Pleasure

Judging from the number of footprints, many people took pleasure in the beach at Sandy Point on Plum Island, Massachusetts on an early November weekend.

3-exposure HDR processed in Photomatix.

The Arts

Walking along the Charles River in Boston, we crossed under a road through a viaduct that contained this tile mural depicting a scene from Revolutionary War times. I enjoyed this blend of history and the arts.

Symbol

My grandpa, an engineer, graduated from this fine institution. Today, my aunt, his youngest daughter, lives within a 10 minute walk of the campus.

"N" is for

...never be afraid to ask for a critique. Here is my second try at the cove at Stage Fort, after some feedback from the blogosphere. Less heavy handed....is it nicer? More natural?

Heavy

Topaz Adjust 5 has a setting called Heavy pop grunge. I like what it did to this image of the beach cove from Stage Fort State Park. This image is taken across the cove from last week's photo.

Here's the original:

What do you think? Is Heavy, too heavy?

Rule of thirds

As many of you know, my DBF Jon is very interested in bird photography. I frequently accompany him on his outings, so when he wanted to leave for Thanksgiving dinner at his sister's a couple of hours early, I knew he had a bird-scouting adventure in mind. His sister lives about 30 minutes from Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. Jon had read on a friend's blog about seeing a snowy owl in the Refuge, and he wanted to see if he could find it. The friend's description of the location was "along Dike Road".

Hmmmmm.

Still, Jon's a great spotter, and it wasn't long before he found this beautiful bird. We took a few photos, piled back in the car, and headed off for a terrific day of family, football and food.

Home, I cropped this image down to follow the rule-of-thirds (I think), by positioning the eye of the owl in the upper third intersection of the photo. A little sharpening and here's my image.

Generous

Mother Nature served up a generous helping of gorgeous scenery on the rocky Atlantic shore at Halibut Point State Park in Massachusetts.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Be generous with your thanks today!

K is for . . .

. . . knowledge. In yesterday's post, many of you wondered what was at the end of the boardwalk.

Now you know. Top shot is looking south; bottom shot is looking north. Interesting how the camera interprets the light differently. Both shots were taken about noon.

Flat

Although the dunes on Plum Island in Massachusetts were fairly rolling, the boardwalk was flat enough to make it an easy walk down to the beach.

(Yes, I am a shameless theme-stretcher...)

Interior

The interior of Plum Island in Massachusetts was largely made up of these lovely salt marshes. The grasses were a beautiful gold, there was still a surprising amount of color in the trees, and the day was mild for November. A touch of Topaz brought out the distant trees.

Renewal

A lone oarsman likely experiences a renewal of spirit as he cruises in the reflection of buildings on the Charles River early last Sunday morning.

Topaz really helped with this one. This view is facing east, about 8:30 AM. The buildings and trees were in shadow as I aimed into the rising sun. Using Adjust 5, I was able to recover the beautiful colors in the trees along the riverbank. The original image appears below.

From my past

What (or who?) can be more from your past than your relatives! Jon snapped this picture of me with my Aunt Celeste. Many of you "know" my Aunt Betsy from Bobbie's mentions of her in her blog. Celeste is the youngest of the three sisters on mom's side. (My mom was the oldest). She hosted us during our Boston weekend, and came along on our day trip to the Gloucester coast.

Isolation

What better place to find peace and isolation than a November beach on the Atlantic coast?

Cove at Stage Fort State Park, Gloucester, MA

Warm

On Saturday, November 12, it was warm enough in Massachusetts to take a shirt-sleeves hike through lovely Halibut Point State Park, which boasts this pretty fresh-water quarry on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

Rough

The surface of this boardwalk, leading to the Atlantic Ocean on Plum Island, Mass., was fairly rough.

Used my newly-installed Topaz Adjust 5. Much faster to load than 4, and lots of new sliders and presets. Fun to use!

Compact

Compact little sailboats await their sailors. Charles River, Boston MA.

Motion

Practicing panning on a flock of sanderlings cruising the Massachusetts shore. This is really cool, enlarged.

Chimney

A chimney beside an old manufacturing plant in Gloucester, MA.

Precious

Visiting family in the Boston area this weekend, and we took a drive to the Cape Ann area. While exploring Andrews Point, we made friends with this precious pup.

Sandy

Who would think that this long, lovely, sandy sweep of beach is just a few miles from downtown Chicago? Montrose Avenue Beach, one of my childhood playgrounds, looking north from the breakwater.

Scattered

Golden leaves scatter across the surface of a pond. The older, brown leaves are underwater.

Heartwarming

One giraffe loving up on another giraffe. Isn't that heartwarming?

Orbs

orb/ôrb/
Noun: A spherical body

Something about me

During my formative years, (1st-7th grades), I lived in Chicago, about 4 miles from downtown. I loved living there - we had beaches a block away, miles and miles of bike trails, woods in the many parks, a free zoo with horses (!) to visit, cheap transportation via bus or train downtown (things were different back then; my 10 year old self and friends were allowed to bus downtown without the parents), and friends from all walks of life. Today, we live about 75 miles away and get into the city several times a year for the theater, or just to wander around the lakefront, downtown, or museums.

Bliss

This wood duck floats along blissfully on a golden pond. The water takes its color from reflected golden maple trees.

Pastels

You should be able to find more than a few pastels in this palette of eye shadow pots.

Interaction

(I hope the theme police will forgive this somewhat risque interpretation of the theme, but frankly I was surprised the Secretary of State would issue this plate number...at least six times....)

Ordinary

I took an ordinary photo of some clouds and livened it up with Topaz Adjust.

Elegant

Movement

When Ellen and I were at the zoo, we practiced our panning shots on the carousel. Her shots turned out great. Mine....not so much. This is my best attempt at capturing movement.

Happy November, everyone! Only TWO MONTHS TO GO!!!