The Adventure, Character and Dignity of Old Barn

I love old barns.  When I was a young boy we had an old barn close by that we would ride our bikes to, sneak in and play for hours, oh the adventures we would dream up.  We used to climb the hay bales all the way to the ceiling, very dangerous, but kids don't think about danger.  If I close my eyes I can still smell the sweet hay and scent of an approaching Fall.  Rumor had it (I think us kids started it)  that if Old Man Jones caught you in his barn he would shoot you in the buttocks with "both barrels"  loaded full of rock salt.  As a boy and even now,  part of the thrill is wondering, was there an "Old Man Jones" and did he really have a shot gun.  To this day we never found out.

I think you can draw a parallel between barns and people, especially us New Englander type.  We are very independent, so are barns.  You ever see two old barns side by side, very seldom.  We like to do our own thing in our own way with some space around us.

I know this will surprise you, but New Englanders are stubborn......and so are old barns.  Many old barns should have given up and fallen down a long time ago,  nope, no way,  no how,  giving up is for sissies.   Seems like years ago the King of England thought we should have given up, especially when our militia was down to about 300 against the strongest military in the world,  guess you know the rest of that story.

Like old people, old barns are full of wonderful memories, the trick is to take a few minutes to slow down and quietly listen.  There is also a certain mutual respect we share with our old friend the barn, while getting older is not a lot of fun there is a certain character and dignity in doing it with grace.

I like old barns....

I Am Thankful For....

  I am so thankful for:

• My customers  new friends who invited me into their lives and allowed me the privilege to capture their families special memories.   I am so hopeful the photographs we created will remain family treasures for generations.  

• Kind people....enough said.

• Really good friends, who sincerely care about me.  You know the ones that will help you move a refrigerator or pellet stove.

• Older, wiser generations willing to share the history of their lives.

• Politicians who make humane decent decisions that John Adams would be proud of.

• My family, all of them, the in-laws and out-laws, they are all so very special in their individual ways.   

I am so very thankful for my son Noah.  He studies hard, does his chores, plays beautiful music, makes good decisions, has a passion for life and is kind to others.

And of course Misti.  She is my love and my friend.  We dream together.  She tolerates me. 

He's No Rookie...

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing Technical Sergeant Daniel Goddard of the 101st Air Refueling Wing who was selected by the Air National Guard as the Region 5 Rookie Recruiter of the year.  Many of the recruiters Sergeant Goddard competed against were assigned to densely populated areas like Boston, New York and Atlantic City.  Lots of people, translates to lots of applicants to recruit.  Not so much here in Maine,  but with some good ole fashion hard work and MAINEiac spirit, he pulled it off.  I am also going to tell you he is no rookie,  especially in the area of getting young people excited about joining the Air National Guard.  This year he has rolled up his sleeves and recruited 30 new MAINEiacs exceeding his "management" goal by 178%,  amazing.  The photograph we created will be part of a package sent to the Air National Guard Headquarters where he will compete with 5 other recruiters throughout the United States.  I am told he has an extremely good chance of being selected as the Top Air National Guard Rookie of the Year.  I hope this photo serves him well.   Still not sure the word "rookie" applies; how about another word like  "dedicated", "top-notch" or  "professional",  yup thats more like it.

Big Sky Country...

I have always heard the term "Big Sky Country" and believed it was tied to specific state.    So I did a quick google search and sure enough our good friend Wikipedia tells us:  

"Montana has several nicknames, none official,^[4] including: "Big Sky Country" and "The Treasure State", and slogans that include "Land of the Shining Mountains" and more recently, "The Last Best Place"

I am not sure Mr. Wikipedia has ever been to Alaska, just saying.....

Homer Spit, Alaska

Seward, Alaska

Bear Lake, Alaska

Seward, Alaska

Like Trying to Hit A Moving Object, In This Case It Was...

Your sitting in the backyard taking photos of your children when all of sudden a magical moment appears, that cute little smile you love, you push the camera shutter button with great excitement, thinking: "yes I got it", until you see the camera's LCD, draaaats, out of focus..... again.  

A blurry picture can be caused by a variety of reasons such as shaky hands or a moving object,  One of the quick ways to combat this problem is to increase your shutter speed as this will help freeze the action.   Many cameras have an automatic high shutter speed mode, this is the one that has the symbol of the runner on the dial.  

Another trick is to ensure your camera has locked into a focus point at the same depth of field as your subject.  This works really well in extreme movement situations where you can anticipate where your subject will be.  

For example, earlier this spring at one of Noah's track meets I hung at the high jump and practiced this approach.  Basically I turned the lens autofocus off and then determined where the subject was going to be.  Using the lens manual focus ring I focused to where I expected my subject to be.  It takes a little bit of practice but is worth the effort as it can pay big dividends when shoot a moving object. 

Spending Time With Selma

About 3 weeks ago I spent a good part of the day cleaning our pellet stove and replacing all of the gaskets and filters.  You could call this a modern day approach to getting ready for winter.  It was about 3:00 when I finished and I noticed that it had stopped raining out so I decided to reward myself by spending a little quality time with Selma by taking a quick jaunt to Bar Harbor.  

Those of you who have lived here in Maine will find it of no surprise when I tell you that the closer I got to the coast the fogger it got.    There was also a mist, not the heaving stuff just the more of nuisance stuff that you have to wipe off your face shield every 10-15 seconds.  

