We are not alone...

I randomly saw a news blurb that Friday, July 8th was the 64th anniversary of the alien crash landing in Roswell, New Mexico. It immediately brought me back to a trip I took with my friend Carol almost 10 years ago now to New Mexico. I've been in Roswell, been to the UFO Museum there that documents the crash and Carol and I even tried to find the crash site ala a xeroxed, hand drawn map of the site we got from the Museum. Even better Carol and I talked to an elderly gentleman who was one of the military men assigned to move the alien bodies. I have pictures somewhere of Carol and I with him, pre-digital, but did scan this one a few years ago of us standing in front of a re-enactment to the alien autopsy. Let the mocking begin! But in all seriousness, I've always believed there is other life out there in the Universe. To paraphrase the movie "Contact"... it's an awful waste of space if we are the only ones out here.

The trip started in Albuquerque and we drove as far South as Las Cruces and then finished in northern NM in Sante Fe. What sticks out most about this trip was we had a BLAST. There was really no itinerary, each day we decided how far we felt like driving and what we wanted to see along the way. We didn't have reservations, just figured out where to stay based on where we ended up or when we got tired. This worked out really well overall though I do remember one night it was getting darker and darker and the area was pretty remote. There were no "Motel 6's" or "Super 8's" off the road for us to get to and we started to suspect we might have to sleep in the car. Finally we saw a sign for a place and though it was higher than our price range it was better than the car. It turned out to be a spot where hunters stayed, and while my memory is hazy I think we were in Capitan, NM. I just remember the road was really, really dark. Though the best part of that place was waking up in the morning and having breakfast at the diner attached. It was only then that we realized we were in a hunting area and the individuals surrounding us were of the woodsy hunting types. Two city girls in our jeans and pressed shirts kind of stood out.


I wish now that I could recreate that trip, with my current camera and photography knowledge. I love that part of the country, particularly White Sands, NM where there is a beautiful National Park. White sand made from the wind that comes down off the mountains and across a lake, the wind deposits a residue that I believe is calcium which then as it dries leaves behind a huge white beach sand like area. The most amazing thing is driving through these mini mountains of white sand that is cool to the touch. Now that I've remembered this trip I'm on a mission to find the pictures and scan them. I think I might have been using a throw away camera at the time.


There are so many places to go, so many places to see both in this country and beyond. This memory makes me realize I need to plan my next trip. Where oh where to go...

Hello July! Wasn't it just January?

When I wrote my last post it was January and in my usual fashion I was full of motivation... "I'm going to write in my blog, all the time! Yeah!". Well, here it is July and it's only my second post of 2011. But in the spirit of new beginnings, lets try this again. I've also been getting lots of good encouragement from my friend Bridget who enjoys my photo excursion stories. This one is for you B!


So it is July and there are two things you should know about me -- I don't like heat and humidity (really, really don't like) and I'm a City Girl. I can count on my hand how many times I've gone camping and I don't actively seek out woodsy situations. So this just past July 4th I was kind of surprised to find myself blazing a trail where there wasn't one with my photo friend Joan in the woods of Rehoboth, MA. Now I'm sure a few of you reading this are probably thinking -- oh come on now, how bad could woods in Rehoboth be? Trust me, they can be bad! This excursion started innocently enough, Joan emailing me earlier in the weekend to see about "shooting" on Monday morning. Quick aside, when I use "shooting" in future blogs please know it only involves a Canon digital camera, no firearms or defenseless animals are at risk here. Back to Joan and shooting on Monday morning... "sure I say, where to?" Joan suggests stalking Hummingbirds at her neighbors house and then looking for cool mushrooms in the woods near her home/farm. At this point I needed to ask more questions but didn't because I wrongfully assumed the mushrooms would be down a manicured path not too far from Joan's. My wrongful assumption hit me full in the face at the same time the branch did as I was traipsing through low brush (no, none, zilch path) blazing my own trail as Joan blissfully said, "I've seen the mushrooms up ahead, really, it's not that far". In all fairness we really didn't go far and were in hearing distance of her neighbors at all times but as I'm stepping through calf high forest growth, sinking into suspiciously soft earth and out loud asking "What about ticks?!?" I'm starting the "WTF?!?" dialogue in my head. This inner voice is berating me for not asking more questions while also realizing I'm too quick sometimes to say "Yes" and not really think about the situation I might find myself in. Anywho... back to the pathless walk. Remember earlier when I said heat and humidity are not my friends. Well on Monday morning in Rehoboth it was hot and very humid, I felt myself sweating like a crazy person, literally felt like I could have shook myself like a dog and sprayed water for a good distance. Also, too, I'm carrying a Slingpack w/ my camera miscellaneous over one shoulder and over the other a tripod that has my camera on it. At this point I'm thinking I should have paid a few more dollars for a carbon fiber, lightweight tripod as it quite simply felt like the tripod/camera weighed about 20 pounds. 


