Temporary Coda
And so it begins with this ending, which is really neither beginning or ending either.some assorted favorites from recent days before i started chasing the light, my 365 project. My vineyard photographer blog will take a hiatus while I focus on my daily photos.
Going….Going… Gone... The old moon in the arms of the new, with Venus.
Snowy harbor, a complaint against the cold
Swans, redux
Macro
I recently acquired a macro lens and I've only barely begun to try it out. After yesterday's soak, I had the idea to go out this morning and look for water drops on branches. I found that most of the drops had already fallen, but I did find a few with which to experiment. Though I still have a lot of practice to do, my favorite was this one on a tiny curl of vine.
Sunrise, Edgartown Lighthouse before work
It never gets old, this view. Daylight saving means I can catch the sunrise before work.
A Whiteness of Swans
All of the frozen water in this frozen winter has been rough on the birds. I recently counted 23 swans huddled on shore near the only swiftly-moving water in town - a surprising sight, since I've seen swans battle over some pond space in more temperate days. I was even inspired to look up the collective noun for swans and learned there are several: an eyrar of swans. A bevy of swans. And my favorite: a whiteness of swans.
I photographed the sleeping swans on my way to the old standby: cassandra in god light before sunset.
Island Grazing: Neoteny, Goats, and Spring on Martha's Vineyard
Surely there is no cuter harbinger of spring than a baby goat. Despite the coating of snow and ice still covering all surfaces, the possibility of spring took shape yesterday morning when I had the chance to visit island grazing's goats to photograph their new kids.
The trouble with goats is that they're goats - up for adventure.
Neoteny is a complex phenomenon that explains why a baby goat can both stand within the hour of its birth and also be so ridiculously cute that I want to smuggle one home and keep it a kid forever. Those big eyes! Those little noses! Those soft and fuzzy faces! That gamboling curiosity!
I had no idea when I arrived that I would be in for a surprise appearance, but this doe went in to labor while I was there (here she is at the start of it).
And for the duration - what seemed to me to be no more than twenty minutes total of restrained huffing from the first poke of a tiny goat hoof to the emergence of the slick, bleating quiver that was a new goat.
Here she is, all cleaned up! Instinct at work, she finds food at last.
When I finally pulled myself away from the magical morning, this goat was about to start labor too:
I never anticipated that my first birth shoot would be for a goat, but the experience was profound to this not-quite-city-girl, never watched a birth except my own (soundless video thereof - a surreal experience itself, for other reasons) . I didn't smuggle a kid home after all, but only just.
Still Frozen
Some collected scenes from february's deep freeze month.after the storm, light through ice left behind. I love this photo, if not the frozen fingers it took to get.
Off-season on martha's vineyard still holds beauty in its bleakness. And no permit needed for private beaches.
Morning at edgartown harbor: gulls wheeling over the ice. I've never seen the outer harbor frozen like this. I wouldn't cross it, but it did cross the harbor.
When I saw my shadow in the snow, I had to take a second shadow self-portrait to compare to my original shadow self-portrait - this one in a New Mexico river from a warm summer day. If it looks familiar, it's because this photo became my logo.
Thawing Sunday
After the rain and a temperature jump, scenes of fog and thaw amongst still present ice. The impossible seam of sea and sky before the bright band of sunset. Ocean Park, upside down. Ice breaker boat. Sea wall balancing for ice bergs still balancing. The ssa martha's vineyard floats in to the fog. Darkness falling. Sunset between the chops.
Calm Harbor Edgartown
Whenever the question is whether to stay cozy in my warm bed on the first day of school vacation or to go out before sunrise in the 2 degree weather, the answer is always: put your flannel-lined jeans on over your pajamas, grab your camera, and go.still chilly, but a perfectly calm morning down at memorial wharf.
Post-blizzard, post-Valentine's, Martha's Vineyard
Early morning, in a lull in the storm, high tide at the Edgartown Lighthouse.
After a day cooped up inside, we shoveled ourselves out and took a drive. The snow had stopped, the sun was out, but the wind was still blowing.
Sun, going down. Beach, clear.
Sub-zero bubble fun
I've been watching the weather forecast for a few weeks now, waiting for conditions to be just right: no work, no wind, and icy temps. This morning fit the bill and these are my first attempt at photographing frozen bubbles. With patience and icicles for fingers, I was eventually rewarded.
Blizzard, Part 2
The snow has stopped and the wind has died down, but there was still a lot of snow spelunking to be done this morning...
Heron
I scared up a great blue heron on a recent walk with the dogs and so, determined to return without dogs and with camera, I walked back to the same spot this afternoon. I very nearly missed this guy (or girl) until I was just ten feet away.
Harassed to flight by the shutter to a better hiding spot:
I tried to track the heron to the far shore, but no luck finding great blue again. So, I headed out to South Beach for the sunset because old tricks are new to me and I need to try them for myself. New toy #2.
Helios fun
I finally got a chance today to take a new manual lens out for a quick spin. The bokeh is the point.
Cassandra Redux
vI knew it would be a good sunset when I saw the Whaling Church tower turn pink and I headed to the standby, where in fact the sky was filled with color.
Frostbite
I was disappointed this morning when reports of sea smoke started coming across the 'Book because I was otherwise inescapably occupied and couldn't get out to take any photos, so I set out in the afternoon to find what I could find anyway. I could only take a few shots at a time before my fingers were so numb I couldn't feel the shutter (and this was with two pairs of gloves and only two tips exposed), but that coldness also enabled the pond to be frozen enough to venture out past the phragmites for yet another stunning Vineyard sunset.
With the last of the light dropping, and the temperature oddly rising to double digits, a classic take.
Sengekontacket showing its fresh water side by freezing...
