Mother and Child

This seems like an appropriate photograph for Christmas.  I am always lurking around when Vivian and Amy are doing things.  They were both staying at Liz and Sarah's with us for two nights, and they started out sleeping in our bed and then later moved.  So naturally I had to take a look with my camera in hand and think I got a very special photograph.  So, thinking of "Mother and Child" I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and hope you have a nice time with family or friends on this special day.

 

Fun With a Rock

Today Liz and Amy and Kathy and I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  I haven't been here in a number of years because I always go to The Getty Center.  So this is Liz taking a photo that inclused her fingers.  What do you suppose she is up to?

So this is Amy and Liz doing something else with the subject at hand that Liz was photographing.

The thing that they were having fun with is called "Levitated Mass" by the artist Michael Heizer.  It is a 340 ton boulder which sits on top of a 456 foot long concrete slot in the ground that goes downhill until you are under the boulder then it comes back up to ground level.  It is amazing to stand under that boulder and think about its weight and then hope that the boulder stays up there while you are underneath.  It is an amazing thing to contemplate, and then to have fun photographing.  This last photograph gives some sense of scale.  It is a BIG rock!

 

The Cactus Gardens

After I photographed the fog, I kept walking up and over to a couple of other streets where I thought I might find photographs where the surroundings might also make interesting photographs.  But the fog began to thin and slowly dissipate.  But I found myself on the street where two houses next to each other both have wonderful cactus gardens.  In the soft morning light which was perfect for these gardens, I took two photographs.   This is a huge Agave that was lit perfectly by the light.

And this is a good view of the whole garden at one of the houses.  I cannot believe the work and the love that these two gardeners have put into their gardens. Liz knows both of the women and when walking with her I have gotten to talk to the women.  There was another interesting thing that happened to me which surprised me.  I was standing a bit closer to this garden, not using the camera, but just taking all of it in, and I suddenly felt this overwhelming sense of joy within me, because of what I was looking at.  This has never happened to me while photographing gardens before.  Not sure what caused it this time, but I accept the gift.

 

The Famous Fog of Los Angeles

Yesterday morning I woke early and when I looked out the living room window I was stunned to see all the fog outside!  So I grabbed my camera and started shooting outside Liz and Sarah's house.  I only walked about 25 feet to shoot this, because in this frame there were all the parts I needed.  I need a tree very close to me that will register as black in the photo, then I needed trees further in the distance that get lighter the further away they are, and that is what gives you the sense of the fog.  I was pleased with this photograph.  Oh "The famous fog of Los Angeles" was a joke.  The famous fogs are in San Francisco, of course.

 

Dinner With Amy & Gus

Liz drove Kathy and I over to Amy & Gus' home this afternoon and we got to play with Vivian and talk to her and take part in her little scenarios which was so much fun.  For a while Kathy and I wore tiaras and I was the king and Kathy was the Queen.  We stayed for dinner, and Amy had planned this for us all.  It is chicken teriyaki on cabbage slaw with ride and sesame, and broccoli along with a cucumber salad.  It was out of this world! I have never photographed my meal in restaurants, which is of course the new thing.  But this dish demanded it. Wish you all could have been here.

 

Playing Squigz with Vivian

Amy and Vivian came over to Liz and Sarah's house today in the afternoon and Vivian loves to play games or have people play with her toys with her.  Here Vivian and Kathy and Sarah are all playing with a game called "Squigz."  All the parts have suction cups on them and the parts will stick to each other or walls or tables or furniture or floors.  Not sure what they were building but they were having fun. It is wonderful to see Vivian and see how she has grown and learned more things.

