Old Sturbridge Village Antique Sleigh Rally

Saturday (February 22, 2014) – There was a MeetUp on Saturday at Old Sturbridge Village for their Antique Sleigh Rally with the “Discover your passion… For Photography” group. Unfortunately, because it had to be rescheduled from another date because of the  lack of snow earlier this month, the organizer was unable to make it and we were all on our own for the day. There were lots of folks armed with cameras, but no one that I chatted with was there as a part of our group.

All of the horses were working hard pulling their sleighs through the snow. The miniatures were so cute! After the rally was over, I spent the afternoon wandering around the rest of the village.  Below are are my favorite shots from the day. Enjoy!

Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge

Tuesday (August 27, 2013) – On our drive back down the coast we made a stop at the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge is home to hundreds of birds that nest in the cliffs. In the winter months hundreds, if not thousands, of migrating humpback whales can also be found in the waters around Kauai. Unfortunately, during our trek to the Islands, they were all up in Alaska for the summer.

The Point is also home to the Kilauea Point Lighthouse. Built in 1913 to guide ships on their voyages to the Orient, it is the nation’s westernmost lighthouse. It was rededicated in May of 2013 to Hawaii’s beloved Senator, Daniel K. Inouye. Until his death in December of 2012, he had faithfully served the people of Hawaii in the U.S. Senate since 1963, “illuminating the voices of Hawaii citizens”.

Below are some of my favorite captures from my visit to Kilauea Light and Refuge. Enjoy!

This Wedge-Tailed Shearwater (‘Ua ‘U Kani) comes back every year to nest at the lighthouse. She had a new fledgling when we visited, but kept it tucked snugly underneath her while we were there.

A Red-Footed Booby (‘A) posed for us on the fence.

Ilima (Sida fallax)

Beach Naupaka (Scaevola sencea)

Plum Island

Sunday (July 14, 1013) – The Newburyport Photowalk group held a Meetup at the Plum Island Lighthouse. E & I headed up there after our afternoon at the Butterfly Place. About 20 members of the group attended. We spent some time down on the beach photographing the water and the pier. Then everyone headed over to the lighthouse.

It was nice to have other photographers around to share ideas with and to give and get advice on camera settings and composition. However, having so may people in such a small area made for some difficulty setting up shots. Someone was always wandering into someone else’s frame.

It is a very beautiful area and I will probably find myself up there again someday, but I could have done without the Noseeums and Greenheads. Below are a selection of my photographs. Enjoy!

Butterflies

Sunday (July 14, 2013) – E & I went up to the Butterfly Place in Westford, MA. It isn’t a huge place, but worth the trip, especially if you are able to buy your admission through LivingSocial or Groupon as I did.  There are butterflies fluttering all over the place. If you stand or sit still they will occasionally land on you. Once landed on E’s leg for a short bit and another on my pants. But don’t try to catch them yourselves. They are extremely fragile and doing so will get you kicked out. It has to be relatively warm for the butterflies, but they have the a/c on to keep it from getting overwhelmingly hot.

One of the complications of taking butterfly pictures is that they don’t like to pose. They are constantly flitting about and don’t stay still for long unless they are feeding. The iridescent blue one was constantly on the move and the few times he did stop, he tended to keep his wings closed. There were a couple whose wings flapped so fast they were nearly impossible to capture. Below is a sampling of the many different butterflies that we were able to photograph. Enjoy!

Jenney Grist Mill & Pond, Plymouth

Saturday (6/29/2013), I attended a Meetup with the Plymouth Digital Photographers Meetup Group. Our focus was Macro & Close-Focus Photography.  I met a lot of new interesting people that share my love of photography. It was a chance to share our knowledge, techniques and ideas.

It was pretty overcast all morning with a few intermittent showers, but that made for some great shots.  No sun meant we weren’t fighting the brightness that is often an issue when photographing flowers as well as the rain provided some great water effects on everything. Below are a sample of the photographs that I took.

