No theme this week. Just a few images that I liked. Enjoy!

When "stuff" happens in life, each of us has his or her way to cope ... more or less. My way is usually to do what I refer to as "going inside." I know when I'm not good company and I tend to keep to myself when I'm not. Ironically, when I'm "inside," I spend even more time outside ... out-of-doors ... than I usually do.

All Rights Reserved/A. Macarthur

© All Rights Reserved/A. Macarthur

Phoebe has been very busy today, rapidly completing her nest. I think she feels her clock ticking.

I darkened the bathroom that has a side window and sat patiently on a counter chair for these shots. So sweet to sense her urgency and witness her architectural knowhow. She has been taking the moss from the old birdbath.

Every year now for four years a phoebe has built her nest on the side porch fan blade. She makes a bit of a mess, and it makes porch sitting difficult, but watching her build, and then sitting on her eggs, and then the anticipation of the hatchlings - well, it is worth it. I see them right out of my kitchen windows. When the babies get bigger and out of the nest they hang out on the other blades for a few days...and then poof, they are gone.

I take down the nest, scrub the blades and the porch ceiling and floor and all is clean again until ....now! Welcome back Mrs. Pheobe. 

 I had a heck of a time taking this photo through the garage window looking out to the front porch.  She seems to like my pots, inspecting each one. Cute isn't she? We'll see what happens....

Note Cards maybe!

 The winter waves were crashing over the breakwater here in Gloucester so I decided to see what it was like out there. The boats haven't gone out because of a bad stretch of weather that has gone on for almost a week. On Thursday it is supposed to be pretty bad with wind out of the Southwest. (I may have to check out the breakwater again on that day.) Thank you for coming to see my pictures.

The wind gusts across a lonely mountain top overlooking the sea blowing moisture from the trees left there by torrential rains. The skies had opened up raining giant droplets for most of the day but finally wept themselves out just before the appointed hour. As the mist clears on the ocean below several fishing vessels can be seen passing the light house on the bluffs just across a wide channel. The site offers a perfect view of the boats going about the business of harvesting the bounty of the sea.

A little procession can be seen on the path that winds up the side of the mountain from the valley below. At the head of the procession two friends walk with arm in arm. Mrs. D is a vision in a lovely black gown with matching shawl and borehead by her side looks just like a stocky, barrel chested version of the Gloucester Fisherman. As they reach the top of the mountain a towering monument is revealed to them. They take up positions around the memorial to mourn the loss of a departed friend.

 In the distance a rythmic thumping can be heard, sounds like rave music.....

Beneath a giant floating disco ball a crowd is forming. The organizers of the event have really out done themselves. The open bar, free food, scooby snacks, and attendance by all of the finest people have come together to make this the grave dance of the season. Many in attendance do not know the departed but have come with friends who assure them that the words on the giant headstone overlooking the dance floor are completely true. The bastard assuredly deserved all that he got and more.

 The celebratory atmosphere is accentuated by the strobe lights on the dance floor. Wait a minute we didn't get any strobe lights......

  For those of you that don't know what is going on, this is my Newsvine funeral article. Anyone that stays on Newsvine long enough is going to eventually get one of these so I decided to be the first person to write my own. If you are reading this it is possible that I have notified one of my friends that I have been banned from the website and asked them to comment on this article letting everyone know what happened.

Since this is the kind of article that you can't write once you need it I had to write it ahead of time. On Newsvine there is no asylum, sanctuary, or place to hide when the hammer falls. I had hopes that it would never fall on me but sadly things don't always work out as we would like. Please don't hold any of this against the moderator who banned me as they were just doing their job. I probably did something stupid or actually a number of stupid things that added up over time and it is probable that this is what I deserve. So many others have gone before me that could have used a second chance....I can't see a reason for kicking up much of a fuss.

I want to say that I am sorry to my friends for letting you guys down, your support and friendship mean a lot to me and I regret that I will no longer be there to show my appreciation for the finest friends a person could ask for. To my wife goes the biggest apology, (Honey I know I spent enough time and effort on my account here to buy you a lovely new car (or house probably) and getting myself banned makes all of that a wasted loss and for that I am truly sorry. ): I am sorry to any viners that I was working on projects with and pledge that I will continue to support those projects through e-mail and other methods.

