OK, So Flowers Again...

  ...but with a new twist. I took a telephoto lens out this afternoon and screwed a couple of close up filters on it just to see what I would get. The photos below are the result. I thought a couple of things were very cool, such as the very narrow depth of field and the way that I actually had to move the camera toward and away from the subject to get things into focus. Some of the results are below. It's kind of exciting for me that I am still finding new things to do with my camera!

Seiners...

AT some point earlier this week, I think maybe it was Monday, some fishermen up the bay set twine at Spruce Point, just to the East of our house. I walked the beach at low tide, and sure enough it was some sort of seining operation. Now, I spent some time on sardine boats back in the 50's and early 60's, and this rigging was nothing like I'd ever seen, but it was inventive. They had one end of the square set out in mono-filament twine and it really looked as though it was capable of catching some fish. Mostly it is mackerel in the bay right now.

I don't know if they've gotten any fish as of yet, but they had a scow out and were straightening the net and getting it ready to put back into the water. With the scarcity of bait for lobster fishing and the resultant price when you can get it, it seems very inspired for this man and what looked like maybe two of his sons to be out trying to "purse seine" fish. The picture is from this afternoon.

More Flowers

There are so many flowers around the house, in the field, down by the shore and everywhere that when I go out around the house with my camera I never seem to have any problem finding something to shoot. I noticed this afternoon that the flowers are not only alive, but they have what I need to describe as very slow metabolisms and their movements are as life-like and meaningful in that time based context as any mammal.

The Brown Eyed Susans (notice I feel the need to capitalize the names) especially had it going on this afternoon as did the relationship between the bee and the Field Wildflower (? - I need to get a field guide and learn some of these plants). Here a four shots of more than 80 this afternoon.

Kayaking at Sunset

The wind died out last night and Jen and I grabbed the long kayak and went for a paddle up the bay. We went past the campground and to the town landing (bumped a rock among the seaweed) to watch the sun set. A gorgeous night and sunset with the sky all red was waiting for us when we returned to the house. I was singing "Summertime", and there were actually fish jumping (probably small mackerel) all around us. The pics I'm posting here were taken with an iPhone.

Flowers Today!

3 Boats on the Bay

I had the telephoto lens on my camera this morning, and caught Joe while he was hauling some of his traps. Tonight the sunset was superb and the light blasting into my studio made me realize (along with Jen's remarks) that I was missing some photo "ops". Rather than get something on my feet and go outside, I just stuck the lens out the living room window and got the two bottom shots, one of a visiting sailboat and the other of Vern and David putting the aux motor back on the "Teacher's Pet".

Clusterfunk Frontmen

Wilt and Mark performing at Heather's 40th birthday "shindig". Clusterfunk rocks!

Adam is the glue (wielding his 5-string bass) in the background.

Roses Are Blooming at the Shore

They are so beautiful and so fragile. The fragrance of them is almost intoxicating. I could post a hundred photos, but one is all I need, symbolically.

Horse and Horsepower

My bike ride today took me by the horse and sheep in Ashville, so I stopped for a shot or two. The sheep came lumbering toward me as soon as I stopped, so I grabbed a few pics of the horse, the one I'm posting was caught with tail in motion, so I thought it cool.

The afternoon was spent more with horsepower in the sense that I need to remove carburetors from the Johnson 90 HP outboard and go through all the vacuum hoses, gas lines and such to make sure it will run well this season.

Morning Shadows

The wire patio furniture provided some interesting shadows on the east patio this morning (and most likely every morning, I just happen to notice them today because I was out there washing the windows. Here are three I liked. The tiny red spots (click on photo to enlarge) are petals from geraniums.

Pulling up the Punt.

David and Vern pulling up the punt after a short sail this afternoon, and the high angle provided by the bank works nicely with the daylight brightness and reflections off the water.

 A beautiful day. Jen, Matt and I went to see Jennie at Collier's and I got a few photos of the flowers in the garden at the side of the building. No retouching on these and I really like the way I have the camera settings in my mind now. Good results from my Alpha!

Working on Brother's Truck

I seem to be back in photo mode as I was helping Alan work on the brakes of his truck and happened to have my camera nearby, something I have been doing a lot more of these days. I'm posting one of the images I liked for it's design and the repeat of the subject in background silhouette.

The texture of the rusting frame in contrast to the "unfocused clarity" of the background is another characteristic I like about this shot. Alan asked me if I was "documenting the process", but I was just looking for some cool images.

Edge of Sunset

 

Sitting out front admiring what the sky was doing yesterday evening after a walk on the beach. Lights on top of Cadillac remind us we need to make the "dusk" trip one of these evenings.

Which To Be?

Part of a series of 10 drawings that I did last month, "Which to Be" is a visual metaphor for those decisions we all have to make about life, how we respond to others and the sort of persona we will adopt. One of Elvis's songs said "...life is but a stage and each of us must play a part.", (yeah, I know it was Shakespeare that wrote it, but it's so much easier for me to relate to Elvis than the British poet) and it seems to me that whether we admit it or not, we play separate roles in differing circumstances. Absolutes are so easy to break down, but I will say here that nobody is always "themselves". Or is that a double absolute.

I plan to use the drawings ("Fear of Self" to right) as a basis for a movie, with each scene introduced by a drawing and then segueing into reality through digital manipulation of some stills. I have a title ("Blue June") and a basic plot, I just need to nail down a rough script and start shooting some video and stills. Oooooh, if that was all I had to do this summer, it would be awesome!