hiking the franconia ridge

A couple of photographs I shot recently while hiking Franconia Ridge. Little did we know when we pulled into the parking lot and saw the heavy cloud cover that we'd end up hiking through the clouds and then hiking above the clouds!


sea of clouds

I took this second photograph atop Lafayette, after we battled strong headwinds and crosswinds for a mile and a half. This stone wall provided much needed protection so that we could summon the energy needed for the hike back down. The icy conditions and unrelenting gusts of wind did little to assist our efforts!


seeking refuge

surfing at nantasket

a shot of noble and greenough's outdoor education group just before heading out into the surf at nantasket beach in hull, ma

wedding!

I have to admit I'm not always a huge fan of weddings. I often know only a handful of people, there's way too much dancing (I'm a terrible dancer, and when I dance with my fiancée, we tend to make each other worse, not better!), and they tend to run really late.

At my wedding, which is coming up soon:

(a) I will know lots of people,
(b) there will be just the right amount of dancing, and
(c) the wedding will finish on the early side.

Here are some photos I took at a recent wedding I attended for a close college friend. Despite what I wrote above, I had a lot of fun at this wedding. Melody & Dan, thanks for including me in your special day. You are a beautiful couple, full of love for each other and for the life that you share. I wish you a long, happy, healthy, and blessed marriage.

cape cod: the island peninsula

grass mohawk


A week on the Cape this summer allowed me to explore the sandy dunes and colorful sunsets. Despite numerous shark sightings off the coast of Chatham, we did not see any, though we hoped desperately for a Great White to roar up out of the water and snack on a seal. Here's a selection of photos from the trip; be sure to check out the link at the bottom to see the full album, which includes some photos from previous posts -- the silhouettes and macro photos.





gulls at rest


goodbye, sun

See the full album here.

silhouettes

sunrise and moonset on cadillac


I've been exploring silhouettes as a way to make my photographs more interesting, whether taken at sunset and sunrise, or at other points in the day when the harsh lighting makes for difficult exposure. The goal is to produce a scene that goes beyond the typical sunrise and sunset photographs with their vivid pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows.

For the most part, people form the silhouettes, dark and faceless outlines that invite the viewer to create their own narratives or to insert themselves into the frame. I am particularly drawn to the lone figures in these images. I wonder whether they choose their solitude, and I wonder about the peace they find in this time by themselves.

Whether alone or with companions, these people always exude a feeling of awe, of deference to a higher power from which great beauty emerges. As powerful as any one of us may be, and as powerful we may be as a collective, the passing of each day and the rising and setting of the sun, the introduction and withdrawal of light -- those are things we can only watch and not control.


end of the day



solitude



sunset at ellis landing

tidal flats macro

scallop shell in sand

I'm dedicating some time this week to macro photography. Being on the bay side of Cape Cod gives me the opportunity to explore the tidal flats at low tide, which has led to this series of photographs of the various creatures, dead and alive, scrambling about. I captured these images with my recently acquired toy, the Canon Powershot D10, a bulky, yet reliable, waterproof compact point-and-shoot camera.


One of the most fascinating things about observing marine life is realizing the interdependence between all of these organisms: Empty shells become homes into which growing hermit crabs can climb. Horseshoe crabs carry with them snails, barnacles, chiton, slipper shells, seaweed. Gulls drop mussels onto rocks before swooping down to retrieve the scattered flesh. Plovers and other shore birds stab at the sand with their sharp beaks in search of insects and small crustaceans.


upside down crab

Whether symbiotic or not, these relationships form but a portion of the delicate balance that allows all lifeforms to coexist on this Earth. To remove one piece of this complex web of life would inevitably lead to the removal of many other pieces from this web. To watch these organisms live their lives humbles me greatly, especially at a time when concerns about our stewardship of our environment demand our attention and right action.

It makes me realize how little know and understand about the world that surrounds us, and that for all the decisions we make with seeming knowledge and prudence, we actually act in ignorance and with self-serving intentions. The Earth is not for us to waste, yet current practices point in no direction other than that of destruction.

