Where are Amy and Ian now?

Evan Scribner at Fenway Park

2011-06-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

Evan Scribner is the first born of my friends Gail and Dave Scribner of Washington Depot, Connecticut. Gail and I have been close friends since we were 21, so we go way back. I remember when Evan was born, and now he's a major league baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres! A dream come true for him and his family!!

Evan got us tickets for the game on June 20th, and off we went to the venerable Fenway Park, my first baseball game there, or anywhere, in about 10 years. What a fun night!!

Click HERE if you'd like to leave a comment for Evan on his facebook fan page.

Evan is a closing pitcher and pitched in the 7th inning.

We parked close by, plenty of room if you get there at 5:30. $40 and you have to vacate an hour after the game.

Special will call.

Our bags were checked and their's a limit on the size you can take in.

Yawkey Way, where food and T shirts are sold before you go inside. Of course, there's more food inside...

Gail and Dave, proud parents, making arrangements with Evan's fans that came from their hometown in Connecticut.

Shagging flies before the game.

Famous green monster and score board, manually updated.

Door to the room in back of the score board where only players are allowed, Evan said it's covered with signatures from baseball players, and now his is there, too.

Pre game practice.

Evan Scribner.

The old wooden torture chairs.

Updated chairs, but our section had the old wooden ones....

Known for it's close seating arrangements, here's proof room is tight when you are seated!

Evan brings out the candy bag for the Padres, a tradition for the rookies.

Stylin' at Fenway.

This was a sold out Red Sox game, most or all of the games do sell out. An amazing number of people, 38,000+ all in one small stadium, quite a sight!! All well behaved and it worked. The yellow shirted people are hawking food and lemonade, no beer. Tough job.

Fans wanting me to take their photo :-)

Ah, yes, the food... much was consumed.

Yellow man selling pretzels.

Miles Scribner, Evan's brother and his girlfriend, Katelyn.

Concourse.

View of Boston from Fenway Park.

Padres bull pen, one set of legs should be Evan's...

Ah, the beer. Can't watch a game without some beer.

The right field roof, nice area.

A mass of fans, mostly Red Sox :-)

A peek of Evan in the dugout.

Dave, with other Padres friends and family. We had tickets in the visitors section, behind home plate.

Evan warming up in the bull pen.

Connecticut fans and friends.

Evan's turn to pitch, very exciting to see him coming out onto the field!!!

Game over, the Padres lost but win the next 2 games against the Red Sox!

Lots of cleanup after a Red Sox game!

The next day Evan takes us all to a lovely lunch at P F Changs, another beautiful day in Boston.

Evan and his girlfriend, Katie.

The Scribner family and their significant others. Left to right: Katelyn, Miles, Katie, Evan, Dave and Gail.

Sally Mann, Photographer, and Harvard Square

2011-05-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

A friend and fellow photographer who keeps on top of things, Christy, emailed me about an event at Harvard University. Sally Mann had a 3 night lecture at the Sackler Museum Auditorium and I am so glad I attended! Sally is a photographer, writer and speaker and she had the audience mesmerized with her story. The writing she did for these 3 nights will become a book.

I took the 96 bus to Harvard Square from Chester Street in Medford, a few blocks from my home, and walked across Harvard yard on the beautiful Monday evening. With my camera, of course. So here's what Harvard looks like at the beginning of May. I played around with black and white after seeing Sally Mann's electrifying images, I have a ways to go to capture my world the way she does hers :-)

Harvard Square T stop.

Many students out enjoying the beautiful day in Harvard Yard.

The Science Center where I used to bring Ian for classes.

Cambridge Fire Department.

Outside the Sackler Museum.

Brent, who came all way from New York, talking to his favorite photographer, Sally Mann.

Jamie Lee Curtis is also a fan, and enjoyed the reception with the rest of us.

The beautiful room at the Baker Center where the reception was held.

Have I mentioned this was all free?? Yes, deep pockets paid for a lovely reception, great food and wine, the lecture, and parking, all on the house. And a movie star sighting...a great evening all around!!

Bruce also sat with us in the front row, he flew in from Oregon!

Walking back to the bus after the reception.

My bus home, what a great evening!

Myrtle Beach with Bobbi and David, South Carolina

2011-02-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

A wonderful bonus of our vacation in Myrtle Beach was getting to meet Bobbi and David. Bobbi is Joe's cousin, and a fan of my blog, so I knew I would like her :-) She and her boyfriend, David, came to visit us for the weekend and we really enjoyed their company!

Lots of walks on the beach and...

a visit to downtown Myrtle Beach.

Joe, Bobbi and David.

An enlightening encounter with Erik, the World Guy, who is walking to raise awareness of diabetes.

He charts his progress on his blog, and spends the night at a different place every day. Walking with his dog and his canvas globe, and depending on the kindness of strangers. It works!

Erik, the World Guy

World Guy continuing on his journey.

Joe and Bobbi taking dance lessons when they both lived in Vanceboro, North Carolina. So cute!!

Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina

2011-02-26T14:44:00.000-08:00

Good photography advice that has stayed with me goes something like this: If you want to take more interesting pictures, stand in front of interesting things. Brookgreen Gardens in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has an abundance of interesting things to stand in front of, and Joe and I thoroughly enjoyed walking around here on a lovely spring day.

Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historic Landmark with the most significant collection of figurative sculpture in an outdoor setting by American artists in the world.

