October 09

It seems a little ironic to me that my two recent "cheats" have both involved jewelry. Since I'm dealing with images that I've taken recently, and this was the most pressing item I had to tackle, I'm using it. (Dreary autumn days are also sucky for photography, for what it's worth.)

Keith (my jeweler friend) needed some edits to designs we did for promotional purposes. We needed to change some information on his business cards and postcards. With my schedule ramping up for National Novel Writing Month, we managed to shoehorn the appointment in today. And -- surprisingly -- the work went very quickly.

So even without a photo of the day, I still feel I've accomplished quite a bit.

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October 08

Here's a photo to warm the hearts of patriots.

Today was an absolutely breathtaking autumn day -- the sun shone, it was cool but not too cold, and the skies were blue with white fluffy clouds. It was also quite windy, which worked to my advantage as I turned left onto Main Street in Watertown near the public library. The bank building across the street has two flagpoles -- one was directly in front of me -- and while I waited for the light to change, I stuck my head out the window and got this shot of the flag, waving proudly, unfurled in the wind.

Pretty nifty.

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October 07

The winds were very brisk in Boston today. While the foliage is looking particularly pretty this year, the wind is threatening to strip the branches bare before the best colors come to the fore.

I caught sight of this pretty little tree near Jamaica Pond today on the way to work. The top leaves have succumbed to the wind, but the bottom leaves are still a pretty (and striking) orange color.

I have the feeling that foliage photos may be to my autumn what flower photos were to my spring and summer. And you know what? I'm OK with that.

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October 06

Mosby, pictured here, is a 12-week-old Wheaten Terrier who lives near the building where I work.

Folks who know me, and probably any regular readers, know that I am a dog person. I like dogs, I like petting them and talking to them and interacting with them, and I photograph them whenever the opportunity presents itself. (Today I got photos of two dogs in my building, Pepe and Jake, having a confab in the lobby, for instance.) So when I met Mosby three weeks ago, he was about half this size though just as sweet.

Mosby's human was kind enough to let me photograph him today. It was a great opportunity; how can you go wrong with a photo of somebody so darn cute?

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October 05

I've always thought that the leaves on a tree changed colors in the fall pretty much simultaneously. When I saw this one branch of yellow leaves on the tree in my front yard, it made me wonder why only one little branch of leaves was colored. (Not enough to actually look it up, mind you. Just enough to wonder.)

Today was a rare day when everything went as planned. I got out, got a photo of the day early on, visited the Dudley Branch Library to pick up a check for my recent workshop, made it to the bank in time to deposit it (mainly because an on-street parking space was open on the right block at the right time), got a couple of chicken turnovers from a street vendor (delicious!), and still got to work on time. So ... well, go me!

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October 04

I had to do a little shopping today, and since it was such a pretty day I grabbed my camera to make the walk to the store a photo walk. It was my only opportunity, since I completely forgot that today was the Roslindale Day Parade, and thus, while the fabulous parade in the beautiful weather went by the Square, mere blocks from my house, I was sitting in my living room watching television.

Wow. That was an unexpected stream of consciousness.

This photo caught my attention because of the textures. The bricks look like they haven't been repointed since the building was built in 1926, though the sign has to be somewhat newer. Still, a very pretty example of textures.

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October 03

True confession time: This photo was not taken today, but yesterday. The resulting image was created today, however, so I'm using it as my photo of the day. (The nice thing about making the rules -- you know just how far they will bend.)

The necklace and earring set here were created by Roslindale jeweler Keith Monsour, and were recently featured in the Parkway Fall Fashion Fiesta. I photograph all of Keith's work, so I got the chance to shoot this on Friday.

It was tough to light this image; when the necklace and all of its beads were properly illuminated, the earrings in the center shone too brightly, completely washing out all of the detail on the long beads. When the earrings were lit properly, the pendant on the necklace was in deep shadow. Rather than continue trying futilely to find the perfect lighting solution with my limited tools, I decided -- reluctantly, as this is always my last resort -- to fix it in post-production. Essentially, that means I photoshopped it to within an inch of its very existence, all in the quest to make the end photograph look like the original items.

Ideally, you get the shot right in the camera. In most situations, you might make a few small changes or enhancements in Photoshop. Resorting to out-and-out photo manipulation to get a good image chafes a bit. In the end, though, it's a good looking photo, and Keith is happy with it.

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October 02

Sometimes I choose photos for this blog that are interesting. Other times I go for humor, and occasionally, I go for the sheer beauty of an image. Today, I chose an image remarkable for the content.

Imagine, if you will, I'm driving to work and am waiting at a light by Jamaica Pond. I looked over to find this jogger stretching before taking her afternoon exercise around the local landmark -- showing off flexibility that is frankly remarkable. I mean, look at her. I know yoga teachers who work years to get that kind of flexibility!

