The day the world changed

I remember the day vividly. As the events unfolded and the full horror of the devastation that can be wrought by hatred come home.

This summer I took my daughter on a special trip to Manhattan. We visited the 9/11 monument that day.

Being Early has it's advantages

Last Thursday was Photo Club. I was coming from the city and going home would make me late so I decided to go early and wander around Lunenburg while I waited.
I found this shot:

I quite liked the mystical feel that the light and fog gave. Turns out I was not the only one. This was featured on Flickr explore and it now seems to be my most favourited photo. But the one of the Transvestites may still be top. I'll have to check. :)

Peggys Cove

the Iconic Lighthouse

Peggys Cove is a popular tourist destination in Nova Scotia. As it should be- it's a beautiful spot with rocks, water, fishing village and a great restaurant. Our photo club went there last weekend. The problem with living near such places is that you know that the subject has had thousands of photos  taken, many of which are better then yours. It's hard to be inspired. When I travel I have no problem taking photos of popular tourist subjects because I am so excited to be there myself.  I do enjoy the outings though and I do love Peggys cove. So I wandered around looking for a way for me to find new subjects. Here are a few of my finds. If you want to see more you can find them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bambe1964/sets/72157633351448129/with/8686616821/

Searching for Spring

With the worst spring ever it's been quite discouraging. Last week I made myself go out with my camera and search for signs of spring.

Thank heavens that the crocuses were up.

Sight and Sound Essay

I made this sight and sound essay for our photo club. I worked hard on it and liked it at the time. Then when I watched it last night I hated it.

oh well. It's all a learning experience, right?

Totally Shameless

This is a bit of a different post. Rather then show my photography I want to share my daughter. She is working on a Fine Arts Degree. She's been drawing from the time she could grasp a crayon. What I love about her work is that she pursues her vision no matter what anyone else thinks she should do.

Good for her.

http://peninsula-news.kingsjournalism.com/?p=11587#

Here's her website;
http://amandaarab.weebly.com/index.html

you should totally check her out. She's awesome.

Chester Nova Scotia

you really should visit it sometime. but if you can't here are some visuals

Dreaming of the Caribbean

We are getting hit with another big snowstorm. Frankly, it's getting tiresome. Fortunately I have these shots of Cozumel to help me dream the time away.

it's not often that I take a shot like this with no shore to 'ground' the shot but this works for me. 

Waiting

My husband and I were waiting for our plane at the Miami airport. In the end it would be delayed which resulted in a missed connection and then due to the blizzard that paralyzed the east coast we spent three hellish days in Montreal trying to get home. However, at the time of this photo we didn't know this.

I was caught by how the planes were framed by the window and that there was a person waiting. I knew the image I wanted but had to be careful- first there was the timing to frame the plane. It's not like they would repeat it for me. :). Second, security gets a little antsy when they don't understand what the person with the camera is doing. And the last thing you want to do is to attract airport security. However, a bit of luck and timing and I got what I wanted- a photo that tells a story.

Boats

Last week my husband and I went on a cruise. It was our first one. I did enjoy it. Mostly I loved the warm weather. This winter has been particularly harsh so it was nice to feel the warmth of the sun and smell growing things.

I became fascinated by the ships themselves. they are so huge.
Waiting inside the terminal:

At dock in Cozumel- I wanted to show the scale and use the closer boat for framing:

Walking back 

Now this shows the scale compared to the people: 

Trees in Winter

You know when you see something and the photograph that you want to create pops into your head?

And then you spend days/months/possibly years actually trying to translate that image in your head into reality? 

And more often then not end up hitting the delete button once you uploaded the photo to your editing software? 

I can honestly say I have deleted more photos than I can count trying to capture the images below. Not that I think that they are anywhere near perfect but they are the closest I've come. 

this one is me trying to capture the beautiful late afternoon light of winter and how it makes all around it glow

and this one is an attempt to show the depth that is revealed once you strip all of the leaves and greenery away

of course I may end up deleting these next year......

Winter

Winter can be cold, dreary and tough to endure. But it has it's own beauty as well. If you live in Canada it's good to appreciate the loveliness of it as well.

Christmas

The weather has been either rainy or bitter cold. Which has had a significant effect on my desire to go out and photograph.

But now that my Christmas decorations are up I can play with indoor shots.

if you look close you can see me in the green one

Playing with Bokeh. I strongly suspect that this may be my
Christmas Card next year

Barns

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada (and other commonwealth countries). It is a day that we honour those who have served in the military. There are ceremonies everywhere and it always is on Nov 11 at 11 a.m. This was chosen as special significance because this was the end of hostilities for WW1.

There is a strong military history in our family: my two grandfathers, two uncles, my father all served. Now my son is at the Royal Military College. When he graduates he will be an officer and an engineer.

Two years ago I did a sight and sound essay of photos I took during the ceremony to enter in a competition at my photo club. It did quite well. Last year I didn't attend the ceremonies because the weather was atrocious. Instead I watched on TV. However, today was sunny and beautiful so Ed and I headed to the Cenotaph. There was a huge crowd. I decided to put together another sight and sound essay for the photos that I took but this time only for my pleasure, not for competition.

It's approximately 2 minutes long. The song is 'City Birds' by Jim Cuddy.

I am fortunate that it is extremely unlikely that I will ever know the hardships of war at my doorstep. But that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate those who offer so much.

Journeys

This is another shot of the Barque Picton Castle before she headed out to sea later that morning. I liked how she was pointing the way. Being in a reflective frame of mind this shot got me to thinking. We make so many plans and try to control what's going to happen. To a certain extent that does work. But like this ship we have no way to fully control the what's going to happen. All we can do is try to adapt to the situation.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Some of the animals I saw at Ross Farm. Excuse the humour.....

Peek a Moo

Brad Pitt has nothin' on me

suddenly they realized that there was a stranger among them

that's our water bowl you idiot

And. is there anything cuter than a pile of piglets?

Fancy Lake

When I drive up to the highway from my house I drive by Lake Fancy. It's a beautiful lake most of the time. On this morning it was particularly lovely

Barque Picton Castle

The Picton Castle sailed from Lunenburg today. I understand that she won't be back for approximately 3 years. Her departure was delayed due to Sandy. I was happy that it was delayed until a day that I could be there.

I, of course, took lots and lots of pictures. :) Here are some

sitting at the dock a few hours before the departure

sailing into the horizon

A Day at Ross Farm

My photo club had a field trip to Ross Farm. It's a heritage farm in New Ross, Nova Scotia. If you ever in the neighbourhood it's worth the trip.

It was a beautiful fall day. I'm glad that we went last weekend because with the storm heading our way I doubt that there will be any leaves left.