Five star
I rate images with stars in Lightroom. Here are some five star images. They merit being posted alone but there are too many images. Julia taught me jump images – in Africa. I already knew, but, this was the practical application. I have seen great beauty. Maine! I lived there are few years… Some of my best fall colors come from those times. Fun?! I traveled to nearby Massachusetts for Patriot’s Day. For fun, I was (wink) nearly shot. Notice too that the reenactment soldiers turn their head when firing their muskets. It’s no wonder you could fire from point blank range and miss the target. The birds are Atlantic puffins. I paid dearly – seasick – to get to see them.
A few
Way back in the beginning… back in 2011, I started this blog. It was free. Free is for me! I’m not selling anything. No $ either way, in either direction. Not true, I pay a fee for extra memory (on the site) nowadays. There are ads, a few, not my doing, not mine (ads). Essentially, free. Followers, a lot of commercial WordPress sites these days, fishing for business. Followers, a few, to whom I imparted the blog address. There are few enough followers who have found me from around the world. But indeed, there have been visitors from around the world. Ah, the power of the internet! I do not seek fame. I merely share thoughts and photos. I’m better than average and less than great. I am not the best in my family but better than most. My own kids have produced 5 star pics on their iPhones! It’s not common, so, the body of my work is technically better. But, then art was never about quantity. Quality can show up in a single image. Colleen’s kids – Emma has more photography experience. But, even Jess and Ian have shown that even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while. Even though I take great shots, it’s just not every day. But every day, I take shots.
Puffin
Nothing is so valuable as something that took a lot to accomplish. I was on my 4th try. The other attempts to photograph the puffins had been utter failure. Ok! I was in the bird blind until they dragged me out. Things were not perfect. I had forgotten my big telephoto lens at home. All was not lost. One can always make do. I did. It was memorable. It was my one and only time.
Puffin, Atlantic Ocean
Puffins. The Atlantic puffins, specifically, live on islands off shore and are protected from intrusion from man. A few islands allow tourists to visit. One closer to the mainland and nearer to Massachusetts, only allows you to see the birds from a boat from afar. As in, you will see a dot in the air or water and tell yourself that was a puffin. I did that once. It was not memorable. So three times, I got up at 3AM and shot over to the Maine coast up near Canada. Hence, the side trip, I made to Campobello Island. And twice, I failed to get any closer than before. The last trip, and it was going to be the last, I tried and was successfully able to get onto the island in perfect position to get the shots of my life. Of course, this was the occasion when I forgot my big long close up lens in New York!! So, I made do with an older zoom 300mm lens. Well, in the blind, we were close enough to almost touch the birds when you peeked out. I didn’t get a classic shot of a puffin holding fresh caught fish in its mouth. So I settled for the next best thing, a puffin in flight. After standing in the blind for nearly an hour, I was struggling to find a different shot. Then Manny, my Sports Illustrated friend, inspired me to think of action. Flying is action and it took some doing to get the hang of catching the birds in motion. The perspective from looking out the small ports in the blind did not let you anticipate the action very well. Still this was one of the better action photos.
photobackstory 