Mukilteo Lighthouse

I had a chance to visit the Puget Sound north of Seattle a few weeks back on business. It rained all day, but by evening the drizzle stopped and I spent a couple of hours at Mukilteo Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington.

Before my trip I struggled with the decision of whether or not to bring my camera along. As much as I enjoy taking pictures, there are trips (business trips in particular) where I don't ever take my camera out of its case. Lugging the camera on and off of airplanes only to not use it can be a pain. Well, as you can see, I finally opted to bring the camera along again... I think I chose wisely.

Finding myself alone for several hours with my camera in tow in a place as picturesque as this... Well, there are worse ways to spend an evening on a business trip. I watched the ferry boats running back and forth across the sound in tandem, I observed lots of wildlife, and I generally just had a great time. I capped off the evening with a delicious dinner at Ivar's followed by another half hour on the piers watching the sunset.

Mukilteo Lighthouse See the entire album!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going, Going, Gone

So, Blogger has been broken for three weeks -- or, more accurately, the Blog This! feature from Picasa has been broken. The problem first manifest itself to me when two of my posts ended up showing up with blank pictures the next morning. It has taken a very long time for the Google team to "fix" the problem. I saw on the message board this evening that they have a fix in place and it appears that, at long last, the problem is, indeed, fixed! In addition, I can now post more than four photos directly from Picasa, which is a nice feature that should have been added long ago.

I posted these pictures as a 5-minute test. I didn't take time to sort, edit, or crop; rather, I just grabbed group of photos out of an old folder and hit Blog This!

These were taken from White Sand Beach on February 1, 2009. That was my first Sunday evening living in Connecticut. I had worked a grand total of one day at my new job in Groton. That's just over two years ago in human years (which converts to roughly 10 PCC years)! There are actually two lighthouses visible in these shots. In the first picture you can see the Saybrook Breakwater Light to the left of the sun. In the rest the Lynde Point Lighthouse is visible to the right.

 

 

 

 

 

Kiteboarding - Conimicut State Park

April 25, 2009. One evening the first Spring we were living in New England we went in search of lighthouses and ended up at Conimicut Point Lighthouse near Warwick, RI. We were there at sunset and I noticed a young family playing around with what looked like the biggest kite I'd ever seen. I began taking pictures and eventually struck up a conversation with Jenne and Doug. It turns out they were practicing with the sail for their kiteboard set getting ready for summer, or maybe kitesurfing is a more accurate term. Regardless of what it's called they strap a huge kite to themselves, step on a board and let the wind propel them across the water. These two were just trying to learn to fly the kite on the sand. I even took a turn.

This little boy enjoyed watching the kite drag his mom across the sand.

Having a good laugh after the kite took another nose dive.

And she's off again.

Scenic backdrop

Sunset

This is my favorite shot of the day

And here I am trying my luck at the kite. I was not very successful.

Conimicut Point Lighthouse

I was looking through some of my older pictures and I came across these shots of the Conimicut Point Lighthouse in Rhode Island. I took these at sunset back in April of 2009. It is tough to admit it has been so long since we moved to New England.

I was thrilled to capture this flock of Canadian Geese headed back north for Spring.

Wave

Conimicut Point Lighthouse from Conimicut Point State Park

Sunset on the Connecticut River - One More Post

I guess I'm going to share one more set from our visit to the boardwalk.

Here are couple of Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) boats.

Yes, there is a train in this photo.

Reeds

Sun's Almost Gone

Sun's Gone

Sunset on the Connecticut River - Perspectives

Sometimes a very small change in perspective can make a big difference. The five photos featured in this update were all taken from the exact same spot on the boardwalk. Which perspective works the best for you?

This shot was taken from a standing position and at a bit of a slant to make it a bit more interesting.

Here's a bugs-eye view with a mid-range focal depth. The boardwalk nearly converges to a single point at this wide angle.

Same bugs-eye view at higher zoom and a deep focus. I love the line of screws winding down the middle of the walkway and the stand of tall reeds sprouting up like flames over the horizon. This picture didn't do much for me until I cropped it down a bit; now it may be my favorite of the set.

This one brings the focal point up close and personal. This one was my favorite until I cropped the one above.

