Good bokeh

256/365

It was a very gray day here in Southeast MA. I took the folks out for a drive, but the lighting was flat and no photo ops jumped out at me. I stopped at Whitmans Pond in Weymouth on my way home and took some gull portraits. I used the old Panasonic FZ8 today (remember my first love?) :-) I really like the pleasing bokeh that I get from that camera. For those who may not know, bokeh is the blur in out-of-focus parts of an image. Note how sharp the gull (the subject) is, and then note the nice smooth background. The smooth background is good bokeh. Some lenses will produce a bokeh that is nice and smooth and pleasing to the eye, while other lenses produce bokeh which is distracting.

The Specs:

Panasonic FZ8, ISO 100, 1/320, f3.3, -1/3 ev

Blessed

255/365

 Please meet my newest great-niece, Rowan.

She's perfect in every way!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations Greg and Jess. We love you and are so proud of you!!!

"Every child begins the world again........"

-----Henry David Thoreau

Wooly bully

254/365

Mr. S and I took a drive to visit a sheep farm in Lyme CT today. (Certainly not the kind of thing Mr S is interested in visiting.......but he was a good sport and accompanied me.........some would even call him long suffering.......but I think that's a stretch) :-)

It was a beautiful blue sky day here in New England, and the perfect day for a drive in the country. I am currenty invloved in a pretty big photography project........more about it at a later date........but that's the reason for today's trip to the sheep farm.

"Uno, dos, one, two, tres, quatro
Matty told Hatty about a thing she saw.
Had two big horns and a wooly jaw.
Wooly bully, wooly bully.
Wooly bully, wooly bully, wooly bully.
Hatty told Matty, "Let's don't take no chance.
Let's not be L-seven, come and learn to dance."
Wooly bully, wooly bully
Wooly bully, wooly bully, wooly bully.
Matty told Hatty, "That's the thing to do.
Get you someone really to pull the wool with you."
Wooly bully, wooly bully.
Wooly bully, wooly bully, wooly bully."
                                                                                    

Christmas Party at Nino's

253/365

This is the quarry behind Nino's Restaurant in Weymouth MA. We attended a lovely Christmas party there this evening, hosted by the company that Mr. S works for.

Here's our good friends Danny and Karen :-)

When Karen saw me taking the photo of the quarry, she reeeeeeally wanted to be my photo of the day. Thanks for such a great evening, and thanks for modeling for my blog! :-)

Thanksgiving leftovers

252/365

The leftovers are sometimes the best part of the Thanksgiving meal. I hope you enjoy your leftovers too! :-)

The Specs:

Panasonic FZ8, ISO 200, 1/15, f3.3

Happy Birthday to me! :-)

251/365

It's not so much fun having to work on a major holiday, such as Thanksgiving. It's also not so much fun to have to work when you are not feeling well. Lastly, it's not so much fun when you have to work on your birthday. However, when you work with such great people as I do..........it really isn't so bad afterall! :-) This is a photo of my desk at work today. It was more or less a birthday shrine with all of the cards, balloons, and gifts. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! I hope you all enjoyed your day. Although I am still under the weather, I had a wonderful day and have so many blessings in my life that I am thankful for. I could not ask for more.

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 125, 1/30, f2

Sugar surplus

250/365

Need to make a mental note for the next time I go food shopping. I don't need to buy any Brown Sugar. Again.

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 400, 1/6, f4.5

dog vs. nebulizer

249/365

I've been using my nebulizer every 4 hours. Rudy doesn't like the nebulizer, and he goes on the attack each time I turn it on.

The Specs:

Nikob D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 400, 1/60, f3.5

Here we go again :-(

248/365

I can never just get a normal cold. It inevitably turns into Bronchitis. It's not fun. :-(

I tried to add a little fun to this shot, anyways. I did a little play of light using a flashlight.

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/20, f4.5

Island Grove

247/365

This is the footbridge leading to Island Grove in Abington MA. The water was very still this evening, making for some very nice reflections.

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 0.5s, f6.3

Let the fun begin!