So I'm sweating and screaming the inner "you dope" dialogue in my head while trying not to have a complete freakout about the bugs that are actively trying to land on me. Rehoboth, like most of Southern Massachusetts, has a lot of water which equals swamp areas which equals bugs. I had sprayed myself once while looking for Hummingbirds in the nicely manicured neighbors lawn after a horsefly the size of a bird bit me on the arm. But now the profuse sweating is wearing that off and I announce that I have to stop and re-spray. I take out my bug spray and wonder if it's got the "bad for you but good at bug repelling" DET while Joan, being the good environmentalist and holistic person she is, pulls out her lemon verbena scented wipe. After layering up twice I think I'm ready to move on. I ask Joan how much further because at this point I've not seen much of any mushrooms and I'm feeling my ability to cope slip further and further away. She calmly answers "oh, not much further". We start walking again and at this point I hear it... the loud, so loud, buzz of something big and mean circling my head. I can't see it but am busy swatting at it every few minutes. I seriously am ready to start swinging $1,000 dollars worth of tripod and camera in a circle around me to move bugs and brush out of my way. After a few more minutes of this, and really, now with some perspective I can say that we were in no way "lost in the wilds" but I was starting to panic that we would be walking deeper into the woods and closer to more bigger and meaner bugs. I think this is why I literally yelled -- "THAT'S IT! I CAN'T TAKE IT! I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!". Poor Joan, she really had good intentions but I'm a City Girl remember and I had reached my heat, humidity, woods and bug limit. I think I heard Joan chuckle but like a true friend understood I was at my end and simply said -- "OK".


The way out was a bit easier than the way in as I insisted we make friends with neighbors she hadn't met yet as it meant we didn't have to fully walk through the non-trail forest brush but instead up a dirt path that lead to the side yard of a house. I hope I apologized enough to my friend and Joan, if you are reading this, thank you for listening to me and heading out of the woods when I asked. I also appreciated the cool down in your air conditioned house and the cool sparkling water. I think it took me about 30 minutes but I finally felt like a human being again and the pouring sweat did eventually stop.


Bottom line and the lesson learned here is that I need to ask more questions of my fellow photogs when excursions are being suggested i.e. will there be blood sucking bugs involved? what's the expected heat index? will there be a path to follow or should I plan to bring a machete?

Good-bye 2010!

Let me just say that I truly can't believe 2010 is over and we are one week into 2011. So of course with the new year it's "reflective time", a time to look back at what you've done in the previous year and then think about the year ahead. As part of that process during a week's vacation I had between Christmas and New Year, I took a look at my pictures from 2010 and worked to put together a year end card. Going through that process helped me to reflect on what a good, busy and fun year 2010 was for my photography. An added benefit was also being able to make great new friends along the way. Between classes at Rhode Island School of Design and a group that is an offshoot of RISD, I've been able to meet and get to know some of the most interesting, passionate and best people ever. It's taught me that when you put yourself out there and even push your comfort zone, good things can happen.


In reviewing my pictures from 2010 I realized that I was able to rediscover places in and around where I lived... either that I had never been or forgot about it had been so long since visiting. From a trip to the Cape early in 2010 with two strangers (who soon would be good friends) that helped me discover the beauty of the ocean in late Winter, to a Spring time photo shoot at Blithewold Mansion and then a trip in the heat and humidity of July to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, it was a great year of new discoveries. Below are the images from my year end card.