February and Heading South to Myrtle Beach, SC

2011-02-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to make our winter a little warmer, Joe and I used our timeshare to go to Myrtle Beach for 2 weeks. Much nicer than Boston, no snow! and we had some great beach days. No swimming for us, but the heated pools had some young people in it. Joe and I liked the jacuzzi, and I enjoyed the morning stretching and yoga classes.

At the beach.

Marriott Ocean Watch Villas, actually more like condos, and really well taken care of.

Football in the waterfall, looks like fun.

A day trip to beautiful, historic Charleston, more on that later.

Our beach.

Life is good!

January 2011, Month of Snow for Boston

2011-01-29T09:55:00.000-08:00

Joe, Ian and I returned from Ecuador to find a very white world in Massachusetts. I drove Ian to UMass Amherst to start his second semester, Joe went back to his hour commute to Merrimack, NH, and I played catch up with running my photo club and our life in general.

Quincy Quarries

Quincy, MA

Medfield State Hospital

Milo being cute, again! He loves finding the sunlight.

Otavalo, Ecuador

2011-01-17T09:29:00.000-08:00

Our last 5 days of our 3 weeks in Ecuador were spent in Otavalo, a market town in the Andes north of Quito. I've been there twice before, Joe's first time and he loved it as much as I do. There are many more indigenous people living and thriving here than the other towns we visited. Also claims to be the largest market town in South America, the open air markets are fantastic.

Parque Condor, a bird rescue place definitely worth going to see!

Otavalo is surrounded by gorgeous mountains.

We rode a bus for 25 cents for a 20 minute trip. Nothing like the time Ian put in on busses for the 3 weeks he was in Ecuador birding!

The Relais Hotel, we went for a lovely lunch.

Complete with a music box as a serving dish :-)

Otavalo.

Luke, one of Ian's very good birding friends.

Tayler and Andrew, also birding friends.

We all went out to dinner our last night in Quito, Ecuador. The other 3 are staying on at various birding jobs.

Saying Goodbye to Hotel Palmazul and San Clemente

2011-01-11T09:06:00.000-08:00

We so enjoyed our stay at Hotel Palmazul in the sleepy town of San Clemente, the perfect weather, friendly people and beautiful beaches! Can't wait to return next year!

Our last evening with the Soppeland family from Wisconsin.

View from our room balcony.

Pacific Ocean in San Clemente

2011-01-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

Pelicans gliding along the tops of the waves is a beautiful sight.

Frigatebirds.

Daily job of pulling in the fishing nets.

Magnificent Frigatebird

Wayne and Jan's house and the fishermen.

Nets and fish after hours of pulling on the nets.

From our hotel window, at about 270 mm magnification.

Loved walking this beach everyday!

Beach at San Clemente, Ecuador

2011-01-10T17:49:00.000-08:00

Just another day at the beach, each day bringing wonderful sights and sounds.

Royal Tern

Western Willet

Sorting his catch from the nets.

Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls

The Village of San Clemente, Ecuador

2011-01-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

Center of the village of San Clemente, basically a fishing village on the Pacific Ocean. Joe and I bought sunscreen from this farmacia, an essential item used by locals and estrangeros alike.

Store of everything. Hardware included.

The teen hangout, especially for video games but we saw them playing cards as well.

Waiting for our dinner.

Vegetarian fare in Ecuador: menestra y arroz, ensalada and maduro. In this case lentils and rice, salad and grilled plantains. $5 for 2 people (2 servings of menestra).

Carnival came to town, hence the caterpillar.

Surfing is big in Ecuador.

Love the chocolate intenso bars.

Another dog just resting.

Shopping with our friends Wayne and Jeff.

Jan and Wayne getting supplies for the home they bought here.

Jeff and his wife Gayle, with supplies: pineapple and paint.

Stopping off for some ice cream.

The 7 of us went into town to see the parade at night. Photo by Joe.

Manuel took a liking to Joe and kept trying to talk to him in Spanish, Joe's new best friend :-)

More ice cream...

Jessica and her dad, Jeff.

Joe and I left at 10pm and the parade hadn't started yet. People were all dressed up cruising the town having a great time. Of course, it never got cold in the town of eternal perfect weather!

Palmazul in San Clemente, Ecuador

2011-01-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

Joe and I have been at the lovely Hotel Palmazul in San Clemente for a week now and just loving it!! What a perfect place to be, always the right temperature, mild breezes, crashing wave sounds with pelicans and frigate birds cruising by, luxurious hotel, great food and we've met some very nice new friends. Yes, we have found our place! Walking around barefoot in shorts and tank top all day long is easy to get used to.

I've been too busy photographing the fishermen hauling in their catch every morning, what a great sight that is, long walks at low tide on a wide beach that goes on forever, and reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tatooo" to be blogging, but it's not for a lack of photos. It really is a photographers' paradise here!

Wayne and Jeff.

A sand dollar burying itself.

Beach property for sale, 2 houses on the sand for $175K. Would love to buy it :-)

Low tide.

Palmazul at night.

Sunset from our room.

Palmazul from the beach. Joe and 3 other men are climbing the mountain you see in the background as I type, should be a good blog on that from his link.

Those for sale houses... wanna go in with us?

Joe loving the warm weather and friendly people, when we see them.

Palmazul.

Where we have breakfast every morning.

Love the children!

Going to the Beach: Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador

2011-01-05T14:16:00.000-08:00

We left Mindo on Sunday, January 2nd, but not before we had one last great brownie from El Quetzal.

Brownies are made by these 3 women, who are now my facebook friends. Making the world a little smaller one friend at a time. Carmita, Claudia and Mimi.

