It IS winter in New England, right?
Oddly, we are without snow right now in New England, which just feels weird. Although, last year we didn’t get much snow either. As I look outside right now, there are tiny flurries floating around in the air, but I’m not expecting anything substantial to hit the ground. Just a dusting, as they say.
I got a surprise text from a friend yesterday inviting me to join he and his fiancée for a hike in the woods through a nature preserve area near an inlet of water from the Atlantic. I hesitated as I looked at the lovely thermometer that was reading all of 22F, but I figured I could just bundle up and go for it. Of course, I drug my camera along. We did our best to stay on the trails… that didn’t go so well. :-) Eventually we found the main road so it all worked out ok!
I was amazed at how much color there was! Shockingly, there were bits of green in the woods, between the evergreens and ferns sprouting on the ground, it nearly felt like spring. Granted, most of the rest of the landscape represented various shades of brown and tan. We walked out to a great area where there once stood railroad tracks and all that’s left are the support posts. I was processing the photographs and having a hard time choosing between color and black and white… I guess it’s just whatever you feel in the moment for some of them. I’ve posted samples of both – any preferences?
Happy Super Bowl Sunday to my fellow football (and crazy funny commercial) fans in the USA! :-)
Happy 400th Birthday, Amsterdam Canal Ring!
You read correctly… 400 years! The start of the Canal Ring in Amsterdam began in 1613. For those that haven’t visited “Venice of the north”, there are over 100km of canals, 90 islands and over 1500 bridges. I’ve been to Venice and personally, I find Amsterdam more beautiful that the famed Italian city, perhaps because it seems a bit cleaner and less smelly to me. Don’t get me wrong, Venice is gorgeous, but Amsterdam has a completely different feel about it. I’ve been traveling to the city regularly from the USA for work lately and I’ve come to really like the city. The people, the culture, neighborhoods, the traditions, and of course, the canals, all add up to a wonderful experience.
During my last trip that I just returned from I spent the weekend in Brussels exploring the city and made a point to have my camera, so I took advantage of that when I made my way to Amsterdam for the week. It was quite cold, but amazingly the sun was shining and it was a beautiful afternoon when I arrived. I wanted to explore a few new neighborhoods and found myself taking many photographs of the bridges and canal areas when I was out at sunset. It’s just so beautiful, I couldn’t help myself. I took many photographs, but thought I’d share some of my canal photos with you in honor of their 400th birthday.
I hope you can capture the feel of the city and imagine yourself on a small canal tour boat, sipping a glass of wine and enjoying the view. :-)
Brussels, please
Sometimes best laid plans just don’t work out. Sometimes, you just have to grin and bear it. Sometimes, you just have to roll with it. That’s what I kept telling myself about 9 days ago when I landed in Amsterdam for a business trip and hopped on a train to Brussels for the weekend, only to have my “very reliable, comfortable, high speed” train cancelled due to mechanical issues in the middle of the route. I found myself wandering around the train station in Rotterdam attempting to build a plan and eventually, I made it. I kept telling the attendant “Brussels, please!!!” and eventually they listened. Kind of. I found another train and sort of snuck onto it and arrived in Brussels Central Station about 2 hours after I had planned and on very little sleep the night before on the flight from Boston.
I was planning to explore the city on Friday, but work got in the way and I had to take a few calls and ended up working late. My adventures started Saturday after a phenomenal 12 hours of sleep! I couldn’t believe it. I still smile at the thought of that. :-) I did a bit of research before I left and identified a few highlights of the city that I’d like to see. Of course, my thoughts went immediately to beer and chocolate when I thought of Belgium. I mean, it’s Belgium!! Oh – and waffles! Thankfully, I was able to incorporate all three. The city square is gorgeous and I walked for hours that day seeing much of the city and even making my way into a fun musical instrument museum. I think the only thing I might change about that day would have been the outdoor temperatures. It was downright cold. Freezing, actually. I woke up on Sunday to a snow covered city.
I came home with a gazillion photos (well, not quite, but almost) and thought I’d share a few with all of you. If you have the opportunity to spend a day or two in Brussels, I’d recommend it. Enjoy!
Keep Shooting!
Keep shooting the camera, that is. One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that sometimes, the most interesting, fun, revealing, beautiful, [pick your adjective] photos come when you least expect it. Maybe you have your camera set to “burst” and one of the images just completely surprises you. Maybe you are photographing people and between posed shots you just keep hitting that shutter release. Maybe you’re photographing someone who has no idea you’re there and you capture them in their own moment. Usually these are the times that you’re able to capture the emotion in people because they are unguarded.
I am sharing two photographs from a session that I had with a family last weekend. It was kind of funny. I was scheduled to join them in their home a few days prior, but leave it up to New England winters to give us a snow storm with heavy winds and ice. We delayed a few more days and I trekked over to the their home an hour away from mine. The two kids were home for the holidays and they wanted to remember the joy of that since it doesn’t happen as often as they’d like. They had huge windows in the room and tons of natural light, which is where the first photo was taken, of course, posed. However, I couldn’t keep my eyes off their back deck with the mountain range in the background. The only catch was that it was around 25F outside. A bit chilly! The second photo is from the back deck. I didn’t do much editing on this as it’s not one they’ll print… but I just love how they’re all laughing and having fun. To me, that photo captured their personalities and how everyone was feeling that day.
So, keep shooting! You might just surprise yourself!
I’m back!
Oh yes, here I am! I know, I know, it’s been a while. I made this attempt to do a little project last year and I just kind of gave up on it. No biggie, guess my heart wasn’t really in it. However, I kind of miss this whole blog thing…writing, sharing my stories, sharing photographs… yes, I miss it! So I’ve decided to start sharing more of my photography projects. What I’m working on, how a session with clients went, results, projects, travels, family… whatever strikes my fancy relative to photography. My photographs bring me joy and I’m hoping they’ll do the same for each of you!
So, January 1, 2013 is the new start. I was fortunate to take a little drive a few hours north to Bethel, Maine for New Year’s Eve festivities. What is in Bethel, Maine, you might ask? Sunday River Ski Resort is there. The mountains are beautiful and I believe the ski resort is one of the best in Maine. Thankfully the weather cooperated and I had an easy drive. Those that know me are likely laughing a bit. No, I don’t ski. I’d love to, my knees just don’t really permit me to. However, I have some friends with season passes that wanted to ski today, so we decided to make a little adventure of it and stay up there for New Year’s Eve. Since I don’t ski, I decided to have some fun with my camera.
I arrived right before sunset and headed straight for a covered bridge I had heard about. It’s a gorgeous bridge that dates back to 1872 and has a very traditional look to it. The snow and questionable skies made for an inviting setting. I saw tracks from cross country skiers and noticed someone had drug a snow tube across the snow also, so there must be easy access to sledding nearby. I’d actually like to see it with even more snow and might have that opportunity when I’m back up in the area in March for a friend’s birthday.
After I left the covered bridge, I just started driving… and got quite lost. Mobile phones with GPS programs are quite handy – when you have service. When I got to the point that I was a bit worried about not having a big 4 wheel drive SUV or truck, I turned around. :-) I took a few more landscape shots with the beautiful sky and kept driving until I was stopped in the road by 3 HUGE turkeys! Well, I think they were turkeys. Big, big birds, and not of the yellow variety. Of course, the minute I stopped and got out of my car they started running, almost skipping, and flew away. However it was near a pretty stream and the last two photos are from there in a blue filtered black and white.
Don’t forget, you can click on a photo to see a larger version. Stay tuned….I’ll be back!
Happy New Year to all!