 

Shiprock from 34,000 Feet

New York to Los Angeles again, this time for Christmas.  We booked late for some reason and when it came to seating, the only seats left were on the left side of the aircraft. For some reason I always pick the right hand side of the airplane, and of course, only a window seat.  So believe it or not, everything looked different on the same trip we have made so many times.  The main reason was the sun was shining on the landscape from "behind" meaning that everything had a shadow and was more dramatic.  As we flew through New Mexico, I saw this black pointed object, and it hit me: "Is that Shiprock?"  I have photographed  this astounding feature which is made from lava that hardened in a volcano and then gradually the outer part of the volcano was eroded, leaving just the hard lava. And there are also two "dikes" leading away from the plug.  They were openings in the ground - cracks - which also filled with lava.  When I saw them I was sure it was in fact Shiprock.  What a thrill to see this monumental geological feature from the air for the first time!  It dominates the landscape from the ground and you can see it from miles away. If I was home, I would have found my print of this from the ground to show you what it looks like as I have known it. 

 

I Didn't Do This Right

I calculated what time hight tide would be today and went back to the beach to photograph how different it looks from the really low tide of six days ago.  But I didn't do it right.  I would have to be standing in the water to get an exact match.  I SHOULD have taken last Thursday's version of this photograph from the part of land that sticks out into the harbor, where that tree and bench are. That way both photographs viewpoint would be the same.  But still, you can see the huge volume of water that it takes to fill up Hempstead Harbor to the high tide mark.  As you can see, it takes a LOT of water!  So here is today's photograph, and below is yesterday's photo so you can more easily compare them.

 

The Low, Low Tide!

Last Thursday I had some errands to do in the afternoon, and when I drove down to the harbor at the end of our street I could not believe how low the water was!  So I drove to the beach where we have Dunkin'  Donuts each week, and couldn't believe my eyes!  In this photograph, we sit on the beach to the left of the last line of tidal debris in the distance!  Hight tide comes to where the footprints are.  Look how far the water is to the right!

It felt as if half the harbor had been drained!  So I grabbed my camera and did all kinds of photographs trying to show how far the tide was out.  The first thing I saw was was the sandbar way over to the left.  That looks as if it is half way across the harbor!  And normally, at low tide, we do not see this dark area where I am standing - it is always underwater.  Fortunately, I know what the explanation is for the low tide. It is full Moon so the Moon is lined up with the Earth and the Sun, thus having a greater effect on the tides.  But the larger force was the wind.  The wind had been howling after a frontal passage, and it was blowing from the west at 30 to 40 MPH.  When the tide goes out, the water in Long Island Sound drains to the east of Long Island.  Whe the tide started to come back in, it was facing these howling winds, and the wind kept the water from coming back down the sound to the west.  Thus, one of the lowest tides I have ever seen and photographed since we have lived here!  What a wonderful and amazing place I live, where I can see things like this.  PLEASE click on this lower panoramic image and you can see it much larger and with so much more detail!

Room For Everyone

I had reached the half-way point of my 3 mile walk to where the old power plant was located, where I turn around and start back.  I think I heard a noise above me and when I looked up saw all the wires on this telephone pole full of birds!  I couldn't believe my eyes, how perfectly it seemed that they were spaced!  As if they measured their separation.  Isn't this amazing!  I mean, look at those birds!  And then the phrase "Room for Everyone" was suddenly in my head.  And I thought how appropriate that phrase was for this Christmas season.  About being kind to everyone and being respectful and making room for everyone, in our minds.  That's not a bad though for us all to keep in mind.

 

Christmas Candles

Years ago I bought some electric candles for the windows of our house, as Christmas decorations.  I always remember the houses around the green in Guilford, Connecticut.  I think everyone agreed to just put white electric candles in every window, and to see all the houses around the green decorated that way was stunning.  So I had, in the past, maybe 4 or 6 white candles that I put up some years.  Then I would forget where that box was, which contained not only the candles, but the custom fabricated extension cord for each one to reach the nearest socket.  I guess they are in the attic somewhere...  So this year I bought a box of 6 white electric candles and tried them out.  They looked great but were too bright, I thought and I wished they were a warmer color.  So I bought some orange spray paint and unscrewed the bulbs and painted each one, after masking the metal screw on the bottom.  I liked the look so much I bought 6 more and now every window on the north side and on the east side has it's own candle.  Finally!  Pretty, and subtle, which matters to me.

So this is what the house looks like from the side yard.  No one driving by sees the house this way but it is a pretty view, I think.  So finally, I have a candle in each window, and I will put bright yellow tape around the box so I can find these candles and extension cords next year!

