Merry Christmas 2021

Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas.  

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host , praising God and saying "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men"

                                   -------Luke 2:13-14

Quincy Massachusetts Christmas

 I photographed the Christmas lights in downtown Quincy MA the other day. The city of Quincy does a beautiful job decorating the square for the holidays. You can see the trail lights from the vehicles moving through the square at rush hour in this first photo.

John Hancock greets the visitors at Quincy Center. He was born in Braintree MA, but that section of Braintree later became part of Quincy MA. There is a lot of early American History in Quincy, best known for being the birthplace of John Quincy Adams, the 6th President of the United States.

I hope you are enjoying the holiday season!

Powder Point Bridge Duxbury MA

Last Sunday I met up with people from my camera club for some sunset/night sky shooting. One of our members led a workshop on long exposure photography for those that wanted to learn. It was a beautiful evening, although a bit chilly there was very little wind and it was very comfortable just wearing a winter jacket. 

We wandered the beach on our own before sunset and I found this crab laying belly down on the sand. I picked him up and put him belly side up and propped him against a rock in the sand to use as a forefront interest in a shot. I set my focal point where I wanted it and opened up my aperture to get a sharp crab and a blurry background. I then took my camera off the tripod (gasp) LOL and set it on my sneaker and fired off a series of shots. A few came out off kilter and out of focus but there were a few I was happy with such as this one:

It was a beautiful pink sky which also added an extra special something to the shot.

I wandered over to the other side of the bridge as the sky was really beginning to darken, and liked the look of the tree in silhouette, as well as the person walking towards me on the beach.

The next photo was taken during the blue hour. Using a long exposure, you can see the headlights streaming across the bridge as a car was driving over it. You also can see some stars in the sky as well.

There was a 3/4 moon in the sky which helped to illuminate the bridge, but it also hindered the ability to get good star shots as the moon prohibited the sky from getting dark enough. If you look closely, you will be able to see some stars in the sky. The forefront sand was illuminated by a street light which was behind us and over my left shoulder.

This time of year the sunsets so early in the late afternoon that I was able to get home in time to catch the end of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game and watch Tom Brady and the Bus beat the Bills. I still love Tom and enjoy watching him play and was happy that they beat our AFC East division rival. The NE Patriots are in first place in the division. As much as I love Tom, my heart will always belong to the NE Patriots! :-) 

Words For Wednesday GIFTS

 "Some gifts are big, others are small.

But the ones that come from the heart

Are the best gifts of all."

                         Tinku Razoria

Today's blog post is about gifts. I've recently received a few gifts that I cherish, and I know they came from the heart.

A faithful follower of this blog named Cynthia, who I only met one time many years ago, recently contacted me about a special gift.  Cynthia is a beautiful person who frequently comments on my blog posts with kindness. I always appreciate her comments. She recently contacted me and told me that she was sending me a gift containing some of her favorite photos from "Carols View Of New England." The gift arrived the other day and I LOVE it so much!!!!!!

Thank you so very much for the beautiful mug Cynthia. I absolutely love it and am so touched by your kindness!!!!!

I also received a few more gifts that have special meaning to me and my photography. Yesterday was my final day working at my job after 32 years. It was such a bittersweet day for me and I was given a lot of love from my coworkers (who I consider more as family than coworkers) Here is the cake that was made for me:

And someone made these beautiful camera mold chocolates

My dear friend Kathy also had "Carol's View Of New England" in mind when she had this t shirt made for me.

Front of shirt:

And here is the back of the shirt:

I feel so thankful and blessed as I begin a new chapter in my life focusing on myself, my family, my health, and my photography!

Boston Fall Foliage 2021

 It's certainly been a strange foliage season here in SE MA and the city of Boston. The warm temperatures throughout most of October delayed the peaking of the foliage this year. I went into Boston for an early morning shoot on Sunday October 31st. Typically, the Fall colors would be peak on that date, but the color was spotty this year. I did find some color and would like to share a few photos taken that morning.

There was a heavy rainstorm the night before, and the rain was predicted to end around 7 AM. The forecast was correct, and the rain stopped just before we arrived in Boston. We parked near the Public Garden and walked over to the Charles River Esplanade where we were greeted with a rainbow.