To my haters I wish you the joy of the occasion. I am not only welcoming grave dancers to my Newsvine funeral I am sponsoring the dance. Please feel free to be yourselves and have a few laughs. While I don't probably know all of the details behind why you feel the way you do, I respect your opinion and declare all of you worthy adversaries. Not everyone in this life is  going to agree with each other all of the time (thankfully) imagine how boring life would  be if we did.

 As for regrets I guess that I would like to state that I truly regret not taking better care of my account. I wonder if I would have done better if the rules were more understandable. Like this....

A user's participation at Newsvine is judged as a whole.  Recurring counterproductive behavior or negative contributions - even if not specifically addressed in the Code of Honor or the User Agreement - may still warrant removal of that person from the Newsvine Community.

 What exactly constitutes counter productive behavior? In all of my participation here I am always producing something and while I may make everyone and their dog mad at me on occasion (having the minority opinion can do that) I don't think I do things that are counter productive.... Is there a list of examples available?

 What is a negative contribution? Is this article a negative contribution or maybe one of the ones where more than half of everyone got mad at me for writing it? Who decides if something is a negative contribution? Is it the collapse feature or something? Is it possible to get some kind of list together of examples of the kind of small things that one shouldn't do that could be considered negative contributions?

  Is a criticism of the website a negative contribution if it is made with the hope of making things better?

 Many viners make serious investments in their accounts of valuable time and effort. Some put in that time and effort knowing that they  don't have many days left. They spend their final days on the vine with their friends, if they are banned they don't have the time to start over. If we wish to convince people to participate here write hundreds of articles and tens of thousands of comments there should be clear trustworthy rules that are fairly applied offering every good viner the tools needed to keep their account and the investment it represents.

 That said there is one more small thing....

  Posting an image of one's own grave even in jest requires some disclaimer. Even though I am relatively young I work the world's most dangerous job. Ever since I was a child fisherman I long ago reconciled the fact that we all owe this world a death. If this article is here and I am gone ...Somebody Please Change The Title To...  Oh Crap!! I Went and Died On You. ): 

  If that is the case all of the above still applies. All of my love to my wife Grace and daughters Ashley and Alyssa. Much love to my friends and family. Here is a song for my girls..... 

 Ps- All of the artwork in this article is copyrighted all rights reserved.

Pps- I bequeath all of my groups to my friend js to do with what she will. 

 This is a collection of some of the photo subjects I have been working on. I couldn't provide images from everything I have been doing in one article so call this a teaser. The dolphins and stuff that I have really been working on will be a ways into the future. I put the video together relatively fast so it doesn't have a lot of polish but it is an entertaining subject. Like "cops" on the water. I hope you enjoy the video and images and come back next week to see more. I will be doing this feature once a week and will try to keep at least one article ahead so that I don't drop the ball due to time constraints.

 I will be publishing on Friday (even though I can publish anytime) in order to support my friends and their Friday Image Articles. A regular weekly feature needs a deadline so that readers will know when it will be available so it just makes sense. So I am back in the Friday Foto Feature with my own style of article. I am working on another feature with some friends that could really help bring attention to the photographers on Newsvine. Hopefully we will be able to get that together soon. I hope you enjoy the images....

All materials in this article are copyrighted works all rights reserved....

All fishermen are innocent until proven guilty....except maybe Grindle.

Collaboration Eight/mstanley & A. Mac

Enjoy!

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved for all images.

Yesterday, I decided to visit Kraft Azalea Garden here in Winter Park, FL. I hadn't been there in a while and I wanted to try some water shots using the tripod. I lugged the tripod out to the lake shore and realized that I had forgotten to put my remote shutter release in the camera case. So I soon gave up on the tripod shooting and lugged the thing back to the car. That's when I noticed a Great Egret perched in a tree over the hood of the car. I took a few shots of the bird, looked around and realized that the two large trees by the parking pad were literally filled with egrets. Holy cow! I counted at least ten individuals (though I think there may have been more than that), paired up and tending to separate nests. It was a small breeding colony!