 

 

The Drought

So everyone knows ther is a drought going on, but other than the grass in the side yard going dormant, it is hard to see evidence of the lack of water when I look around.  Except, when I crossed the road on my walks the last few times, and I was stunned to see how low the water was in Scudder's Pond!  I know it is not a deep pond but I was amazed to see how far the water has receded from the edge of the pond.  Please click on this to see it larger and you can see how much of the bottom of the pond is exposed.

This concrete ring surrounds the drain from the pond.  Water enters this pond from a small trickle of a stream on the far side of the pond in the direction we are looking, But then the bad part is, that there is a drain from the nearby street on the far left that comes downhill to the pond and when it rains, the rainwater washes down the street picking up oil drippings on the street from cars, and dog waste and sand, and then washes into the pond!  There is supposed to be some kind of "separator" where that water enters but I don't know how well it works.  And this concrete ring is supposed to keep debris from going down the drain which it surrounds.  Then the water enters a pipe which runs under Shore road and then into the harbor.  Normally the top of this ring is about 18" below the top of the water in the pond.  So this shows how much less water there is because of the drought.

 

The Manrtlepiece

Every Christmas Kathy has always put some greenery on the mangelpiece in the back room.  She usually uses about 4 to 6 electric candles to illuminate this.  This year she found some tiny LED lights on a string on amazon, and they are perfect for this because there are lots of them, and they are not too bright.  I walked into the back room last night and saw this scene and grabbed my camera because I wanted to record this play of light and shadow.  Isn't this just beautiful?  The reproduction over the clock is Andrew Weyeth's "End of Olsons."

 

Criss Cross

This is just an exercise in composition and design.  I see this scene every day I go for my walk, from a tiny little park where I turn around.  I have been fascinated by this oil boom that floats near an oil terminal where fuel barges unload.  I love that the boom is bright yellow, but it never looked that bright when I photographed it before during daylight.  But on this day, it was after sunset and getting really dark, and for some reason, the bright yellow oil boom stood out against the blue of the background.

 

Walking at Dusk

Recently I have been finding myself walking later in the day.  I have been busy with Christmas cards and so I am not leaving the house as early as I usually do.  But I am finding that I am really enjoying finding new photographs in the same old places, and the difference is in the lighting and the mood.  What is astounding, of course, is my SONY a7 III camera which is so sensitive, I can literally take photographs in the dark.  This scene was actually darker than this as seen with my own eyes.  But cranking up the sensitivity of my camera to 6,400 ISO allows me to shoot in these conditions, and the built in lens stabilizer allows me to hand-hold the camera with exposures of 1/8 second or even longer.  Coming from a guy who used to shoot Tri-X black & white film at ISO 400, these new digital cameras are astounding!

 

Bus Stop

On my afternoon walk today, I was so surprised and pleased to see this familiar bus stop shelter, decorated for the holidays!  I have photographed this bus shelter before.  It is at one of the entrances to the North Shore Country Club, and this is located just a stone's throw from Scudder's Pond which you are familiar with.  It was an overcast day, and to see two brightly painted "Nutcrackers" brightened my day.  It is nice that the country club took the time to decorate for the holidays.

 

Light & Shadow

I was outside the other day, and when I came in to the back room, I saw the raking afternoon sunlight on this glass table against the wall.  There is something in me that immediately responds to different kinds of light, almost immediately.  And this light that made sharp shadows on the wall grabbed my attention at once, so I got my camera right away, because the sun moves quickly when you look at it carefully.  I spent about 5 minutes trying different compositions before the light changed too much, and this is my favorite.

 

The Birthday Girl

Today was the day for a wonderful family gathering to celebrate the birthday girl!  This is Tracy, whose name you have seen in comments on the blog.  Tracy is a faithful reader of the blog.  The party was in Connecticut and we drove up to be a part of the birthday party.  Two family members came all the way from Rochester, NY to be part of the celebration.  What a wonderful time we had with so many adults and children there to enjoy each other's company and to have fun.  A great family get together!

