Hey, where's the lamb????

Day 8/Year 2

Of course!!! After the winter we've had. Of course we are ending the month of March with a Nor'Easter. The snow started coming down here late this afternoon. I shot this photo as we were leaving D'Ann's Restaurant in Abington this evening. Wasn't the best meal I ever had.........but then again I didn't have to do any cooking, so I won't complain.

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Taken from The Farmers Almanac.com:

The Truth Behind “In Like a Lion out Like a Lamb”

"With March being such a changeable month, in which we can see warm spring-like temperatures or late-season snowstorms, you can understand how this saying might hold true in some instances. We can only hope that if March starts off cold and stormy it will end warm and sunny, but the key word is hope. However, this saying seems be to more of a rhyme  rather than a true weather predictor."

And so there we have it!
The Specs:
Panasonic LX3, ISO 500, 1/30, f2

Jeezum Crow!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day7/Year2

We sure have some unique terms and phrases here in New England. I come from the Boston area, and when something is really good, we say it's "Wicked Good"..........errrr, that is pronounced "wickid" by the way.

My good friend Phil Thompson (who is known as PWT on the Scenes of Vermont Forums) is a true 100% born and farm raised man from rural VT. If he were to like this photo, for example,  his response would be......

"Jeezum Crow, now THAT'S a good picture" errrrrrr, except picture would be pronounced "pitcher".

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Here's an excerpt from Urban Dictionary:

 Jeezum Crow:"A polite way to take the Lord's name in vein in rural Vermont".

Now an excerpt from "The Vermont Encyclopedia" by John J Duffy, Samuel B Hand, and Ralph H Orth:

"Jeezum Crow!" A colloquial exclamation frequently heard in Vermont and also in Northern New Hampshire and Maine. "Jeezum Crow" is a benign alternative to a common profanity. It expresses frustration or emphasis, as in "What.......a bunch of hippies are starting a commune in the woods? Jeezum Crow Mother, get me my shotgun!"

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I only report the facts as I find them. :-)

The Specs:

This photo was taken today at Whitman's Pond in Weymouth by the way

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/1600, f5.6, -1/3 ev

Jack Sparrow

Day6/Year2

Dinner time at the feeder in the late afternoon light.

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/160, f5.6

Mind BOG-gling

Day 5/Year 2

I hope you're not "bogged down" with all of the busy things that life throws at us! :-) I was down at the bogs today, but I certainly wasn't bogged down. After picking up my contact lenses in Pembroke, I took a ride visiting some of the many ponds and cranberry bogs in that neck of the woods.

Those of us living in SE MA are very fortunate to live among literally hundreds of cranberry bogs. Perhaps we take them for granted and don't appreciate their beauty? The many different shades of the cranberry red color spread across the landscape is such a beautiful sight to behold.

Come October, most of the bogs in the area will be flooded and the cranberries will rise to the top and they will get sucked up and trucked away . This particular bog in Pembroke does "dry picking" and the cranberries are carried away in a helicopter that hovers as the cranberries are being picked. I missed getting down there to photograph the picking this past Fall. I hope to get down there this year, and if I do, I'll certainly post some photos here on the blog..............a bog blog!

The Specs:

Photo one: Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/200, f11

Photo two: Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/160, f11

Getting Closer, Getting Closer

Day 4/Year 2

I got this beautiful rose at work today from a Patient who didn't want to bring her flowers home. I knew it would be the perfect subject to do more practicing with the Nikon 4T close up filter. The above photo was shot at an aperture of f7.1, focusing on the yellow petals in the center.

This next photo was taken using an f stop of f2.5, focusing on the pink outer petals.

I took advantage of the "live view" feature on the Nikon D90 with the camera set up on the tripod. (Thanks Tracy for mentioning live view on one of your recent posts) I have never really given the live view feature a chance, as I much prefer using the view finder. But, with this closeup photography, I have found the live view to be very helpful. It really helps you to see exactly where the focus point is.

The Specs:

Photo one: Nikon D90, 50 mm lens w/ Nikon 4T closeup filter, ISO 200, 1/13, f7.1

Photo two: Nikon D90, 50 mm lens w/ Nikon 4T closeup filter, ISO 200, 1/125, f2.5

"And although you will say
I am still too naive
But I have not lost faith
In the things I believe

And if I don't have this all worked out
Still I'm getting closer, getting closer
I still have far to go no doubt
But I'm still getting closer, getting closer"
----------Lyrics by Billy Joel

Regrets?

Day 3/Year 2

Second guessing myself, with a possible regret about this photo. This was shot on that cold cold day that Diane and I went to Rhode Island to photograph farms for my Camera Club Portfolio Project. The theme I chose for my Portfolio Project is "Family Farms of New England". I LOVE the idea of this shot. I LOVE the whimsy. I LOVE how it portrays life on the family farm.......a calf and a barn cat.......how perfect! Only thing I don't love is the quality of this shot. I like it, but not sure I love it. The project will be judged on the quality of the photos. We were supposed to submit 12 images......the best of the best. The project has been submitted without this photo. There's no turning back. I hope I made the right decision of keeping it out. I agonized over this project and put a lot of pressure on myself. This was supposed to be fun! :-)

I have a cold and just didn't feel like going out shooting today after work. How liberating these second year rules that I set for myself are!!! It's great to dig into my files and pull out an older photo to post, on a day like today where I am a little under the weather. This photo didn't make the project, but I'm happy to share it here on the blog. Hope it put a smile on your face!

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 640, 1/60, f4.8

Setting Goals

Day 2/Year 2

After doing some soul searching and taking time to think about my photography, and in what direction I would like to take it, I thought it might be a good idea to set some goals for year two of this project. Landscape photography always has been and probably always will be my favorite type of photography. I'd like to broaden my horizons and get out to shoot some areas of New England that I haven't shot yet.........the Connecticut Coastline and areas such as Mystic Seaport come to mind. I'd also like to photograph more down on Cape Cod and the Islands. They are practically "in my own backyard" so to speak, and I have no idea why I haven't spent more time shooting down there. I've spent a fair amount of time photographing in the White Mountains Region of NH, but there is still so much more in that area that I would like to see. Western MA has been on my "bucket list" for the past few years, but time just hasn't allowed me the opportunity to get out there shooting. Goal number one for me is to visit each of these places some time during the next 365 days, and hopefully come home with a few "keepers" as well.

Last week at camera club, one of our members showed a slideshow on closeup/macro photography using closeup filters. (Thanks Lynne, it was beautiful!) This got me thinking...........I ALREADY HAVE a NIKON 4T closeup filter that I bought several years ago to use with my Panasonic FZ8. I took it out of the camera bag today, and low and behold it fits on my Nikon 50 mm lens. Goal number two for me is to perfect my closeup/macro work. Now, gear is an important thing with closeup photography. I wish I could afford to get a nice new macro lens, but with Miss J's upcoming wedding, I have no extra cash to burn this year. So, I will work with what I have, and hope to see some improvements with my macro work. I used the Nikon 4T closeup filter, with the camera set on the tripod out in the backyard this afternoon shooting rhododendron buds. I set the camera to macro mode and tried both manual and automatic focusing. Now that I look at the exif info, I see I was shooting at f8. Hmmmmm.....will be practicing more with this closeup filter?

Goal number three is working on more long exposure photography.

Goal number four is to perfect the art of panning. I have only made one attempt at panning, and would really like to work on perfecting that technique because I think it's just plain cool!

Sound do-able? I hope so!
The Specs:
Nikon D90, 50 mm lens with Nikon 4Tclose-up filter, ISO 200, 1/320, f8