Projects

Today I was going through photos to put in a collage for Melissa'a new office. Mostly landscapes for the collage but going through a major box of cd,dvds of collected images can be tough. I ran across some images that I scanned a couple of years ago for a family project I was working on. I thought it would be good to get these older images into a digital format before they were gone forever. Some of the images already suffer from decay.

This is an image of me from the 4th grade. You can see that over the years it has had something spilled on it and had a chemical reaction. I have a fair amount of pictures of my family over the years that have been scanned. As a photographer, I felt compelled to sit down and do it. It did not take long and was fun to do.

Time

I'm collecting things for my future dark room. A couple of days ago I picked up some darkroom equipment at a estate sale. It was 25 bucks for a box of stuff. I got it for 20. I got it home and there was a durst 30om enlarger in the box. I have never seen one so small. it needs to the foam that holds one of lenses replaced. The foam just disintegrates when you touch it. Other than that it seems to work fine. I look forward to using it soon. This timer was in the box as well along with an easel,trays thermometer, and a gra-lab timer.

Love Lasts

Melissa and I ventured out to the Orono Farmer's market yesterday. A handful of vendors with plenty of agricultural goodies. Maine Lobster 6.50 a lb. Fresh pork at one tent. Beef, herbs, bread, and berries at the next. So much to choose from.

Melissa picked out some squash, cucumbers, and lettuce. Then as we strolled over towards a vendor selling tomatoes, I saw them! There! About 100 yards away, close to the river bank just sitting there for all to see.

As Melissa spoke to the vendor about the value of a good red ripe tomato. I was already framing in my head. I didn't want to miss it. I had tried to get a similar image about 4 years ago but I hesitated and the moment passed. Gone until today.

After our purchase, we headed towards the truck. I told Melissa I would be right back that I wanted to get a picture of something. I quickly but quietly started across the parking lot to get behind them. There was a guy sitting in his car near them. I put my finger to my lips motioning to the man not to talk. He nodded in agreement, as I kneeled down. A few quick releases of the shutter and I walked away.


Like I mentioned, I don't see this very often which is sad. This is an older couple sitting together, really sitting together. I bet you could not get a piece of paper between them. They are fortunate and I am lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Not just to steal their moment but to learn from it. Love lasts.

The Fight. Sodium Vapor or Natural

It's easy to figure this one out. I will pick natural every time. The problem is it comes so damn early. I may never get used to this time change. The street light outside our window is pollution if ever seen it. It invades our bedroom with its orange glow. For the most part however, we had stopped its wavelengths by putting up light blocking material over our windows. Call us spoiled but Melissa and I like to sleep in the dark. Really dark. We had this problem licked until the normal daylight comes creeping in showing our imperfections in our work.

This Image taken at 4:51 a.m. shows our delima.

A Second Look

As I ponder re-doing my website. I thought, I have so many images why would I want to post more. Well, there could possibly be images that I overlooked or not considered before that bear a second look. I narrowed it down. The pictures needed to be at least three years old. About the time we moved to Montana.

Will these images make to the site? Maybe, maybe not. Are they worth sharing? You bet they are.

Why post them now? We aren't homesick, but we do miss our friends.

Bog Walk

I went out his morning to the Orono Bog walk. Just a couple of miles from the Bangor Mall is a well maintained boardwalk trail that goes out into a lush carpeted bog. I found all kinds of things to take pictures of.

This is Bog Rosemary. I hear it is pretty common and grows in a lot of states.

I never knew. So, I did learn something today.

Flower Pitcher

It was pretty cloudy today and has been threatening rain all day. A great day to make images.

A Day At The Beach

With Ethan leaving next week to return to Montana, I thought we should hit the beach one last time. We loaded up the truck and headed out for Acadia. We had it all chairs, cooler,fiction, I-pods, grill, etc...

The sign at the walkway to the beach said the water temp was a comfortable 54 degrees. Ethan went for total immersion several times. I on the other hand only went chest deep, with Melissa only going toe deep. I saw people out there that had come out of the water and they were red from being in the cold water. It would have to be pretty hot for me to go in all the way into 54 degree water or stay out there longer than 5 minutes. It was in the high 70s low 80s. I'm thinking at least middle to upper 90s.