 

Getting Acquainted

There is this beautiful, young orange cat who has been around for a year or so now.  The cat wears some kind of radio locator around it's neck,   It is a pretty cat and it will approach us from time to time.  But it has always stayed somewhere in the yard.  A few times in warmer weather, it came up to the all glass back door, and Grace was inside the house and she went nuts, throwing herself up against the glass to scare the orange cat away, but that cat just sat there.  But the other day, orange cat came up on the porch and jumped up on a small wicker end table, and had a perfect view into our living room.  So here is Grace getting a new view of orange cat. The cat seems mostly curious and friendly.

But then Grace got up on the radiator and walked back and forth and hissed at orange cag and also threw herself against the glass again!  Orange cat never acted agressive at all.  But I guess Grace knows that this is her turf, and that's why the agression.  Oh, and Sam also stood on his hind legs a couple of times and even he, the silent cat who never even mews, emitted some growling noises.  Why can't these cats just get along!   :-)

 

A Nice Day for Photography

Another late afternoon walk today on a beautiful sunny but windy day.  Right after starting out, I saw a woman photographing the harbor with her cell phone and she was really leaning into it.  I could see her concentration as she was composing her photographs.

I am posting these photographs in reverse order.  I shot this photograph first and then walked past her and turned around to do the first photograph.  You can see from her slight crouch that she put her whole body into holding the camera in the wind!  I said something about "Nice day for taking photographs" to her, but because of the wind, I couldn't hear her reply.  Two photographers, both looking for the perfect scene, passing in the afternoon.

 

Every Breaking Wave

The woman two doors down does a lot of gardening and some of it is in front of her house and right down to the street.  I have photographed these grasses before, trying to get a photograph that I was happy with, and I think without success.  Maybe aI need to do a search on my blog and see what I shot here before.  In any case, I do love this photograph of the grasses! The grasses feel like a wave breaking at the seashore as they lean over the leaves.  You know I didn't think to see how this would work in black and white.  But I do like this in color.  I chose "Every Breaking Wave" as the title for this, because I thought of that phrase because it is a song from the band U2.

 

The Space Ship Has Landed

I took this at Eastman House.  I have seen this scene for years and I always stop and photograph it, but I was never satisfied that I had an interesting picture.  So I think this is good enough.  I probably shot this 5 different ways, from inside a corridor with windows that looks out at this scene.  I wanted this to look strange, as if a space ship had landed in a strange landscape.  It is a strange building.  This is in the back yard of Eastman House.  Originally the museum was just in Eastman House, but in 1989 A new museum wing was added behind the mansion, and in addition, there is an underground research and storage facility that is about 3 stories deep!  This structure is an emergency exit, I believe from the underground facility.  But it is a strange structure, isn't it?  I thought black and white worked better than the color version of this photograph.

 

The Last of Fall Color

This feels like cheating just a bit, because I have photographed this scene and this tree three other times this fall!  BUT...   It is amazing how things can change so quickly in a week.  These are the last leaves on that Japanese maple tree and yet they still put on a show.  They really stand out because this is in the Morning and the house is in shadow, but the leaves are back lit which makes them show their color best.  The rest of the tree is bare now.  I really love Fall because of all these changes and it keeps me looking for what's next.

 

Formation Flight

It is such a powerful feeling to see a formation of Canada Geese flying in the Fall.  Their flight, for me,  evokes a sense of wanderlust.  I start thinking of the long distance they have to fly to get to their wintering range.  When I started reading about the migration of the geese, I was surprised to learn that a lot of geese don't migrate!  They have learned to live in urban areas in ponds that might be on golf courses or condominium communities, which is the case where Vince and Jo Anne live.  

When I do my two-mile walks when we are staying in Rochester, I walk by this pond twice, on each walk.  I don't remember ever seeing more than a few geese here.  But the last day we were there, I walked really late in the day, after sunset, and it was amazing to see flocks of geese descend from the sky and land on the water.  I am guessing that's where they stay for the night.  It was interesting to read more about Canada Geese, and learn unexpected things.