FALLING BEHIND

Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY- October, 2010

This is not good. Not refering to the photograph which I am happy with; two random leaves on the driveway I captured early one Sunday morning on the way to Cracker Barrel. No, I am not happy that it is December, nearly officially winter and I'm still downloading fall. Might as well be shooting print film given this time lag.

Il y n'a pas rouge en France

Harriman State Park , NY - October 2010

Well that's not exactly true, while there is red in France, there are no red leaves according to Kelsey's correspondent (Cornwall parlance for 'exchange student') Elisa, leaving me to conclude non arbres d'érable (no maple trees)? What would I do with my time during this season if I wasn't running around looking for the perfect fall shot?

It's all about perspective

Cornwall on Hudson, NY- July, 2010

When this photo was taken, back in July, we lamented the lack of rain; how were we to grow the massive trees the nursery promised us? Then we visited Red Rocks Colorado and realized even the biggest trees look small in comparison to their surroundings

Morrison, CO- August 2010

IS IT JUST US?
and her proud grandmother

Littleton, CO - August, 2010

Not even a little resemblance between our daughter and the former first daughter? Well, never mind, her grandmother thinks so and what else matters?

Rhinebeck, NY - July, 2010
copyright Getty Images

Return to paradise on Tuesday, followed by fall foliage. Enough with people pictures for a while.

"So what's a nice barn like you doing in a place like this...?"

Morrison, CO- August, 2010

What a timeless pick up line. Anyway I was surprised to find what was quite clearly a typical Vermont red barn way out in the middle of the Red Rocks Mountain park. Maybe it vacations in Colorado in the summer. This shot was taken August 15 where the temperature was 84 degrees with absolutely no humidity to be found anywhere.

Another shot of a red barn in Vermont- back where it belongs...

Jenne Farm, Reading, VT - October, 2009

THERE'S NO SCHOOL LIKE OLD SCHOOL...

Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY - September 2010

My son has embraced the 'no school like old school' theory only when it pertains to classic cars and probably would espouse just 'no school' if he thought he could get away with it.

That certainly wasn't his outlook on the first day of kindergarten eight years ago. Look at the difference in his expression.

Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY- September, 2002

Our daughter, who seems to favor purple as an opening day school color, couldn't get out of the picture fast (sadly fast being the operative- no pun intended- word here) enough to drive 'her' car to the high school and start senior year.

Time (like Kelsey's driving) seems to go entirely too fast.

"I don't like people"

(note: it isn't as bad as it sounds)

Littleton, CO- August 2010

Littleton, CO- August 2010

Alright, so that quote was totally taken out of context. Certainly the photographer likes people, being a person himself. What he was trying to say that he prefers photographing (digitally, of course) landscapes rather than people. However, there is something to be said for these candids of the father of the bride and the mother of the groom as they make sure the wedding rehearsal goes off without a glitch.

A LOOK BACK

Nyack, NY- September, 1989

Fast forward twenty years later....

Littleton, CO- August, 2010

Nyack, NY- September, 1989

Now the bride from 1989 returns the favor

Littleton, CO- August, 2010

ART IMITATES LIFE

Vero Beach, FL - May 2010

Oscar Wilde decided in 1889 (long before digital, by the way) that "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life." Any way you look at it I couldn't help but be surprised to walk into a Michael's (craft store) to find 'my' picture...

Newburgh, NY - August 2010

QUESTION???
(note that this blog entry does contain a picture depicting nature on nature violence)

The blog has been in existence for over a year and the time has come to decide are we bloggers or photographers? Are these pictures with corresponding stories or stories with corresponding pictures? Here is a bit of both.

Weeks ago we blogged a picture and a story entitled 'We've got nature' about an unfortunate frog who wound up being the main course for a garden snake. Since there was no one around to take a picture at the time blog readers were spared the gore. Well Kerry stumbled on the exact same scene and this time it was recorded for posterity (warning- graphic)

Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY - July 2010

Or maybe you're the type that likes your story to take precedence over the picture. For instance where maybe the pictures might have a flaw or two but the story is so compelling that it doesn't matter. Here is the story of an electronic reunion thirty one years in the making, with the accompanying pictures.