Our friends Gary and Karen decided to come visit the beach as well, and were kind enough to drive us the 7 hours there. Most of the roads were great, except the last 20 km or so, but we made it there before dark. We stopped for lunch in this village full of people getting back home after the New Year's weekend. Lunch was sketchy, but no one got sick :-)

Lunch village, Flavio Alfaro, with Gary and Karen's red Honda Pilot on the right, thanks for the ride!

Stopped at a gas station for directions. Even with a couple of good maps and navigators we made a wrong turn, easy to do as signage is scarce.

We turned down several cheap hotels, one didn't even have a toilet seat!, and ended up at the beautiful Hotel La Piedra on the ocean. Much more our style, very comfortable and a great location.

La Piedra's creative touch :-)

Walking along the boardwalk, enjoying all the activity.

A gull, but Ian hasn't given me a name for it yet, and as he's on the way to the Amazon it may take a while.

Pool at Hotel La Piedra

We had a good time! Joe, Gary and Karen.

New Year's Eve in Mindo

2011-01-01T15:09:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a very Happy Year for 2011, Feliz Ano Nuevo!!!

Joe and I walked, again the walking thing, we walk everywhere around this small town. I think we've covered every inch, and have so enjoyed the look into a culture so different from ours.

The Ecuadorians are a bit shorter than Joe.

Beer and bananas, for New Years Eve and everyday.

A special day for men to dress up as women and ask cars passing by for money.

We visited Karen and Gary's new home they built in Mindo. From New Mexico, they have lived here in Mindo for 2 years.

A New Year's custom, making effigies and burning them at midnight.

Birdwatchers...

Strolling around town in family groups.

The next day, sleeping off over-indulgence.

Love the abundance of fresh fruit.

Unusual combination.

No need for benches with these high curbs. Rubber boots are the national shoe.

Where we had lunch.

Great pizza! Personal veggie pizza for $2 each.

Private balcony off of our room with a King bed, very rare size bed in Ecuador. El Quetzal, great place to stay!

We were invited to a womens' soccer game by the kids at Salem, beautiful location. 25 cents to get in and everyone was eating lots of fruit.

Karla from Mindo: 4 year old photographer

2010-12-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

Today we walked around town with the kids from Salem, and found nature where we could. As the town is about 6 blocks square, that's not too hard to do :-) We had Karla, or Karlita as her mom sometimes called her, and Paula, her mom with us. Karla is crazy about snapping that shutter on the camera, and took about 200 photos. I posted some of her better ones here, as well as those I took of her taking pictures. She's adorable and stole Joe's heart as well as mine.

Karla at Salem before we headed around town, these 2 photos by Maria, another Salem child.

Karla and her best friend.

Paula, holding Karla's hand, is her mother. She may be 18 or 19 years old, and works at Salem helping take care of the kids. She's very capable, but in the States she would be a kid herself.

Cristian, Susana, Paula, Karla and Joe. Karla stayed close to Joe :-)

Top to bottom: Paula, Susana, Miara, Jose and Karla.

Paula took this cute one.

Photo by Karla of her mom.

She is so intent with her camera, and only 4 years old!

This is the photo she took. There were quite a few shots of Joe's middle, her view point tended to cut off a few heads :-)

By Karla as well as the next one.

When we reached the river Karla stripped to her undies and went in. Her mom joined her and they played by the waterfall! The amount of oversight by parents here in Mindo is a fraction of what we do at home, children run free and are not watched closely at all! But no one seems to get hurt and there is more freedom and less fear.

She loves her camera!

Karla started out the day much cleaner :-)

This is her special pose to take a photo :-)

Karla took these next few photographs, all on her own. I think they came out very well, she's really looking at her world.

Her Mom, Paula.

Cristian.

Joe, she took lots of photos of him :-)

Karla took this one and I took the next one of her taking this shot...

What a great child!

Photo Walk with the Camera for Kids Kids

2010-12-29T18:05:00.001-08:00

Joe and I walked around Mindo with the Salem children and our cameras today, I let them lead the way. Their interests are in La Naturaleza, Nature, so they took us along the raging Mindo River and we took photos of each other and anything else that captured our interest. These children live together during the week at Salem International, and go home to their families on the weekend. They come from disadvantaged homes broken up by drug and alcohol abuse or other disfunction. In spite of it all, they are loving to each other, to us and are fun to be with!

I love these children! They are mostly the same ones from when I was here last year, except for the girl in the yellow.

Me and Cristian.

Tubing is big business on the river in Mindo.

Cristian took this great shot of Maria with one of the donated cameras.

Joe got this one.

A woman who asked one of the boys to help her get this guava down from the tree. He did, by throwing many large sticks at it.

Cristian and Noemi

Also another image by Joe, he's taking lots of photos and blogging, too!! See a link to his blog on the right side listing.

Cristian y Maria

Maira y Susana. Maira is an incredible football goalie, we watched a game where she single handedly stopped about 50 goals! Susana is more interested in Alvaro and the other boys :-)

First 24 Horas in Mindo, Ecuador

2010-12-28T17:56:00.000-08:00

All these photos were taken with my small point and shoot Sony Cybershot camera. I left my battery charger at home for my Canon T2i, big duh, but am compelled to take photos no matter what camera I have, and I think these turned out fine. Ian's friend, Luke, bought me a new charger in Maine yesterday, and via Andrew I should receive it in the next few days and be using my 'big' camera again. See if you can tell the difference...

Ian and Andrew left for Quito this afternoon to pick up Luke and Alison at the airport. Two birder friends who made it through the blizzard to Ecuador, they will all travel together birding for about 3 weeks. Happy adventures!

