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As I get back to creating and publishing images, I thought I’d have a bit of fun with this one. The original frame, by itself, didn’t really strike me as very interesting until I decided to apply the Train to Nowhere concept.
Taken at Crawford Notch, New Hampshire, on a cold, overcast autumn day.
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They don’t start out life all colored in.
A short while ago, I published an image of a spectacular male Wood Duck keeping a watchful eye on his brood. There was good reason to be watchful: There were so many of them!
The female Wood Duck and her brood had taken a break from swimming the river, jumping up in a lineup along a fallen tree. There was a bit of a tussle as they scrambled up among the turtles that had been sunning there, but eventually everybody seemed to fit in and settle down.
If you look carefully toward the right side, you can see a bit of yet another young duckling. There may have been a couple of others there… I lost count after a while.
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Happy Thanksgiving to all!
The way I see it, it has been an incredible year. Since this time last year, I’ve been fortunate enough to continue doing what I love, part of which is sharing the results with all of you. The friends I’ve met and the camaraderie we’ve shared is truly something special, so thank you for following along and hooking up with me, as I have in turn been watching what you create.
This has also been a year of extraordinary change, both in the world and in our perspectives on what we’re doing here. Having been around for better than a half century now, I can’t recall a period of such transformation, save perhaps for the late ’60s. Some of the changes may be unsettling for some, but I can’t help but think that it will result in something better for all of us. At the very least, things aren’t boring and certain, which suits me.
There is currently – and always will be – suffering in the world, and on this Thanksgiving I think of all the people who are actively transforming (or even maintaining!) the status quo at their own peril, hoping for a better, freer, and safer place to be. Not all of us will agree with their messages or methods, either side, but their dedication should never be challenged, nor should their perspective be marginalized. As always, no one perspective is the single ‘right’ way, but neither can anyone ever be 100% wrong. There is something important to all points of view; now it’s a matter of figuring out how they – and we – will fit together.
We’re living in a time of unprecedented adventure. Will we make it? Sometimes it seems like a horse race, but we can hold out Hope, which is really all we can hope to have anyway. In the meantime, as photographers and creatives, we can satisfy ourselves by finding the beautiful things in the world and bringing them home to share with others. In a rather big way, that’s what gives me Hope.
So, thanks for what you do… you enrich the lives of others with your creativity and thoughtfulness.
Rob
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The image was taken at Cobscook Bay State Park in northern coastal Maine. Although it’s an HDR taken from eleven exposures, it would look much the same if I used the single middle exposure… the sunrise really was that spectacular.
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Inside Old Baldy -- © 2011 Rob Hanson Photography.com
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I might have called this one “Stairway to the Hot Place” and it would have been an apt description.
Bob Lussier and I had traveled by passenger ferry to get to this place, the oldest standing lighthouse in North Carolina, Old Baldy. When we got to the lighthouse, it seemed that we were far less interested in shooting the outside than in finding all the grungy goodness inside. On the bottom floor, we weren’t disappointed at all, for we discovered this ancient wooden staircase alongside crumbling brick.
The textures were alluring, from the stair railing polished by years of people hanging on for dear life, the risers kicked by countless toes, and the brick and stucco that needs constant repair.
It was quite warm in there as we worked several angles just inside the entrance. When we had exhausted our possibilities there, we climbed the narrow stairs, reaching several landings before finally climbing a steep ladder through a narrow passage into the top section. There, at the top, basking in the rays of the sun shining through thick glass, we endured a heat index of about 120 degrees. We didn’t stay up there too long…
Please be sure to visit Bob Lussier’s blog today for his image Baldy Steps, taken at the same spot.
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Southern Summer Cottage - © 2011 Rob Hanson Photography
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In last week’s post A Stair Whisperer’s Invocation, I wrote that at one location we had been stopped by a rather large gentleman in an even larger pickup truck, wondering just what we were doing there. This is ‘there,’ although at the time I had some pretty serious questions as to exactly where ‘there’ was.
One often hears advice that you should shoot what you have available. Even this morning, a blog I follow suggested that you become a tourist in your own area, seeing the sights anew. Well, this is what we tend to have available there in eastern N.C., or at least available for the things that I find interesting. It doesn’t take much of a drive to find some curious mess strewn about.