Cindy was actually the 'girl next door' for two years in the late seventies when she dated her next door neighbor Tom. Thanks to Facebook they were reunited and thanks to digital we were able to capture it and blog about it without waiting another thirty one years for the print film to come back from the lab.

Nesconset, NY- June, 1979

Got technology?

Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY- July, 2010

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Garrison, NY- April 2010

I thought I might use this for Memorial Day, but that holiday weekend got away from me somehow. By the looks of the blog, half of June got away from me too!

This tree, so spring like in April, looks out of place in a July blog, where we haven't had any significant rain since June 22 (.43inch), lawns are crispy, recently planted lavender is failing and daily we dump buckets of water on our new Austrian Pines to ensure they get established.

FRESH FROM FIELD TO BLOG

Fairfield, PA- June, 2010

Cindy says "Just this morning I asked Brian 'are you going to bring your camera?' only to be told "No, I don't need it, I won't be taking any pictures'". Today was a new low in the ongoing saga when Brian exited the car (a rented Ford Fusion, which he has threatened not to give back tomorrow night) took one look at the lavender fields at Willow Pond Farm and as though the thought had occured to him for the first time, observed "I should have brought my camera."

Well, never you mind, these pictures taken at the Pennsylvania Lavender Festival about 1 pm with a cell phone are dished up fresh for the blog by 5 pm.

THE FACE BEHIND
"WE'VE GOT NATURE!!"

Vero Beach, FL- May, 2010

You really have to check out the last blog entry to appreciate this one. We'll give you a minute to scroll down and read it. Is that enough time? All caught up?

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here is a shot of our little back to nature girl Lianna taken back in the day when 'digital' was a dirty word. What a difference a year makes.

Cornwall on Hudson, NY- Janurary 2009

"We've got NATURE!

McKee Botanical Gardens, May 2010

Our seven year old neighbor Lianna has a flare for the dramatic. "Hi Simon" is too mundane for her. A typical Liannaism is "hello dear Simon". One summer day when she and her brother stumbled upon a snake eating frog (mid meal for the unfortunate frog) she summoned the entire neighborhood with the proclamation "we've got nature". Well, the blog has nature and unlike the snake and frog variety, the reader can eat breakfast and view the blog simultaneously. Disney Vero Beach, Indian River Shores, FL- May 2010

SOMETHING NEW

Vero Beach, FL- May, 2010

Who says you can't teach an old blogger or even older photographer new tricks? Wanted to mix up the blog a bit and found out you can do lots of cool things it just takes a little experimentation and a lot of patience. Perhaps you want to add a picture in the middle of your text? It is that easy.

By the same token the photographer with his new digital can take close ups - or closer ups than he could with the Vectis which didn't have a macro lens.

or how about an uber closeup of the same flower?

Something Borrowed

New Windsor, NY- May 2010

Not my picture, although I wish it was. (from left) Tracey, Ryan and Kelsey have been friends since the fourth grade and celebrated their junior prom last Friday. Formerly known as the group called 'monkey friendship' more recently they've cleverly recreated themselves as neopolitan for obvious reasons (hair color in case one's monitor isn't up to par).

The picture was taken by Jody Wenke, Ryan's mom. She is an amazing photographer and when she is on site with a camera I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that all will be in good order. Jody is my blogspiration www.jodywenke.blogspot.com Check her stuff out; she is a scrapper/blogger who has not only maintained her own blog for over a year but 'guest hosts' other scrapbooking sites and has a musical treasure trove in her head that would put the television show 'Name that Tune' out of business.

PARIS BLEU

Paris, France- April, 2010

A little play on words... the blue in these pictures, taken on Easter Sunday in Paris, is so vibrant (well, compared to the pictures taken on Saturday during the rain) that the entry begged to be named Paris Bleu which is coincidentally the name of a perfume manufacturer located in the heart of... well, Paris

http://www.parisbleu.com/#/en/about

Partie deux de Windows 2010

(Windows 2010 part two)

Nice, France- March 2010

Taking over five hundred pictures ( (which doesn't include the ones she deleted), in twelve days of visiting France Kelsey certainly is her father's daughter and has provided us with considerable blog fodder. Vive la France! Vive la digital as well, because 500 pictures translates into 20 rolls of film which would be quite co$tly,

n'cest pa?