Getting ready to leave, I'm sorry to see them go :-(

Just a wildflower, but what a flower!

Joe with another large jungle plant.

A girl we met by the river with a pigeon she had rescued. She was going to take care of it and release it.

Another darling child.

Alvaro, my star photographer at Salem, with the cameras Joe and I dropped off today.

Where we had breakfast this morning, at El Quetzal.

View from our balcony off our room at El Quetzal, our hostal in Mindo. A very nice room, with private bath and breakfast for $30/nt.

Morning tea.

Dinner last night with our friends Karen and Gary, who live in Mindo, and Ian and Andrew.

What are they hoping to see?? Birds???

Playing with Toy Story characters, just like in the movie!

Lincoln, our driver, drove us to Mindo from Quito yesterday in his white SUV. We met up with Karen and Gary on the way and Ian and Andrew went off birding with them, while Joe and I continued on to Mindo.

Quito, Ecuador.

2010-12-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

The view from our hotel room at Nu House in Quito.

Across the street from our room is this second story outside bar that advertises tables on the beach, and there's the sand!

A bit of Christmas in Quito.

Must have run out of names for banks...

Better version of this photo.

Andrew met us in Quito, he's Ian's birding friend who is now a tour guide for Tropical Birding.

4 of us at dinner at Siam in Quito, food not so good, company great!

Ian spotted this Broad Breasted?? Hawk in the park.

Ahhh, the dolls....

And now I am going to be using my point and shoot Sony as I left my battery charger in MA for my Canon, can you believe it?? If I'm lucky, Ian's friend, Luke, will bring me a new charger when he arrives in Quito tomorrow, if not, well, the point and shoot will have to do...

Quito, Ecuador once again!!

2010-12-26T13:50:00.000-08:00

We flew to Ecuador on Christmas Day and were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise at Logan Airport!

The day went by quickly, 3 hours to Miami and 4 to Quito, a taxi from the airport and we were enjoying the nightlife near our hotel by 8:30pm.

The next day, today, we walked around town. Here's an old church in Quito. Outside and in...

Sunday is a great day to walk around the Parque El Eljido in Quito, many families were out and about enjoying the day. So nice to be in a place where we are warm with fresh fruit everywhere.

One of the many beautiful children of Ecuador.

Sunday market.

Joe trying on a hat, and there are many here.

Entrance to the parque.

Pot hole? No problem, a truck comes by, they shovel the hot tarmac in the hole (while Joe and Ian walk by) ...

and a roller dude smashes it down. Hole gone. No policemen, no stopping traffic, just business as usual. Wonder why we can't do that in New England?

The police like roaming around together.

One the main streets, Avenida Rio Amazones, is closed off on Sundays for bicycles, all ages enjoy it.

Joe in our plaza Foch, our hotel in the background, Nu House.

Just to show we ate lunch outside today, how lucky is that!!!

Holiday Season

2010-12-19T14:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas day is 7 days away, and lights, decorations and festivities are in the air in New England. Plymouth Digital Photographers, our thriving photo club of now over 600 members, had a party on the 10th, a great way to celebrate the season. We rented a nicely decorated room, everyone brought food to share, we set up a portrait 'studio', thank you Kelly and Julie, brought hats and had a blast! The cash bar was a nice touch, and the bartender said we were welcome back anytime. We'll be back next year!

Our working cast of 8 volunteers, everyone helps put on events and I couldn't ask for a better group of people to keep things running smoothly. Good friends and so talented in many areas!!

My friend Rick P. took this photo at the party and put me in a bottle afterwards :-)

More great talent!

Maureen B. and Jean C.took these photos and let me use them, thanks!

Back row left to right: Kelly, Julie, Graham and Lori

Gene in the Santa hat, Adele behind him, me and Greg in the sombrero.

Deedee.

Julie O, who designed my Christmas card this year, and last as well as all our other graphics. She's a good friend, I'm going to miss her when she moves to the west coast.

Some of the 50+ photographers at our party. As in there were more than 50 people there, not as in age. Although many of us are a bit over 50 yrs:-)

Graham, our English gentleman

These lovely, fine women, Kelly, Lori and Adele, made everything run smoothly for our big photo seminar in November with 110 people attending for the day. Photo by Jeremie.

Milo dressed to kill ;-)

Church of Christian Scientist, Copley Square area of Boston.

My buddies, we spent the day in Boston with our cameras having fun.

Larry, sometimes mistaken for Santa.

Boston Public Library, beautiful inside, too!

Remember these? For the older collections in the library.

The rare books collection.

Edmund and Maureen.

Kitchen at Prudential Center Mall.

On the way home at dusk, Boylston Street.

The rest of these photos are from pre holiday times....

Another great Wayback weekend in CT at Amy H's house in Ridgefield! We visited a wild art gallery, and old Tavern, yarn store, Indian food for lunch and just had fun.

Famous photographer, Rick Sammon, Canon of Light Explorer and presenter. He gave the very well received seminar in November, and is coming back in June to do a workshop for us. He's also written 36 books, and he gave me a signed copy! Photo by Jeremie.

Joe and Ian, last minute photo as we are leaving to take Ian to UMass Amherst for his freshman year.

September 3rd, 2010, happy for Ian, sad for me. The good thing is he's really liking college!

Autumn in New England

2010-10-31T05:51:00.000-07:00

Autumn in New England lives up to it's reputation, it's always spectacular! Here's a sampling of the beauty of our area, many of these photos taken while on meetups with my camera club. So much more fun going shooting with friends :-)

These first photos were taken at Quincy Quarries, a photo shoot set up by Carol from our camera club. We all loved it!!

