Caumsett VII

 

Phragmites!  I have always loved these.  This patch of them was down by the pond.  They are really spectacular when the sun is shining on them from behind, as it is here.  They are not as interesting when the sun shines directly on them from the front.

Caumsett VI

Caumsett is such a beautiful place with all kinds of different areas, from open fields, to ponds, forests, and the shoreline of Long Island Sound.  This is one of the main roads that goes by fields and then into the forest.  It is paved for cyclists, and walkers.  There are other trails through the woods that are just dirt tracks and that's fine, but at least everyone can see part of Caumsett because of roads like this.  I was hoping for really bright Fall colors, but the different trees change color at different times, so there was not one particular area where everything had fall color.  I shot several photos of this scene without moving and as the pedestrian walked by me, I photographed him as he walked away, getting smaller and smaller.  I think this size is just right - to be an object of interest, but also, to not be too much of a distraction.

 

Caumsett V

 

There is something about the delicacy and beauty and subtlety of these grasses.  Caumsett has huge areas where they grow and they are magnificent in the long view, as you saw in my first post, and they are also so beautiful seen up close, as in this photograph.  The differences in color don't jump out at you.  So this may not be a "complete" photograph, but I also wonder what it would look like printed large, like a 20" by 30" and framed.  It makes me feel so good just looking at this scene, both in person when I was there, and in this image seen on the computer.

Caumsett IV

OK, so here's what you have been looking for!  Beautiful Fall color!  Finally.  What's interesting is that I did not see a lot of scenes like this that would make an interesting photograph.  So may of the trees were either bare, or had not changed color yet, so after a couple of hours hiking, I was thrilled to find this.  I spent some time composing and then shooting this and was happy with the composition and the photograph.  But then...

I was carefully looking at what I was photographing and realized that maybe I should shoot a horizontal photograph.  It seemed to me that the essence of this scene was the black trunks and the beautifully back lit yellow leaves.  This may be the important part of the photograph above.  I don't know, though.  Which one do you like better?

 

Caumsett III

OK, so back to my fall color posts from my trip to Caumsett State Historical Park.  So you probably expected an explosion of brilliant colors, since I said that's why I was out there hiking with my camera.  I was finding that I was not seeing any great fall color long views, although the first photograph of the hill and the pond certainly felt like Fall.  I began to feel that I was doing better at closeups than I was in long views.  (The photo of the pond and Long Island Sound was one of my last photographs.)  This is one of my earlier photographs and I really love the subtlety of this!  There is Fall color here, but only in two red leaves!  But I really like this image because it is interesting and not what you expect.  I hope you all find this interesting, at least.

 

Happy Halloween!

Look what we made today!  Kathy loved the photograph I did of the ghost inside the Caumsett mansion yesterday, so we we made our own!  We wanted to hang our ghost, so Kathy thought of using a balloon as the head, which is brilliant!  We used gaffer tape to fasten a paper clip to the top of the balloon and we could hang our ghost from the opening in the front porch!

And last year, sad to say, I never got around to carving a Jack-O-Lantern, for some reason.  I have always made a Jack-O-Lantern as long as we have been in this house, I think.  Anyhow, this year I am back in the groove, and here he is!  Behind him is a skeleton hanging on the wall.  It doesn't look like much, but if you press the button on it's hand, the skull's mouth opens,  a church bell rings and it says "Welcome!  Don't be afraid....  Aaaaa hahahahaha..."  We have had her for almost 5 years now and enjoy pressing the button when we pass her!  Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

 

Caumsett II - "Boo!"

This really made me smile!  I mentioned that there were some students and a teacher, I thought, outside the main house at Caumsett.  After passing them, I walked toward the mansion and saw this in one of the windows!  There were two of these ghosts, and a then two more elaborate three-dimensional detailed figures in other windows.  But I loved the simplicity of this!  And it has a feeling about it, as if the ghost wants to get out but can't!  This would be so simple to make, and we will get a ball and a sheet and cut two oval eyes out of felt!  Happy Halloween, everyone!