See more photos here.

bugs

These are kind of gross but cool at the same time. I have no idea what kind of insect that is with the big stinger(?) on the back. As for the spider, your guess is as good as mine what species it is. What I do know is that I would not want to meet either of these guys in a dark alley...

the little guys

Recently got to spend some time with two of my favorite boys. In two-and-a-half months, I'll be related to these guys in some odd way. I think they'll be my first-cousins-once-removed-in-law, if that actually exists.

lightning storm

I love thunder and lightning. I love the bright flashes of light, the roaring claps of thunder, and when it rains, I love the loud tapping of raindrops on the outside of the house.

I don't love thunder and lightning as much when I'm caught outdoors. A number of years ago, I was hiking across a ridge in Colorado, when a storm quickly moved in and lightning began to strike no more than a mile away from us. The air become so charged that I could feel electricity running through my hair, and the swinging of my hands as I walked caused sparks to form. My buddy, Matt, and I sprinted out of the saddle we were in and onto the next summit, where we failed to find the trail down. Our only course of action was to surf down a scree field, away from the dangerous electric bolts emanating from the sky. (Later that day, while watching the news, we learned that a woman had died because of lightning strike, not far from where we had been hiking.)

I made this photograph last night during a lightning storm. I set up my D90 and tripod on the back porch and aimed at the sky. Setting the shutter to "bulb" mode and using a wireless remote, I repeatedly opened and closed the shutter, trying to catch the streaking lightning bolts but preventing the image from becoming too bright due to long exposure.

I never seemed to have my camera pointed in the right direction, and on several occasions when I saw lightning overhead, I saw nothing but a bright sky upon closing the shutter and checking the image on the camera's LCD.

The orange sky here is due to the long exposure and white balance, which was set to "cloudy". In actuality, the nighttime sky was a dark blue, the light of the waxing moon hidden by thick clouds. I finally managed to capture some lightning, sufficient reinforcement that I will research lightning photography technique it preparation for the next storm.

webmaster

spiderman
Taken at Toys R Us, Times Square, New York City.

on bicycles

This is less a project about telling a story as it is about seeing bicycles with fresh eyes. As an avid cyclist, I own several bikes, perform most of my own bike maintenance and repairs, and stare at every bike I see on the street.

These photographs represent a closer examination of this beautiful, two-wheeled machine. We have progressed to a point in bicycle history when nothing short of carbon fiber catches one's eye, but I hope that this project shows that that does not need to be the case. There's no question, in looking at these photographs, of what they show: taken from unique angles, these photographs focus on bicycles in ways that we're not used to seeing them.

With this project, then, I have taken something I know very well -- the bicycle -- and have told myself that there is more to see, more to know. I liken it to discovering in acquaintances, or even old friends, new qualities and details about their lives and beings, until now unknown. In those moments, we each realize that there is no end to what we might learn about the complexity of humans and the relationships in which we find ourselves.

So perhaps this project is the telling of a story: the story of my getting to know the bicycle anew.

See the slide show here.

See the album here.

These images -- a handful taken with black & white film, most digital -- form a final project I submitted last week for a photography course.

project ABC slideshow

I've created a slideshow with all the letters that I've posted over the past 26 days! Click here to see it!

To see all the photos together, go here.

not catching enough of these...

Wow, it's been quite a ride! Twenty-six days of letters of the alphabet. Thanks to those of you who faithfully checked in every day to see my updates. Thanks to those of you who have suggested that these belong in a book. Your vote of confidence means a lot to me.

I have loved the conversations that these photographs have sparked, whether you told me that you loved the composition or subject of a photograph to whether you told me that you would never have seen the letter that I did. I'm sure I was looking a lot harder than you!

This project has taught me something new about the power of an idea and the determination it takes to see that idea through. It has taught me about the need for, and value of, sharing, especially when it concerns our own personal view of the world. No two people open their eyes and see the same sights; why is it that we do not talk about this more often?

