On the rocks

On this New Years Eve, I hope it's not you that is on the rocks... only your beverage.

Wishing you a safe and happy new year.

Light show

Seems like the drive-through light display has become a popular community event. This one has two miles of color, and an easy way to get your Christmas light viewing fix.

Stairway

Merry Christmas

I wish all a very happy and safe holiday season.

From previous years: 2010, 2011, 2012.

At the end of the street

A bit of sunshine and sky blue makes such a difference. I feel better and don't seem to mind the snow and cold so much... but it was 13F this morning.

No turn on red

Sometimes I like to shoot pictures though the windshield. But you got to be quick. And you only get one shot.

Brick and blue

Lake Placid

Don't tell Mark that I snuck into his backyard again without his knowledge. It was unplanned, and we were only there for a few hours.

The picture is from the most obvious spot for lake photos in Lake Placid village. The tiny town was twice the site of the winter olympics.

What is a bit strange is that the lake in the shot is not Lake Placid at all, but rather Mirror Lake. Lake Placid is down the road a bit and not adjacent to the village. Wonder why?

Crosswalk

Algonquin

You don't see doorways like this every day. And, by the way, it is not often that you see me in one of my photos either.

Snow patterns

Launderette

House on the hill

Blue heaven

I am not sure if there is heaven, or if there is, what it is like. We are grounded on this earth and can only look though the framework of our perception and limited understanding. At best it is a restricted view.

I do think that when we leave out earthly home, our spirit must persist in some form. To me, it is unfathomable that years of existence can so suddenly be extinguished.

My mother passed away yesterday after gracing this world, and my life, for 89 years.

And one thing I know, if there is a heaven, that is where she is now.

As for me, I am not in heaven, but I am blue.

First snow 2013

Woke up this morning to a little white stuff on the ground. Not much. Not enough to cover the roadways.

But as the day went on there was more. By tonight the roads were pretty slippery in parts.

This is only November, right?

But for sure, a start of another snow season.

ECU

That's Extreme Close-Up if you don't happen to know.

Roger Cicala of LensRentals fame writes an informative and entertaining blog which I follow. He has a fun contest going on right now that I decided to enter with a version of the above photo (ECU of a cactus... the image area is only about an inch across). There are a number of categories which you can check out for yourself with this link.

The category I entered was "Largest Number of Accessories Between the Lens and the Camera" and the photo below shows my set-up.

And here is the recipe incase you want to try it too.

Olympus OMD EM-5, MFT to EOS adapter, Canon extension tube, Tamaron 1.4X telextender, LensBaby Composer, Lensbaby wide-angle adapter, Lensbaby macro close-up lens, and a bubble level on top (although not between the camera and lens, it is a bonus).

Holdout

Fall colors, going fast

Frosty mornings and shorter days can only mean one thing... autumn will soon yield to winter. But before that happens I have to post at least one photo of fall colors.

Balloons sell cars

Everyone knows that nothing sells cars quite as well as colorful balloons. The more the better. 

Masonic Temple

What are the mysteries held there? Guess I will never know.

Village Vet

Powerline

Delivering hydropower from Niagara to Buffalo and points south.

Strange light

Dark overhead sky, but strong western backlight, makes me want to capture pictures.

A lonely duck

The Sam Patch

A replica of an early Erie Canal packet boat that plies the waters for tourist excursions. This gray day it is carrying a load of seniors, and I wonder how long it will be before I join the group.

Sam Patch was a daredevil who jumped Niagara Falls, then set his sights on Rochester's 99 foot High Falls. His first attempt went well but the encore did not.

The updated canal joins the Genesee River near the High Falls, but in Sam's day it crossed the river on a aqueduct.

The lobby

I recently traveled to the Washington DC area for work. Some of our company offices are located in the Gannett/USA Today building in McLean, Virginia. The building can only be described as spectacular, built about ten years ago when the publishing business was booming. The lobby is large enough to be an airline hanger, and the use of glass and marble is everywhere. For some reason this young girl was skipping though the lobby which kind of makes the picture I think.