Windows 2010

Nice, France- March 2010

Apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it? This is from Kelsey's first day in France which is just about a month ago. Whoever said digital is more expedient than film never dealt with a sixteen year old who insists on doing things according to her schedule.

(Almost) Right in my backyard

Boscobel Estate- Cold Spring, NY- April, 2010
Main House

Now that s p r i n g has arrived I don't have to go too far to capture some picturesque well... pictures. This weekend Kelsey is a teen leader on a retreat that is taking place at the Capuchin Retreat House and we've logged more trips back and forth to Garrison, just south of Cold Spring, since January.... more than we care to think about.

But with the arrival of s p r i n g (have I mentioned that once or twice?) there is potential around every bend. I've always wanted to go to the Boscobel Estate, they do Christmas in a BIG way, but s p r i n g ain't so shabby either.

Boscobel Estate- Cold Spring, NY- April, 2010
Guest House

Time Flies

Vero Beach, FL- March 2010

Where has the time gone? Did I really blow through March with only two blog entries? I flew in from Florida on Tuesday, March 23 and by Sunday night March 28 I was back in Vero this time with the family except for Kelsey who took my camera to France for twelve days capturing (to date) nearly five hundred pictures! Can't do that with film now can you?

Lauris, France- April 2010

No, Kelsey didn't actually take this shot. This panoramic was taken by the father of her correspondent, Eliza and features Kelsey in three different poses- to the right, on the sill of the left window, and seated with Eliza on a bench. Can't pull this off with film either. This part of France, the Lycée Val de Durance is so-named because it is in the valley of the Durance River which is a major river in this region of Provence. The community is approximately 25 minutes north of the city of Aix-en-Provence and about 1 hour north of Marseilles.

With five hundred pictures under her belt (and those are the ones she kept!) I have a feeling the blog will feature more of France than Vero in the coming entries.

Vero Beach, FL- March, 2010

In the meantime, this snowbird is headed home.

I'm so done with Winter

Vero Beach, FL- February, 2010

Despite the complaints of the residents and snowbirds that Florida is cold this winter, I'll take it over the northeast anytime. I'll also take spring anywhere I can find it, even if it is the emerging of the first crocus stem through the snow...

Cornwall on Hudson, NY- March, 2010

Not much longer I hope....

I'm so outta here

Vero Beach, FL- February, 2010

Really, can you blame me? Even though Vero Beach and the rest of the state of Florida have contended with the lowest temperatures in twenty years things were bearable. A friend of ours from Florida Institute of Technology likes to quip "We may be shivering but we ain't shoveling"

Cornwall on Hudson, NY- March, 2010

Meanwhile back at the ranch or actually the former dairy barn, Orange County was the recipient of 34" of snow late last week, breaking records that dated as far back as the late nineteenth century. At the height of the storm 150,000 homes were without electric. The residents of Storm King Mountain went without power one day (Wednesday - Thursday morning) and then almost four days (Thursday night - Monday afternoon). By the way, that is the top of the gate of our split rail fence that is peeking out of the snow in the foreground.

Vero Beach, FL- February, 2010

Headed back to paradise on Monday and not a moment too soon!

WHO YOU CALLIN' SNOWBIRD?

Vero Beach, FL- February, 2010

I guess it is an occupational hazzard of being a new retiree and spending some (alright well ALOT) of time in the sunshine state (aka 'paradise' or as I like to call it Happyland) people are starting to refer to me as a snowbird. Here is some proof that I do occasionally make it back to New York.

Cold Spring, NY- February, 2010

Poor guy didn't quite make it as far south as his seagull cousins. As for myself I'm back in the Empire State for a good two weeks and entirely, it's official, ALL DIGITAL BABY (and lovin' it).