Mental Health

It's a rough week.  Yesterday, we signed the papers to put our house back on the market.  Anyone who was reading my blog a year ago knows we tried this exercise last summer and got nowhere.  The market has not improved and the projected selling price for this place has dropped.  It's dismal and the idea of moving has me torn up inside.

Thank God for photography.  It's my mental health escape.  I can just be in the moment, thinking about what I'm seeing and how to create something meaningful.  I've spent hours wandering around the yard shooting flowers and insects...it's a very convenient distraction.  This morning, I took out the kayak and paddled out into the harbor at high tide.  Our "Bird Island" has such a variety of species and many with babies.  I spent about 90 minutes out photographing the birds with their chicks.  I didn't think about the housing market or the money we've lost or short sales or having to move somewhere yet to be decided.  I could just think about how cute the chicks are and what good parents birds seem to be.



Linking to Carly's Photo A Day

05/26

I wandered down to the harbor early this morning.  It was pretty out and the tides were low so I was looking for shorebirds.  There weren't many, which is unusual.  Just a few of the regulars....egrets, geese, gulls.  But the light was especially beautiful and this guy stayed close and cooperated with an extended photo session.  I have several of him looking sleek and elegant, but I love the dishevelled moments.



Once again, linking to Carly's Photo A Day...

Photo Art Friday

I have a bunch of photos of cosmos and they are just begging for a little digital manipulation.




I did very little to the original image but it has been treated with Bonnie's "Fanciful" texture.  So, I'm linking to this week's Photo Art Friday.  I masked out most of the texture on the flower petals to retain that dreamy look.

Lots of creative digital artists participating here....go check them out!

Also linking to Carly's Photo a Day...

REL & Indie

Arielle is back from her 4 month study abroad.  It is great to have her here, hear the stories and see all her wonderful pictures.  Our world traveler...she visited 11 countries in 16 weeks.  I'm thrilled for her but I have to admit...just a wee bit envious.

Her time home is brief, she's planning on living up in Amherst this summer.  This one chickie is ready to fly.  It's bittersweet.

But, she graciously agreed to play model for me this afternoon.  I've been wanting to do some portrait shooting with a backdrop and some off camera lighting.  Indie is crazy camera shy...he sees a camera (even an iphone) and he usually high tails it out of sight.  He wasn't wild about modeling with Arielle, but if anyone could get him to cooperate...it's her.



I'm linking this over to Carly's Photo a Day...

Cosmos 5/21

It was a perfect gardening weekend.  The sky was blue, the air was clear, the humidity low and the temperatures topped out in the high 70's.  It was the kind of weekend that draws me to the nursery to walk among all the color and the texture to fantasize about turning my little plot of land into a botanical showplace.  In past years, I've been known to have a serious plant nursery "habit".  Back in PA, I was a regular visitor that frequently left with a van load of perennials.  Now that we are at month 28 with no job...severe restraint is required.  However, the gardens still needs to be spruced up in preparation to put the house back on the market.  So, I got to indulge myself just a bit in the garden store yesterday.

I walk the aisles of the greenhouse looking for favorites, but I am also thinking about what I might most enjoy photographing.  Right now, it's all about shallow depth of field....going for that ethereal look in the garden.  When I came upon the cosmos...it was a no brainer.    I barely had them in before I had to run for my camera.  Right now, I'm using a 50mm 1.4 with a 20mm extension tube for most of my garden shots.  It lets me get in tight with just a sliver of tight focus.  Dreamy....




Playing along with Carly today....A Photo A Day.

Kayak Season

The two things I appreciate most about living on Long Island come from being near the water.  I love that I can jump into a kayak and paddle the harbor and the surrounding wetlands.  This gives me access to some amazing birding and bird photography opportunities.

Yesterday was my first time out in the kayak for the season.  I keep my boat at the harbor so it's easy for me to just drag it to the water and head out.  Less than 100 yards off the shore is an island/sandbar that is a nesting ground for hundreds of birds.  Most are still sitting but I was lucky enough to see an American Oyster Catcher mamma and her brood.