Stay tuned for another project I recently completed with a focus on bicycles. I'm working on getting those photographs web-ready and in some sort of presentation format.





fallen gate

See full album here.

penultimacy (is that a real word?)

yy u r
yy u b
i c u r
yy 4 me

In some ways, I feel as if this project started only days ago. In reality, it's been 25. I'm not quite sure how time elapses so quickly, other than to hearken back to the notion that "time flies when you're having fun." I've certain been having fun.







See full album here.

x marks the spot!

See full album here.

double your pleasure, double your fun, w, w, gum

I was once in a spelling bee in which a contestant was almost disqualified for spelling two consecutive "M"s as "double-M". The judges let it slide that one time, but I think they feared for a case in which they would not be able to discern between "double-U" and "W". There are not many cases of two consecutive "U"s, though. Vacuum and duumvirate come to mind.










See full album here.

v

I originally photographed this thinking it would be an "A" but the brake rotor did not stand out enough against the spokes, so a "V" it became.


taking flight
This one's a big of a stretch (of the wings) but I figured I would post it anyway. It actually makes a pretty cool "H" now that I look at it closely.

See full album here.

u + you + ewe = 3 use!

I know I'm going a bit overboard with the homophones, but being a logophile, the past two letters have allowed my creativity to shine. As with yesterday, seven-plus hours in the library staring at a computer screen, squeezing words out of my brain in the way that I try to squeeze that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube... It's an energy-intensive process that leaves me gasping for air. Speaking of gasping for air, I can feel my allergies seeping into my system. Yuck.

PS. For those of you who have been following along, I have a favor to ask of you. If you have some time, I would greatly appreciate your going back and commenting with the letter that you like best from each day. I'm thinking of making one large "quilt" with one of my photographs representing each letter. Rather than simply select the letter I like best, I'd love for your input. A simple "I like 'x' photo best today" will suffice. Muchas gracias. Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much.
*** Actually, skip this step. I have a better idea: Go to the full album and comment/like the photos there. It'll be easier than going back through each individual post on this blog. ***

PPS. You're allowed not to like any of the letters on a given day, and if that's the way you feel, you should say that, too. It means I need to go out into the field and look hah-duh (harder) (think Rafiki in The Lion King as you read that).

PPPS. As you can tell, my mind is operating on super-associative mode right now!







See full album here.

tee + tea = too tease!

With all the writing I have been doing for final papers and projects, and the writing still to come, I am worded out. Enjoy day 20, the letter "T".





i scream

See full album here

ssssssssss...

When I think of "S", I think of snakes. I'm terrified of snakes. They're icky and slimy and there's just something about their cold scaly serpentine bodies and forked tongues that just makes me shudder. That's my confession for tonight.







See full album here.

a pirate's favorite letter

"R" is for "random," which many people incorrectly substitute for "arbitrary."



This one is another Chelsea Market find. That place was a goldmine for photographs of all sorts, not just letters for this project. My heart literally skipped a beat when I spied this "R" up above me in the rafters. Not an easy one to spot, given its location and orientation. Like the hot dog "Q", I've been sitting on this one for a few weeks, eagerly awaiting its unveiling.







See full album here.

q, queue, cue

I've been waiting for this day for a while because I took some of these photos very early on in the project. Contrary to what I thought, the letter "Q" was not all that difficult to find; other letters have proven to be more challenging. The anticipation to post this letter was almost great enough to make me accelerate the process, but so far, I've managed to remain true (minus one late day) to the one-letter-a-day stipulation that I set for myself at the start. Believe it or not, I'm 17 days in. Just nine more days to go until "Z".


hot dog
This has to be my most favorite photo of the set by far. I could not have asked for a more bizarre, yet opportune, photo opportunity to cross my path. The placement of the half-eaten hot dog on the rim of the garbage can was perfect. This is "found art" at its best.










See the full album here.