If you've been following this blog for a while, you may already know how much I love the summer produce. It's one of my favorite things about the Summer season. I typically visit the local farm stands one to two times a week this time of year. Today I went to Lipinski Farm Stand in Hanson and from there went to C and C Reading Farm in West Bridgewater. They both had plenty of beautiful nutritious, colorful, delicious fresh produce on hand.

After I came home I did some still life photography with today's bounty.

I hope you enjoy your weekend. Stay safe and healthy my friends. xxoo

Tree Swallows

One day last week one of my friends invited me over to her backyard to photograph the Tree Swallows in her bird feeder. The little one was certainly well fed during the couple of hours I was there.

Hope you're staying cool in this heat, and as always, staying safe and healthy.

Comet Neowise/Milky Way/ Duxbury Beach/Powder Point Bridge

I went out again last night to photograph the Comet Neowise. My goal was to get it over the Powder Point Bridge in Duxbury MA, which is only about a 35- 40 minute drive from my home. The comet is not very bright in this shot, but there's a lot of city light pollution in the sky so am pretty happy that I got this shot: (Be sure to click images to get larger views)

Here's a 30 second exposure taken later of the bridge with tail lights and head lights from cars crossing the bridge.

The Milky Way over the sand dunes on Duxbury Beach. I actually was lucky to get this shot because the clouds quickly took over and obscured the Milky Way after this.

The tail end of the Milky Way over the ocean.Due to the cloud cover, the Milky Way wasn't visible to the naked eye when I took this shot. I noticed the faint presence of the Milky Way after I downloaded the pictures and saw it on my computer screen. I brought it out more with processing. It was a pleasant surprise for sure.

Night shot of lifeguard station along the beach.

Comet Neowise

Last night I went out looking for Comet Neowise. Due to light pollution in the area, it was difficult to see with the naked eye as the skies were not dark enough. However, it still was barely visible and I'm thrilled I was able to see and photograph it, as it won't be here for another 6,800 years.

Please click photo for larger view.

Hummingbird

Words For Wednesday:

"Whenever you are creating beauty around you, 

you are restoring your own soul."

---- Alice Walker

Summer Daydreaming

Lotus Buds

Happy weekend to you. I hope you're enjoying your weekend wherever you are. It's my weekend off so I'm definitely enjoying it. Early this morning I went down to the Butterfly Garden and the gardens of the Buddhist Temple next door. The lotus flowers are beginning to bloom at the Temple.

Here are a couple of shots I took of some lotus buds.

Some of the lotus flowers have opened but there were harsh shadows on the images I took. I plan to return at a different time of day or perhaps on a cloudy day to work on the open ones again.

Stay safe and healthy my friends. xxoo

Strawberries! Words For Wednesday 7/8/2020

ADVICE FROM A STRAWBERRY

Blossom where you're planted.

Be tasteful.

Drink in the sunshine.

Keep close to the Earth.

Savor life's sweetness.

Let good ideas ripen.

Jam with your friends!

                      ------Ilan Shamir

Abington Butterfly Park with sign of HOPE

On Saturday, I spent almost four hours photographing at the Butterfly Park in my hometown of Abington MA.

The garden is looking beautiful right now with many different varieties of flowers in bloom.

I brought a HOPE sign with me to use as a prop with the flowers.

There is a Buddhist Temple located next door to the Butterfly Park. One of the woman from the temple strolled over into the garden. She is absolutely beautiful. I asked her if I could take some photos of her and she happily agreed. She also gave me permission to publicly post her photos.

I was thrilled that she agreed to pose with the HOPE sign. I think these next two photos are very appropriate for the times we are going through right now.

Isn't she gorgeous? I think she radiates beauty and love and kindness. I hope you agree.

Stay safe and healthy my friends. xxoo