Queen Anne’s Lace

Wildflower found along banks of Jenney Pond.

Water drops from rain on fallen leaf

Wild day lily

Raindrops on tall grass

Water drop on Daisy.

Dragonfly posing on wet grass.

Not sure what this flower is, but it was really pretty.

Lily pad & flower in Jenney Pond in the rain

Wild Aster

Yellow ground flower found along edge of parking lot.

Nickerson State Park Creatures and Critters

Saturday (June 22, 2013) – I had to pack up in the morning and check out to head home. Rather than get on the highway to deal with Cape traffic of everyone else that had to check out this morning, I instead directed myself further onto the Cape. First stop, Nickerson State Park.

The scenery wasn’t much to look at – lots of tree with several ponds scattered throughout, but I encountered lots of birds and bugs on my walk through the woods and around the water.

The birds were more heard than seen and when seen, would dart away just as soon as I managed to find them in my lens. I did get lucky a couple of times, though.

Below are some of my favorite critters from the morning. Enjoy!

Hyannis Harbor

Friday (June 21, 2013) – Keeping my wanderings local this day, I headed towards Hyannis and took a couple random turns and see where the roads took me. Apparently, all roads in Hyannis lead to the same couple of spots. LOL! I wound up down by the harbor watching the ferries come and go.

Here are a few shots of my visit. Enjoy!

Trunk River

Thursday (June 20, 2013) – I followed the shore road and wound my way into the Trunk River area. It’s a tiny little area where River Herring apparently go to spawn, but none were in evidence that day, having finished doing their business between March and May. Many a bird could be heard in the trees and marsh grass that surrounds Trunk River and Oyster Pond, but they were elusive and few were seen. Even fewer were caught by my lens. There were some pretty little flowers that manage to survive the wind and waves that buffet the jetties. Below are a selection of my favorite shots from the area. Enjoy!

Heritage Gardens – Part Deux

Wednesday (June 19, 2013) – Mom came down to join me on the Cape for a day or so during my vacation. We went to Heritage Gardens in Sandwich. Although it was between seasons for many of the flowers, the gardens were still magnificent.

We wandered about the many paths and explored every nook and cranny. We found the requisite frogs hidden in the frog pond. I put my macro lens to plenty of use. The day was beautiful!

There were too many pictures to choose from, so I broke the photographs into two blog posts. Below are the second selection of my favorites from the day. Enjoy!

Heritage Gardens – Part One

Wednesday (June 19, 2013) – Mom came down to join me on the Cape for a day or so during my vacation. We went to Heritage Gardens in Sandwich. We missed the Rhododendron Festival by about a week and many of the lilies had yet to make an appearance, but the gardens were still magnificent.

There are many paths throughout the grounds to explore. There’s a great frog pond and a beautiful old carousel. There is also a car museum, but we didn’t go inside to check that out. The day was too beautiful!

There were too many pictures to choose from, so I broke the photographs into two blog posts. Below are the first selection of my favorites from the day. Enjoy!

Seagull Beach – Shorebirds, sand & seashells

Monday (June 17, 2013) – I had some time to kill in the morning before L & J and their respective kids arrived for a visit down the Cape, so I headed over to Seagull Beach for a little while to get some shots of the shorebirds. The Piping Plover, Least Tern and American Oystercatcher all nest in the area. They move pretty fast so my reflexes and ability to focus on the fly (no pun intended) were really put to the test. Below are some shots from my morning sojourn to the beach. Enjoy!

Carol’s Garden – Early June

Saturday (June 8, 2013) – My Mom has always had a green thumb. Since her retirement kicked in a few years ago, she has developed her yard into magnificent gardens. As the months turn from Spring to Summer to Fall, something is always in bloom.

Not only are they beautiful to look at, they give me the opportunity to hone my nature photography skills and put my macro lens to use.

Here are a selection of my shots from early June. Enjoy!