The news business today is not so rosy. With several rounds of layoffs, many employees have skipped out the door, leaving excess office available for sublet.

Mr. Punkin

A sure sign that autumn is with is.

I've been to the future

Not really... but it seemed that way.

Washington DC's Dulles International Airport has always been unique. The main terminal building is relatively small for a large airport. Travelers are shuttled to their departure gates out on the field in "mobile lounges"... large bus-like vehicles that not only travel horizontally but also vertically. At least that is the way it used to be.

Not having been in this here for a few years I was surprised to see that most of the mobile lounges have been retired and replaced by automated underground subway trains. Apparently the designers of these new conveyances decided to utilize lighting to minimize the feeling of being below ground. The end result is very science fiction... at least to me.

Kind of like what I think the future could be.

Who stole the house?

Gee, I thought I had trouble.

Artist alley

Busy street in old town

Street walkers

No, not that kind of streetwalker. 

Fountain in the square

Au Petit Hotel

Windows and doors

Street scene, frozen in time. Quebec City.

Down a blind alley

Perhaps this post is not about a blind alley, but at the moment that is about all I can think of.

The few of you that follow my blog (thanks!) may be wondering why I have not posted for over three weeks now. 

Well, the story is that upon returning home a few weeks ago I discovered that my home had been broken into, and my iMac computer, HDTV and a few other items were gone. We could not find any obvious means of breaking in which has made it all the more disturbing to deal with. Loosing valuable possessions is not pleasant, but even worse is the creepiness of strangers being in your house.

This of course has made me realize that what I though of as adequate home protection was not adequate at all, a situation that we have now rectified, perhaps to the point of being overly prepared. But experiencing a situation like is a wake-up call that has to be addressed.

The only good news is my perpetrator was kind enough to leave behind my back-up hard drive that contains all of my photos in RAW as well as processed versions.

I have tried to process and post some images on my iPad while waiting for the replacement iMac, but I found the available photo applications not totally up to the task. I had high hopes and some success with Photoshop Touch but finally came to realize it does not process RAW. Photogene is quite good, but lacks some key functions that I like to use.

I am now back in business with a higher powered iMac, and I have a backlog of images to post from my recent time in Canada... the photos above were taken in Montreal. I will be putting up those images over the next week or so, once again breaking my rule of keeping them fresh (a concept that no one else seems to care much about anyway).

So perhpas the tile for the post should not be "blind alley" it should be "robbed blind".

Nighttime in old Quebec

This picture is pretty much a mess.... shot on a small sensor... high ISO... processed on an iPad.

But I do think it captures a feeling of being in the quiet streets of the old town with a near full moon above.

Travel

Travel is great, and one of the best parts is the new photos ops. Here in Quebec City there are lots of wonderful things to see.

The photo below is for my friend Ken. I had no idea he was in the restaurant business, and a good cook by my experience.

That sky

I have to say I am a sucker for color streaked skies. As far as I am concerned they are not only great backdrops, but interesting on their own.

But maybe it is just me.

The Great Embankment

This section of the Erie Canal was built upon what became know as The Great Embankment, a mile long build-up causeway over Irondequoit Valley and Creek. After the initial construction in 1822 (using only horse carts and hand shovels) the creek was routed though a culvert over 70 feet below the canal.

The canal has been enlarged and improved twice since the first construction and, of course, the embankment has also been reinforced. Today there is a roadway along the canal path that gently dips below the level of the canal surface making you realize you are lower than the tons of water and boats above... a strange feeling.

The canal has burst near here on two occasions with devastating damage. The last time was in the mid '70s. There are gates on either side of the embankment that can be closed, but not quickly, and many homes, cars and businesses were damaged by the rush canal water.

The bridge behind

The canal bridge behind the Hess gas station provides an unusual juncture of shapes.

Handprint

Kinda thought Tom Hanks had been here.

Valve protection

Calendar picture

Hard to resist. Field of corn, red barn, blue sky with puffy clouds. Not exactly a unique picture, but a pretty one I think.

It is a scene that many would find attractive, but few would stop to take the photo. Except someone capturing calendar pictures.

Purple sprinkles