The Weekend in Black and White

It looks as though I have traveled to some exotic locale to take this photo, but it was actually taken in a neighboring town on a gorgeous property run by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.  A beautiful spot to walk around, dream, picnic or take photo's to your hearts content...

The texture in this photo is not crisp and sharp, as many black and white photo's are.
But I like the graineness of it - somehow I think it works with the grainy texture of a stone or cement statue.

I've come across a very interesting blog - The Weekend in Black and White - and am linking this post up with them.  You could spend hours looking at all of the great black & white photographs and blog postings.

frame within a frame....

... is the most recent exploration series with Kat Sloma from The Kat Eye View of the World; Exploring with a Camera series.  When I read the newest exploration series posted by Kat would be "frame within a frame" and I saw all of the beautiful examples, I must admit that my first reaction was "ugh - why can't we have something easy!"  But once again my creative mind has been exercised and my own "eye view" has grown.

We live in the suburbs of Boston.  I was wishing for centuries old crumbling archways with quaint village scenes just beyond...but not much of that to be found around here.


These goats seem to be quite content living at the local ice cream stand.  My dear husband pointed out to me that the window in the rear of the shed is actually a frame.. within a frame...within a frame.

In this photo I did some cropping and realized that I had already framed this view between the trees.

This scene is the first idea that came to me when I thought about what might fit the bill for a frame within a frame...




and the brick wall in this photo frames the window...which frames the flag indoors.

Weekend Reflections

My first time linking with Weekend Reflections

"The place to see and share photographs of reflections"

Thought it would be appropriate to include a few photo's taken around my home town...   

reflections in water . . . . .

 the Sudbury River at sunset

reflections of a pair of swans on a local pond..

and more reflections in water courtesy of a pair of canadian geese.

Wishing everyone a happy weekend

The Butterfly Place

LOVED  The Butterfly Place.....

Located in Westford, Massachusetts

what a wonderful place to visit - fun for all ages

and what a fun place to take photographs

the butterflies landed on us and made us smile

everyone was enchanted by the butterflies ....hundreds of them flying around us

the temperature is maintained at 80 - 85 degrees

well worth the admission price

and fun to experiment with the photo's when you get home!

in search of repeat patterns....

You see patterns everywhere once you start looking for them.  Some are so obvious and others much more subtle.  The current Exploring With a Camera series with Kat from the Kat Eye View is Repeating Patterns.   

I started my seach seeing patterns everywhere, in clovers, pavement, walls, fabric.... I could go on and on.  The creative part was in searching for a pattern that would also make an interesting photo subject.

These flowers represent the many repeat patterns found in nature, and even the activities of the bees is a pattern of nature repeating itself season after season.

Jack the cat has a lovely pattern in his fur

Patterns are easily found in man made structures, some very obvoius...

patterns in the roof tiles and patterns in the iron work

the patterns of wooden house trim and roof shingles

and the subtle symmetrical patterns in the architectural details of this old building

You'll see patterns in tunnels...

crossing bridges..

in your local garden center....

and even while putting your feet up for a rest !!

"Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way"

Glimpse of Ogunquit

  Edwin Mccain is one my favorite musicians.  He recently performed in Oqunquit, Maine.  Hubby and I decided to go to the show and enjoy a few days of fun in the sun.

   I was trying to be very discreet while I took this photo of Edwin with my digital camera.  Everyone else was snapping away and taking videos with their little phones.

Oqunquit is located on the southern Maine coastline.  One of our favorite things to do while there is to walk the Marginal Way.  The Marginal way is a 1 ¼ mile paved footpath which winds along the rocky Maine coastline.  Starting near the village and ending in the harbor at Perkins cove.

This is a shot of where we stayed.  It is located near the village end of the Marginal Way.  Heavenly to be somewhere so lovely when the temp was over 100 degrees!

One nice feature of Oqunquit is that the shops, restaurant and beach are all within walking distance.   This restaurant is located in the village. 

This is a shot of the river. It flows into the ocean right next to the beach, which is also located near the village.

Here is an example of Maine's rocky coastline.

These boats are located in Perkins Cove, at the opposite end of the Marginal Way.

This boat was going back & forth in the harbor.  I am guessing that they were checking their lobster traps.

Happy Summer !!

Reflections in Glass

This is the current  theme at Kat’s Eye View Exploring with a camera series.

I enjoy participating in Kat’s series – the prompts remind me to look at things in a new way.  I always learn something new - from myself, from Kat, and from the other people who participate.

This photo is a reminder of a beautiful spring afternoon with my husband.  We enjoy visiting the Longfellow’s Wayside Inn.  It is a great place to enjoy a leisurely walk in a historic area.  We made a spur of the moment decision to stay and have lunch outside on such a beautiful day.  When I originally took this photo, I wasn’t thinking about reflections on the outside of the glass. (I was more intent on looking forward to what was inside the glass)

As usual, the camera explorations had me out exploring and looking at reflections in glass in a new way.

There is currently a large construction project taking place at our local high school.  The yellow poster on the classroom wall catches my eye first, and then the blue sky.  It’s not the most beautiful subject matter, but it is an interesting reflection.

I got a kick out of this glass reflection photo.  The circle of the sign holder on the door is right where the flash on my camera is located.

The mirror in this photo is from and old dresser set.  I removed the mirror from the dresser and sponge painted it to complement the colors in one of my paintings I have in the dining room.  The painting reflected in the mirror is a treasured watercolor my dear friend painted for me.  It holds special memories.  I didn’t think about setting up the table for a photo shoot.  I am looking forward to spending time learning more about indoor shots, but for now there is too much to do outside!

This is not really a reflection in glass, although it looks like it.  My husband and I spent a morning at the Sandwich Glass Museum in Sandwich, MA.  The display panel of glass depicts an image of two men in period clothing.  I asked my husband to stand on the other side of the glass so I could take his photo.  I noticed after the fact how well the colors in his shirt blended with the display.

Here's to a happy summer with lots of opportunities to go out and shoot more photo's!!