246/365

Get those charge cards ready.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year." :-)

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/60, f5

Old Stone Wall

245/365

Jacobs Lane in Norwell MA has a series of old stone walls along the road. I've stopped here on several occasions to take photographs.....during different times of the year. I was out with the folks today and was "in the neighborhood" so we took a drive down Jacobs Lane and I got out to take some photos. I particularly liked the stone wall in the foreground, the colors of the leaves, and the stone wall in the background beyond the field in this particular shot. I hope you like it too.

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/40, f10

The patterns of Nature

244/365

This is the Maple Tree out on my front lawn. It is now bare.......as every single leaf has fallen to the ground. This is the time of year, we, as photographers, can find many intricate patterns and contrasts of bare branches against the sky........at all different times of the day......for completely different looks. I find these bare branches to be beautiful and intriguing. This was taken this evening just after sunset. In a few weeks, these branches will be decorated with the first fallen snow of the season. And so it goes on.............

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 400. 1/25, f2.7

Before and After

243/365

I took the above photo of Jay this morning after his shower.

Here he is a few hours later:

Okay, so how cute is he now?????? Getting a haircut is a very big deal for this kid. We have to talk about it for weeks, even months, before he will finally go to get it cut. He has a hair obsession of some sort. (Now we need to work on the facial hair.......baby steps) :-)

"She asks me why
I'm just a hairy guy
I'm hairy noon and night
Hair that's a fright
I'm hairy high and low
Don't ask me why
Don't know
It's not for lack of bread
Like the Grateful Dead
Darling

Gimme head with hair
Long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming,
Streaming, flaxen, waxen

Give me down to there hair
Shoulder length or longer
Here baby, there mama
Everywhere daddy daddy

Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair

Let it fly in the breeze
And get caught in the trees
Give a home to the fleas in my hair
A home for fleas
A hive for bees
A nest for birds
There ain't no words
For the beauty, the splendor, the wonder
Of my...

Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair

I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy
Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
Oily, greasy, fleecy
Shining, gleaming, streaming
Flaxen, waxen
Knotted, polka-dotted
Twisted, beaded, braided
Powdered, flowered, and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled, and spaghettied!

Oh say can you see
My eyes if you can
Then my hair's too short

Down to here
Down to there
Down to where
It stops by itself

They'll be ga ga at the go go
When they see me in my toga
My toga made of blond
Brilliantined
Biblical hair

My hair like Jesus wore it
Hallelujah I adore it
Hallelujah Mary loved her son
Why don't my mother love me?

Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair"

                                Lyrics from HAIR

****Thanks Jay for being such a good sport and agreeing to be today's photo.....I love you!****

"Signs" of the season

242/365

For some reason, I have a feeling that Christmas is coming. I just keep seeing signs of it.

Okay.......I can hear the groans now.....sorry for being so corny......but I just couldn't resisit. :-)

This was taken today at the Christmas Place in Abington MA. I had a very nice day out with my friend Kathy. I still can't get myself into the Christmas mode though. It's still too early for me.

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 400, 1/25, f2.1

Elephantitis?

241/365

I have been obsessing over the elephantitis-like condition that my foot looks like it suffers from in yesterday's photo. Did you notice it? How could you not? :-) Actually, I didn't notice it until I took a look at it today. My foot looks huge and distorted. Go back and take a look if you must. Just warning you.....it ain't pretty. :-)

Okay, so there MUST have been some distortion in that shot.....but in the meantime.........just so you are not worried that my foot is swollen 3 times it's normal size...........here's a photo of my sneaker. See????? It's not huge, right?????? And my foot fits into it. :-)

Touchdown!!!!!!!!

240/365

Watching Sunday night football. This is a touchdown by Ron Gronkowski......Pats 7/Steelers 0

As I type this.....realtime.........Pats now up 10-0. Let's hope they stay on top!

Well I love that dirty water....Oh Boston you're my home

239/365

I spent the entire day today walking around the city of Boston. The weather couldn't have been any better. The day ended with a trip up to the observation tower on the 26th floor of the Custom House. I conquered my fear of heights and stayed up there for 2 and a half hours, waiting for the sun to set.

This was a camera club outing. We were all broken up and did our own things during the day, but then all met up at the Custom House at 2pm. There were 41 of us!

I have lots of photos to sort through from today. I'll let you know when they are ready.

