Before and After

This year's income tax was a nightmare. It just took forever, and I had a sense that I wasn't sure what was going on - that it was way beyond me and that I was tip-toeing my way through a minefield. I used a program on my computer, so that part was easy, but some of the items and entries were very complex. Anyhow, FINALLY it is done. I decided to take a photo of the mess on the dining room table, and then I thought of taking a shot when I had cleaned up my mess.

Sitting and Looking

Now that it is warm out, at the end of my ride each day, I stop and sit on the bench in the little park at the edge of the harbor. I did that today, and was just sitting and looking around when a couple of fishermen walked by me with their gear. I didn't really pay attention to where they went, and then all of a sudden I noticed that they were standing side by side in the water, and divided by the post of the split rail fence. I just loved the design the way I saw it right from the bench. No moving required! The photograph is mostly about how I divided up the frame of the viewfinder. Sort of an exercise in geometry.

Previsualization

Happy Easter! Yes, I know I am a bit late with this. But I have a good excuse... I went to photograph this Easter Lilly on Easter night, and realized the lighting was not what I had visualized. "Previsualization" is a term I learned from Minor White (and the term may have been coined by Ansel Adams, a contemporary of Minor's.) It is the act of imagining what the final photograph will look like, while you are looking through the viewfinder. I had a clear vision of how I wanted this blossom to look. So I wanted until this morning to get the "explosion" of light around the blossom, coming from the dining room window. It matched my imagining perfectly.

Late Day Shadows

By the time that I crank my way up the street and then up the driveway, at the end of my ride, I am whipped. So it is my habit to hop off the bike, and rest my head on my arm on the seat to catch my breath. I did that today, and while looking at the pavement, happened to notice the shadow of the bike on the driveway! Wow! Cool shadow! Fortunately I had my little point and shoot camera right there in its pouch on the top tube of the bike, so out it came, and I fooled with the composition for about 2 or 3 minutes and ended up with this.

Fuji Classic

A Fuji Classic bike. We call them "retro" bikes now, with a real appreciation for their classic beauty. This is my friend and cycling companion Ricky with his "new" classic bike. It was a gorgeous day today, and he called to see if this old guy wanted to try and keep up with him... :-) So we went riding for an hour up to Bayville Beach. I am so accustomed to riding alone, it is a real treat for me to have someone to ride with, and to talk to. Oh, and I was almost strong enough to keep up with him, except on the hills... He was riding his other classic bike, a gorgeous LeMond on our run today. When we got back, he showed me this bike, and I thought it was worthy of a photograph.

Golf

Golf was my dad's passion. To me, golf courses are only interesting places, in that they may make interesting landscape photographs. Artificial landscapes, of course with their manicured fairways and greens, but interesting nonetheless. Yesterday I was blazing by this golf course on my bike, on a different street, and the shadows of the trees on the fairway grabbed me, but I was in a hurry and didn't stop. Today I planned to stop, in advance. I stopped at the original site and did some photographs, and then continued on my ride. I passed this part of the golf course later in the ride, and I decided that I liked the photograph here better than the first stop. So I crawled through a big hole in the fence and made this photo.

Badge of Honor?

No, not really. I know it looks like some terrible accident happened, and that my leg is all chewed up by one of the chainrings. Not true. I went out for a ride, and after a while realized that my cyclometer was not working, so I pulled over to the side of the road, and unclipped, and had to adjust the sensor on one of the front spokes. Apparently that's where I put my leg up against the greasy gear. I didn't even see this until I went to get into the shower. Normally I would not have a filthy greasy chainring - I put lubricant on the chain very sparingly, but lately there has been a lot of water on the road, because of the rains, even though the rain has stopped. So I have the chain loaded up with lubricant because of all the water. So I am not really tough at all.