Bonus of a lifelong quarry historian to explain how the granite was taken out of here to build the Bunker Hill Monument, among many other famous buildings in New England.

Joe's homemade pumpkin chocolate vegan birthday cake.

Yesterday we were invited to the beautiful Slocum-Gibbs Cranberry bogs to watch the wet harvesting. The land is well taken care of by the owner John in a sustainable manner that will allow him to harvest for 100 years.

Joe throwing leaves in the air for me at Mt Auburn Cemetery.

Joe and Bill.

View of Boston from Quincy Quarries, a photo shoot we went on last week.

Maureen and Rick, friends from our photo club who come to many events. Good sports and good photographers!

Turning Mills Ruins in Quincy, Ma. We had fun shooting here after we went to the Quarries.

Entrance by special permission only.

This beautiful Juvenile Red Tailed Hawk entertained all us by posing and flying from tree to tree, awesome!

Innocent passer by...

On the way back from NJ, at a rest stop.

Zakim Bridge and The USS Constitution

2010-09-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening 13 photographers from Plymouth Digital Photographers met at Portal Park next to North Station and combed the area looking for beautiful images. First we headed over to The USS Constitution, oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. We were hoping for a moon rise over the Charles River, but the cloud cover gave us good shooting light instead. We then headed back to the Zakim Bridge to get some blue hour shots before the lovely nighttime lights came on.

Joe came along with us, he had helped me scout out our route a few weeks before, and we all had a great time. The photos don't seem to be in the order they were taken, I'm trying the new format blogspot has given us, and didn't want to spend the time reordering them. So the images are all here, if a little messy. I had so much fun shooting this evening, can't wait to go back and try it again. From the photos club members put in our meetup group album, it was a successful photo shoot for everyone!

The famous Zakim Bridge spans the Charles River Basin.

Segway tour participant rode by near our meeting location. Think Joe and I will try this soon.

Walking back to the Zakim from the USS Constitution, Charlestown Bridge.

War ship dry docked next to the USS Constitution.

On the USS Constitution.

Photographers from our photo club.

Joe helping out a couple by taking their photograph. Lots of cameras clicking on this ship!

Images from the Cottage and Plymouth Beach.

2010-09-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite time of year here in Manomet, and it's evenings like this that make it so.

Flighting for territory

A Plymouth Digital Photography Club meetup at Plymouth Beach for sunset.

Great image of our photo club taken by Graham and post processed using Topaz.

Playing with an LED flashlight, fun!

Full Moon on Plymouth Waterfront

2010-08-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

I'm on a roll, can you believe more photos posted to my blog? Where will this end? I keep going on photo shoots with my photo friends and I have to do something with them, so here you go.

Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoy making them!

The object of this full moon meetup was to capture the sunset and the moon rise, all from the beautiful and scenic waterfront of Plymouth, MA. It was a gorgeous evening, we all felt lucky to be there.

The Mayflower, a replica, but a darn good one.

The moon rises, right where The Photographers Ephemeris said it would. Great program to figure out moon and sun locations.

Our group getting warmed up for the show ahead...

Sunset was a bit disappointing.

We had some interesting characters on the State Pier.

In position for the moon rising, time to talk and catch up.

The other character.

Waterfront restaurant.

Some long exposure photos, fun time!

Plymouth Pilgrims in Procession.

2010-08-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

My last post had a lot of buildings in it, so to balance things out this one will have lots of people in it, Pilgrims actually. Plymouth, MA, is where the Mayflower landed back in 1622 and there are processions of Pilgrims every Friday in August at 6pm through the streets of downtown Plymouth. Pilgrims Progress, also on Thanksgiving morning. I set up a meetup for us photographers to be at the Mayflower Society House at 5pm so we could see them getting ready for the procession in the lovely gardens. Here's what I saw...

Getting some help from her father with her authentic clothes.

Loved seeing the children in ye olde clothing.

I tried something I saw another photographer do, wanted to make it more of a painting.

My friend Julie multitasking, and her photos came out well!

Gotta love his little face!

Instructions about the route through town and information on the deprivation they endured in 1622.

On their way back to the Mayflower Society House...

Harvard Square at Night

2010-08-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I took a bus to Harvard Square for a meetup with my friend Ian's photography meetup group. What a fun time we all had walking around Harvard University, enjoying a wonderful, balmy summer evening. Lots to photograph, then an easy bus ride home. I'll do this again with my photo club!

Students running, so fast they are a blur :-)

Our happy group of photographers led by Ian from Photography Workshops. (Not to be confused with my son, Ian)

Shot in the dark without a tripod, but I like the feel of it...

Cape Cod Canal Sunrise: 2 Bridges

2010-08-16T11:30:00.001-07:00

The Cape Cod Canal has 3 bridges over it, the Sagamore, the Bourne and the Railroad. The past 2 days a group of us went to the canal next to the Maritime Academy to photograph the sun coming up close to the middle of the Bourne Bridge and the Railroad Bridge. Yesterday, it was a fantastic sunrise, but I was only able to go today. So here are some photos I took at 5am this morning, and one I didn't, because it was yesterday.

The above photo was taken by my friend Rick yesterday, what a great sunrise it was!

Sometimes called the blue hour, before the sun is up.

A church next to the Maritime Academy.

I added a bit of color to this one...

Great ripples from a passing boat.

Sailboat headed to Buzzards Bay.

Maritime Academy students running bright and early.

