The 57th day of the year of the Camellia

LAKE WINNEPASAUKEE, NEW HAMPSHIRE

To set the scene, it is late April or possibly very early may. It is in fact, very early in the morning, probably 5:30 or 6:00 am in the New Hampshire wilderness. Well, as close to wilderness as one can get on a lake in a state so near to Boston, Ma. The sun has not completely risen over the Eastern tree line. A tree line comprised primarily of fir and pine, each competing for every square millimeter of sparse rocky soil.

The sun is still filtering through all the air pollution from the major metropolitan areas to the south such as Boston, Connecticut, and New York. The rising light is playing off the different chemicals deposited in the air, creating all the different colors one sees during the "Golden" hours.

Here the air is clear, clean, fresh and still. Likely cold at that time of morning. It smells of the pines where we spent the previous night, tightly rolled in sleeping bags, in a cabin built during the depression of the 30's.

There are five men who have spent forty years waking to this scene or a thousand variations thereof. For forty years these same five have endured each other's company for a week of landlocked salmon fishing on Lake Winnepasaukee. It is probably one of the only chances these men have to be together each year and the friendships can best be described as closer to that of brotherhood. Although there are times when the brotherhood is tested, but then that is more like sibling rivalry. Each is approaching or passing the seventy year mark, but when the card games heat up and adult beverages flow, one would think they were still in college. Or at least college age. Or at least think they are of college age. Or simply behave as if they were college age.

In the first years we would play cards till midnight and fish at five. The measure of the adult beverages consumed was in the gallons. Today, bedtime arrives around nine pm and an occasional bottle of wine or vodka is seen. Amazing what maturity can do, or undo!

Two boats, sometimes three, set forth into the image accompanying this piece. Each man full with anticipation of the first fish of the day (first winner in the daily pool) and even perhaps the largest of the day, taken early thus reducing the competition, and creating a good nature ragging.

Coffee cups rest on the gunnel's or seats of the boats, rods are held with anticipation, and another adventure begins. "Just look at that water", says one,"Today has to be a great day to fish". "There I saw a salmon rising to the surface". You can see such things on mornings like this.

Really a great day to be alive pursuing and the noble object of Sir Isaac Walton's prose.

Sorry, but we have two months to go before this scene is played out in real time. And you dear reader must endure my own anticipation and prose about that noble object.

The 25th day of the second month of the year of the Camellia

CROP~CIRCLES

Follow up to "You've got to be there". Once you get there you need to know what it is that you are seeing.

I think that last sentence also applies to just travelling, taking in the sites, and enjoying what it really is we are seeing. Whether we are photographing or not. Vision is funny....the picture is always in the mind's eye, but the mind might not always translate some details immediately.

This a green anole lizard found all over the south. The photo on the bottom is nice, but cluttered with some out of focus bits and pieces. Looking at it carefully, and later after the heat of the shooting moment, the image reveals something altogether different.

By tightly cropping the photo to reveal the "Circles" and the image is totally redefined. It is no longer just a green anole.

The 24th day of the second month

DRUM POINT LIGHTHOUSE IN MARYLAND

Often times when I am photographing, my eye wanders to bits and pieces of the overall image and the result can be something like this picture of the old light at Solomons Island, MD.

I suppose that the motivation for something like this is varied. Looking for the different. Looking for something that can be a conversation piece. Lord forbid something that is creative. But the key is seeing.

Way before I ever thought about picking up a camera, I attended one of those local fairs. This one was in New York state and had row upon row of tents of people selling their crafts, foods, and just plain junk in some instances.

One of the tents housed a photographer who was selling his wares in all the usual form.....matted and framed mostly. The point was, he had some of the most fantastic photographs of storms coming across the plains of the Midwest and far west. Entire storm cells in one image after another tearing across the prairie with great lightning, clouds, and rain. The images were simple but complex in their detail with beautiful lighting. To this day I could not tell you who the fellow was, but his work was unique, clean, presented neatly and just plain good! His work said something the rest of us did not.

Like an idiot I asked of him................"How did you get these shots? They are fantastic"

His answer was simple yet basic to what photography is. "You just gotta to be there" was his answer. This has stuck with me now for over 25 years as my basic tenet of my photography. "You just gotta be there".

Yes, his answer was simple. But when you think of all the details and costs associated with "You just gotta be there", the whole procedure becomes much more complex.

How many times have you picked up a National Geographic and seen a photograph that you just know you could have made with your little disposable camera? For a photographer to be published in Nat Geo is like making a personal deposit to a Swiss bank account. Just isn't done that often. The key though, is the photographer in that magazine with that photo......"Was there" and you and I were not. The skills were probably there as well but in that one photo "we could have done the same thing".............If only we were there. That is the complexity of the simple answer as to "How did you get that shot"

I saw the macro image of this lighthouse, but because I was there I had the time to also see the reflection and it struck me as what a great accent it would make hanging on a wall. More than just an accent.......there is the story. Hey, it's just the reflection. Not your standard post card picture of a lighthouse. That makes it different. Kinda neat when a simple photo like this can conjure up all the words I just typed.

