Winter Berry Fields

Verticals, diagonals, horizontals, all kinds of good photographic material. Normally, for me, I have a hard time with a place like this on a summer day. As I've said before, leaves and color can get in the way. My worry about the background and horizon were not an issue. Seems like it all came together with the weather and light. I wonder how much value or use the farmers put on their land in the winter months. I wouldn't expect them to be out making images. But at least they should be out admiring their patterns of rows. I would be.

Herm's

This was one of my favorite spots in my resturant/diner series. As I've said before, in this series I try to capture something that's unique to the place and more than just the tourist snap. Herm's was known for many things other than the food. I liked the atmosphere, a little dark, but always something to look at. The exposures for the different powered lights was the only difficulty here. In the end I made it work. I took Herm's for granted, a big lesson. The resturant is now a statistic in our current economic times, everything has been sold off, they exist no more.

Old House

Imagine picking up your prom date from this place. It seems it went from Christmas lights to vacant. When someone lives in a place the story is written. When a place is vacant the story can be many things. I always wonder about places like this. How long has it been since people lived there? What kind of people were they? How long before the building is rubble hidden by grass and golden rod? How many more images can I make before someone looks out the window? That would scare me!

Field by the Ocean

Opposite the sea wall, I've never seen a tractor or person working these fields. The "star" of the area has to be the ocean. Hi tide, low tide, beach, sun, etc. all on the other side of the road. What's the field for, the fence posts? Is it to keep the lobster herds contained? I don't think anyone knows but the fence post people. I like the shot, regardless.

Toba

Toba never stayed too far from Gabby (alias "the King"). I like this with Gabby's legs in the image. The shot is of and for Toba, but I'll always think of the two together. The attention Toba is giving me is perfect. This image means more to me now then when I made it. 1995-2008 RIP
Toba 1995-2008 RIP

Grass and Flowers

I feel I made something of nothing, but at the same time, there had to be something here to make me stop and make this. I remember thinking of the different compositions I should try, patterns in the flowers, grass, and also, I should use the lens to explore it. No hurry, my self guided camera tour. The photography developed along the way. At the last moment I flipped my idea of full depth of field and went minimum. I have excitement and satisfaction in the final touches when I think of them. This shows how important a long lens and "out of focus" is.

Cold House

Sleet, snow, and rain, what a day. I'll admit, I never left the car, and didn't put the window down. The window up (dirty and wet), helped keep the contrast down and makes it more real for the day. Sometimes I think camera technology is so good it takes some of the realism out of the image. The house is square on this day. I think of a place like this as an abandoned barn. It's vacant and with no upkeep, it won't be long before it's a pile of rotten boards on the ground.

Dead Tree

I've passed this field and tree for many years and always wondered why the farmer never took this tree down. This is a big hayfield and there's no reason to see why the tree should stay and have people working around it. I figured sooner or later nature would take it's course so I'd better figure out the shot. Some things look easy, maybe sound easy, especially when there finished. Maybe this as all the images I take are there and waiting but I don't see it that way. If the subject is there, and I'm there, it's not enough. I think there has to be a mental connection also. It could be like cooking where you need all the right ingredients, timing, temps, and attitude to make the taste go above and beyond. When I made this, I knew before I shot it was going to happen this day. After years of driveby's, and the one time I connected, the tree came down. People now look through the field towards the tree line for dear. There's no stopping at the tree like I did wondering why. It's just a field now.

Horses

Had I not been at the end of a roll of film this image would not have happened. I was down to one or two shots in my camera and was getting nervous I might not be ready if something really happened. I almost finished the last of the film on my feet in the car but decided to get out, and run up to the top of the sea wall to see if there was anything there. To the left nothing, to the right,...horses. If they'd seen me they probably would have stampeded. I was far away and quick. People ask me about the snow and probably think PhotoShop when I tell them there is none. Thank god for back lighting, wet sand, and the angle of incidence!

Blue Trees

This was one of those great winter days when nobody should be on the road. Seemed it would blizzard and then let up completely. Sometimes it's nice just to be out enjoying the snow so photography isn't important if you don't find anything. As it turned out, the images were all over the place. What drew me to this, was the line of swamp grass and the tree line. With the cloud cover, I knew it would be easy to get the blue to pop and the grass to stay warm. Warm on cool, helps strengthen an otherwise dull image. I've tried this image in B/W and like it equally. I thought the subtle color was what made this image relevant.