Having visited my sister in the Orlando area several times, I already had a good idea of the variety of places to be found in central Florida when I moved here a couple of years ago.  Contrary to what some may think, the landscape is not dominated by theme parks; nor do throngs of gray-haired retirees clog the streets.  There is history here.  One of my favorite things to do is to explore some of the smaller communities that surround Orlando.  Sanford is one of those communities.

Here are a few images from this week that I liked for one reason or another. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, everyone!

Here are a few of my favorites from this week.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved for all images.

A daredevil photographer went to extraordinary lengths to photograph these rarely seen sharks, which look like they have been etched from stone.

These incredible Greenland sharks can survive for more than 200 years at depths of up to 600 metres under Arctic ice.

Bigger than the notorious great white, they grow to 23-feet long and are so fearsome they have even been known to eat polar bears.

Many ways animals stay warm and/or show affection

  This is a link to the first collaboration that includes a poem by mstanley and one of my images.   Imagery & Poetry ...

I was in the mood to do some nature photography yesterday morning.  So I got in the car and drove over to Mead Gardens.  I knew I'd be able to get some lovely water shots there and I was hoping to be able to photograph a bird or two.  When I got there, I found a crowd!  Two Wood Storks, a trio of White Ibis, a Great Egret and River Otters.  I was almost literally beside myself trying to decide where to point the camera. 

In case you're new in the neighborhood, or, just coming across this article, the three that preceded it may be of interest.

Last November (2010) I posted some photos on NV ... a kind of self-challenge to see if there were any decent nature photos to be made in a month that is generally perceived as offering few to none in most years.

Photographer Irina Werning has a series of photographs where she borrows old pictures from people and creates new versions of them, posed exactly the same way in exactly the same conditions as they were in the original photographs.

I had some photos from earlier this week that I intended to post today but I went out this morning and got some more good shots. So here here is an assortment of images, mostly from this morning. Enjoy!

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved for all images.

      by A. Mac © All Rights Reserved/Images & Article   If asked to name a famous photographer, I'd bet the ranch that most people would say "Ansel Adams." Adams worked in "traditional" photography ...

Autumn: bright-colored leaves, panoramic glimpses of nature’s fall beauty, cornucopias aplenty of autumnal goodness, vistas of colorful trees reflected in blue pools of watery depths, crisp cool air tinged with warmth…
The Photo.net editors have selected a handful of images highlighting talented nature photographers on photo.net. There is a collection of photographs of autumn landscapes and fall vistas, detailed photos of fall-colored leaves, and bubbling brooks garbed in the colors of autumn. Many of our talented photo.net nature photographers have have demonstrated their skills with capturing photographs of landscapes and nature. We invite you to discuss these selected Fall Foliage Photos in the comments section below.

On Thursday, my sister and I spent some time at the Albin Polasek Sculpture Garden here in Winter Park, FL. It is an interesting place to photograph some different subject matter. The sculptures shown here are all situated in a beautiful outdoor garden.

For more information about the museum and garden, see the article I published in February. That article also provides a more standard photographic tour.

All images taken at the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Garden, Winter Park, FL.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved for all images.

 The Greasy Pole and the brave souls that walk it are a mainstay of the St. Peter's Fiesta in Gloucester and the pole itself has become a familiar landmark. When it disappeared at the end of September (the structure having collapsed into the sea) plans were formed to reconstruct it in time for next year's festival. Even though many members of the community are donating their time and even materials to help with the project funds still need to be raised for the new construction. That is how the first ever Greasy Pole fall classic was born.

 The pole was brought the Gloucester High School and mounted on the football field above padding in order to have a pole walking event to raise funds. Walkers paid 25 dollars for the honor of running down a pole greased with crisco and an attempt to grab the much coveted greasy pole flag. As the images show such actions do not always end well. The walkers went in three groups and there was nearly ninety listed but not all of those were able to attend. Some walkers paid two and even three times to continue competing.