2 bridges and lots of clouds :-) Still a nice morning to be out shooting with friends.

Summertime at the Cottage

2010-08-12T05:12:00.000-07:00

August 12th, mid summer and what a great summer it's been! I've been in photography heaven, apparently I've taken 10,000 images since beginning of April. Way too few of these have made it to this blog, in spite of my best intensions. The way I have been loading them onto blogspot is cumbersome, first sending them to picasa, then copying their url, one at a time, and putting them into the blog. The images turn out bigger, but this time I thought I'd try just getting them from my iPhoto library directly, choosing the upload method on the left side of the pop up page. It's faster, and maybe I'll do it more often?

I've been very happily busy with my photo club, and investigating what and how to make our cottage a more suitable year round home for when Joe retires next year. Ian's been birding and got his driver's license a few weeks ago, we are all mentally preparing for his launch into college in the fall, UMass Amherst.

So, in no particular order, with no particular theme either than they were taken this summer, here are some photographs...

The sunrises have been spectacular, here's the one from this morning, fresh out of the camera.

I've been playing with zoom blur, all done in the camera.

Laughing Gulls at Plymouth beach, taken with Ian's helpful instructions.

Ian and his spotting scope.

Dunes at Plymouth Beach.

Plimoth Plantation.

Night shoot in Boston.

Milo relaxing.

Ian, Andrew and Tayler.

Ian and his new recording gear.

Macro.

The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor.

Cottage with Magnolia in full bloom. April 21.

More macro.

Summer Memories 2010

2010-08-12T02:01:00.000-07:00

Joe giving Ian a haircut, again...

Danika and her dad, Patrik on the pond.

Love in the garden.

The Waybacks.

By the Charles River, Cambridge.

Book Group of many names, our 8th annual sleepover, maybe 9th??

Julie and her lovely children, Maddox and Danika.

Experimenting.

Photo club member and friend Maureen at a sunrise shoot in my garden.

Hydrangea.

Song sparrow in the grass, me in the grass, too :-)

Love all the pretty colors.

July 4th in Manomet

2010-07-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

July 3rd is the big day here in Manomet, bonfires on the beach, and hours of private, illegal fireworks. The cops were out in full force last night, keeping all non residents away, but the show went on as usual.

The photos leading up the the fireworks are places I visited with my photo club, which is now up to 465 members. We can't seem to get enough of all the beautiful sights in Plymouth!

Sunset at Plymouth Beach, a long walk to the point, but a lovely evening with good company.

Bug Light in Plymouth Harbor.

After a sunrise shoot we all headed to my house for flowers and birds.

Adele capturing my bumper crop of Black Eyed Susans.

This month's photo challenge for my club is "Do You See Red?" So, I gathered my red produce, shot it and ate it....

My garden.

More red for the photo challenge.

Momma swan taking a break from her cygnets.

Parking was restricted all around White Horse Beach, even our street got it's share of no parking signs on barrels.

Fireworks on Bartlett Pond.

Joe and Ian also photographing fireworks. Ian got the best shots!! Tonight I'll go out on the dock, too.

The swan family checking out the debris from our neighbors fireworks last night.

Have a Happy and Safe 4th!!

Plymouth Beach Birds

2010-06-04T02:20:00.000-07:00

These first 3 beautiful bird photos were taken by Ian at Plymouth Beach. Captions and photos taken from his facebook page.

Red Knots! How pretty. Six present on the beach today.

Semipalmated Sandpiper, prancing

Roseate Terns on a possible nesting site. Yet to be confirmed breeding on the beach, but this male continued displaying to the female for the rest of the day in the same spot..curious..

Ian spent the Memorial weekend monitoring nesting bird disturbances by people, cars, or predators at Plymouth Beach. The data he collected is useful for protecting the endangered species of Piping Plovers, shorebirds that have nested on this spit of land long before man showed up. There are 2 groups on Plymouth Beach, the people who feel they have the right to drive on the beach whenever they want to regardless of other people wanting to enjoy the beach free of cars; let their dogs run off leash running over the nests and birds ...and the conservation people. The Goldenrod Foundation is all about the survival of many nesting and migratory species, and about threats from human behavior to the beach’s ecosystem.

Joe and I visited this beautiful shoreline among a cluster of laughing gulls, Red Knots, Terns and Piping Plovers when we picked Ian up at the end of his work day.

Plymouth Beach, MA. There are sensitive areas of the beach roped off to protect the birds. Unfortunately, unleashed dogs don't read signs...

Ian photographing the Red Knots. His birding scope is on the tripod and Bug Light is in the background.

The very handsome Laughing Gull.

Composition in Seaweed.

Just hanging out.

Ian signaling Joe and I to stay where we were so as not to disturb the birds.

Sneaking up on a shot.

The endangered Piping Plovers, and their young are even more adorable!

This means you, too.

Even on a holiday weekend the area of the beach far south of the Crossover Point, where the cars enter the beach, is very pretty and isolated at the end of the day.

Joe and Ian.

Man with a mission.

The Piping Plovers nest is a small divot in the sand, very hard to spot, and their eggs look like pebbles. This hole is one of several potential nesting sites the plover scraped for his mate. She did eventually lay up to four eggs in one of the scrapes, and the nest is now protected by this fence. With luck, the chicks of the state and federally protected bird will survive to breed on their own.

The Goldenrod Cottage on the right.

The house where we parked.

