Photography & Life in New England

Sunday, October 14, 2007….

We have recently had our two very large old Silver Maple trees taken down for safety reasons around our house.
I am not an advocate for cutting down trees and it was one of the hardest decisions we have made. We lived with those glorious old trees for about 8 years since we bought our house but had one very close call and several other instances that caused us too much worry.
I must plant more trees in replace of them.. Trees are so beneficial to the Earth, humans and wildlife.
We decided on the European Tricolor Beech. I have been so excited about our newly adopted tree and look forward to it’s delivery next week. I want it to have a good start this Fall and Winter.
Here is a photo of our tree still at the nursery.

The following pic is one of our Big Old Silver Maples being taken down…This was the one on the side of the house and there was a towering one in the back of the house which was in real bad shape. I already miss them terribly and feel so bad about the squirrels, too. They absolutely loved those trees. The new Beech will produce small nuts that the squirrels, chipmunks and BlueJays will like.

~Click here to see the entire photo album of the Silver Maples being taken down~

We recently tried a quality made photo book from a lab we like to use and we were very impressed. Software to layout the books are not offered from this lab so we used our own software to make book pages and it worked out well. This will definately be something we would like to offer future customers.
We also just like them for our own personal photographs and portfolios as well. This sample collage was of the first book we made of a day trip to Cape Cod this Summer.

There are so many ways to try and sell or publish your photos and this site I found recently is pretty cool…it is JPG Magazine which I have a link for posted in the Photography Links page on this blog.
This issues try at the theme “Passport”

Rob and I spent the day with my brother and his girlfriend visiting some scenic places along Route 140 out by W.Boylston and Princeton.
It was rainy off and on and very humid but a real great day for photography!! This old ice cream farm had so many photo opportunites and we will have to go back for more sometime soon. It is private property and not open to the public to visit but we had special permission
Later in the day fog filled the air around the water…it was incredible.

Visit photos here

Thanks Ron & Sharon…we had an awesome day!

Kyle, Rob and I took a ride out to Becket yesterday in search of ghostly hauntings at an old quarry. We recently picked up this book at Borders by Thomas D’Agostino. Of course this quarry was explored by us because it was one of the haunted places mentioned in the book.

It was a long ride but a nice change of pace. There were quiet and almost deserted type of towns along route 20 out in Western MA. We found the road appropriately called “Quarry Road” and this road was a bit eerie. It was narrow and broken up with patches of tar here and there and it was also long and curvy. We were expecting more of a tourist type of entrance since it was opened to the public only two years ago.

The dirt lot was creepy with only one car parked there and there was a “for your safety” sign in sheet hanging up which was a bit strange. In case we don’t make it out of there??!!

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Rob and I walked along Shrewsbury Street tonight after I ended work… We wanted to take some street candids during this event. Many people turned out for it which was no surprise…great food and nice weather! This has been an annual event for Shrewsbury St. now…not sure how many years going, though. You buy a button and eat sample meals from all the local restaurants…pretty good deal.
Everyone seems to look their best too…There were many pretty summer dresses, dressy sandals, and cool hats. It’s nice to get to see some of the latest fashion trends…. Worcester is “happening” now, not quite NYC style, but keeping up with Bostonians.

 Here are some photos

we took tonight …….

Rob and I took a ride out to Cambridge today to get a filter for a camera lens, but Calumet was closed…so we went up north towards Lexington, then Gloucester, and ended up spending most of our time in Rockport.
What a beautiful day…perfect weather! Walked around the quaint streets of Bearskin Neck and took many photos. We met another photographer that was here from Germany on business…seemed real nice and was also a Canon guy.
Finding a restaurant was a little hard because the prices were steep in all the ones we looked at ….didn’t have a dining out guide to know which would have been the best choice but we ended up at The Chowder House… the clam chowder was very tasty…and the dinners were served in large plates, filled with food. We couldn’t finish them…very filling. By the way, the last time we were in Rockport, it was still a dry town…this time, since the law changed here, we could actually have some beers with our meal!
When we got out of the restaurant it was dusk and the air was so calm and a perfect warm temp. We could have stood on this ledge by the water forever the way it was…so serene.

The next day, I really felt calm and refreshed when I went to work…. I hadn’t felt so relaxed like that in a long time. Need to do little trips like this more often!!
Here are many photos we took today

I would visit many of the great places in Worcester and Worcester County that were “the places to go”…. Preferably back in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s… memorable times, that should not be forgotten. “Mom and Pop” stores and restaurants were the best…now everything is chain and corporate America….. ugh! I got on this rant because I stopped and took photos this morning of the Edgemere Diner and the photos did not do it justice for it’s glory days back in the 40’s and 50’s… It needed to look a bit special again and the only way was to turn it into a sketch type photo. It must have been a beautiful shiny Art Deco Diner in it’s time. Imagine everyone back in the day, men wearing their hats in the 40’s, girls with their poodle skirts in the 50’s. These thoughts make me smile when I pass by the diner now. Heck I am not even old enough to remember those times but still appreciate them.
  

I am adding a link for more info on Places of Worcester’s Past here and on the Local links page…. enjoy!
 

Testing out the 70-200 F4 IS in the backyard…it’s a really nice lens. Tried the 70-300 DO lens a little over a month ago and returned it. I wish this had the extra reach but it can be used with a 1.4x teleconverter so, that will be next. I can see how the F4 will be slow for indoor/nightime shots but we got this for our day trips, wildlife and nephew and neices softball games anyways. We are lovin it so far. It is most likely a keeper!!

The above photo was taken the first day in the yard and it was cropped in Photoshop Elements, with an added touch of paint daub effect.

Check out more of our first test shots here