More from yesterday's snow shots

Day 214/Year 2

A few more from yesterday's visit to War Memorial Park in West Bridgewater MA.

The water was really high from all of the recent rain.

This was my first visit to this newly refurbished park, but it won't be my last!! I really liked it here!

Frosty Foliage

We dodged a major bullet here in Southeast MA from yesterday's storm. There are places out in Western MA that got 27 inches of snow. There are power outages all across New England. In fact, our friends one town over from us lost power. The winds here near the coast were gusting to 60 mph last night. It was wild.
This morning Diane and I headed out at 8am to look for some snow/foliage shots. We only got about an inch of heavy wet snow here....just enough to pretty things up. The problem from a photography standpoint was the wind. It knocked all of the snow off the trees. It was pretty nonetheless and Diane found us the perfect place to go today. We went to the War Memorial Park in West Bridgewater.

The warm morning light was gorgeous as the light was reflecting off the leaves in this next shot.

Another one of the smaller waterfalls

The snow was melting rapidly with the warmth of the sun

Thanks Diane for a wonderful morning. It was great to be out in the fresh crisp air!

Curtains!

Today was a fun day.......a mother/daughter curtain shopping day. Miss J bought curtains for her living room, dining room, and bedroom. I love everything she bought.
Well, it was a fun day for us. Not so much for Mister Miss J. (ie my son in law Steve) He WAS having a good day until we walked in with the curtains......his day went downhill from there. FAST. :-) Their living room has the mother of all windows. It's a very difficult window to dress with curtains. Due to it's size, the curtain rods need to be supported with a middle bracket. The body language in this next shot just totally cracks me up.....

Okay........time to sit down and read the instruction sheet on how to hang the rod for the valances.......

By the way, doesn't Stanley just crack you up as he's so relaxed and comfy over on the left hand side of these images. :-)

I wish I could show you some "after" shots, but I had to get home........I spoke with Miss J on the phone a while ago, and she assured me that Steve got the problem solved and the windows look great! Whew!

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 400, 1/40, f2.3

Photo two: ISO 320, 1/30, f2

Stumped

Day 211/Year 2

I'm stumped ! Didn't know what to post for today's photo.

Yeah.......pretty corny, I know. :-)

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/20, f6.3, 12/3 ev

Dressed In Red

Day 210/Year 2

Old stone walls are beautiful, and are a fun subject to photograph.......especially when they are dressed in red! :-)

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/400, f4, -1/3 ev

17-55 mm lens Take two

With any new equipment, there is usually a learning curve, and trial and error. I took the new 17-55 mm lens out for another run today, and I'm much happier with the results. THIS is what I was expecting from this lens. Sharpness from corner to corner. As much as I have loved using the 18-200 mm lens all this time, I was missing some critical sharpness.......especially in the corners, and in the forefront of landscapes. Seems like no matter what f stop I used, I just couldn't get the sharpness that I wanted.
 I wasn't convinced with my Concord/Lexington shots that this new lens was performing to it's potential, but it was only my first time out with it, and from all of the reviews, I knew this lens was capable of more than what I got with it on that first outing. Today was better. Much better.

It was a dreary gray overcast day today, but the cold temps we've had the past few nights have finally helped the foliage colors to pop.....at least the leaves that are still left on the trees. We've had a lot of leaf drop...... so this is Fall's last gasp here in SE MA. Notice how sharp this image is throughout? THAT'S what I wanted from this new lens!

These images were all taken at Jacob's Pond in Norwell MA.

Yes, I do believe that this new lens and I are going to get along very nicely! :-)

Concord River Reflections

More images taken the other day out in Concord and Lexington MA. The reflections along the Concord River near the Old North Bridge were beautiful. I love reflections! I hope you enjoy these ones that I caught that day.

And a more intimate view taken by the trees near the boathouse:

Day 208/Year 2

The Hartwell Tavern

Day 207/Year 2

The Hartwell Tavern in Lincoln MA was the home of Ephrain and Elizabeth Hartwell......a prosporous farm and tavern in the 1700's. It was a place where travelers from Boston would stop and share the latest news. Living history demonstrations are held here daily.

Somebody asked me if this was a real person in this next shot. The answer is yes!

The Shot heard Round the World

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

 The "Shot heard 'round the world" is a phrase that has come to represent several historical incidents. The line is originally from the opening stanza of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" (1837), and referred to the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. This 1775 proverbial first shot was fired during an armed stand-off between British forces and local militia in Lexington, escalating into engagements at the Old North Bridge in the battles of Lexington and Concord.

There is so much early American History that took place here in Massachusetts. It was great to visit some of these historical places the other day, as I am very interested in Early American History. Here's the Old North Bridge in Concord MA, the site of the beginning of the Revolutionary War:

The Paul Revere Statue awaits you as you cross over the Concord River to the other side of the bridge:

Here is one of the "Patriots" walking toward the bridge:

So much history here. A wonderful place to visit and connect with America's past.