 The walker that was injured was taken to Addison Gilbert Hospital by the ambulance crew that was on scene. That he was already injured before his final attempt of the day was more than a little disconcerting to some in the crowd. This event attracts some pretty rugged individuals who mightn't let the need of a few stiches stop them from competing.

 I will let the images speak for themselves and offer all of the imagery in this article as a gift to the people who want them.

The St. Peter's Fiesta Commitee has established a fund raising account at the Cape Anne Savings bank for the project to rebuild the Greasy Pole. Donations (With "Rebuild Greasy Pole Fund" written on them) can be sent to the Cape Anne Savings Bank, PO box 330 Gloucester Mass 01930.

I hadn't been to the Harry P. Leu gardens here in Orlando in quite a while so I spent a pleasant morning there on Tuesday.  Here are some of the various blooms and plants I saw while I was there.  And yes, I did have a little fun and play around with these in Photoshop.  Enjoy!

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved for all images.

This has been one of those weeks where the camera and my eye have not been in total harmony. I ended up with some shots that I kind of liked. So I decided to play around with some of those and here they are.

 The weather was a little blustery last night. I decided the first really snotty weather of the season deserved a few pictures. When I think of a camera to bring with me in a situation where I might be up to my neck in white water my little point and shoot always comes to mind. It isn't the fanciest camera but it stores easily in raingear and is not going to cause financial difficulty if it is lost at sea. Even though they don't have a lot of control over the settings you can still get some very cool effects with a simple camera. 

 This image  article was done for the group Crooked Horizons a new newsvine group for learning photographers and folks who would like to support them.

 I decided to take a few pictures of the fall foliage while we were tied up for a bit. These pictures were taken West of Portland Maine in the Lakes Country. There are all of these little lakes there and the fall foliage is highly recommended. I took a lot of pictures but don't have time to post them so this is all I could share tonight.

We sail tomorrow and I will be gone for a bit so I wanted to post this article. Perhaps it is better if I duck out for a while.....

I am thankful for all of the viners that have been my friends and supporters. 

 The lighthouse is an icon of our maritime history. Untold numbers of ships have been kept from disaster and countless numbers of sailors from harm by these historical navigational aids. Today we have modern buoys with flashing lights tended by Coast Guard buoy tenders and the need for a lighthouse keeper and his family to live on station tending a light to keep ships off of the rocks is long gone. Modern lighthouses still in use today are often kept and maintained by historical preservation organizations and donations from private persons. Such is the case with the Portland Head Light but not with the Ram Island Ledge Light which was purchased by a private individual in July 2010 for 190,000 dollars (The new owner purchased it to preserve it and no commercial use is planned).

The video and  images in this article were taken in the last few days from Fishing Vessel Osprey while navigating past (and between) the two light houses.  All images are copyrighted all rights reserved.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved for all images.

This sunrise image had a surprise in it. A whale spouting in the sunrise you can just see him in the images. All images are copyrighted all rights reserved.

Restoration of my Foto-Friday article which somehow got deleted as I was working on the September Photo Challenge article. Sorry for the duplication if you saw and commented on the original article!

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

Here are some images from my photo outings this week.  The Anhinga is the star this week.  I came upon this individual drying its wings at Mead Gardens and what an interesting bird it is.  I spotted the Cuban Tree Frog in my backyard.  After doing some research to identify the little creature, I discovered that Cuban Tree Frogs are an invasive species.  They are apparently supposed to be euthanized if caught.  I'm rather thankful that I only caught it with my camera as I don't think I could have brought myself to harm it.  The remaining images are ones that I liked for one reason or another.  Enjoy!

More information on Anhingas can be found here.   

More information on Cuban Tree Frogs can be found here.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

It's threatening to rain most of the day here.  I took advantage of a break in the rain to shoot some pictures in my backyard.  These were all taken from the same vantage point, sitting in a chair by the back door.  Enjoy!

