Fresh Ground

The old vaudeville joke went something like this: Customer.."Hey, this coffee taste like mud"! Waitress: "What do ya want?..it was fresh ground this morning".
Sorry.

Welcome Back

From way back in "The day" a 1970's era Health teacher image. A scanned old photo found by my sweetheart and a dare to "post it" on this blog! Way cool tie but where did all that hair go?

Beach Glass

A cold winter day might just be the ideal time to experiment with indoor macro shots. Backlighting beach glass is certainly not a new idea but it is a fun way to stay on the learning curve!

Dead Calm

A most unusal moment on the Great South Bay as a very calm afternoon had the bay looking more like a pond.

Winter Jetty

Reminders that it still is winter are at every turn, however I do notice the days getting longer!

(Best in larger view, click on the picture)

Golden Spiral

The theme for a recent photo challenge was "Fibonacci". After first Googling "Pasta types", then "famous Italian Liars", I came to learn that Fibonacci was actually a rather distinguished mathematician from the 1200's. Evidently on a slow night in 1202 Fibbie, as he was known to his buds, came up with a theory about the sequencing of numbers in nature. Astonishing to math mavens and mildly interesting to the general population, his book "Liber Abaci" introduced his theory of numerical sequencing to Western Europe. (It had been used in ancient India circa 200B.C., but that's another story..). Soo, flashing forward to 2009 a macro shot of a Nautilus shell (illustrating his sequential theory in nature) might just make a decent photo entry for a Fibonacci challenge.

Perhaps, all of the above is just way too much information! (Image looks best in large view)

Happy Valentine's Day

"Shower the people you love with love" James Taylor

My Needy Valentine

Kiss me, call me, e-mail me, hug me, feed me...Geez, What is up here? Is it me? ..or are these Valentine messages that have bombarded our stores aimed solely at the the lonely, demanding and needy members of our society? What happened to "I Love You"...and just because You are You?...

Pier Into The Fog

Just who is the photographer venturing out onto a foggy pier?....Mid-February and we were treated with a Spring-like day. With temperatures pushing 60 degrees and a bay still filled with plenty of ice there was an eerie foggy light by the water. Fortunately my favorite photographer found her way back to firm ground.

More Macro

The only Long Island flowers I can find this time of the year are in stores. Macro experimentation, playing with light and depth of field is part of the learning curve.

Eye See

Eyeball reflections may seem like a clever macro subject, but it has been done many times before.

Geese and More Geese

As the debate about how to control them continues, Geese continue to multiply and thrive. Once a seasonal visitor, Canadian Geese use less and less of the flyway for migration. To the uninformed, geese provide for a close encounter with wildlife but in reality they are a major environmental nuisance. For air traffic controllers and pilots geese are becoming a major safety issue as evidenced recently.

Connetquot Preserve

The estate house on the lake at Connetquot State Park provided housing for the elite hunting and fishing club members throughout most of the 1900's. The trout hatchery, located upstream, has been shut down due to an outbreak of trout virus. Local fly fisherman are hopeful that an early cure can be found.

Over The Dune

The cold snap seems to be easing and the weatherman promises that soon we can shoot outdoors again without the risk of frostbite. I would make a lousy Canadian.

Strawberries

With a wind chill factor near zero degrees, indoor macro shooting seemed like a really good idea. Hence, from the relative warmth of my refrigerator, "Strawberries".

Determination

On a mission at Connetquot State Park, 9:30AM and 22 degrees following yesterday's snow storm. My dive buddy/camera partner is convinced that the perfect "winter shot" is just a short hike and a few clicks away. Feeling more like Shackleton or Perry than Ansel Adams I braved the morning temperatures and came home with this image to document the endeavor. Hey...it sure beats going to work!

Pins

"Pins", or.."How I spent a nasty winter snowy day with my new macro lens". Actually, more time was spent searching the house for inconsequential small items that might make interesting macro subjects.

Lighthouse Walk

Yesterday was one of those rare winter gifts, a bright sunny day with Spring-like temperatures pushing near 50 degrees. It was a perfect day for a Fire Island stroll along Robert Moses' State Park's nature trail. In spite of dire groundhog predictions, yesterday provided an early taste of the rejuvenating weather that lies ahead.

Ground Hog Day

Looking at this sign I thought that that perhaps for once, the town department of rules got one right! The bay has been showing the effects of our recent winter temperatures. No matter what that groundhog sees or says, my calendar indicates that Spring is still seven weeks down the road.

Cultural Exchange

Speaking only Spanish, the local parrots on Roatan often use universal gestures to communicate with monolingual tourists.