The 23rd day of the second month of the year of the Camellia

SILVER RIVER, FLORIDA

I had the occasion a year ago to photograph a very interesting river in Florida. The water was crystal clear and so stunningly blue that it virtually shocked me at first glimpse.

The Silver River State Park is just East of Ocala in central Florida. The River is beautiful and abounds with wildlife, boats, canoes, and kayaks. Tour boats and small pleasure crafts are present, but there is a speed limit for the entire length of the river within the park. The river is spring fed and is crystal clear from top to bottom. We were on a small Boston Whaler and had a ball.

Check out their website for more information and a great google map.

http://www.wildlifesouth.com/Locations/Florida/SilverRiver.html

The place was teeming with wading birds such as blue herons, little blue herons, great and snowy egrets, and coots. We of course saw gators and snakes, thankfully at a distance. Amazingly enough there is a large contingent of Rhesus monkeys living in the woods. Evidently it is commonplace to see them there. They were introduced and kept on an island in 1936 but swam away to the forest and have propagated ever since. The ever present turtles seemed to be sun bathing on every exposed log. A deer and her fawn rounded out the wildlife count for the day.

There are ample parking facilities, boat ramps, docks, and facilities provided by the park. At the upstream source of this spring fed river is the restaurant and gift shop. Tourist trap type of thing but a good place to take a rest after being on the water. The whole place is well maintained and patrolled. A safe place to expose the kids to nature at her best.

The 22nd day of the second month of the year of the Camellia

GRAND OPENING

MY RETAIL STORE IS NOW OPEN AND IT'S CALLED "LOOKIN IN"

http://www.etsy.com/shop/skipw

It is here that you will find my photography packaged in either ready to frame or ready to hang format. The images I will be choosing to display will be those that have sold in the past. As you can see this link is always posted on my blog, so you're only a click away at all times.

I hope this to become your source for reasonably priced quality wall art. For pieces to hang in those small awkward spots that are crying out for attention to the larger pieces that dominate conversation and highlight a huge wall. I strive for pieces which have a story and can become a topic of interest, as well as focal point, in your space.

It is my design to present images that people will want to hang in their homes and offices. Furthermore, wholesale accounts are encouraged to call or email for prices and minimum order sizes.

I utilize Paypal as my online bank and your source to use a credit/debit card. I will accept checks as well, but cash is a little risky to send in the mail. In any event you will need to email me for my address. I will ship using the US post office (pony express) and do try to keep my shipping and handling costs in line.

If someone has a design project, is a designer, or is building a new room, house, office, or hotel, I can supply the wall art.

I have almost thirty thousand images ranging from A to Z and if I don't' have it I might know where to go to get it. As some of you may know I specialize in Lighthouses, Nature, Maritime, Urban and Rural topics. I have specialized in the Mid Atlantic region around the Chesapeake Bay. That having said, I also have images of two thirds of the east coast lighthouses, some 225 separate lighthouses from Maine to Florida. So if you are working on a project in Maine, I just might have something that will help even if it is not a lighthouse.

This venture in no way deletes, hinders, impedes or in any way negates my efforts to sell images to stock agencies and publishers. They are amongst some of my favorite friends. Furthermore, as you can see on my website I have a number of colleagues that could possibly supply images that I may not have.

Finally, I will work with you to solve your design problem and we will do just that to the best of my ability.

As my father used to say to me (yeah I know it's trite), "Just remember the customer may not always be right, but he has right to be" and I added (which drove him nuts)......"No Dad, He also has the right to be wrong, but if you want the sale.........you work with him"

Not a bad philosophy, cause I will work with you!

The 21st day of the second month of the year of the Camellia

SEVENTY DEGREES HERE IN SOUTH CAROLINA!

So naturally, in addition to cleaning the yard, my thoughts turn to Spring and Summer. Nope, not yet but who knows. An entirely delightful day and I say again.....we had snow a week ago.

This is a Gulf Fritillary butterfly taken on, of all things a butterfly bush. It brings to mind my visit to the land of the Florida Gators (University that is, in Gainsville) where they have a whole display of these critters in their Butterfly Rainforest. An amazing place

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/butterflies/

They have the largest collection of mounted butterflies in the world and the whole place is just amazing.

The 20th day of the second month of the year of the Camellia

WE WORK ON SHORT NOTICE FOR LITTLE MONEY

This has not much to do with photography, but I am very pleased to report here that our neighborhood association celebrated a day called "Drainagegate".

For lack of a better term.

That is, we went out and cleaned up around drains and culverts in our neighborhood. An effort to improve the ground water runoff. I have no idea weather it will work, but it was fun making the effort. The weather did cooperate and in fact the temperature reached sixty+ degrees and it was down right balmy.

If you remember my blog a week ago....we had 5-6 inches of snow and I made a spectacular time exposure image. (If you don't know by now...that's tongue in cheek)

This crew is not a bunch of local government workers...all pulled their weight and pitched in to collect some 30 garbage bags full of dirt, sand, leaves, and other discarded human neglect.

I have purposely left out names in an effort to protect the guilty, but they are all neighbors.

Noble job!

Good people all!