Acadia park loop road needs more picnic areas. We ended up with a pleasant tailgate lunch at the Blue Hill overlook near the summit of Cadillac Mountain.

Over the last couple of months my camera has become more temperamental. Maybe its the altitude change? It could just be me. Some images I take are terrible from a technical standpoint. Others images have a slide feel to them.Which I prefer.

It could also be a certain time of the day and the conditions might have been just right. As I recall it was just slightly overcast and close to high noon. Either way, the camera gods were smiling on me yesterday. Yesterday was a slide day for some of my images.

Seal Harbor

No photoshop on this one. Straight out of the box. The image above is what I'm talking about. Maybe you think it is boring? It is Beautiful.

What to do on a Tuesday evening. Lobster!!!

So after a trip to the market. Ethan and I found a new friend to have over for dinner. Below is his progression. The Lobster weighed in at 3 1/2 pounds. Not exactly a lightweight. This was our first Lobster experience. It was pretty good. I will do it again, but being a midwest boy I will stick with turf over surf for now.

Paul Bunyan

Last week I found Paul Bunyan. He is downtown just off the Penobscot river. I remember reading about this lumberjack in grade school. With his tall tales of felling trees and eating flapjacks. The 31 ft. tall is a symbol of the late 1800s when Bangor, Maine was said to be the lumber capital of the world.

I thought Minnesota had laid claim to old Paul? Where is Babe the blue ox? He was nowhere to be found.

Acadia National Park

Last Week I got to visit Acadia national Park. I can't wait to go back. I feel I need to explore further. I think I need a bike so Melissa and I can explore the carriage roads. They allow horses on the trails that Rockefeller built but I don't want to invest in some ol' nag. I would rather save money for another camera.

Of course it was foggy. After we thought the Fog had burnt off in another part a half mile from the beach. Ethan and I headed to the beach. It was cold down there and still plenty foggy. I went from being hot and sweaty to wishing I had Mr. Roger's sweater in about 10 minutes. Another great thing was getting there at high tide. I must admit I was surprised at the amount of traffic that increased while I was at the beach. Well it was the on a weekday before the 4th of July and I recommend getting there early for a good parking spot at Sand Beach.

The smell of salt air is great.

Cats For The House

So we got this big empty house and needed some cats to fill it with. So we adopted two young cats from the local humane shelter. Presto Chango instant gratification.

The first cat we got was named Brownie Muffin. Who names a cat that? I'm guessing a little kid.

Anyway we decided to name her Boo. She's a timid but a fun cat and is growning fond of us as each day passes.

The other little ray of sunshine is Mallory. She is also a loving cat. Let me tell you of a little story that happened today. My son and I went fishing today. We had not been in at least a year. So this morning we are preparing to go. I found a bag of sand that had came from the bottom of my monopod. I had put it there to make it more steady but took it out because I wanted to lighten my load for hiking when we lived in Montana. I had put in with the fishing stuff before the move. So the bag got thrown on the portable dishwasher this morning and when we returned home today found sand was all over the house. In the living room, kitchen, dining room, foyer, up the stairs. all over and Ethan and I suspect it is Mallory that instegated the whole operation.

Don't think this is just a another cute little face. I liken her to a Polar bear. All sweet and cuddly but she will kill you if you give her a chance. Just kidding.

From One End Of The Country To The Other

Well, Melissa and I made it. We sucessfully moved across the country. We've been here in Bangor, Maine now for about three weeks. It took a little bit to find a house that was not an apartment. My Goodness there are a lot of big old houses here that have been converted to apartments. We lived in an apartment for the last three years; with neighbors on either side of us. 880 sq. ft. Yeah, I was getting coo- coo for Coco Puffs We needed to strech out a little. University housing was cheap in Montana and what's the word im looking for here? Ummm. Cookie Cutter and made in the 60s.
So, we found a big ol' house built in the 1890s for lease and backed that uhaul up and decided to do a little settlin down. At least for a while anyway.