More from Walden Pond

Day206/Year 2

We spent quite a while here yesterday morning, and I feel this place deserves another day here on the blog. The Fall colors here in SE MA, where I live, have been disappointing to say the least. We did find some decent color out here in Concord. Certainly not a stellar season, but pretty nonetheless.

I liked the way the water was rippling around the stone in this next image. Don't ask me if I placed the leaf on the rock myself, or if I found it sitting there that way. You decide:

We took a wonderful hike around the pond and here is what we saw along the way:

"My purpose in going to Walden Pond was not to live cheaply nor to live dearly there, but to transact some private business with the fewest obstacles;to be hindered from accomplishing which for want of a little common sense, a little enterprise and business talent, appeared not so sad as foolish."

            ----------Henry David Thoreau

The Specs:

All images taken with the Nikon D90, 17-55 mm lens, ISO 200

On Walden Pond

Day 205/Year 2

Diane and I headed up to Concord and Lexington MA at 5:15 this morning. We arrived at Walden Pond, just minutes before sunrise. It was a gorgous Fall day, and after hiking the trails around Walden Pond, we both came to the realization of why Henry David Thoreau wanted to experience simple living in natural surroundings at this beautiful location.

We had a wonderful day, and I will have many more photos to share from today's trip. I gave the new lens a good workout! Today is an "all about me day". I got home from today's trip about an hour ago, and now I am heading to Quincy to meet up with my college friends for dinner and drinks.

"The shore is composed of a belt of smooth rounded white stones like paving stones, excepting one or two short sand beaches, and is so steep that in many places a single leap will carry you into water over your head;and were it not for it's remarkable transparency, that would be the last to be seen of it's bottom till it rose on the opposite side. Some think it is bottomless."

---------Henry David Thoreau

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm leans, ISO 200, 1/20, f4

                             

How about the 17-55 f2.8?

I returned the Nikon 24-120 VR lens that I bought last week. It wasn't for me. Today, I picked up the 17-55 mm f2.8 Nikon lens. I am thinking this one will be a keeper. I didn't have much time for test shots. While I was cooking dinner this evening, I put this apple on the kitchen island. I set the camera to "live view" and placed the camera on the island, about 2-3 feet away from the apple. I set the camera on ISO 200, aperture priority, and tried various apertures. This one that I am posting is f2.8.

So far so good. Tomorrow I am heading out before sunrise for a day of photography. I want to give this lens a good landscape workout. I'll report back tomorrow night.

EDIT****** I'm editing to say, yikes, this lens is sharp. I honestly thought my kitchen island was clean until I looked at this image. :-)

There's Got to be a morning after.......

We're back to wedding mode today here on the blog. There's just so much excitement in my life these days!!! :-) My blogs are bouncing all around!
We rented the entire south end of cabins at Camp Kiwanee for our guests to spend the night of the wedding. It was so much fun!!! After the formal wedding reception, we all changed into our jeans and sweatshirts, and went across into the woods where the cabins are, and had a campfire, roasted marshmallows, made samoas (yum) had snacks, and where 15 pizzas which we had delivered were devoured! Not to mention the beverages that were consumed! :-) It was a great crowd....no problems, no drama, and just a fun happy night.
Here are Miss J and Steve the morning after the wedding, waiting for breakfast to be served in the Pavilion:

Breakfast and the after party were both held in the "Pavillion", which is a large rustic cabin in the campground area. It was a perfect setting for our needs. Here is the fireplace in the Pavilion which gave a cozy atmosphere to the breakfast:

Breakfast was prepared and served by the same caterer we used for the reception dinner. Both meals were A plus........our guests were raving about the food....it really was fantastic........so I'd like to give a big shout out to Heart Brothers Caterers. They were fantastic to work with and made Miss J and Steve's wedding weekend extra special. Here they are working the breakfast buffet in the Pavilion:

Here are some of our guests eating breakfast:

One of the flower arrangements from the wedding that I brought over to spruce up the pavilion for breakfast. I loved the way the morning light was coming in through the screened window on this:

Some of our family/friends didn't spend the night, but came back the next morning with their kids to join us for breakfast. Here's my nephew Greg (who put all of the corn stalks and hay bales up on the exterior of the lodge for us....thanks Greg) and his wife Jess and their daughter Rowan (Rowan has made a few appearances here on the blog in the past) she came to the campground dressed as a skunk! How adorable?????

My nephew Chris and his wife Nikki and their son Ashton rode their bikes back to breakfast!

Jay and his girlfriend Amanda packing up to head home:

As the morning progressed, the temperature warmed up quickly. Here's Miss J packing up to leave wearing her sexy little bride t shirt that was under her sweatshirt! :-)

Yeah......what a weekend!!!!!!! It was perfect in every way. We are truly blessed!