Future And Past Reflections

Good news! I finished scanning my negatives today. (I started scanning in April, 2009) So - I have oodles of material ready to go. However, I'm also exhausted and this stuff isn't organized yet, so let's pause to reflect. Some of these shots, like the 1997 West Virginia Cave pictured above, are old. I've added a couple of new ones as a little preview of upcoming posts.

This one may have more of a glare than a reflection, but whatever. The cat is reflecting. 1992 photo.

Back to West Virginia for a glassy stream - 1997.

Things to do with cameras when it's cold outside and the trains won't come. Gaithersburg, MD - 1992.

Sauks Covered Bridge and its upside-down twin in the water - Gettysburg, PA - 2002.

[Maris] and I drove the Florida Keys again in 2001 and 2002 (wait til you see the pelicans!), and took our time looking for photo opportunities. This 2002 shot is on the Gulf/Back Country side of the Lower Keys.

Pond and dead-fall on US Rt. 17 in Virginia's Northern Neck - 1999.

Okay - this is the last time I'll post these dead trees and their reflection - I promise! This is from the next major photo excursion on the list - Maine - in 2004.

Here, the waters of Maine's Frenchman Bay are too busy reflecting sunlight to be bothered with reflecting the image of Egg Rock Lighthouse in 2004. It's just as well - with the 500mm mirror lens, I wasn't going to much of a shot of the lighthouse itself, anyway.

Lots more to come. Thanks for visiting!

Bridges With Roofs - Part Three

One more batch of covered bridge fun - mostly from 2000-2002. Mostly. Above is Sauk's Bridge near Gettysburg, PA - admiring its reflection.

I can't find this one in my notes - because I can't be bothered. I mean, have you seen the closet where the notebooks are? It's daunting. I can at least tell you that this is one of [Maris]'s shots.

Another [Maris] composition - I think this one is in Lancaster County, PA.

Trostletown Bridge - over Stony Creek in Somerset County, PA. Also shot by [Maris].

Don't remember where this is, but it's a really nice spot.

Barronvale Bridge - Somerset County, PA. There are two support spans in this one - a short one on the right and a longer one on the left. Beautiful bridge.

Pack Saddle Bridge - Somerset County, PA - from a 1999 trip.

Two views of the Humpback Bridge in Covington, VA. There are railroad tracks just behind the bridge. How cool would that have been?

Finally, I don't know this bridge's identity, but I like that it has those windows at one end. For fishin'? (shrug)

Thanks for visiting. Ta!

Bridges With Roofs - Part Two

Herline Covered Bridge - Mann's Choice, PA - 1998

Turner's Covered Bridge - Mann's Choice, PA - 1998

Jackson's Mill Covered Bridge - Breezewood, PA - 1998

Frederick County, MD - 1997

Dent's Run Covered Bridge - Morgantown, WV - 1998

Fletcher's Covered Bridge - Wolf Summit, WV - 1998

Bridges With Roofs - Part One

Sauck's Bridge - Gettysburg, PA - 2002

Snooks Covered Bridge - Bedford County, PA - 1998

Covered Bridge whose name I'm too lazy to look up (and my intrepid little Chevy) - Somerset County, PA - 2001

Damp Covered Bridge - Frederick County, MD - 1997

Near Harrisonburg, VA - 1998

Hall's Mill Covered Bridge - Near Everette, PA - 1998

Hughes Covered Bridge - Washington, PA - 1997

Thanks for visiting - Ciao!

More Fun In New England

Our first trip to New England (in 1998) resulted from a check of the national weather map the night before our week off. We were simply following the sun, but we ended up falling in love with the whole region - especially the rural and coastal areas. Above is Spring Point Ledge Light near Portland, Maine, shot with a hand-held 500mm mirror reflex lens at a range of about 3 miles.

Point Judith Coast Guard Station, RI.

Kingston Station, RI. I want to pick this building up and bring it to the old B&O in Maryland.

Boston Harbor and Graves Lights, MA. This photo makes me crazy. It is fraught with technical problems, but I love the composition and the hazy softness. I will definitely re-shoot this, someday.

Cemetery - Salem, MA. OLD, spooky, haunted graveyard! Pilgrims and witch-hunters - oh my!

New England Church #9 - probably somewhere in Massachusetts.

Whaleback Light, ME. Another one that will need to be re-shot, but just in case it's gone next time we get up that way - here you go!

Turning inland from the Portland, ME area and making a few wrong turns, we found ourselves deep in moose country. The moose we encountered were entirely too cranky to allow us to photograph them, so we settled for this moose crossing sign.

There were supposedly wild snowmobiles roaming the mountains, as well. We didn't see any, though.

Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge - Cornish, NH. "Walk Your Horses Or Pay Two Dollars Fine." We ran ours, because we are daredevil outlaws livin' on the edge.

Bath, NH Bridge. Their fine was half as much as in Cornish, so we met them halfway and just trotted our little Chevy horses. It seemed like the right thing to do.

Thanks for stopping by. Next up, a last look at New England 1998, including weird trains!

"Always in motion is the future..."

I've fallen behind in the scanning of my pre-digital photos, so whilst I tackle the closet full of material from the late 1990s through mid-2000s, please enjoy this sampling of Things To Come. Above, "Keys Color" - Key Largo, FL - 1993. Yes, that is indeed an old truck trailer.

"Another Planet, WV" - 1998. It started with quick jaunts in [Maris'] convertible, into the Appalachian foothills of Frederick and Washington Counties in Maryland in 1996. By 1998, we were deliberately getting as lost as we could in some of the most sparsely populated areas of West Virginia. The scene above presented itself just moments after we emerged from hours of driving through thick forest, so it struck us as a completely alien landscape.

Speaking of alien landscapes - "Beech Trees on Clingmans's Dome, TN" - 1998. We also attempted to reach the highest points of all the states within driving distance, and this photo was taken not far from Tennessee's high point.

Churches! Early in the top-down "Cruising Years," we photographed every church we could find. This was often exceedingly frustrating, since so many of them are draped with unsightly wires, wedged between ugly downtown buildings or obscured by obnoxious signage. This one, on US Rt. 11 in Virginia in 1998, was very cooperative.

As difficult as churches can be, covered bridges can be even worse, usually due to signs or trees. This photographer-friendly structure is "Covered Bridge #32" in Groveton, New Hampshire - 1998.

Lighthouses! I keep promising lighthouses, so here's a peek at the many dozens of east coast lights we've shot so far. Above is "Bass Harbor Head Cupola," Bass Harbor, Maine - 2004.

"Joe on American Shoals Light, Florida" - 2000. [Maris] shot this from a wildly pitching little 17-footer while our guide threatened to take off with her, leaving me stranded miles from the nearest Florida Key in the middle of our honeymoon.

"Fort Jefferson Moat Wall" - Dry Tortugas, FL - 2000. This fort is about 30 minutes (by seaplane) west of Key West, but it might as well be in the middle of the Caribbean. This is a contender for the title of My Happy Place.

Oh, and we've got PANDAS! [Maris] and I are well-nigh obsessed with these animals, and have been visiting the current residents of the National Zoo's Panda House since they moved in. We have eleventy frillion shots (and hours of video) of all three bears. Above, Mei and Tian's cub Tai Shan hones his climbing skills in January 2006.

THANKS FOR HANGING OUT WITH ME!
More soon...