With advancing age and infirmity I know I couldn't do that, even if I did somehow take leave of my senses and decide to go sweat just for the sake of sweating. Still, I'm not so jaded as to be unimpressed by this virtuoso display of dexterity.

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October 01

Today was the first really cool day of the fall -- the high temperature didn't even touch 60 in Boston. I went over to my neighbor D'Anna's house to photograph some of her flowers that bloom late when I noticed this single red maple leaf on her lawn. It was perfect; it's a wonderful visual representation of the arrival of autumn. The photo itself didn't do the original sight justice, so I did a little photoshopping to help make the leaf pop on its drab background.

One of these days, I'm going to make prints of all this stuff and hang it in my front hall, which will then be christened "The Gallery of Pointless Art."

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September 30

Jake here is one happy puppy dog.

He lives in the building where I work, along with his human. Jake is blessed with one of the most pleasant and easygoing personalities I've ever encountered in a dog.

He likes to play ball, but unlike other dogs, who run and leap and chase a thrown ball down, Jake just sort of ambles off in the ball's general direction, knowing it'll stop eventually and he can just pick it up without going to all the trouble to run. And once he has the ball, he's content to chew on it for a minute or two before giving it back to be thrown once more.

I've always said that dogs are some of my favorite people, and Jake is one of my favorite dogs.

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September 29

Here's a bumper sticker of a hat.

Yeah, that's it. It's been a slow day for photography. At least there's a pretty star-shaped highlight in the photo.

I caught this on Huntington Avenue in the Longwood Medical Area while on the way to work this afternoon. I have no idea of the significance of the hat as bumper sticker. Were it a red hat, I could guess the driver was a member of the Red Hat Society.

Only it isn't. (Insert shrug here.)

Once upon a time, I took on a project where I was photographing interesting bumper stickers -- and occasionally, I still do. If only this had been interesting instead of picturesque.

That's it. Here's the Suzanne Somers of bumper stickers.

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September 28

With the imminent arrival of October, it's time to take the sailboats off the water at Jamaica Pond. It's fortunate that they had nice weather to do this in; being on the water, even a pond, in cold weather is unforgiving.

It was a nice day today, though the weather is trending cooler, the leaves are beginning to change, and the official arrival of winter -- and with it snow -- is less than three months distant. I'm doing my damnedest to savor the nice weather, since I plan to bitch, piss, and moan about snow from the first flake falling to the muddy puddled melting of the last shaded snowbank in the spring.

This is one of those photos I'll look at and smile when I see, because it will remind me that no matter how bad the weather gets, the spring and summer will return.

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September 27

National Novel Writing Month is coming up in November, and it's probably going to play a bigger part in this blog simply because I'm spending a lot of time working up to it.

My friend Anna and I are municipal liaisons for NaNoWriMo, and we put a lot of work into making it a memorable experience for our participants. We received lapel pins this year as recognition for having done this for the past three years.

This year, we're working to improve the experience; we've expanded our CafePress store, have a Twitter account and a Facebook group to get the word out. It's going to be an awesome year.

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September 26

I made deviled eggs again today, and this time I was completely unsupervised. One dozen eggs, two dozen deviled eggs, sixteen of which went onto the egg plate purchased for the occasion (Boyfriend and I were going to a potluck party). The other eight "deformed" eggs went on a separate plate to be devoured at our leisure.

Speaking of deformed eggs, I have no idea how Boyfriend can hard boil six eggs and have them all come out perfect. When I boil eggs the yolks are anywhere from the narrow end of the egg to practically coming out the side. Is there some trick to it? I mean, really?

But I digress. The eggs tasted OK, except for having used more mustard than I should have. That was my fault entirely; I scaled up the amount I put in the last batch without bothering to taste it, but with the salt added this time, the mustard was a bit overwhelming. Adding a little butter to the mix only added to the creaminess of the filling, though my arteries are probably hardening as I type.

Still, they were good eggs. Really good eggs.

Next time, with luck, I'll get the salt and the mustard proportions correct and have enough mayonnaise to avoid having to resort to butter. My goal is to get the original recipe down pat, so I can begin to experiment with it.

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September 25

At my day (well, night) job, I deal with the public eight hours a day, 40 hours a week. I'm really not sure what other companies with employees on the front lines are doing to combat the spread of the flu -- especially the H1N1 "swine flu" -- this small notice on our bulletin board seems like a pretty tepid response.

This has been on my mind of late. I plan to get a flu shot, and if possible, the second shot for the H1N1 strain, this year. I get the flu remarkably easily, and even with flu shots I'm susceptible to winter illnesses. Sinus infections are the bane of my life from October to May. Piling influenza on top of the other problems I experience in the winter just seems foolhardy.

Having apparently incubated a cold recently, I'm in the right frame of mind for getting a flu shot this year. Now it's just a question of scheduling the thing!

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September 24

I'm pooped.

Today was the "Capturing the Moment" photo workshop at Dudley Branch Library. This was my second scheduled workshop -- the last one, on June 24th, was a bust with nobody attending -- so tonight was the acid test.