By the way did I tell you my goal for the day was to take Selma to the top of Caddilac Mountain so we could take her picture in a scenic location.   As we approached the beginning of the park, the strangest vision entered the corner of my eye.  I quite honestly was not sure I had truly seen what I just saw.  I pulled Selma over and looked back and sure enough, there was a gentleman playing bag pipes in the fog and mist overlooking Hulls Cove.    This combination created an amazingly ethereal photo opportunity.   I grabbed my camera and told Selma to stay put while I went over to meet David Weeda who was a wonderful conversationalist and was completely comfortable with me taking a few photos while continued playing.   Oh man I love the sounds of bag pipes....

  If you ever get a chance to swing down to Hulls Cove on Saturday afternoon's there is a good chance you will have a chance to hear and meet David who by the way runs a beautiful bed and breakfast at Williams Pond Lodge.

Oh yes, one last thing,  I almost forget,  Selma and I did make it to the mountain and I did take her picture, isn't she pretty?

She is German you know and by the way Selma in German translates to "God-Protection".

Slowing Down to Say Hello

It is amazing how much you can learn about someone if you just slow down and take a few minutes to listen.  On a recent warm sunny day I took a stroll thru downtown Bangor and met this man playing beautifully while sitting on one of the sidewalk benches.    

 At his feet he had opened his guitar case and placed a small hand written sign 

"raising money for charity".   I took a few dollars out of my pocket and gently lowered them into his collection.  He briefly stopped playing for a moment to say "thank you".   I nonchalantly hung around  until he finished singing and then politely asked if I could sit next to him and talk for  a minute.

   He shared with me that his Dad taught him how to play guitar when he was just a little boy.   I also learned that he was is a United States Marine who served in Vietnam.  He also talked about how he lived alone in an apartment close by.   Over the next 20 minutes Terry and I talked about all kinds of stuff.  I learned that  Terry's life has not always been easy and my instincts nudge me to believing that at times it has been quite difficult.   However, he had a very contagious human spirit of optimism,  hope and joy.  He was so appreciative of all the good people that are part of his life.   As I began to leave,  I asked him if I could take his picture and he graciously agreed.  

I am so glad that I took a few minutes to slow down and chat with this wonderful decent man.  If you are ever downtown and see Terry make sure you stop to say hello, I know I will.        dg

Signs of Spring

I find that even when Winter has a firm grasp and refuses to play nice,  our good friend mother nature always finds a way to tell us that old man winter will be soon packing his bags.   And sure enough one of these signs appeared on Saturday afternoon.  It came in the form of kayakers in the Kenduskeag River.   These two young men,  both students at Maine Maritime were a joy to chat with.  Can you believe this is their 3rd time out this season, wow!   While the afternoon sun was quite warm, the river looked and had to be cold, it was.  However, both of these young man were actually sweating as it takes a tremendous amount of energy to keep these kayaks pointed in the right direction.  This is definitely something I want to try..........in August.

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Got Bokeh?

In portrait photography,  aperture and depth of field are your best buddies.  With their help you can do magic in the form of  "bokeh".   The term bokeh comes from the Japanese word boke  (暈け or ボケ) which means to "blur" or "haze" and is pronounced "bouquet".    

Basically, bokeh is achieved when your subject is in focus and everything else it out of focus.  In photography this is referred to as having a shallow depth of field and is best done using a telephoto lens with an extremely large aperture.   Ideally an aperture of 3.5 or higher is necessary to achieve true bokeh.  Unfortunately,  to get a lens with a high aperture this high you need to spend some "moola" pronouned "moo-la".  

 Check out some examples which were I shot using what many feel is Canon's best all around lens, 

the EF 70-200L IS lens which was set at f2.8.

The wall behind Noah is completely out of focus.

Behind Courtney is a Maple Tree in full Fall bloom.

That is a downtown building behind Noah.

Behind Emily is a combination of shrubs and grey sky.

A Day WIth My Friend the Chickadee

I have had always had a deep admiration for Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), not sure why I just like them.  How could you not like a little bird that is described as being "cute".   Lets face it,  with a little round head,  puffy feathers, and a very undersized  body they are adorable.   Not to mention, their  curiosity about everything, including humans.  

 I also like them because their tough and they can adapt, you know, like us Mainers.   When most other birds have moved south, their still here,  making the best of winter,  just like you and I.    While we complain about winter,  they rejoice.  Just this morning at 14 degrees below zero while walking to my car,  I heard my friend the chickadee encouraging me to make the best of the day. 

Their familiar sound (chick-a-dee-dee) is one of the most complex vocalizations in the entire animal kingdom.

To embrace winter,  I spent a few hours outside at the Fields Pond Bird Sanctuary taking pictures of my little friends.  And you know what?,  I became even more appreciative and curious of these cute little birds.  So I came home got on the computer and learned that:  

They grow 30% more fur in the winter time.  

 To stay warm in the winter, their little hearts beat at a rate 2000 beats per minute during the day and at night it lowers to 500 beats per minute.  

Even when temperatures are far below zero, chickadees always sleep in their own individual cavities they made in soft wood trees.

 They have amazing cognitive powers and can remember where they hide food for up to 28 days.  Plus they can manage over 1000 food hiding places at a time.    Think of this skill, the next time you cannot find your car keys.

 For you romantics out there, know that these little cuties are monogamous, yup they find a mate and stick with them for life.  Their faithful little creatures.   This quality is rare among birds, extremely rare among humans.

They are described as a saucy, active bird.. I like that

As a borne, raised, and life long resident of Maine, I am proud to have the chickadee as my friend. With all the changes our new Governor is making,   I hope he does not choose to change our State Bird.   

While Maine winters are tough, these little friends make it just a little easier,  of course a touch of chardonnay from time to time never hurts either,  ayuh.