Pretty in Spring: New England

2010-04-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

The robin is considered to the be a sign of spring, but they are in New England during the winter months as well. There are 3 kinds of robins in the Boston area, the ones that stay year round, raise their young here and winter over in the trees. The migrants from the north that come to Boston in the winter and head back north in the spring, and the migrants from the South that fly through in the spring and breed north of Boston. There are more robins on the ground in the spring because the food source has thawed, but they have been here all winter.

Just wanted to get that straight :-)

And I know this because Ian loves birds.

Pussy Willow bud.

A good old mallard, looking very regal in his jewel colors, Jenny's Pond.

The white speck in the ocean is Flag Rock on White Horse Beach.

Reflections on a stream in Plymouth.

Tulips.

Daffodils.

Walking around with a friend and our cameras.

Our magnolia tree.

Close up of a magnolia bud.

The cottage with the magnolia in full bloom.

Forsythia.

Johnny Jump Ups from Ting, day lilies and the swan.

Flowering Pear on the left and the Japanese Maple from my dad's yard on the right.

Blood Root originally from Ting's in CT.

Yummm, asparagus.

Quiet sunrise on the pond.

California with Family and Friends

2010-04-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

Ecuador was wonderful, and 2 weeks after returning home to Massachusetts, Joe and I flew out to Southern California. We met Ian at the airport welcoming him back home after a long 3 month separation because of his birding trip to Peru and Chile. He flew into LA from Chile a week before the devastating earthquake, which left some of the places he and his friends stayed at leveled. So nice to have him home again after his most excellent adventure. Here's where you can read his entertaining blog.

California was spent visiting with friends and family, helping settle my father into his new independent living home, and birding. The 2 weeks went by quickly and we had lots of sun and warmth.

One last image of Ecuador, Lago San Pablo outside of Otavalo.

Joe exploring the beach by our lodging, we stayed within walking distance of Crystal Cove in Newport Beach, CA. Very lovely and underused, we enjoyed it as often as possible.

Crystal Cove, and the following beach shots as well...

Ian birding and Joe looking through his scope overlooking the bluffs of Crystal Cove.

Marbled Godwit.

Still Crystal Cove, I guess I liked this place!

Moving on to Laguna Beach.

Bird of Paradise.

Main Beach in Laguna Beach.

Joe and Ian.

Ian, me and Joe.

Just a dog hanging out, but so cute!

My birthday party, what a great time with old friends and family!

Marcus, Nelson, Gwyn and Joe.

Our offspring, how did they get so big so quickly? Left to right: Alex and her boyfriend, Harvey, Emma, Pauline, Jonah and Ian.

Joe, Jonah, Susie, Ian and Quincy.

Alex and Harvey.

Ian amazed :-)

Nelson and Joe at the dock where Nelson keeps 'his' boat.

Pauline.

Our kids on the beach at Crystal Cove.

Cliffside at Crystal Cove.

Resort swimming pool.

Joe and Marcus relaxing by the pool.

Monica had us all over for dinner, twice! Family portrait including my father and niece's boyfriends.

The clan. My father is thriving in his new life on the west coast, much more contact with people and social activity. Way less worries about meals and taking care of a home.

Don't look at the camera, ha!

Ah, yes, we revive the jumping photos...

Sunset over Laguna Beach.

My dad and his 3 children: my sister Monica and my brother Nelson, and me.

Crystal Cove, again...

Ian.

Back Bay.

Ian at Back Bay, Newport Beach.

Entrance to Newport Beach harbor.

Corona Del Mar.

Plaza de Los Ponchos in Otavalo

2010-02-15T12:10:00.001-08:00

The Otavalo Artesan market, not to be confused with the food market for the locals in my previous post, is billed as the largest outdoor crafts market in Latin America. I googled it, apparently this is correct, although who has the final say on who's market is the largest is up for grabs.

The indigenous people in Otavalo are among the most prosperous of any town, they have figured out how to make things out of fabric, seeds, nuts, wood, yarn and anything they can come up with and sell it to everyone. They crochet, polish, carve and string things while waiting for customers to come by. They haul all the goods to the plaza to designated areas every morning and haul it all away at 5pm. It's amazing to see how industrious they are, and the whole family helps out.

Plaza de Los Ponchos is the main square and the market is there every day of the week. The famous Saturday market is more of the same goods spread out over all the side streets that are closed off to traffic and there's no way you could ever see every vendor, it's enormous. I'm happy with the weekday market, more my size, but the gringos descend on Otavalo on Saturdays by the bus load. Janet and I were fortunate enough to spend a week here this year, and another one last January, so we know where to go. This time I exercised restraint as I didn't want to bring home more stuff...

Here's another blogger's funny and very true take on the market:

From the Brel Chronicles

Lessons Learned in South America´s Largest Artesan Market

We find ourselves in Otavalo, Ecuador, home to South America´s largest outdoor market. I should have anticipated this would be trouble.

Lessons learned:

1. Markets are a lot of fun. I actually hyperventilated a little when I saw it.

2. Bargaining makes me feel good. It doesn´t matter if I only save $1 on a $30 item- the thrill of winning is pretty fine.

3. Avoid the hammock and table cloth people at all costs. And it´s a good idea to learn how to say - ¨I don´t even have a house, let alone a table¨, in Spanish.

4. Think of a good story for crossing the Canadian border. It´s quite possible that Canada Customs will assume I am in the alpaca importing business.

5. When you can no longer carry what you´re buying, you should probably stop. Dumping your stuff at the hotel and going back can be an expensive idea.

Plaza de Los Ponchos from the balcony of our favorite eatery: Buena Vista

Another view.

Great crochet bags.

View of the street on a Saturday from our Hotel Coraza.