Further down into the harbor, we came upon a large flock of egrets feeding among the grasses.  I have never seen such a large flock of egrets....there were at least two dozen in this area.  This was a challenging photographic opportunity.  In my boat, I am just above water level and I had to wait for an egret to pop its head above the top of the grass to have a prayer of a chance at focus.  Timing had to be spot on...they move quickly.  And, the boat is hardly stable so the shutter had to be very fast.  I have hundreds of blurry shots...but I GOT this!  How much do I LOVE digital???
:)

Round Robin Challenge ~ Fun, Fun, Fun

This week's Round Robin Challenge...FUN!

During my recent trip to Jacksonville, FL, I had a ton of fun photographing surfers at the beach.  A photographer friend of mine suggested I join him shooting a surf competition.  It was a blast and I got a ton of FUN shots.  But this young dad, sharing his love of surfing with his little boy has to be my favorite.

I can't help to think of the years of fun this kid has ahead of him.




Be sure to visit the rest of the Robins.  The links are here.

Small Treasures

I took a photo of this today only because it exists.  I thought it was a great little subject for the daily photo project with Carly.  Not a breathtaking photo....but one that warms my heart.

I found this precious little nest on the ground.  It's a tiny thing, and so interesting to me because the it's creator was a bit of a scavenger.  I love the little bits of lint and fiber....and I think there's even a bit of easter grass woven through.  I'm also delighted by the three little leaves that line the inside. 

Dandelion

Something for Carly's Photo a Day

Floral Abstraction

My friend Carly is doing a photo a day for the next 6 months and is looking for photographers to join her.  I would love to do this but I know myself well enough to know that I fall off the wagon pretty quick.  However, I told Carly that I'd really try to post at least a couple of times a week.  The idea is to be committed to picking up a camera at least once a day for practice.  I learned recently that it is conventional wisdom that it takes at least 10,000 hours to truly master a skill.  I guess I still have quite a way to go!

This image was inspired by a talk I heard yesterday.  I attended a meeting for nature and wildlife photographers on Long Island.  We had a speaker who has made a number of visits to Giverny and Monet's Garden and talked about "painting" with her camera.  This is not a new concept by any means but it does take practice to learn to manipulate depth of field to achieve a painterly effect.  I've played with this technique quite a lot, but it's something that' I keep in the back of my mind.  Seeing the speaker's images last night really inspired me to get out and make the most of the spring blooms and all their color.

This image is straight out of the camera with the exception of resizing and border.  I made many, many images today and there are very few that resulted in this level of abstraction.  But I really like this!  I'm tempted to play around with filters and effects and texture layers...and I very well may.  I just need to find a few more hours in the day.

I'll probably stay with this type of work at least while I have spring blooms for subjects.  I'd love to know what you think!

Flowers For Steven

This week, the Round Robin Photo Challenge is dedicated to Steven....a founding member of Round Robin, a fantastic photographer and author of (sometimes) photoblog.  I "met" Steven way back in the early days of AOL journals.  His photography centered around the same types of subjects I love most....macro work in nature, flowers, reptiles as well as his beloved cat Pickles.

I will have to thank Steven for helping me gain confidence as a photographer.  He was a regular visitor to my blog as I was just getting the courage to post my images and he was always very supportive and encouraging.  And his blog certainly served as a great source of inspiration.

We all lost track of Steven a couple of years ago.  He had decided to take a blogging break.  It has now been learned that Steven passed away on October 10, 2009.  I know many of us who shared Steven's passion for photography and had the good fortune to know him feel his loss with a very heavy heart.

Round Robins are paying tribute to Steven this week with flowers.  Wherever you are Steven, I hope you know how much you are loved and missed.




Please visit the linking list here and help us remember our friend.

Steven's Flickr Photostream can be found here.