Retirement of this Blog

I've come to a decision to officially retire this blog.  The name no longer fits with my new method of posting.  I'll keep it around for a while, because I like to come back to it.

I want to thank all of you who have looked over my photos, commented, and became friends.  It's been an incredible experience for me.

I've found what I think will be become a more interesting method of posting.  It's called Tumblr.  It seems to be to be a combination of Facebook, Blogs, and Twitter combined into one application.  It's very easy to post photos, links, quotes, audio, video, and chat all from one place.  I hope you'll come over and check it out.

The new address is http://photographer-wannabe.tumblr.com

Come on over and have some fun.

Steve

A Trip to NY City

Gary and Maude Rith invited us along for a day in NY City.  Since it's been 30 years since I've been there, I said let's go.  And go we did.

 Being a  a "Go with the Flow" type of guy, I really appreciate Gary planning the event, and his knowledge of the city.  Judy and I held on for the ride.

Our first race was to Grand Central Station to catch a subway south.  (Sorry about the blurry photo, I was crossing the street while taking the shot.)

I think I could spend several days just in Grand Central station taking photos.

After taking the 6 train we met one of Gary's customers, Julie, at the vegan restaurant Wild Ginger on Broom Street.  This was some of best vegan food I have ever eaten.

It was a good thing we stopped because we were just beginning, and needed the substance for the rest of the day.

Julie spent most of the day with us, and was a lot of fun to be around. 

Maude's sisters also live in NY, and joined us.  Wow, we had 4 tour guides for the two of us!

I could easily spend a life time in NY photographing buildings.  While people were finishing their deserts at a vegan bakery, I wondered the streets taking photographs of the interesting buildings.

I live in a very rural area.  Birds are very wary of people in this area, and it's difficult to take photos of them.  I'm always intrigued when we are in areas that have a lot of people, and birds respond in a much different way.  I spent some time photographing pigeons, and photographing people taking photographs of pigeons.  (I think that Gary also took photographs of me taking photographs of pigeons.)
These photos were from Sutton Park.  I think that is the Queensboro Bridge in the background. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Or course, I have to have at least one type of tourist photo.  Here's Radio City Music Hall.

I think one of the really neat things about traveling with Gary and Maude is that we were able to see a different part of the city that is not the typical tourist things to see.  Here we are outside a small shop that sells tens of thousands of all types of buttons. 

After a fun day of travel we stopped for dinner at Heartland Brewery on 6th ave.  We thought it best to sample the various hardy beverages, and we were not disappointed.  (The food was also great.)


So there you have my travel log of the trip.  I must return sooner than 30 years from now.  I may not be quite as quick at 80 as I am at 50.

Camping at Peg's Pond

Peg's Pond is a magical place without electricity, a pit toilet, no running water, no cell phone service, and plenty of places to pitch a tent. We spend the weekend as we have for over 30 years with great friends. Cooking is all done over a wood fire where food tastes the best. I especially like the roasted sweet corn. It's a time of swimming, having a few drinks, resting, and reading. May you enjoy your Peg's pond sometime this summer.

Friday Night at The Haunt with The Purple Valley

After a day of wine tasting we headed to the Haunt in Ithaca to listen to The Purple Valley play some of their great music. I enjoy taking photos of people when they are doing what they really love.

Friday Wine Tasting the Finger Lakes

The Finger Lakes Region of NY has some fantastic wineries. Last Friday Judy and I were able to take a shuttle tour of several of the Wineries around Seneca Lake.

Although we really enjoyed the day long event, I think that one or two wineries would be enough for one day. My palate quickly looses it's ability to distinguish between the various wines.  

We really enjoyed the Dry Riesling and the Gewurztraminer.

BAMF Art Blog Bunch Summer Show

Some of the members of the BAMF Art Blog Bunch have gotten together and entered this online show. Please have a look at our work!


Kasey Baker

My thoughts: I have so many thoughts. This is the Summer show and this is my Summer entry. As I said last show I plan on doing a painting for each of the seasons. This is just the Summertime feel for me. Vacations, getting away and being in your own little world. 

I don't have etsy or anywhere else I sell things.  If you want to buy things from me you'll have to contact me by email or facebook.  

I have a blog which is the most important thing that exists on the internet today. You might be reading this on it. Kudos, you. You make good decisions. 

Here's some other things I've done in a facebook photo album. 

Gary Rith

(vase by Gary Rith)
When you have a show, you want to showcase something amazing, and this is actually a humble little vase, BUT I had been fiddling with my glazes and wound up with this wild and bright TURQUOISE last week, which I used here with the frogs. Frogs and bright turquoise are quite summery! I will be tempted to use turquoise on everything. In additon, this vase, as humble as it is, has an unusual origin. 4 years ago in October I had my first ever open studio on Columbus Day weekend. My first EVER web customer CM came down from Toronto and Allison and Trevor came from across the street, along with dozens of other people. Allison was HUGELY pregnant and gave birth a day or 2 later. Allison's mom came to visit my studio with her grandaughter last week and this is the vase I made, and I was able to joke that the last time (nearly 4 years ago) Roxy was in my studio, she was just a big bump in her mama's belly....
You can email me directly about purchases garyrith@yahoo.com or purchase this vase or something like it at my online etsy gallery and look at what I am up to every day on my daily blog.

Steve Gallow

Summer Time is a time of relaxation and adventure.  My family likes to travel to different parts of the world to see new things.  As a photographer, this is a great time to find new subjects to photograph.  I enjoy photographing the typical tourist shots in new ways that haven't been seen before.  I hope that you will enjoy the few photos that I selected as part of the BAMF Art Blog Bunch's Summer Art Show.  See them here on my Smugmug Site.  Stevo

George and Maureen Johnson
Here is George's entry in the Art Blog Show. He loves to make unusual bottles with sculpted stoppers. He works with glazes called saturated, in this case saturated black. It has a sort of soft metallic look to it. The bottle is wheel thrown, the base is hand built (but attached), the stopper is hand sculpted to resemble wrapped wire. The bottom of the stopper is glazed with a textured glaze. It is made out of stoneware. The size of the bottle is 8 1/4" tall including stopper. If you are interested in purchasing this bottle the price is $40.00 plus shipping. You can email me at mjohnson100@wi.rr.com
Here is my entry for the Art Show. This is what is called a "Gourd Pitcher". As you know I have a great love for ancient styles, but love to put a modern twist to them in regards to the glaze choices. It is wheel thrown, stoneware. The pitcher has a pulled handle with a sort of gourd vine curl at the end. I fired this piece to cone 5 with a 15 minute soak. The reason I fired it that way is because I like the results on the reactive glaze in juxtaposition to the solid green color. I didn't want them to run together. The pitcher is 9 3/4" Tall, the cups are 3" in diameter and appx. 2 1/2" tall.

The price is $50.00 plus shipping for the complete set. I do not sell online, so you can email me at mjohnson100@wi.rr.com if you are interested in purchasing it.

Kerry Barnes
This is always how it starts out, isn't it?  A perfect, tranquil day and then... chaos! Danger! Adventure!

Available as a framed, matted print up to 11"x14".
Please email me for details and prices.

Ithaca Kind of Day

Saturday Judy and I had an Ithaca kind of day.  We began the day with a trip to the Ithaca Farmers Market.  It's an incredible place where incredible foods meet incredible artisans and musicians  on a waterfront.  Every week it's something new with different bands, the latest harvest, and amazing people.  It's a must see if you are in the Ithaca area.

We purchased great foods that we would eat at the end of the day.

I took this photo or orange while I worked on my Miksang Photography skills.

Our next stop was the Ithaca Commons.  It's another must see if you're in the Ithaca area.  There a lot of shops that you wouldn't see anywhere else.  It's also a great place to go to watch people.  (I didn't take any photos here today, but have in the past.)

Later in the evening we made our way with the bounty that we had collected at the Farmers Market to Taughannock Falls.  We walked the short 3/4 mile walk up the gorge to see the falls.  It's been a dry summer, so the falls are just a trickle. 

After the hike the the falls we made our way back to the lake where we had a picnic supper, and waited for the Summer Concert Series to begin.  At 7:00 we were treated to the sounds of Joe Crookston and the Bluebird Jamboree.  I'm not sure if Joe Crookston normally plays alone or with the Bluebird Jamboree, but they had a great time together.  Each member of the Bluebird Jamboree is and incredible artist as well.  A good time was had by all, and the weather was fantastic.  A great end to a great day.

Another Tree That I Have Been Watching

Last night Judy and I started with a beer at the Chapter House with Gary and Maude and Friends, and then the Ithaca Artist's Market.  The Ithaca Artist's Market is a great event that happens once a year.  It was a great opportunity to see other people's work from the area.  There are a lot of photographers in this area, and some of their work is fantastic.

On the way home, we had to take a detour because of road work.  As we passed Ludgate Farms, I noticed this tree. I've driven by this tree several times, and have often thought of stopping and photographing it.  Last night the lighting was spectacular.  Thank you detours.

Steve

Cat Tails

I took a photo walk this morning.  I'm always surprised by what I end up photographing when I go on a photo walk.  The things that I think will be interesting turn out not to be, and things I didn't even think of stand out yelling photograph me.  This was one of those days.

In this photo I like how the leaves have the look of ribbons.

Enjoy your weekend.

Lighthouses, Birds, and Deserts. A Week Long Family Vacation/Photo Shoot of the Outer Banks.

Our family just returned from a week long vacation at the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I decided to post a few of my favorite photos from the trip.
Before this year I knew very little about this area of the country. It's an incredible area that I highly recommend.
If you've never been to the Outer Banks the first thing you should do is look at a map.

View Larger Map

You can easily see that the Outerbanks is a series of Islands off of North Carolina. One one side of the Island is the Sound, and the other side is the Ocean.

We stayed in Rodanthe. It was a short walk to the Ocean and the Sound. Each body of water offers two very unique attraction. On the Ocean side the waves are incredible. There are many surfers and fishers. We spent time there body surfing, swimming, looking at crabs at night, and combing the beach for shells. On the Sound side there are various types of sports like kite surfing, jet skiing, and bird watching.

Lighthouses

If you enjoy Lighthouses, the Outer Banks is for you. There are 5. Bodie Island, Cape Hatteras, Currituck Beach, Ocracoke, and The Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse. We visited two while we were there Cape Hatteras, and Ocracoke. Cape Hatteras is probably the most famous of the Light Houses. For a small fee you can climb the stairs, and get an incredible view from the top. Be prepared to climb!



Interior of Cape Hatteras Light House

Two Ravens Hang Out on top of Ocracoke Lighthouse

Birds
Although I know very little about birds, I very much enjoyed seeing many types of birds that are not common where I live. Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge has several experts. While there we observed Gulls, Pelicans, Egrets, Mocking Birds, and Osprey.

Desert

A quick visit to Jockey's Ridge State Park gives vistors an opportunity to climb 100 foot sand dunes.  We felt like we were in the desert.  In this first photo our group stands before descending the valley, and climbing to the next dune in the distance.

I'm now relaxed. I'm going to have to try and fit my feet back into shoes after a week of sandals and flip flops. I'll begin looking at a calendar again tomorrow to see what day it is.

Currituck Club on Dwellable

Magic Bus

When I was driving home the other day I came across this gem. Old buses come in handy for many things in this area. Campers, homes, storage, and a farm transport vehicle. But the most interesting use was as a Pig House. I'm not sure what is up with this one, but i was a great opportunity for some photographs.

More Fireworks

This weekend we were invited to a lot of different events, so we had to pick and choose.  We spent a lot of time with Aunts, Uncles, Parents, Cousins, and new family members.  We shared the stories of our family, laughed, remembered those who are no longer with us, and played with those who have just begun their journey.  It was so much fun!

Some neighbors also invited us to their annual party.  We saw neighbors, and celebrated with more fireworks.

The celebration began with sparklers for the kids.  I tried to play with the sparklers, but I was told I needed to be more responsible.  I stuck to my camera.

After the sparklers the fireworks began. This one looks like it was sponsored by Nike.

Happy birthday USA.  Remember your diverse roots, learn from your mistakes, be humble in your accomplishments, and move toward a better world for all.