Canal ducks

I guess no one told the ducks.

The canal has been closed to traffic for the season, but the ducks did not get the notice (they are the little dots in the water... click for a bigger picture... still pretty small).

Of course, even with the canal drained, there is still enough water for a duck... so I guess they really don't care.

Southpoint

The cold snow of winter has rendered the bay a smooth white plane of white. The boat docks are empty. Abandoned isolation seems to have set in.

Cold morning

The last few morning have been cold... only in the single digits, and that is Fahrenheit single digits.

We aren't experinecing the coldest temperatures in New York State... it's been well below zero in the Adirondacks.

And there has been snow too... not a lot, but enough.

I guess is must be winter.

Intersection

A quick draw photo.

Keeping the camera near me sometimes means, even in traffic, grabbing a photo when something catches my eye. Often this hurried exposure leads nowhere, but other times it can be interesting.

By the way, this was a 1/2 second exposure handheld while waiting for the light... a testimony to how good image stabilization can be (notice the car light streaks). Not saying this is a technically great photo, but still surprising to me.

Waiting for the bus

This picture reminds me how big tress are, and how small people are.

The mounds of Monroe

Just having a little fun here.

My fellow blogger, Colin Griffiths, has created many fine photos of the Scottish Munros. He is a talented photographer and lover of the outdoors. I admire his work very much. So for some reason these mounds of soil on Monroe Avenue struck me as miniature versions of the Munros.

Yes it seems like a strange connection... but my mind, at times, works in mysterious ways.

Munros or Monroe's... not quite the same in grandeur or photographic interset, but that is what I have to offer this day.

What I see

What I see depends on where I am and where I go.

Obvious I know, but I sometimes feel like my options for pictures is limited by where I live. It seems that middle american suburban living is not as interesting picture wise as larger cities, small towns, European metros, forests, mountains or foot hills.

Maybe it is just an excuse.

What motivates you to take photos? Do you feel limited by your environment or am I just not "seeing" well?

College town

Rochester has two fairly large private universities; the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology... both are alma maters of mine. The University of Rochester is the largest employer in the area when you count the the medical center and Eastman School of Music. Then there is Monroe Community College, St. John Fisher and pictured above, Nazareth College. Also there are the two SUNY schools close by; Brockport and Geneseo. Not to mention Bryant & Stratton, a for profit college, and a former customer of mine.

Education is big business, but it also adds a lot to the community, for which I am thankful.

X marks the spot

To tell the truth, I did not see the X until processing the photo on my computer.

And speaking of seeing, there are at least four ducks in the picture, three of which can be found near the center of the X. As always, click to make the photo bigger... like you don't know that!.

Oil

An oil refinery is not a common site, but it is a facility that we all rely on to power our cars and sometimes heat our homes. I would guess this is a pretty small refinery by industry standards. Located in Warren Pennsylvania it is an independent company known as United Refinery.

Warren is a relatively small town with a long history with oil that started in late 1800's. Numerous wells produced crude here, but it did not last long. Now most of the input for this plant arrives in a pipeline and departs in the familiar gas tanker trucks.

I am amazed at the complexity, and the photo only shows a portion of the plant located on the Allegheny river near the confluence with Conewango Creek.

Oak leafs

The oak tree is unique as a deciduous tree in that most varieties are marcescent, meaning they do not shed their leaves in the fall like most leafy trees, but hold them until spring.

Buffalo Botanical

Rochester has a nice botanical garden in the Lamberton Conservatory but in Western New York the Buffalo Botanical Gardens is the winner.

There is something magical about visiting one of these spaces when the view outside the glass walls is snow and the outside temperature is only in the teens.