Park. There were cone flowers and this monarch just sat and posed ever so nicely. The lake in the background was pleasantly out of focus. Imagine that, all this wildlife right in the middle of Manhattan.
Versatile Blogger
I had the high honor of being nominated today by: abichica at http://chicpress.wordpress.com/ This is great kindness to acknowledge that you have enjoyed my work.
The Rules
There are a few rules to acknowledge before I send this award on to others, so let’s get that out of the way first:
1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading.
4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.
Oh boy, I’m not much of one for contests or awards.
1. Despite my professional career, I am shy.
2. I would rather do photography.
3. My day job is pretty good though.
4. I am proud of my kids. They have turned out surprisingly fresh and resilient. Their adventures have inspired me.
5. I am proud of my wife. She has returned to complete an advanced degree. That’s pretty special.
6. I have had great loss and rediscovered family. This is especially appropriate at this time of year. (See Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol.”
7. As I have always joked, I live in a time of change. How true it has been this year.
So, thanks to one and all who have read and enjoyed the pictures.
I realize that some of you whom I admire have already been nominated, but I ‘m compelled to single you out once again. In no particular order here are some folks to check out and acknowledge:
1. amyleestudios.wordpress.com, Amy Lee. She is the one who got me interested in blogging. She’s a wonderful photographer.
2. trailblazer1.wordpress.com. She’s highly entertaining. She works in mixed media. She had been one of the earliest bloggers to support my blog and keep me posting.
3. http://emilygoochphotos.wordpress.com/. Emily’s got great stuff.
4. http://gardenwalkgardentalk.com/about/. Donna – ditto. Great stuff.
5. http://marinachetner.com/. Marina has had some wonderful experiences and continues to report on her adventures. Great reading, good photography.
6.http://mpat75.wordpress.com/about/. Mahesh has some wonder posts. His photography from around the world has hit home for me that the internet has made us all so connected.
7. http://mimokhair.wordpress.com/. I have enjoyed Mimo’s posts immensely.
8. http://1001scribbles.wordpress.com/about/. Ana has given me a perspective from Portugal. What fun.
9. http://jantimmons.net/. Jan has some pretty wonderful stuff from Alaska.
10. http://derserotica.wordpress.com/. This is pretty amazing stuff. Defintely rated mature.
11. http://monsterforrent.wordpress.com/. It’s commercial. It’s funny. It’s unusual.
12. triciaannemitchell.wordpress.com. Tricia is having such a wonderful adventure. It’s been a pleasure to follow along.
I’m stopping at a dozen. Thanks again to all.
Butterfly
If I say that butterflies are skittish that would be an understatement. Mostly I chase and don’t get an opportunity to get a shot. And then every once in a while I have an opportunity to shoot all I want. It happened that way one spring day in Maine. This one just sat and posed. I’m so used to a brief moment to get the shot that I was at a loss to do when it didn’t fly away.
Daylily
This was an image taken from a point and shoot Nikon. I got it in the front yard. These flowers are native to Long Island and require very little care. I have to say that there is little post processing. The image is a bit high contrast but I love the detail.
Daisies
12/12/11
Hillside Maine. I was somewhere near the coast on a summer day in July. This closes the loop on the seasons. Brilliant sun and white daisies what could be more summer? From my notes, I was somewhere between Lisbon Falls and Port Clyde. That’s quite a distance. This one looks like it was close to the water. It was a day in which I let the car steer its own course and I just followed the photo ops.
Tulips
12/11/11
Central Park. Tulips are a bulbous perennial flower. Well, I’ve had no luck with them. And I can say the same for poinsettia. They are red at Christmas and thereafter never again for me. This stunning bed on the eastside of the park has not been there in subsequent years. But it was a stunning display for that one year. It’s one of those small gems that one stumbles across when you least expect it. There was a great display in Portland, Maine that is perennial. At least I photographed it twice. But that’s another story. Oh, don’t forget to notice the bubbles on the right.
Forsythia
12/10/11
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Forsythia are the early spring blossoms that can be seen everywhere. The brilliant yellow color lasts for a short while and then the non descript bushes are ignored till the next year. But while they bloom, it’s a treat. The white picket fence and the library complement the bush. It’s spring.
Red door
12/9/11
Within a few image frames on this snowy day I got the truck and this door. It was a good photographic day. The red door gives great color and contrast to this scene. Many times I will wander and only come away with a handful of shots that I want to keep. This was a good snow day.
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