When I was done laying in the middle of the boardwalk to take pictures I rolled over to get back to my feet and this is what I saw... One of my lovely assistants taking her own pictures despite the very-cold wind!

Sunset on the Connecticut River - Lines

My post Monday night seemed fine... until the pics disappeared. Here goes again to see if the uploads will stick... Thanks!

We took a walk along the river at sunset on Saturday night. I love the color of the light. I came back with many photos. These all feature dominant lines in their composition.

Boardwalk Under the Bridge
(It looks almost 3 dimensional)

Train Bound for Boston
(This one is probably too similar to the first one to be artistically significant... But is has a train in it, ergo, it is cool, ergo, here it is!)

Zigzag Path to the Osprey Nests

Here's another one that is pretty similar to the one right above it. I like enough to include it anyway. Which of the two zigzag paths do you prefer?

Bradley Sunset

You never know when you'll see something spectacular. Of course sunsets happen every evening. I see lots of them on my drive home from work (at least when I leave work before dark, that is). They're all nice, but sometimes, just when the sun touches the horizon, the clouds just explode into a thousand tongues of brilliant flame. I always find myself wishing I had my camera in these moments, even though taking pictures while operating a vehicle is rarely a good idea.

On my last return trip from Portland I ended up stranded at the Bradley International Airport waiting for the shuttle to long-term parking. Over twenty minutes on the curb capped off a seemingly endless trip back from the West Coast with a long layover in Chicago. I saw at least three shuttles from each of the off-site parking services and there were no Bradley shuttles to be seen. No wonder the off-site parking business is booming in Hartford! By the time the missing shuttle, captained by a gnarl-fisted old man, finally arrived I was pretty frustrated. I settled in for the long bumpy ride to the outskirts of Mongolia where I hoped to find my little red Focus still waiting for me. I kind of forgot about my frustration when I looked out and saw this particular sunset. I just happened to have my camera with me. And I just happened to not be the one driving. So I shot a few frames as we lurched along before I lost sight of the sun behind the trees. They're a bit out of focus, but I still like them.

And, good news! The little red Focus was right where I left it and I was finally able to get back home to my favorite people!

 

 

 

 

Lighthouse Park, New Haven, CT #2

Here are a few more pictures from Lighthouse Park in New Haven. I tried a few different compositions to try and make the lighthouse a little more interesting. Do you have a favorite?

 

 

 
This shot caught the last reflected light of the sunset on the waves out on the point. Literally, seconds after I snapped this the sunlight that was reflecting off the clouds was gone. My kids like this shot more than any of the lighthouse shots...

 

Lighthouse Park, New Haven, CT

Yesterday evening we were in New Haven and we stopped at Lighthouse Park to watch the sunset. I enjoyed watching a ship with red sails make its way out past the outer light then turn around and head back for the city. There was also a large wedding party that had the carousel rented out. Counting me, the wedding photographers and all the other people wandering the beach taking in the scenery there were probably over 150 cameras in action...

 

 

 

 

I couldn't help but capture this photo shoot that was happening on the beach. They stood here taking pictures for a few minutes and all the while the red-sailed ship was working its way closer. However, right after I snapped this shot they finished up and headed back to take pictures on the carousel. With the angle they were shooting I'm pretty sure they missed the ship. Maybe it's just me but I think they missed a great photo opportunity.

Pilgrim's Landing at Sunset

So I took several (ok, it was well over a hundred) photos down at Pilgrim's Landing in Old Lyme. Here are four more that I like enough to post.

 

 

 

 

Pocket-Size Speedboat

Another set from the Connecticut River at sunset. This is the smallest speedboat I think I've seen. They were having a great time tearing around the river and jumping the wakes of other boats. I cropped these down and kept them simply because of the way the spray lights up in the golden light from the sunset. I did minimal post-processing to these except to increase the contrast in order to darken up the trees.

 

 

 

Drive-By Shooting

Sometimes I'm amazed by the scenery in this little corner of Connecticut. On the way back from the beach with the kids this evening we were blown away by this sunset. The camera was already out so I just picked it up, pointed it forward and let the shutter whirl. Here are a few that we liked.

 
I actually looked through the view finder on this one while we were stopped at the light.