I love their hats!

Tagua nut is a very popular vegetable ivory used in beads and carvings.

Saturday market.

This watercolorist is very talented and only sells on Saturdays at the Plaza de Los Ponchos.

The police like wandering around town together.

Shanandoah Pie Shop is the only known pie shop in Ecuador, right on the plaza. A delicious homemade pastry, I think we had a piece everyday:-) Mora was my favorite, a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry, not found in the US that I know of. $1. No English is spoken here, but it's easy to point to your favorite pie! Tea, coffee and ice cream served along with a small assortment of real food.

At one end of the plaza are spices and some ready made food items.

Our favorite restaurant, in the door and upstairs, right on the plaza. A few doors down from the pie shop.

Here you can see the balcony upstairs, wonderful to get the one table they have outside. We referred several people here and everyone liked it. English is spoken and there's a large vegetarian menu, even a veggie burger!

Otavalo Market, Ecuador

2010-02-03T14:08:00.000-08:00

Otavalo is full of friendly people, sights and sounds, textures and colors, home of the largest outdoor crafts market in South America. Located a short hour and a half north of Quito, it will soon be even easier to get to when the new airport opens in 2011. This is my second time in Otavalo and I am torn between wanting to make this our winter home, or Mindo. One has birds, lots of nature, the children of Salem International and many new friends. Otavalo has a thriving indigenous community with more fresh food than you can imagine. Here's a look at the daily food market for the people that live there, this is one of the things that makes Otavalo so beautiful and appealing to me.

Rolling hills and volcanos surround Otavalo.

A family affair, shelling beans and hanging out together at the market.

A boy with a toy gun, at least I hope it's a toy!

Papas.

Quinoa bow tie pasta I bought from this vendor made a great meal with some fresh vegetables.

Corn in all it's forms is very popular in Ecuador. Popcorn is served with soup.

Beans anyone?

Real chicken, not in cellophane and Styrofoam.

I've never soon so many potatoes!

Such abundance! This market went on forever and is a daily event.

See the little hand sticking out? Babies attached to their mothers are the usual way.

Tree tomato, used mainly to make juice that I enjoy, but many other gringos don't care for it.

All family members help out at the market.

Playa Escondida, Northern Coast of Ecuador

2010-01-24T15:14:00.000-08:00

I'm trying something new here, I've downloaded a slide show to Youtube and hope you can access is by clicking here.

The slide show is of my trip to the northern coast of Ecuador with Gary, Karen and Bey for the weekend of January 8th, 2010. Playa Escondida is an eco lodge set in a bay near Esmeraldas on the Pacific Ocean, it's a little bit of paradise after going through some otherwise not very scenic towns of Ecuador.

The white cat is Pele, who lives at Judy's house where we all are staying when we're not on the road. Karen's parrot came with us, he enjoyed looking at the ocean as much as we did.

Let me know what you think of this format for seeing photos, I know the music needs a bit of tweaking, I'm going to work on that :-)

From Mindo to Otavalo, Ecuador

2010-01-24T06:55:00.001-08:00

After a short 7 hour plane ride (3 to Miami and 4 to Quito) from Boston I arrived in Ecuador on January 5th. Same time zone as the east coast, same currency, same electrical current and much, much warmer temperatures, you gotta love it!

My friends Gary and Karen, Americans who now call Mindo their home, met me at the airport with another friend of theirs who had also just arrived from NYC, Bey. The 4 of us headed back to Mindo, and hour and half drive from Quito, arriving at midnight. All 4 of are staying at Judy's house, a great 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom home with spacious living areas that she built a few years ago.

I've had adventures galor since arriving here, but no fast internet connection to post the photos. The internet at Judy's is about the speed of dial up, sometimes slower, it really makes me appreciate high speed cable. I'm in Otavalo now, a beautiful city north of Quito, and will show a few photos of my time with the children of Mindo and some of the Otavalo area.

My Camera for Kids project at Salem International in Mindo has been very rewarding. Here's one of the children bringing the toothbrushes out for use after lunch. Each hole has a name on it.

Carla, everyone's darling. She's the daughter of Paula, who works there and had Carla at 15, the average age of young mothers in Mindo.

Having fun with the cameras everyone was so generous in donating. See blog link on the right if you want to see more.

I'm arranging a ride home to Judy's while downloading the photos off of the cameras.

Janet's helping, too.

Photo of my friend Janet, taken by one of the kids, they loved photographing us and each other.

Another photo by one of the children.

An outing Paula arranged for all of us with our cameras.

Mindo, at the Yellow House.

Downtown Mindo.

Gary, Karen, Bey, Janet and I having dinner at Quetzel's in their lovely outdoor space.

One of my favorite waters, a naturally bubbly water served with an Ecuadorian lemon. Looks like a lemon, tastes like a lime. Popcorn is served with soup and everything else.

Gary and Karen drove Janet and I to Otavalo with their parrot, Paco. I have never traveled with a parrot before but Paco is very well behaved and had lots of personality.

Beautiful city of Otavalo.

View from our Hotel Coraza.

Vulcan Imbaburra at dusk.

We visited San Antonio with Karen and Gary the next day looking for furniture and wooden doors for the house they are building in Mindo. Beautiful craftsmanship and really low prices, like most things in Ecuador. It's just about half an hour north of Otavalo on the way to Ibarra, where we had lunch. I didn't like Ibarra much, a large city of 100,000 people, very dusty and congested with traffic.

San Antonio.

San Antonio, rain has been scarce in these parts, the umbrella is for sun protection.

Children in San Antonio.