New Year
All good teachers know that the real New Year comes in September: a time of reflection, resolutions and renewal. Everyone else just shoots off fireworks in December. But because I'm on vacation, I can stay up late and photograph those fireworks, and then wake up early to photograph the first sunrise of the year.
This composite reminds me of seashells for some reason. Or snowflakes, varied in their shapes.
I got very excited when I first saw this owl against the sunrise, and then I thought it was fake, but then it moved its head and I was still excited. Not as much when it continued to swivel its head all the way around, which owls are wont to do, but in a too-smoothly-mechanical way to be a real owl. Still, I've never seen it there before, so I had to revisit this spot in broad daylight (decoy).
Lighthouse Zoom
.Inspired by a Steve Myrick photo of the Ocean Park Gazebo's lights, I tried it out on the Lighthouse.
Christmas, Vineyard style.
Swans
Sheer luck to happen past these dueling swans this afternoon. Just after I thought, hmmm, that's interesting, I've never seen four swans in this pond before, the chase was on...
Just before I thought, how do swans stay aloft, anyway...the interlopers were out.
For the original swans, order is restored.
Cassandra
Oft-wondering, mostly-moored, this little Sengekontacket-via-Italy boat captures attention, imagination, and fascination. A photographer's delight., submerged but holding on in a storm or still soggy on a calm December midday.
Reminiscent of summer's golden haze, this balmy December day was a delight (and a crowd of lenses hovered). Small boat, adrift.
11 Untranslatable Words. Part 1
I love language as much as I love image, so when I found this blog from maptia,I loved both the words-we-have-no-(English)-words-for and the whimsical illustrations.
I've been working on a series of my own photographs for each of the 11 words. Here's the first.
(illustration by Ella Frances Sanders)
Lucy Vincent Mångata
Never the Same River Twice
I have learned, through the cold disappointment of a missed shot, that it is crucial to always take the photo when I see it, rather than plan to return at another time. Very rarely, however, the spot I return to has something even better. I saw these reflections driving past Lagoon Pond the other day on a sans-camera errand and I made a note to return avec-camera, so, after yesterday's rain, I headed back over early this morning and was thrilled to see an even more photo-worthy scene...
Autumn: Blue and Gold
Fall has always been my favorite season. Not for my October birthday, though that helps (less so the older I get, of course). Not for school starting over, though that helps. The snappy air, the last few dunks in the ocean, and the light. Always the autumn light and a clear golden day to chase it. The morning started with some derby findings, a young girl at sunrise under the crescent moon.
Finally, a clear shot of those roseate terns.
Glassy morning at Eel Pond. Woods turning to fall. After rain, puddles...
Egrets again.
Sun going down behind Ocean Park... Back to Eel Pond for sunset. I live here now.
Eel Pond
It all started with these fascinating roseate terns that I saw at Eel Pond. They swoop down and go whizzing just above the surface of the water, scooping with their bottom bills. I have been back several days this week just before sunset to sit under the calm darkening sky, but they are too quick for focus.
But each day, there is something else, too...
Sea grapes, bokeh.
Last night, the sun setting on this boat.
Tonight, I tried to find the same boat shot, but the water was choppy, so instead, sun setting on the marsh grass.
Along the spit of land, past the keening shore birds.
Ice pond dragonflies.
I have seen these egrets (or egrets much like them) at Eel Pond, but these are from Sengekontacket and this was not the first day I have longed for a longer lens (ba-dump-cha).
She said yes!
(Spoiler alert: she says, yes!)
The back story: when I got an email from Nathaniel about photographing his proposal, my first thought was that I wasn't sure how we'd pull it off, but I was game to try. Over the next few days, through surreptitious phone calls and texts, we concocted a plan: my cell phone pictures mapped out a scenic spot, while my last minute instructions (face her towards me, but not directly, don't stand in front of the sun on her face so there's a shadow, start walking back up at just this time, etc) and the innocent bystanders I brought in as decoys all added to the nerve-wracking deception and fear on my part that the surprise would be ruined before we could accomplish our mission (luckily, it wasn't).
I put up a secret blog post for Nathaniel with instructions for setting up his proposal spot - some of that is still here as evidence that a marriage based on lies (so many lies! so much planning!) is not all that bad when the lies are finally revealed as just part of a master plan for love. As if he wasn't nervous already, he had to keep track of my tour of a place he'd never been, all the while pretending nothing was up...
This picture shows one of the paths to get down to the lighthouse from the grassy area. I am planning to be at the grassy area at 5:30, so when you get here, I will be sitting on one of these benches waiting for or else sitting with a mom and daughter who are going to be my decoys. There isn't really a good place for me to hide in the bushes and still get a clear shot without rustling like a bear through the poison ivy, so I'm going to do the decoy thing where it will seem like I'm taking pictures of them but really I'm taking pictures of you two. Hopefully she won't notice because she'll be into you and whatever you're saying -- we'll be like 25 feet away I'd say, off to an angle, standing on the sandy pathway. My suggestion is to walk down to the lighthouse together (you and she) and then to walk back up around 6. When I see you starting to walk back up, my decoys and I will start walking down to the rendezvous spot to get set up.
When you are walking back up from the lighthouse, you'll walk back across the spit of land with the pond to your right now and the harbor to your left - when you get across that spit, the path will fork (seen below). To your left is a wooden dock kind of walkway. To your right is the path to take! Then you'll be walking along a sand path, with the Harborview up above to your left, the lighthouse to your right.
Once you take the path towards the right, it will look like this. Do not take that first branching little path off to the right there, in the middle of this picture. Walk past that and walk past those bushes.
The spot you want is roughly behind that bare tree in the foreground of this picture, but closer to the pond.
Keep walking down the path, past the little tree, and right there before the rushes, that's your turn off - right before the road curves to the left - there's a small pathway there to the right. Walk down there and go to a sandy patch down by the water. My decoys and I will be standing in this pathway - we'll probably wait until you get down to the sandy patch and then emerge to start taking some "tourist snaps".
You can sort of see the sandy patch -- it's past the tall grass here. There's an area of open sand about 4 or 5 feet around.
Zoomed in on your spot, feigning surprise.
This is the Google satellite. You'll be roughly at the red X.
I wasn't spotted, but by now the ruse is up and these are the authorized photos...
We waited for the no-show super moon, but were graced with a phenomenal sunset instead so no complaints from me.
I was glad to be there for this special day and I wish Nathaniel and Rachel all the happiness for their future together. And, hey, I hear the Vineyard is a great place for weddings!
Paul and Wendy
Thanks to Paul and Wendy for letting me spend some time in one of my favorite places (the Aquinnah cliffs), doing one of my favorite activities (photography) - we even lucked into a picture perfect postcard sunset just in time to celebrate their imminent wedding.
I hear the Vineyard is a great place for weddings!
The Commencement
As an Island native, I grew up surrounded by the beauty of the ocean, the sand, the flora and fauna of our glacial origins. As an adult, images take new shape through the lens. Here are some of my favorite sunsets and sunrises...
Lifeguard stands are evocative of my last home's land-locked ladders to the sky.
