Driftwood

I have been trying to get a photograph of this driftwood for quite a while now.  The problem is that I have to shoot through a chain link fence because this little beach is on the property of the petroleum storage facility down by the old power plant.  You can see the effect of the chain link fence from the darkness in the corners of the photograph.  But other than these flaws, I think it is a lovely landscape photograph, with two pieces of driftwood and the straw from the marsh grasses.

 

Cat-In-The-Box

Cat-In-The_Box, Jack-In-The-Box.  You get it right?   :-)  We ordered something small from Amazon and it came in this box which is about 9" by 12" and 5" high.  I left the empty box on the living room floor and I was surprised, but I shouldn't have been, to find Sam curled up in the box.  It looks as if he doesn't fit, but actually he does.  So it was his favorite resting place for a day, and then the next day it was completely ignored.  Such is the life of cats!

 

Emergence...

We have this lovely little triangular garden in the back corner of our property that I made out of stacked brick, with no mortar.  In it Kathy planted these giant Hostas years ago and when they are fully in bloom the leaves are perhaps one foot long, more or less.  I have never happened to pay attention when the shoots first emerge from the ground before, but for some reason this year I took note of them, and what I found interesting that each of these shoots looks different as they emerge from the bare ground.   I thought you might find these interesting.  I will be sure and post a photograph of the garden when it is fully in bloom.

 

Light and Shade

Because we stripped the wallpaper from the walls in the upstairs bathroom, I have to work extra hard with using joint compound to fix every little ding and imperfection on the walls so that when I paint, the walls will be beautiful.  In this corner of the bathroom is a wooden box that runs from floor to ceiling and it contains the vent for the soil pipe, that black 4" diameter cast iron pipe that was used in old houses.  That iron pipe is the drain for the toilet and tub and sink.  It needs to be vented out through the roof.  So I have had to tape the interior corners using a new nylon tape that looks like a gauze bandage.  And then I apply several coats of joint compound so I have a perfectly smooth interior corner after it has been painted.  Anyhow, as I was looking carefully for imperfections, I suddenly noticed the subtle play of light and shadow.  It seemed so ethereal, as if wasn't quite there.  So I had to photograph it, of course.

Just to give you a better idea, I backed up to show the whole scene.  The detail photo, was taken of the center part of this photograph.  And now you know more about plumbing as well.  You're welcome...   :-)

 

I Was Standing in Line...

So I was standing in line at the fish counter while the young man behind the counter wrapped up my piece of salmon that I was going to have for dinner.  I happened to look down and saw all of these whole fish.  They looked as if they had been carefully arranged as if they were swimming upstream or something.  My next thought was "Oh man, I don't have a blog photo yet, and this may be it!"  Then I thought "Oh no, I don't have my toy camera with me!" Then I realized that I had my new iPhone with me and that has a really good camera built in, so I quickly got it out and snapped four photographs and then the man waiting on me handed me my package.   Whew, a blog photo, just in time!

 

This Magnificent Bridge!

I showed you my photograph of Manhattan from the Throgs Neck Bridge, which I took while stopped in traffic on the bridge.  So I have a confession here.  I love the new Tappan Zee Bridge which is named after a former governor of New York State, Mario Cuomo.  I actually got to photograph him once, before he was governor.  Anyhow this is a stunning bridge and deserves to be photographed when I cross it.  So before I cross the bridge I set the camera on manual focus and put it on the seat next to me.  If I see a shot I like, I pick up the camera and rest it on the top of the steering wheel and I keep watching the road and snap the shutter.  Easy Peasy.

 

The Ferns are Coming Up

I love when the first ferns come up out of the ground with their fiddle heads which then unroll.  These plants are so delicate and I never tire of photographing them.  The main fern bank is in front of the house, but some ferns have migrated under the famous Japanese maple tree.  I tried photographing these ferns with my normal camera in color, but I was not impressed with what I was able to get, so I got the camera converted to infrared and I knew these ferns would stand out against the background.  I love the sort of ominous black branches coming in from the top of the frame.