Memento Mori

This is a quick tour through a graveyard in Essex, Massachusetts. We have had wonderful weather this fall, that is during the work week but not on the weekends. Therefore I haven't had many opportunities to photograph the graves this year.

Last weekend after the rain stopped, I stopped in the Essex graveyard to look at the maples. I had my video camera in my pocket decided to take you for a walk.

This maple tree was just swaying in the breeze.


Be sure to see the wonderful headstones from the 1600s through the 1800s that I posted last year.

Memento Mori

This is a little on the macabre side for SMU. I found this pair of wings on a dock here in town. This is exactly as I found them. On this Halloween, Memento Mori.



I'm uploading a video I put together featuring a graveyard in Essex, Massachusetts. Be sure to check back later today. Until then, you can see some of the wonderful headstones from the 1600s through the 1800s that I posted last year.

Forgotten Photo Friday, Fisherman Walking on Dogbar Breakwater

Tenpound Island

Rowell Covered Bridge

Just a short while ago, I took you to Contoocook, NH and showed you the railroad covered bridge. This bridge is just a little ways up the Contoocook River.

October Darner

One would think it is getting to be too late in the season for dragonflies yet I shot this darner on Sunday Morning here in Gloucester. Every time I see one of these, I’m taken in by how big they are.

Burnham Ship Yard

Yesterday after the rain stopped, I took a drive out to Essex to look for some colors and found some beautiful scenery. I stopped off and took a couple of snaps.

The Lewis H. Story from Essex.


Fall foliage by the Burnham Ship Yard.


Last August I took you on a sunset sail on the pinky schooner Maine with Harold Burnham. I'm pleased to see that Harold has started a blog which I think has lots of potential and will have a great future. Be sure to check out Boatbuilding with Burnham. (I head some hammering and sawing coming from the barn, I wonder what Harold is working on?)

Spotted Spreadwing

This is the last of the Spreadwings in our area. The Spotted Spreadwing will disappear at by the end of October, long after the other species have gone.

Forgotten Photo Friday, California Sea Lion Pups

When we go to Monterey, California, I like to shoot the sea lions. Last July we made a trip and saw these sea lion pups. This isn’t the most glamorous time of the year for them because they are losing their puppy fir. It just goes to show that a wildlife photographer must work on nature's schedule.



Sea lions are characterized by the presence of external ear pinnae (ear-flaps), long front flippers, and the ability to walk on all four flippers on land.


They do seem to enjoy the company of each other.

West Gloucester Sunset.

This was taken tonight as the sun set over West Gloucester, not more than 20 minutes ago.

Salem Eagles

Two eagles found in Salem, MA.

The Customs House eagle.


The eagle at the main entrance at the Hawthorne Hotel.

Scott Bridge, Townshend, VT

Along Rt 30 outside of Brattleboro is the town of Townshend. There you will pass the Scott Bridge, the longest wooden span bridge in Vermont that still remains.


It is interesting to look at how they attempted to construct this span using a laminated arch.

You can walk through the bridge. Since the sun was going down when I arived I wanted to take advantage of the light. When I got to the other side of the bridge, I was in for a little surprise.


A film crew was shooting a documentary. They were happy to have me watch. I did chat with the crew and left them with my card. They were supposed to send me a link to the movie's website. I'll be damned, they never did. If any one knows what this was all about, please let me know! I'd like to see the film some day.

The crew very quietly, frantically signals a car not to pass in the middle of the shot. A man with a rain stick soaks the actor standing outside of the car.

An reflection abstract.


I love this shot. Notice the rope swing on the far side hanging from the bridge.


For those who are new to SMU or are coming in from Watery Wendseday, be sure to take a look at this weeks Nor' Easter storm posts!

Sumac

Three pictures using the brilliant red of Staghorn Sumac with Autumn Meadowhawks.

Storm Photos from Bass Rocks

The ocean not only changes from day to day, hour to hour but from second to second. These pictures will gives one the idea that the ocean changes from instant to instant.

The ocean changes in space and time. I am standing in a safe place, yet not more than twenty feet from where I stand is a place where I could be killed. The sea rolls and thunders. The waves crash, you can hear cobbles crack against each other and the dull thud of moving boulders.

These seascapes have lots of information in them. Each one could stand on its own. As a group, they give a temporal perspective.

The first four shots are of one wave coming in. Look to the right of Thacher Island on the horizon of this picture. The uneven horizon is not do to an aberration but is actually due to the rollers crossing the open ocean.









The next two shots are of the same roller coming in. This really give you an idea of how the waves explode on the rocks.

Two Mid Autumn Dragons

The dragonfly season is winding down. There are still lots of meadowhawks out there, but soon it will be all over until next year. Here are two dragons that you may still see in Essex County. These were shot in Dogtown Commons on Cape Ann.

Autumn Meadowhawk



Autumn Meadowhawk



Whitefaced Meadowhawk



If you didn't see yesterday's Monster Wave pictures from Eastern Point, take a look. You will not be disappointed.

Eastern Point Storm Surge

Today, we had a storm off the coast that has whipped up the waves. These waves are so huge that from my home on the north end of the harbor, I can see them out in the open ocean rolling past the breakwater with my naked eyes.

Last August, I showed you some Presents From [hurricane]Bill. These are the rocks that I was standing on when I took the shots.



At high tide, I was invited to shoot the action from a friend's back yard on Eastern Point. So that you may have a perspective on how monstrous these waves are, here is a photo take of the scene between waves.


A series of three photos of one of the big rollers coming in.