Lotus Flowers at Kenilworth Gardens

A lone bee works this lovely pink Lotus. This was about 10 inches across and was in a wonderful field of lotus - actually a water filled field.


The yellow seed pod is engulfed with the petals of this pink tinged lotus.

Moody Blackwater Falls

Blackwater Falls can show many moods during the course of the year and time of day. I caught this one on a dark day which provided a nice moody feeling.


And to lighten the mood, here is a 8 image stiched panorama at the onset of leave color:

Field of Dreams.... of Sunflowers

What could make you feel happy besides seeing a sunflower? Not sure what but this photo brings a smile to me.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire in the fall has its magic to bestow on its visitors. Colorfull leaves, running water in its gorges, waterfalls, colorful reflections on its lake all make for a memorable visit.

Greens, yellows, oranges and reds, makes for a nice range of color with in a single view:

This is a lovely waterfall coming through a gorge at the foot of Mount Washington:

Eastern Shore parallel lines and flowers

The Maryland Eastern Shore has many old homes or plantations from Colonial times. This is a back porch which has excessive parallel line:



Lovely peonies with bright velvet petals with a full center:

Palouse - Graineries

Besides the vibrant greens of the Palouse, the outstanding features are the graineries. These are two shots of the same grainery but from very different angles. Besides have it's own unique features, it stands out against the background of the rolling fields at it's base. This shot shows where the trucks arrived and departed. There is a scale inside to weight the contents being loaded of off-loaded.



This shot has lovely clouds and bright highlights:

Local spots in New Hampshire - Gorham

This is the train station in Gorham, New Hampshire with a steam engine and cars providing nice local color.

Gorham has the typical hardware store which has disappeared across the country eaten up by the big box stores - what a loss for America but a gain for Gorham having this wonderful iconic store still open for business.

Palouse - Elevator and Red Barn

This is one of the most interesting grain elevators in the Palouse - triangular and to the point.

Nice red barn placed up against a strong hill with prominant stone out croppings.

Blue Truck Graveyard - Henderson

Interesting interior view of an old Henderson Truck from the 1950s. It is rather plain compaired to today's technical truck cabs.

Interesting place for a turn signal. When was the last time you saw a Henderson?

Turning New Hampshire Fall Color

I found this nice heart shaped puddle with a nice view of the falls in the background. Nice place to sit and relax.

Close by this large stream had some early fall color.

Green Palouse, Washington

\Found this older farm house in the Palouse. Looked to see if I could find someone to see why they let the grass grow this long. Couldn't find anyone.

Near the same house found this old bottom plow waiting for a trip over the fields.

West Virginia Waterfalls

Nice pre-fall color shot of a gret waterfall and down stream flow - this is a nice falls as you have a lot of leading water before you get to the falls. This is a favorite of mine.

Swirly, swirly, nice shot showing the slow swirl of the water. Another favorite place to go.

New England trains and barns

Finally getting back to some post-processing after significant projects around the house. I promise to get back into the swing posting. Here is a live RR line with a nice work shed, rails and dark clouds.

On the same trip I was able to find several old farm buildings that had nice reflections, work red paint and event plants growing inside. My grandmother would have made sure the plants stayed outside!

Sunrise on Smith Island

I went with a small group last weekend to Smith Island. It was a very interesting place, limited, but very nice. You do need to keep a watch on your friends as the bugs will carry them off if left unattended. Here is a harbor shot - nice sunrise shot.




The sunrise reflection and soft light was great which leads to this shot.

Alternate Fuel - Steam and Electric

Alternate fuels for automobiles has been around for quite sometime and is not a recent idea. Stanley Steamers used a gas fired boiler that created steam that ran their cars. A very quite car that many people did not like as the car could sneak up on you and your team of horses. Here is a phot of the side light of one of these open cars.


Another form of fuel is electricity. Although a relatively newer concept just because battery technology has gotten better, (there were earlier cars but the batteries took up a significant amount of room), here is a 1978 CitiCar Sebring Vanguard which sold 2,600 unites between 1974-1976. The car had a range of 50 miles (interestingly similar to quotes of today) with a top range of 28mph.

Fall foliage in New Hampshire

Where has January gone?? It was just 2010 and now a whole month has gone by. Well, for me I have been able to get caught up on some processing so I am good to start the new year off right. This will be the last of the Fall foliage shot from New Hampshire for now. Here is an old barn, can't remember seeing many (if any) new barns in New Hampshire, with a nice rich red color hues, great reflection in the windows and nice subject inside the windows.





Went by this one pond and caught some great reflections. These two pumpkin head fisherman kept bugging us until we took their photo:

And lastly, at the end of a long drizzly storm, we caught some nasty clouds looking down a gorge:

Watery New Hampshire Fall Shots

Working on some older shots from this past fall from my trip to New Hampshire. The fall colors were at peak and it was a wonderful trip with some nasty clouds thrown in for extra effect - great time. Here is part of a series of cascades and small water falls - really nice place to visit:





Went back a second time and caught some really nice shot with strong sun light - something we try to stay away from but this really work. Here is a typical NH red leaf and it's shadow in a pool:

And finally, here is a painterly photo of a small stream of water catching the colors of the trees above. This is processed as an actual photo - the painterly is because it is reflection in the water:

New Hampshire Fall Color

Went to New Hampshire this past fall at the peak of the color as you can see. The reds, oranges and yellows were screaming - what a beautiful site to see! Here is a shot from on of the valleys with two peaks stacked behind each other.



We recieved permission for the caretaker of this property that used to be a motel probably from the 60s and earlier. Each room was a seperate little cabin with a fireplace. Could not see the inside, some had fallen down, others taken apart and the rest were leaning so much we expected to see some fall over while we were there! Here is one end with the pine tree shutters still holding on.

Here is one of the cabin leaning and holding on. I am sure no one has stayed here fir quite some time. When a stone motor fireplace leans, you know you do not have structural integrity any more - believe me, this is not lens distortion!

1956 Chevrolet 210 Station Wagon

Something a little different for the new Year - a 1956 Chevrolet 210 Station Wagon headlamp deatil. This model had power window lifts and a Powerglide automatic transmission that were found in the higher priced models like the Bel Air and the Nomad. This model sold originally for $2,130 with a 283 cubic inch V8.

Happy spring thoughts!

Here are a few aquatic flower shots from Kenilworth Gardens which is part of the National Park Service in Washington D.C. This is lotus flower is fully opened and will begin to drip in a week:

Early morning light on a lotus bloom:

Two white water lilies at sunrise:

New Year Post for 2011

I thought I would begin 2011 with a few interior shots of the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, located in Washington D.C. The Monastery of Mount St. Sepulchre, was designated a National SIte in 1991 and has been a place of worship and pilgrimage since the church's dedication in 1899. To fund the construction, Frier Godfrey sold paper bricks, called 'building bricks'. They were 2.5x.5 inches and contained a medal of St. Anthony of Padua. They sold for 10 cents each. When the church was completed in 1899, it was nearly free of debt.



This is the center of the main chaple:





This is looking out from the main center:






This is looking out from the other direction from the center: