Winter Interlude: Frozen Bubbles and Frosty Snow

 My DragonWing Arts classes have been on hiatus, and are back in gear tomorrow, so I'll be sharing some art projects again very soon.  In the meantime, I've been making the best of winter weather and cold temperatures, by attempting to freeze bubbles and photograph them, and taking walks tromping through freshly fallen snow.  So I thought I'd share a few pics! 

4th of July Fireworks Fun!

It's been a while since I took some time to take a break from art education stuff and just share my latest photos with you.  So I figured I'd do it today, with fireworks photos!  On the 4th of July, I tend to avoid big crowded fireworks shows, and favor sitting on our dock by our sweet little lake, where inevitably someone nearby or across the lake will be setting off some fireworks, as in the pic above.

In the past couple of years, our son and his friends gather at our "camp" for the 4th of July holiday, and, being mature young adults of between 26 and 28 years old, they think setting off fireworks is a wonderful thing.  My son, being a photo nut like his mom, sets up a tripod and takes pics while his friends all light the Roman candles and other fireworks. But these are not his photos; they are mine.  The photo above is a single 15 second exposure, with a lot of camera movement.

I got my tripod set up, set my Nikon on bulb, put a new battery in my remote, and took some dusk and sunset pics while waiting to see what would be occurring on the lake.  Some kayakers paddled by in the waning sunlight.

My son, seeing the rosy sunset glow, used his phone to take some photos since his camera was ready and adjusted for fireworks.

I played with sparklers on the dock and used my remote to make some ghost pics of myself, while waiting for actual fireworks.

 The boys started using their fireworks on the end of the dock.

Just south of us, someone put on a beautiful fireworks show readily visible from my seat on the back of the dock.  I think this pic below looks like dandelion fluff.

But it got crowded on the back of the dock, and as it got darker, I began to worry that my tripod would get knocked over and my Nikon would end up in the lake.  So I took the camera off the tripod, and put it around my neck, and stepped back off the dock.

 I moved my camera freely during open exposures, zoomed in and out, and just had fun taking shots with no idea how they'd look.  I was pretty pleased with how much fun these images turned out!

 Here's a ghost tree and a spinal column!

 This one below looks to me like a profile of a long-necked woman with green eyes, pink ears, and white hair piled on her head.  Can you see it?

 Hopefully, the precautions that were used mean that there won't be any burn marks on our new dock.  My husband and son spent several days building it, just last week! Here they are, admiring their work.

 While they worked on building the dock, I kayaked to my favorite marsh and ended up taking these pictures of dragonflies. 

And finally, while my husband put the finishing touches on the dock, I tried out my brand-new French easel and some oil paints in anticipation of the week-long plein air painting workshop I will be taking in just another week.  I haven't ever painted plein air before, and I hadn't used oil paints in 30 years, so I expect it to be quite an adventure!

 Goodnight, all!  Thanks for visiting!

A new lens, a little nature

 It's been a while since I've done a post like this, simply sharing recent photos.  This post will contain no education jargon, no controversial art ed issues, no how-to information on a certain art material, and no 'show and tell' of student projects.  

Instead, today I'm simply sharing some recent photos with you.  Some of these images were shot at our lakeside Adirondack 'camp', both on land and in my kayak, others were taken at Quechee Gorge in nearby Vermont, and still more were from a recent road trip to some locks along the Champlain canal system, just 1/2 hour from my home.

I generally take 2 cameras with me when I head out for the day.  One is a Nikon DSLR, and the other is  a good quality Sony point & shoot.  Recently, my Sony was sent out to get its sensor cleaned, and since I was missing its incredible zoom capabilities, I took it as an opportunity to FINALLY buy a telephoto zoom for my Nikon that I've wanted for a while.  I had held off making the purchase because these lenses always seemed too heavy for my needs.  When I was shown this new model Nikkor 55-200 zoom lens, I was smitten.  It is light, compact, and I've been very pleased with the image quality and eases of use. Most of the photos in this post were shot using the new lens.

The pic on the left below, a marsh outcropping, looks to me like a fairy tale castle!
The one on the bottom right feels like a Monet painting, though they are not waterlilies.

 

 When I was little, watching boats go through the canal was a favorite family activity.

 Doesn't this photo below make you think of the Hudson River School of painting?

 Above, my son on Father's Day

And below, an osprey high above on a perch on top of a power pole.

And a few more pics...

    And that's all for tonight!  Next post, back to our "regularly scheduled programming"!