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May 26, 2021

It's Been Awhile

... i know, it's been awhile ... covid, wintertime blues, unusual spells of photographic funk, or, perhaps, a bit of all three in combination ... reason doesn't matter, suffice to say i'm back, and, truth be told, i'll admit to hoping at least a few of you missed me ...
     
... five months or so to catch up, i'll not worry if this journal entry turns out to somewhat jumbled sequentially ...
      
... lately i've enjoyed cooking, one of many ways to cope with the increased in-residence time ... much fun in my "new" kitchen, painting courtesy liz ...
       

... mmmmm, remember, i've always more'n i need for myself ...
     
     
... not traveling, some extra wedding photography income, presents from the federal government, and, something of which i am both thankful for and self-conscious of, a steady income so far unaffected by current events, i decided to sell some of my "classic" lenses and purchase an "auto-everything" super-duper 100-400mm zoom ... john snapped a picture of me with it  ...
      
       
... from one of my first outings with this fascinating glass, looking down to the kennebec from the deck of the 2¢ bridge ...
      
       
... these images are 1/3-frame crops, demonstrating the sharpness and contrast the lens can deliver ...
     
      
       
... an "impression" from one of my images ...
      
       
... "bug light" in south portland ... this is an hdr merge from five frames ...
      
       
... moving on, john and i made a little wander down to the marshall point light ... perhaps you remember seeing it in the movie "forest gump" ...
      

       
... my pal alison asked me to take some family portraits ... i worked up this delightful study of mother and daughter from one of the discarded files ...
      
       
... compositionally "teasing the frame," i admit ...
      
       
... from a wanderabout down—hmmmm, someplace somewhere nearby ...
      
           
... a bit of playing around, there are sixteen separate layers in this image ...
      
       
... from a wedding i photographed ... my nephew, jon, took the image of the hand and watch, i blended in my own picture of the bride and groom  ...
      
       
... i had my own expert paddler and maine guide, john, for seven miles of the sebasticook river ... a most fascinating outing, of which i know how lucky i am to be able to enjoy ...
     



       
... i'm still not quite comfortable using the zoom lens, but with these images i feel i'm making progress ...
      

       
... one of those "which do you prefer" offerings ...
      
       
... again, a 25% crop ... wow, for sure i've latched on to a nice lens ...
      
       
... a window in one of the 2nd-floor rooms at sunset, eight frames ...
      
       
... my second star-trails image ... this is the result of color/contrast correcting and merging 54 individual frames, each a 30-second exposure, overlaid with a single image of the tree illuminated from behind by car headlights ...
       
       
... a 25% crop, hand-held ... soon, very, i hope, more footprints'll be added ...
      
       
... aunt and niece, i think these two will be friends forever ...
   
      
       
... jon guided while i drove, and we found a place-we've-never-been, where we came across a chevrolet truck that had perched itself alongside the road and, for those who took the time to stop, whispered soft tales of long ago times in maine ...
     
      

 

       
... last winter my tried and true 47 year-old herman survivor boots finally lost their capability to be waterproofed so i found myself a set of comfy warm pack boots ... this winter, something i've always wanted to do, i got myself an extreme-cold parka ... l.l. beans offered a wonderful deal if i signed up for a credit card that i'll never use ... it's easily as warm as the issue parka i wore while serving duty in some very-very-very cold assignments, yet it's probably only one-third the weight and it sheds water ... modern technology, what'll they think of next ... hmmmm, perhaps some sort of device that i can talk to and things'll arrive at my door ... ??? ...
      

... that was in the brrrrrrr-season, now is the you-can't-walk-on-the-lake time of year ... something i've always wanted to play around with, i found an unbelievable deal on facebook marketplace ...
      

... a high-quality "advanced elements" inflatable kayak ... no, not a vinyl pool toy, this is a most serious piece of kit ... the whole thing packs in a carry bag that fits in my car's trunk with room to spare ... wicked easy to set-up and take-down ... great fun ... 
     
.. a request ... for me taking pictures is extremely personal, but sharing my images is of the great joys in my life ... so, if you're of the mind, i would greatly appreciate if you shared this entry ... on facebook all you need do is click the "share" button ... if you are one of my mailing list readers you could do a bcc forward to those you think would be interested ... thanks ...

      
... it's good to be back ... thanks for staying with me, i'll try to not again be away so long ...