The Specs:

Photo one: Panasonic LX3, ISO 80, 1/6, f2.8, -2/3 3v

Photo two: Nikon D90, ISO 200, 0.8s, f6,3, -2/3ev

Up close and personal

238/365

He climbed up on my lap as I was looking at some so-so photos that I took for today's photo. I took a quick shot of his profile.....it made me smile........so there we have it.......today's photo.....just like that! Hope he makes you smile too. I just love my guy!!!!!!!

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 400, 1/8, f2

And you think JACK'S got frost?????

237/365

It was a frosty morning today up in Vermont. BBBRRRRRR!!!!! There was a heavy cover of frost on most surfaces......which of course made the photographer in me quite happy. I really like the strong backlighting in this first shot taken at May Pond in Barton VT.

This next shot was taken along the driveway leading down to May Pond:

A closeup of the fence:

Just a frosty landscape:

The Specs:

All taken with the Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200

the first three: 1/160, f11

the last one: 1/25, f11

I hope you all had a nice Veteran's Day holiday today, and I hope you found a quiet moment to reflect on all of the Veteran's who have served for our country.

Nap time

236/365

The reflection of these hard working girls, who were taking a little rest this afternoon, caught my eye and here they are as today's photo of the day. Thanks girls! :-) Taken somewhere near the Vermont/New Hampshire/Canadian border on this chilly yet sunny Novermber day!

Stick Season

235/365

Most places have 4 seasons during the year. Vermont, however, has 6 seasosn. There is Winter, then Spring, then Mud Season, then Summer, then Fall, which then brings us to the season we are in right now, which is called stick season. The reason? There's nothing but "sticks" on the mountainsides. All of the gray that you see in the above photo are bare trees.

Tomorrow promises more sunshine than today up here. Stay tuned for tomorrow's photo of the day from the land of the sticks.

pull it up, tie it up

234/365

Three different styles of the workplace "up-do's". It's funny how you can sense the age and personality of a person, just by looking at the back of their head. Seriously!  These 3 hairdo's actually say a lot about these three people. It always amazes me how a photograph, even one as trivial as this one, can really open up one's mind and tell a story.

"The hair is the richest ornament of women."  ~Martin Luther

Here's the pie! :-)

233/365

Do you remember the other day when I wrote that I see an apple pie in my future? Well, here it is. I baked an apple crumb pie for dessert today. It was yummy!

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 250, 1/30, f2

Bubblicious Psychodelic baby! :-)

232/365

Some days it comes easy, and some days I really have to dig into my imagination to find a photo op. This psychodelic (baby) image was an idea I had........how would a plastic cup filled half-way with Diet Sierra Mist look if I stuck the lens of my camera down into the cup?

Well, ladies and gentlemen......this is the result.

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 250, 1/30, f2

Still chasing the color

231/365

I took the folks out for a ride today........we ended up at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham. The Fall color is quite "spotty" this time of year. As you can see in this first photo, there's more leaves on the ground than there is on the trees. However, about 1/2 mile further up the road, there was a bit more color to be found, and I stopped to take a shot with my friend Al's "famous" curve in the road composition in mind. :-)

BOO!

230/365

Hmmmmm.........coming up to the door tonight this is what was in the window of my house. It's either:

A. Abby

B. Rudy

    C. A ghost

My guess is either A or B. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

An apple a day..........

229/365

Do you have an overabundance of apples in your refrigerator? We do.....and so do some of the girls from work......we were discussing this phenomenon today. It seems like every Fall, we have too many apples and they end up going bad, unless you use them in cooking. I think I see an apple pie in my future.

The Specs:

Nikpn D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/6, f7.1, -1/3ev

Did you vote today?

228/365

This was shot through the windshield of my car, as I was driving up to vote this afternoon. I only wish there were better candidates on the ballot. It was more or less who is the better of two evils, and in some cases......eenie meenie minee mo.

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/400, f5.6, -2/3 ev

Opening Reception

227/365

I have 2 photographs hanging in a photography show at the Hanover Public Library. Tonight was the opening reception. There was a good turn out and it was a pleasure to see all of the wonderful photographs, taken by so many really talented photographers from my camera club.

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 400,1/25, f2.1