Stan at the International Center if Photography

A few times when Stan and I have been to ICP, there have been either extra large or extra small things that are not cameras but look by them.  Each time Stan has picked one up and pretended to photograph me which means that I will take a photograph of him because my camera is always ready.  So that happened today and this camera is furry!  So we had a good laugh over this photograph.

After I  posted the first photograph I went back and I did a search of the blog and found one other time that Stan picked up a fake camera and i photographed him with it!  This is starting to be a nice collectiuon!

 

Caumsett, Four

Back to Caumsett for yet another post, and there will be another one after this, eventually. Once again, the astounding colors of the grasses are the star of this photograph! I just can't get over that beautiful yellow color in the grasses.  I think the grass colors perhaps seem brighter because of the blue sky. On the color wheel, yellow is opposite blue, more or less and when you put them together in the same photograph, one enhances the photo.  Or could.

More yellow.  I hope you are not bored with this.  I had not noticed this, but after mentioning the complimentary colors of yellow and blue, here is the same combination, with the blue coming from the color of the lake.  This really was an amazing and rewarding afternoon trip!

 

Fall Color, Close to Home

I am taking a quick break from Caumsett again.  This morning on the way to Dunkin' at the beach we drove by Scudder's pond and I was surprised by seeing some fall color there.  I am attracted to that silver leaning tree, so that adds something extra to the photograph.  I guess, actually it makes the photograph.  There has been so little around here that just seeing a few trees in full color is a big deal!

 

Caumsett, Three

I was composing this photograph and balancing the arrangement of the dark black tree trunks and the bush on the right.  Suddenly a runner came by me and as he ran into the distance and got smaller and smaller I rapidly clicked away.  I like him this size so he is there but is not a dominant part of the photograph.  Not a lot of fall color in this photograph.

I found this brilliant red leaf on the trail and picked it up.  I wished it was a perfect leaf, but of course it is not.  So I was thinking just forget about this, but I photographed it anyhow.  Then afterwards decided that so many things in the world are not perfect, and this leaf does show us how brilliant the fall colors can be.  So here it is, beautiful in its imperfection!

 

Caumsett, Two

Fall color, more or less, I guess.  It's funny because in some places it looked way past peak color and in others many of the trees were still shades of green.  There is some color here but nothing really spectacular I think.  But I shot it because most of the trees we can see have some color.  I did a search and discovered that the best fall color depends on rain maybe in August or something but then very little rain in September and October. But that was not the case for us this year, so, mostly subdued colors.

So two for one here.  These brilliant red berries really stuck out as I walked by this tree with dried out brown leaves.  Want to guess the type of tree?  I was surprised...  It is a Flowering dogwood!  The ripe berries serve as an important food source for songbirds and other wildlife moving through in the fall.  And it brightened my day to see them in the bright sunlight against the yellowish leaves of trees in the background.

 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween.  Well, I guess a day late...  I think that Halloween is my favorite holiday.  And I have made a Jack-O-Lantern every year since I can't remember when.  I love coming up with a face and then doing the carving.  My Jack-O-Lanterns are never creative, they are definitely "old school."  I have seen some amazing faces by creative folks but I just do my traditional face.  Last year I was tired of buying a box of parafin wax from I think it was Gulf Oil or something and making a candle that would last for days because it was 3" by 3" made by putting the slabs together with heat.  So Kathy suggested we put a regular night light inside the pumpkin and run an electrical cord out the back and plug it in!  Genius!  It saves remembering to put the candle out so it wouldn't burn all night long and then be gone.  Tonight before writing this, I walked down the driveway to the street and looked back up at the porch where this sits and I realized how unusual it is that we have a "real" Jack-O-Lantern, made from a pumpkin on display with a light inside it.  This smiling guy is actually real and hand carved.  I don't think there is another like this in all of Sea Cliff.  All the others are made of plastic.  So I realized that this is something special in town and it made me feel good.

 

Caumsett, One

I drove out to Caumsett State Park which is about 40 minutes to the east of Sea Cliff.  Every year about this time I spend the afternoon looking for fall color.  I have done this almost every year for perhaps the last five years. I take the same route - the same roads and trails, and photograph the same places each year.  Of course inevitably the trees with color may be different each year.  The surprise was I was instantly fascinated by the grasses in the park!  Why had I not really "seen" these before.  So I was looking for trees and scenery but always looking for grasses.  So here is a selection of wonderful images that I found in my grasses quest!

I like that this photograph has a foreground, at the right, a middleground, in the center and a background, the tiny tuft on the upper left.

I saved this one for near the last because I think it is the most subtle of all the photographs and this is my favorite.  I think.  Unless I decide that the first one is my favorite!

I thought a close up might be interesting so that you can see the nature of different kinds of grasses close enough together to do some comparison. 

And lastly, a completely different kind of grass, growing in a different part of the park.  I love the delicacy of these grasses.  You should know that I was thrilled with the results of my quest.  Stay tuned for more Caumsett photographs in the days ahead.