With that, it's 2011 and I plan to only continue my photographic exploration and adventures. And I don't usually make resolutions but I do want to commit to regular blog writing (exact amount TBD). My friend "little Kelly" has inspired me (check out her blog "The New Adventures Preppy Camper Girl"- so fun!). She's had an opportunity over the last year to re-examine her life and priorities, the blog giving her a voice to share her insights and challenging us all to find out what what makes us really happy. To paraphrase little Kelly and the old Nike slogan - life's short, find your passion and then get our there and just do it!

Gulf Coast | Day Two

Day two dawned and my friends and I were up and out by 7:30 to continue our exploration. The haze and humidity of yesterday seemed to be gone, clearer skies in its place but the sun was out now and it was hot. Thankfully there was a breeze all day and it saved it from being unbearable. The plan today was to head East towards Pascaguola, MS, thinking to see what the beaches in that area looked like. I'm happy to report that they are much cleaner than here in Biloxi/Gulfport but it may have been due to the fact that clean up crews were out again in full force and seemed to have been there for hours before us. They walk in a straight line, side by side, down the beach, scanning for the oil as they go. Overall this beach felt more like a private beach area as the houses lining the street across from the beach are much bigger, nicer, with lots of land, big expansive porches and long driveways. Admittedly one thing I was finding hard to do was taking pictures of the cleanup crew in a more up close and personal way. It felt intrusive and my fellow photogs and I didn't know how they would react. We didn't have to worry in the end as they didn't seem to mind or are maybe being told not to react and ignore photographers.

After spending the morning here and finding again both the ugly of the cleanup along with the beauty of the beaches, we decided to explore inland and take in a tour of a bayou area in Louisiana. It was worth the trip, my friends and I enjoyed it immensely. The bayou and swamp are beautiful and didn't look at all like I pictured. But most importantly I'm happy to report I did see a gator, he was small and not too scary looking. My two friends and I and one other person were on a small flat bottom boat that the captain could zip us through fast or slow down and get in close to view the details of the trees, water lilies and wildlife. We saw Cranes of all kind, sliding turtles, and a host of other wildlife. Our guide was really good, a native of the area he showed us the signs that still linger of Hurricane Katrina like the shrimping boat that was on its side at the edge of the water. It had been flung there like a toy from 30 miles away during Katrina and it wasn't the only one. We saw at least four to five boats of various sizes that had come from other parts of Louisiana strewn around the area. Our captain told us it took them 2 years to clean up from Katrina in this area.

As day two came to a close, I was happy we took the bayou tour so we could see another part of the area that is so important to its survival. Fortunately the oil will not impact this section if it stays in the water, however, it will be a completely different story if a Hurricane makes it this way again. The wind from that type of storm could potentially bring the oil inland. 

After seeing the bayou, my sincere hope is this Hurricane season is quiet and that the cleanup efforts continue.

Final day tomorrow here in Mississippi and then home to New England by late Sunday night.

Gulf Coast | Day One

I'm in the deep South and I'm in Mississippi. Quite honestly it's not a place I thought I would ever visit for any length of time. I can't say why exactly, it's probably because I thought "too hot", "too humid". And after my first day, both are true. But to my surprise, I've learned that I like it here. Don't get me wrong, I like it enough to visit, but not to live. Right now a Boston Winter isn't looking so bad, trust me! However, there is a beauty here in the Mississippi and Louisiana that I've seen so far, a friendliness to the people that is genuine and an ease of getting around that is nice, especially compared to the hustle and flow of Boston and it's endless traffic.


So coming here under the guise of photographing what I could see of the oil spill was the main reason for the visit but today I saw more. For an area of the country still dealing with the after effects of Hurricane Katrina, feeling the pinch then maybe more deeply of this down economy and now the oil spill, I expected a deep sadness but see instead a community coming together to fix it how they can and an area with strong holiday visitor traffic, which while I'm sure is light overall is better than I expected it to be. I even saw individuals swimming in what is obviously impacted waters of the Gulf and while I personally would not feel comfortable swimming in such water, it's their choice and they made it. Maybe to enjoy this piece of their world and ride it through like they have so many other times, other disasters before. I can only guess.