Of course, having a completed workshop on hand wasn't good enough for me. I talked myself into reworking my lecture notes after going through the old ones and finding lots of room for improvement. Had I done this weeks in advance, it would have been the logical thing to do. Deciding this three days prior was not the brightest thing I've done.

With a revised lecture, of course, I needed a revised handout. No problem, I thought, until it took two days to get them right. The handout was easier to finish -- only a few hours -- which left me with no slideshow to illustrate all the wonderful concepts I was presenting. That was only completed about two hours before the workshop began -- just enough time to shower off the flop sweat, pack up, and get to the library.

The workshop itself was a qualified success. Six people ended up showing, though three of them were 90 minutes late because the Bay State Banner posted the wrong time in their notice.

Nonetheless, it was still pretty good, though I'm glad it's over!

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September 23

As it's the first full day of fall, it only seems appropriate that I take a photo of some of New England's famed foliage turning. That it still seems to be too early to be seeing reds and yellows and oranges in the trees is beside the point; further north and west of Boston, the colors are more distinct and the change is very much more evident.

This was almost the summer that wasn't. The spring and the first part of the summer was cool and rainy, and we managed to survive the entire season without putting in the air conditioners this year. One result of the cool wet spring is that the colors are supposed to be particularly vivid this year.

From my point of view, there's a dark cloud inside this silver lining: The changing of the seasons brings us ever closer to winter and the accompanying snows and winds and unpleasant weather. My plans to deal with that weather is to complain a lot.

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September 22

Jake (the blond) is one of the many dogs that live in the building where I work. He's also one of my favorite dogs ever.

When he goes for his evening walks, he always comes over to say hello to me. This is very nice. Jake is blessed with one of the most pleasant personalities I've ever seen in a dog. He's just a sweetheart. Even by Golden Retriever standards he's pleasant.

It really is one of the highlights of my evening when Jake comes around to see me. I've always said that if a dog likes you, you have to have goodness in you somewhere. So Jake being my buddy is good for my self-esteem.

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September 21

I tell a wonderful story at National Novel Writing Month events in Boston. It's a ghost story called, "Merlene, the one-heeled drag queen of Waxacatchie County." The story is in the best oral tradition and really doesn't translate well to written form, so I'm not going to try to force it on you here.

Paradoxically, the story has become popular at our events, which means I get to tell it several times over the month of November. I can make longtime NaNoBoston participants laugh by merely going, "whump WHUMP!" So this year, Anna and I decided that Merlene should make appearances at various NaNoBoston events. As her only remaining corporeal remains of Merlene are one high-heeled shoe, this necessitated a visit to a shoe store.

The story itself is entertaining, and it lends itself well to small-scale merchandising aimed at our local participants. Thus, I took this photograph, possibly to be billed as Merlene at the site of her biggest hit.

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September 19 - 20

A unique set of circumstances kept me from posting my photos this weekend. I was on a trip and didn't have reliable Internet access for most of it. I'm combining these posts in order to play catch up.

September 19

My friend Anna and I took a whirlwind trip to Upstate New York this weekend. Anna's family lives there, and happen to be only a few minutes from Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, one of the premier museums of early aviation, and one that puts on airshows in their vintage aircraft. It was the perfect opportunity for me to go visit the Aerodrome, which has fascinated me since I first heard of the place, and for Anna to get a free ride home to visit her folks one weekend. (More on this later.) It was also the chance to visit my friend Mark, who moved from Boston years ago and lives just down the road from Rhinebeck.

With National Novel Writing Month coming up, it also gave us a chance to sit and begin planning our schedule and events, since its a four-hour drive out there and back. It also gave us the chance to pick up the only remains of Merlene, who will be attending our events as well as featuring on NaNoBoston merchandise in our CafePress store.

I got the above picture of the Mid-Hudson Bridge in Poughkeepsie while returning from the mall with Anna, where we had picked up Merlene. It's beautifully lit at night, and the lights change colors in an intricately-synchronized routine.

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September 20

Sunday, Anna and I, along with her father, headed over to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome for the airshow. It was remarkable, and less airshow in the traditional sense than pure showmanship and old-fashioned entertainment. Old Rhinebeck has a large collection of flyable vintage and reproduction aircraft, and they put on a fine program.

This is the business end of their Albatros D.Va, a reproduction built in 1975 by the museum's founder, Cole Palen, and his associates. It's simply beautiful, and watching it in flight was a delight. It was also nearly impossible to photograph clearly because of my lack of a fast lens with a long-enough focal length. When the airshow was over I hied it to the display to get some shots, including this one, which is my favorite.

It was a long short weekend, if that makes any sense to you. I was gone about 37 hours, and spent 12 of those hours in the driver's seat. Still, it was absolutely worth the trip, and with the most perfect weather imaginable, a great way to spend the last weekend of the summer.

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