'Smoke on the water' indeed. The water temp is in the 40'sF, air temp not so much. Zero at best, -8F this morning. Yee haa!
 We've all been there. The peaceful, serene feeling after all the airport hassle. Looking out over a landscape you can't make out...hours from anything being required of you short of a drink preference. Nice.
From the date stamp I guess this is on the way to Ireland in 2005. Second or third trip. And the vignetting tells you it was taken with a pocket camera...all I had for digital for so many years, regrettably. First one from Farmington, ME and then two from Boston. Wonderful time of year...if a bit chilly!
 Another shot from the other day's snowstorm. Wonderful colors and detail...more than I expected when shooting...as described in the previous post. Love the digital workflow.
 Gosh I loved shooting around Gov't Center in Boston. Just a block or so off the Common, but such a different world.
 Don't really know what to say about this happy accident. A couple of hours after yesterday's shot I saw the snow had started. My wife arrived back home with the boy and her sister from a day of shopping. After greeting them and helping with the resettlement I realized I'd waited too long and missed a great photo opportunity...the storm was too far along, the flakes no longer random and fluffy. Ah well. With encouragement I jumped in the trusty AWD SUV anyway. In a few minutes I was back at the lake, and looking through the viewfinder I saw only white. In fact the snow was so thick that autofocus simply couldn't cope. This frame is one of the last of the few I took...the subject closer to me to minimize the massive number of flakes. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and again I've heard. Guess it's true.
 I love the deep, dark woods up here. This image was taken just before the first snowfall of the year. Peaceful.
I drive past this spot many times in a week and glance at the far shoreline. Today it looked so inviting and, rarely, I was alone and in no hurry to be anywhere. What a luxury to just pull over, haul out the camera I'd luckily packed, and spend some time looking. The light before snow can be very dramatic, but you can't really tell in this tight shot why that would be. On the drive home I reflected on how difficult this shot would have been if I were still shooting film. At ASA [yes, that's how I still say it] at ASA 400, wide open, something like 1/60th would have been required at best, and the image quality of 400 speed 35mm film was nowhere near what we see here. Hand-holding a 400mm lens would have been out of the question image stabilization or not, had it even been available. Hauling out the Gitzo Reporter inherited from my dear departed mate Chris Warman would have been a requirement. Not that there's anything wrong with that...but I might not have packed it for my trip to the dump is all. Just another example of how my quote in the local paper when I closed my color lab was so far off...."they'll pry my Hasselblad out of my cold dead fingers" my butt. [edit: it was actually more like "I'll keep shooting film until they stop making it.", but you get the dramatic intent.] We held a house warming/holiday party over the weekend. What fun. The house was blessed with new neighbors who walked up the road, and friends and family who drove and flew great distances to join us. Sounds like this will be an annual event. Folks who stayed over took the short hike to our 'water front' on Sunday morning.
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Thoughts and musings on the photographic process by a recovering film lab owner.
Some photo sites we enjoy:
Magnum The Online Photographer John Paul Caponigro Onne van der Wal Kirk Tuck By Thom Steve Huff B&W Mag LensRentals DearSusan Archives
May 2025
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