Early morning kayakers on the Charles River:

John Hancock Tower which is the tallest skyscraper in Boston:

One of the footbridges:

Shot with a telephoto lens:

Boston is a city full of love!

We walked back to the Boston Public Garden to take some shots there. 

The Boston Public Garden from Commonwealth Ave:

I hope you are enjoying your Fall in your neck of the woods. 

Manchester Vermont Fall 2021 and Dorset Quarries

 Today's post features photos taken from my last day of shooting in Vermont this Fall. It was another daytrip. My cousin and fellow photographer Betty, has a good friend named Sharon, who lives in Manchester VT. Sharon invited us up to her neck of the woods to show us around the area. I have never been to Manchester before and all I can say is that I fell in love with the area. It's a gorgeous town in Southwest VT. 

Our first stop of the morning was to photograph The West Dummerston Covered Bridge, which is the longest covered bridge in the state of VT, at 280 feet. The bridge was built in 1872 and it spans the West River in Dummerston.

Sharon advised us on a route to take from Boston. She recommended we make our way up to Jamaica VT which is in SE VT, and from there to take Pike Falls Road over to the Western side of the state. This is a GORGEOUS dirt road that runs up through the mountains from East to West. A few photos from this road:

We stopped along the road to Stratton Mountain and photographed the view from the road.

Sharon met us at Dutton's Farmstand in Manchester. I photographed the sugar house which was all decorated for Halloween.

From here we stopped to photograph the First Congregational Church in Manchester

We went to downtown Manchester and had a delicious lunch at a pizza place.

Our next stop was to the Dorset Marble Quarry. It is the first marble quarry in the United States. What a beautiful place for photography!

Our next place to see was a four mile loop drive in Dorset Hollow. The views on these roads are gorgeous.

Our final stop was to visit the Manchester town Common where we got one of the most delicious Maple Creemees I have ever had. I have no photos of it, but it was so good. :-)

It was sad for me to see this day end, as I knew it was going to be my final day to photograph the Fall foliage in VT in 2021. It was a beautiful Fall in Vermont this year, and I'm thankful and humbled to have been able to witness and photograph the beauty of another Fall in Vermont. 

Stay tuned for some Boston foliage photos which will be featured in the next blog post.

Hartland Covered Bridges, Buttermilk Falls, Echo lake, and Weston Mill VT Foliage

 I hope this Fall has been a good one for you. I made two day trips to VT the week after my weeklong stay up in the NEK. The first daytrip was with my good friend and fellow photographer David. David's favorite thing to photograph is waterfalls so I planned an itinerary to photograph some areas in Central VT including a few waterfalls. 

I left my house in SE MA around 4:40 am. Guess what????............ We arrived to our first location socked in with fog. :-) I just couldn't escape the foggy mornings this year. Our first stop was at the two covered bridges in Hartland VT. I honestly wasn't thrilled with any photos I took at this location, but wanted to share a few anyway. My friend who is more mobile than me got some great shots of the falls, but unfortunately mobility is an issue for me since the mva so I make the best with what I can do.

A nearby railroad track caught my eye

From here we took side roads to our next destination. Along the way we passed a narrow road called Sugarhouse Lane. The name of the road caught my eye so I turned around and went back to the road to look for a sugarhouse to photograph. The sugarhouse turned out to not be photographic, but the road itself was really pretty.....

Shortly after this, the sun broke through the fog and it turned into a lovely day. Here is a stop at Echo Lake in Plymouth VT.

Our next stop was to Buttermilk Falls in Ludlow VT. This is such a pretty little area. It was my first time here. 

Beautiful color and reflections along Buttermilk Falls Road

I'm glad I brought my trekking poles because they really came in handy navigating myself through the short walk through the trail to get to the falls. It's a short walk, but lots of rocks, tree roots, and fallen leaves.

The main fall

There are also upper and lower falls at this location that my friend David got some great shots of as well.

From here we decided to drive up along Okemo Mountain. What a beautiful resort and mountain.

Our next stop was to photograph the Old Mill in Weston.

Our final stop of the day was to photograph Stickney Brook Falls in Southern VT

It had been a very long day and from here we both decided to head back home. Stay tuned for the next day trip I took that week, along with some more local Boston photos I've recently taken. Thanks for taking the time to view the blog. I really appreciate it. xxoo