So what did I see? I can feel the questions from afar. The pictures below highlight what I've initially seen. The tar balls as they call them, look honestly, just have to say it, like light brown dog poo or in some cases, as you'll see in one picture, light brown rocks. The water in one section of beach here in Gulfport has a brownish cast and if you look into it you see what appear to be rocks, but are actually the tar balls. 

As I rode with my two photo friends - Rebecca and Denise - we saw the volunteers, being paid by BP to help in the beach cleanup, up and down these beaches. They use rakes and shovels to clean the oil off the beach and bag it into trash bags. Buses dot the beach parking areas, they shuttle the volunteers back and forth from their temporary housing, paid for as part of their work here along with $18 dollars an hour. I can't imagine doing this job in the heat and humidity here, oppressive doesn't begin to describe it. I had the luxury of shooting my photos and then sitting in an air conditioned car to cool off. Working the beaches all day to clean them has to be exhausting.

Again though, as I moved through my day and drove a coastal road West towards New Orleans, I marveled at how much is still beautiful here and how rich in tradition and scenery it is. Stopping at a small town along the way - Bay St. Louis - we explored a small section of the town where wrought iron fences enclose quaint gardens, where a small cemetery sits next to a duplex and the local coffee shop.

For lunch we reached New Orleans, parked and walked part of the French Quarter until we found a place to eat. From there we wandered the streets a bit though I admit the heat got too much for us so we made our way back to the car, planning to return for drinks Saturday night. Along the way we did find street musicians who set the mood perfectly for New Orleans.


All in all, a good first day, we are all exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep to be ready for tomorrow and day two in the Gulf Coast. 


P.S. The final shot here is of a cemetery in New Orleans that we stopped to take quick pictures of through the gate as it was closed. Hoping to get more before we leave.

In my own backyard

I have the benefit of living with someone who creates wonderful gardens giving me plenty of photo opportunities throughout the Spring, Summer and even Fall. In the Spring I shot the pictures here and now with Summer finally here, more opportunities are coming both with the flowers, plants and also the birds.

The gardens attract a great variety of birds and I try to entice them with bird baths and food. So far I've seen a mating pair of Cardinals, along with a juvenile male cardinal, Robins (of course) who enjoy the bird baths in particular, the usual brown chickadees, a pair of Nuthatches and Red Headed Woodpeckers. They are quite vocal--all of them--and it's interesting to see the pecking order (pun intended) of who gets to the feeders first, who gives way when others come by. Sometimes the larger birds vacate when the small birds come by as they tend to travel in packs or as I call them--bird gangs. It makes for an entertaining time, coffee in hand, watching the back and forth. Pictures of some of my visitors will be coming as soon as I can get them used to me sitting close to them to take their pics.

Ultimately too, attracting the birds makes my indoor cats a bit crazy, which is also fun to watch. I think my black and white female, Mitzy, is going to have a kitty coronary one day she gets so excited.

One Rainy Sunday

When your alarm goes off at 7:10am on a Sunday morning, you want to hit that snooze button - hard. I was going to Blithewolde Mansion in Bristol, RI with my photography group and after a long, busy work week and a busy Saturday I really did not want to get out of bed. Especially too hearing the light patter of rain on the window, getting up and out to the rainy cold did not seem appealing at all. But I got up. Showered, dressed, quick breakfast, grabbed my pre-packed camera bag and tripod and out the door. Fortified with a large DD's coffee and my Tom Tom leading the way, I drove in the rain South to Bristol.

Amazingly by the time I arrived, along with several of my group, the rain had stopped. It was overcast and cool but the sun was trying to come out. Immediately everyone began shooting. The Spring flowers were all in bloom,

daffodils, tulips, and purple hyacinths. Within moments I could see that most of the group was on the ground, shooting closeups, finding the details in the flowers. I found one spot that I got hyper focused on. The rain had left large rain drops behind in the cups of the green leaves of plant that has yet to flower. I could have literally been there for hours, I had to force myself to walk away. I'm including one of my favorite shots of those leaves here.

After about two hours the group had explored Blithewolde fully or we were just tired and hungry. Probably the latter. In the end we all couldn't stop marveling at how nice the day ended up. The day reminded me of the old adage used around New England a lot -- "If you don't like the weather here, wait a minute". Today proved that so right.