We walk a curious line, though: In the summertime, subjects like this can be completely overgrown and invisible. In the winter, you can find them more easily, but they lack the interesting foliage. But, sometimes you stumble across the perfect mix — a great opportunity, provided that no one gets too upset about your being there.
Right after taking this set, a pack of dogs started barking across the field. I figured I’d better ‘git.
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© 2011 Rob Hanson Photography, All Rights Reserved
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Before entering our garden for dinner, it’s always a good idea to say grace.
While we were tending to the garden one evening, this momma came sauntering over toward the fencing. She cleaned up for dinner, and stopped to say grace before coming closer.
Yeah, bunny… You’d better pray. 8)
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Single exposure from Nikon D7000, Nikkor 70-300mm f3.5-5.6mm lens at 300mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/200s.
You... Will... Give... Me... Carrot...
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A bonus image for today…
I pulled this image from the 2010 archives for a photography challenge from my friend, Anthony Woodhouse. In his new Flickr group Weekly Photo Challenge (Photo Pioneer), this week’s challenge theme is “Eyes.”
So be it.
While driving into the Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland (U.S.), one can usually see wild ponies grazing along the side of the road. The herd in Assateague is derived from the famous herd at Chincoteague, just to the south, and while the ponies appear to be tame and docile, like any wildlife they are to be respected and given a wide berth… for everyone’s sake.
Sadly, despite the obvious warning signs posted every few feet directing people not to feed the animals, some people can’t seem to resist, and the animals have come to know humans and their autos as a source of easy food. Given those signs, it’s unsettling to see people hopping out of their cars, approaching the animals, feeding them, holding babies up to the horses to get a good picture (yes, really.) It’s both scary and comical at the same time.
We would never, ever feed a wild animal, and always give them a respectful distance. In this case, though, Sir Pony came sauntering right up to the car window, obviously acclimated to human presence. Since I had my telephoto lens on at the time, he rather filled the frame, but it seemed to work out.
If you look into the eyeball, you’ll see the road and our pickup truck reflected. Stare deeply… keep looking… give… carrot…
We drove off right after the shot, not wanting to interfere with their lives any further than we already had by simply idling there. The throng behind us quickly filled our space.
Single exposure, Nikon D90 with Nikkor 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/60, 92mm
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On the return trip from Shackleford Banks and Cape Lookout, up ahead in the distance and far from land, we saw an usual sight. Two motorboats (just off frame) anchored in, and the occupants had left to do… something. They might have been looking for clams, shells, or other form of aquatic life. We just don’t know for sure.
This is not just a trick of angle, really. In Core Sound, there are many places where the water is only a few inches deep even at mid-tide. It can make paddling difficult if the water gets too thin, and sometimes, you just have to get out and walk the boat to deeper water.
Single exposure taken from Nikon D7000 with Nikkor 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at f/5.3, 1/640s, 220mm.
Another Little Piece of Us
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Early on, I was going to title this something really boring, like, “Kayaks at Cape Lookout.”
While not the most outstanding of images, it does reveal a bit more about our lives and interests, and I don’t suppose that’s a bad thing to do at this point. In fact, only yesterday, Barbara Youngelson wrote a comment on my blog that seemed interestingly coincidental: “It’s so cool when we learn a little about the photographer/artist through his work.” How could she have known I was going to post this?
Following up on the last two images of the wild ponies at Shackleford Banks (NC), I thought I’d put up a picture of the boats that take us to the places we love so well. (Well, you can’t see Susan’s kayak, but it’s much like mine, only firecracker red and yellow.) These kayaks have taken us through many interesting adventures, visiting the Okefenokee Swamp on many occasions, the Florida Everglades, Key West, the Gulf Coast, as well as many more local trips along the rivers and sounds of NC.
In the background is the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, one of nine lighthouses and two light towers that grace the shoreline of North Carolina. They’re fun to visit, fun to climb, and serve as impressive backdrops to a day on the water. It’s also challenging to try to time the light for the picture… 12 seconds.
For those interested in such things, the boats are both made by Perception (now Harmony, I believe), and are gel coat over Kevlar with solid bulkheads, about 17′ long. The ‘Shadow’ in back is just a bit shorter than the ‘Eclipse’ in front. I think one of the best things about them is that they can take you places where other boats can’t go… we can still navigate even when the water is only about 6 inches deep. You’ll… umm… see that coming up soon.
Hand-held single exposure, Nikon D7000 with Nikkor 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 70mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/200s
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