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

If you haven't seen the article preceding this one, please, go there first.

http://immaginedigitalimag.newsvine.com/_news/2011/08/31/7544485-isolation-vs-context-in-life-and-photography-to-everything-there-is-a-season-so-to-speak

Considering a given photographic subject in terms of whether it will be most effective shown in isolation, separate and apart from its surroundings, or, in context, as a key part of a broader scene, has an important, underlying reason. That reason is the perspective your picture will convey to viewers.

By this I mean the way your image will convey ...  a particular attitude toward or way of regarding the subject; a point of view, an understanding of the relative importance of that subject; a sense of proportion.

A picture (potentially) is worth a thousand words (or more) ... if it's effectively created. And as much as any other factors, assuming exposure, focus and the technical aspects of your photos are solid, isolation and/or context are keys to the strength and effectiveness of your photo as a visually viable statement.

Now, in the preceding article, I asked you to ... "play along; to visualize in your mind's eye what a "fireworks" photo should look like. I said, "I'll go out on a limb and speculate that I can, when I post the next image, show you the incredible visual impact generated by context."

And I wrote ... "No fair looking for fireworks images in books or on the web ... it's you conceptions and presuppositions that I hope to surprise .... ."

I was referring to how you "saw" fireworks in your particular "perspective." My guess is, most visualized a burst of bright (sparkling) colors against a black sky ... you can tell me if I was wrong. My guess is you saw a visual cliche ...

Enough with the words ... here are fireworks, not in isolation, rather in contexts that put them in perspective enhancing their photographic impact both visually and psychologically.

Enjoy the show.

© All Rights Reserved/Article & Images

 This is the first time I have ever photographed sharks in the ocean. The sharks pictured here are blue sharks and the whale is unknown (It's a big one). All images in this article are copyrighted all rights reserved.

This article is a Foto-Friday article and is a feature of the NV photographers.

Isolation ... without relation to other people or things; separate Context ...

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

Sometimes I don't have to go very far to find photo opportunities.  These were all taken at our local park yesterday.  I got the owl shot early in the morning.  The rest were taken around six in the evening.  Enjoy!

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

I haven't gotten many good bird shots this week but this morning I was lucky enough to run across a few beauties. And here they are.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

Here are a few shots from this past week.  I hope you enjoy them!

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

Miscellaneous images from several walks this week.  I was very pleased to see the two young Wood Ducks at Ward Park; they've grown enough now to be safe from the park's avian predators.  And the little Snowy Egret is a new visitor.  The dragonflies are everywhere now, hopefuly eating up all those pesky mosquitoes.  And, as always here in Florida, something is blooming.  I hope you enjoy these.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

 Setting out to cook dinner can be a real adventure especially when you are a little new to cooking like me. For some reason I didn't take up cooking until later in life but beside a few mishaps I like to think I have done pretty well. That my dinner was a success in this article was kind of miraculous because for a while there things looked pretty grim.

 While I was boiling my potatoes and getting things ready I turned on the oven and was getting my butternut squash ready to put into it. My system of not looking in the stove to see what is in it until after it is on and I am ready to put stuff in did not serve me well at all. There was a plastic bowl in the stove and it melted. Part of it fell into the burner section of the oven and thick, foul smelling smoke filled the kitchen as soon as I opened the oven.

 I acted quickly to wipe as much of the melted plastic out of the oven but could tell that there was no way any part of my dinner was getting cooked in there. Food that tastes like plastic is not something I want to eat or be known for. As I put the oven into a cleaning cycle and the little lock light came on I knew I was screwed. A 2 hour cleaning cycle with lots of horrible smoke was about to happen while my food sits on the counter uncooked. Then a thought occurred to me.

 Since I had fired up the barbecue to grill the shrimp why not put all of the food on the barbecue and cook it all outside. My barbecue has a little thermometer that tells you how hot it is which while not easy to control, will help in timing the food to know when it is cooked. It worked like a charm. My rosemary potatoes came out excellent and the barbecue flavor made them even better. A bigger surprise was my simple butternut squash recipe which tasted so good with the addition of barbecue flavor (gives everything a kind of smoked flavor).

 The barbecue shrimp with homemade barbecue sauce was amazing and everything Chef Emeril said it would be. The sauce had a heavy flavor of vinegar due to my use of some really strong flavored Apple cider vinegar but the taste of it dissipated after a while and it cooks with the marinated shrimp to a perfect culinary delight. I am including all of the links for the recipe of the shrimp and the butternut squash. The rosemary potatoes I will publish here for anybody who wants to try them.

 Here is the Grilled Shrimp with Home made Barbecue Sauce Recipe... 

 Double the barbecue sauce recipe and easy on the vinegar if it isn't the gourmet stuff Emeril uses.

 Here is the Roasted Butternut Squash Recipe...

Rosemary Potatoes-  (I always double this recipe)

1 pound new potatoes scrubbed 

A few rosemary sprigs

1 tablespoon of  olive oil

salt

 Cook the new potatoes in salted boiling water for 6 to 8 minutes* until almost cooked. Remove potatoes from the water and place in a baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and chopped rosemary sprig mixture and season with salt. Roast in a pre-heated oven 400 degrees F for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

*New potatoes can be expensive and hard to obtain. Small to medium potatoes can be substituted but need to be boiled an additional 4 to 6 minutes depending on size (remember we are going for almost cooked here).

 I would like to thank Chef Emeril for the excellent recipe I wanted to drown him in a vat of cider vinegar when I first tasted the sauce but now know that he is most definitely the man. I would also like to thank my patient wife and dogs who hung out with me outside waiting for the smoke from the burning plastic to clear.

I would also like to add a few words from our sponsor.......

  I like what Vlad's dog and Malamute Man and Holly Kl are doing with their "paintings." So ... I want to join in as well. My approach is to take a photo to the "edge" and try to evoke the question ...

        foto-friday / NEWSVINE PHOTOGRAPHERS    I'm working on three projects with three authors and three publishers, so ... I'll get here sporadically ... please check back every now and again because I'll be adding images ...

Let me finally say what's on been on my mind; I recently took exception to the policies/rules/practices/tendencies of a NV group. For several reasons, I left that group ... BUT NOT THE MEMBERS ... not the PEOPLE who still are part of that group ... not friends.

Hopefully, it's merely a coincidence several members of that group don't seem to come by any more. It is the summertime and people do come and go. So we'll see. I still stop at their articles and vote them up ... as I said, I left a group over policy disagreements, not its members.

Disagreements happen ... friends can hold divergent opinions, vote differently, prefer different foods ... exercise all kinds of differing preferences and still remain friends. And, in the event that I'm being ignored, shunned ... boycotted, that would be unfortunate.

A. Mac

© All Rights Reserved

 This week little Dre is back for a "Caption this picture," Challenge. He has been growing both bigger and faster lately. He is almost 6 pounds and feisty as all get out. In this set of images he is having some puppy dog dreams, I leave what they could be about to the imagination.... 

This article is a Weekend Exposure article and is a feature of the Newsvine Photographers. The images are copyrighted all rights reserved. The good places for a puppy nap are reserved as well.

The Caption Challenge is for the last picture, but any of the pictures can be captioned for fun.

I'm getting ready to head up to Chicago tomorrow for a week long trip so this morning was one of my last opportunities to take pictures at the park until I get back. Someone wanted me to have a good photo subject today. We got to the pond and there they were. Baby Wood Ducks! Because the early morning light was so dim, I had a heck of a time getting any pictures with the flash off; without a tripod, the exposure times were a little too lengthy for me to be able to hold the lens steady. Plus mama duck kept swimming around; I think she really wanted me to move on. The first three pictures in this series were taken with the flash on. The last two were taken without it.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

  I'm still experimenting with my new camera; it seems to be the smartest one I've ever owned. © All Rights Reserved/A. Mac

Breakfast in the park.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

We've had lots of rain lately. This morning the rain has stopped for the moment but it is overcast. So I drove back out to Mead Gardens (because it is close) and shot a few pictures. Lots of water there. Some of the paths were flooded and the ponds were overflowing into the surrounding grass. But it was a relaxing walk despite the clouds and the flooded paths.

Mead Botanical Garden is in Winter Park, FL.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

Weekend Exposure is a regular feature of Newsvine Photographers.

 In Gloucester Massachusetts is a beautiful light house and a big breakwater both constructed and maintained for the safety of shipping and the fishing vessels that pass in and out of Gloucester harbor. In days past people from the town and tourists were known to fish and have picnics or just stand on the break water and watch the ships go by. The light house has been an attraction for artists, photographers and history buffs since it's construction and it was maintained with the public funds long after it was necessary to safety. The East Point Light House is an icon of Gloucester but today it is heavily gated and locked away on windy private roads with misleading signs and security guards in the summer that turn away visitors.

 It is still possible to go and sea the lighthouse today you just have to be a little savvy to navigate the efforts made to obscure it. If you go by Main street to the turn to East Gloucester then you should pass Nyle's beach on your right hand side. After Nyle's beach the road takes a hard left by two pillars that say Private Drive and something about The East Point Homeowner's Association. Drive right through there like you own the place and if security wants to talk tell them you are going out to check on the yacht. Nobody has checked it since it was moored at the Eastern Point yacht club last week. When headed to the lighthouse you will pass another sign that says, "Private Drive for Eastern Point Yacht Club members only. That is when you know you have arrived so proceed directly down the members only road to the Audobon society parking lot (A donation of 5 dollars is expected to park - I hear the rich are broke these days-)

 The lighthouse and dog bar breakwater are really something to see and a part of our American history and heritage. Privatization of such things and the loss of access to the citizenry that comes from the exclusive nature of the wealthy (and homeowners associations in general) is in many ways the real, "Tragedy of the commons." So if you get the chance go and enjoy the lighthouse while you still can.

check out the link to it here 

This photo-essay is for my good friend who showed me the way to the lighthouse and when confronted by security, led them to believe that if they were to jump in front of his car again and it was a choice between hitting them and spilling his coffee that he didn't mind hitting them very much at all.

All images are copyrighted all rights reserved.

A few miscellaneous bird friends for Good News Wednesday.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

For the last week, we finally have had some consistent and steady rainfall every day. Oh, what a difference some rain makes! Here are a few images from my morning walk through the park after the rain. One of the things I particularly love are all the different fungi that have popped up all over the place. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little walk in the park!

If you are interested in seeing some images of the drought conditions before the rain, I posted some of those here.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

Foto Friday is a regular feature of Newsvine Photographers.

Here are a few additional shots from my visit to Mead Gardens on Friday.  One of the things I love about the gradens is the reflective quality of the water there.  I don't know why but I always get some lovely water images when I go there.  Anyway, hope you enjoy these.

More information about the gardens can be found in my previous post here.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

Weekend Exposure is a regular feature of Newsvine Photographers.

 These pictures taken from the deck of the Fishing Vesel Western Venture are from this week on George's bank in the Atlantic Ocean. It was my last trip engineering the boat for awhile and a lovely sunrise for a few pictures. I just had surgery on an injured knee and am not up to writing very much. This was my foto-friday article but it is too late for that now. So it is just an article and is a mighty feature. (:

I was at Mead Gardens this morning when I spied a Great Blue Heron on the other side of the pond. As I was getting some shots, it suddenly took flight, skimming across the pond in my direction. I was fortunate enough to get some wonderful images of the bird in flight. And here they are. Enjoy!

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

Foto Friday is a regular feature of Newsvine Photographers.

On Monday, my sister and I decided to take a drive up to Mt. Dora.  Mt. Dora is a small community about 45 minutes north of Orlando.  It is a touristy kind of place with a resort hotel on the lake, lots of little shops and tons of restaurants.  We were in the mood to browse and eat so it was good destination.  After having lunch and wandering around the shopping district, we decided to walk down to the park by the shore of Lake Dora.  The day was very hot.  We found a nice bench in the shade where we could cool off for a few minutes.  Before we knew it, we were surrounded by a very active group of birds.  These turned out to be a thriving population of Boat-tailed Grackles.  They were clearly used to people.  The males were a bit more standoffish, swooping in now and then to see what was going on.  The females, on the other hand, were a loud, gregarious, brazen group of hussies.  After sitting there for a while taking pictures, my sister and I looked at each other and said in unison, "The Birds!"  Hitchcock would have loved this place!

 ©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

An overnight hike on the coast of Washington State at Rialto Beach.

http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/rialto-beach.htm

We hiked 3 or four miles up the beach and camped overnight.

I wanted to try a couple of things.  I wanted to get a shot of the Milky Way galaxy (I knew the moon was setting early).

I wanted to try a star trails shot.  There are a couple of ways of shooting star trails.  

1:  Set you camera on bulb, and leave it there for an hour or two.  I have not been impressed using that method.  It does tend to lead to a lot of noise.

2:  Take a series of 30 second exposures, stack them up in Photoshop, and use the Ligthen blend mode to combine the files.  This is what I attempted to do.

I set my camera to take 99 one minute photographs.  Here is what I did wrong:  

Lesson 1)  Don't forget to turn off your long exposure noise reduction.  On some cameras, you take a long exposure (in this case 60 seconds).  Once that photo is over, the camera takes another photo with the lens shut.  The camera then compares the two shots, and any specs of light it sees on the 2nd photo (the one where no external light was reaching the sensor) it subtracts from the first photo.  The problem with this, is that means it takes just as long to do the noise reduction as it does to take the original photo.  And because I forgot/was too lazy to turn off that is the reason I have star DASHES, rather than smooth lines. 

Lesson 2)  Coat the lens with some sort of anti-fogging/anti-condensition chemical.  You'll notice in my star trails shot, the further to the right the star is, the fuzzer it gets.  This is because as the night wore on, more and more condensation formed on the outside of the lens, and eventually it was like looking at a steamed up bathroom mirror.

About 3:00 am the tide had gotten pretty close to us, so I made sure my camera was above my head, so if a wave reached me it would be my feet that got wet, and not my camera.  

Marching out Saturday we had to hike up and over the hole in the wall, as it was at least five feet deep in water.  Much easier marching out the next day when we were able to march right through the hole.

When spending the night there, you are required to check out a bear canister from the park serivce, and stuff all your food in it and keep it at least fifty feet from your camp.

The Olympica Peninsula of Washington state is nice and relivevly desserted.  There is a nice hike (or so I've heard) of about 40 miles through totally untouched beachy wilderness.  I'd love to take a week and hike it some day.

http://www.cooltrails.com/alava.htm

You've got to time it right, and take a tide chart with you though!

  Thanks to ouf friends at BP there is a new shrimp on the barbie and it is a big one. Boiled for twenty minutes in saltwater with a generous splash of Dawn dish washing (also washes birds, seals, dolphins, whales, turtles, and many other marine species) liquid it is to die for. If you have a craving for seafood this will definitely disperse your hunger. Check us out next week when we do baby turtle saute'd in oil.

 This article was paid for by the BP=Best Phriend campaign.

This is a Foto-friday article and is a feature of the Newsvine photographers.

Discalimer- This article is a parody and contains false information. The giant shrimp is in fact a giant lobster common to the North East of the United States in the Atlantic Ocean. Dawn dish washing liquid should never be used in cooking. Ingesting soap will most likely make a person very ill and possibly in need of medical attention. So please don't put any soap in your food and remember BP is your Best Phriend.

I hadn't been back to Leu Gardens since I was there in March for the annual plant sale. My sister and I headed over there on Monday to take advantage of free admission day. Apparently it was also storytelling day and the gardens were packed with parents and small children. Usually it is very quiet during the week. But it was a beautiful day and things were blooming everywhere. Here are a few of the photos I took. Enjoy!

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.

Foto Friday is a regular feature of Newsvine Photographers.

©2011 HollyKL. All rights reserved.