Back At The Bogs

Here's a few of the photos from this week's trip out to Haines and Haines Cranberry Bogs. See more about this Lightroom preset in today's Spirit Art post on technology.

My Autumn Trip Around The Block

Today I took a trip around the block. See more about my block on today's Spirit Art Blog post.

Art Wolfe Video From Yesterday Posted!

http://creativetechs.com/training/art-wolfe-all-about-light/

Art Wolfe Shares His Secrets Today -FREE - LIVE!

Today, October 13th, 2009, at 11:00am Pacific time, renowned photographer, Art Wolfe will be giving a special FREE online presentation. Art will display his favorite shots from around the world to show how the quality and angle of light affect compositions. You can see it live here: http://creativetechs.com/training/live/ while the event is in progress.

Hummingbird Migration Still Happening

Here in Southern New Jersey, my husband spotted a small traveling hummingbird perched on one of my hummingbird feeders yesterday afternoon! So sorry I missed it. I still have two feeders out and keep them clean and filled until Thanksgiving. One year I had a couple of youngsters come through on November 22nd, so don't put yours away just yet. Somebody might be depending on you! This drawing is one of many I posted this summer on my Drawing Everyday Blog.

What Is Microstock Photography?

For the last six months, I have been obsessed with learning the technical aspects of digital photography and getting a better handle on post processing software. It's been a very time consuming venture to say the least. Today I'm posting a before and after shot of my blacksmith. You can see from comparing the final with the first shot how I took things out, added and enhanced some details and softened some harsh shadows. Hopefully in the future, I'll get better at my photography and lighting skills so I need to do a lot less in my post processing. How many things can you find that I have changed or adjusted in this photo? Here's a definition of microstock from Wikipedia: "Microstock photography, also known as micropayment photography, is an offshoot of traditional stock photography. What defines a company as a microstock photography company is that they (1) source their images almost exclusively via the Internet, (2) do so from a wider range of photographers than the traditional stock agencies (including a willingness to accept images from "amateurs" and hobbyists), and (3) sell their images at a very low rate (anywhere from $.20 - $10) for a royalty-free image."

A Visit To Haines and Haines Cranberry Farm

Holly Haines and her brother, William S. Haines, Jr., are 4th generation growers who own and operate the largest cranberry farm in the state. With over 1,300 cranberry bogs in production, there's lots of work to do year round. The farms' 11,000 acres includes bogs, reservoirs and woodland. You need approximately 10 acres of upland (woodland, etc.) for every acre of bog to act as a buffer and to protect your water sources.The farm has evolved from a one-man operation started in 1890 by Martin L. Haines, to one of the largest privately owned facilities in the world. Over 35 full-time employees, many whose families have also been involved in the business for generations and 50 peak-season workers keep the Pine Island Cranberry business flourishing and expanding. Holly's love of her career, lifestyle and the farm is evident in her knowledge of all aspects of the business. Her enthusiasm for the new technologies of the future and her many intriguing stories of the past make her a fascinating and unique expert in her field. An informative guide and charming hostess, Holly has granted us permission to come back again any time during the harvest to take more photos. How very generous she is and how lucky we are! Here's a few of my photos taken at the bogs.


A an early fall bumper crop of lustrous cranberries are gathered in a flooded brown cedar water bog. This mixed color harvest floats on the surface of dark water after being thrashed up from the vines.


Swirling variegated cranberries make beautiful designs in the water as they are harvested.



After freeing the berries from their vines with walk-behind thrashers, seen here in the background, workers corral the fruit which will be transported via conveyor to waiting trucks.



Once the cranberries are in the corral , they are moved up a conveyor belt to a waiting truck which will be transport them to a packing house, where they will be cleaned. Then tractor trailer trucks will take them to the local processing plant.



Here workers break for lunch as one worker offers a hand to the last man out of the bog.


A walk-behind cranberry thrasher sits abandoned in a flooded bog while workers break for lunch. Big puffy clouds and a beautiful blue sky are mirrored in the water's reflection.

Rudy Is Doing Much Better

Just a short update on my guy, Rudy. He's eating well and looks great. Everything indicates that he feels good too. I've been lunging him about twenty minutes each day and he really seems to enjoy it. Yesterday when I asked him to walk after trotting for a couple of minutes, he just kept going at a relaxed rhythmic jog. I said, "OK, then Rudy, trot on". He then picked up his pace in a very accommodating manner, eager to show me his sound flowing gait. My vet called when they got his blood work results back and said for a 29 year old horse with Cushings Disease, everything looks amazingly good. I know he's not going to be around forever, but I strongly feel we've got a few good years together ahead. Thanks to everyone for your concern. It is really appreciated.

A Close Call With A Dear Friend

I grew up with my horse, Rembrandt, aka: Rudy and have owned him since he was a yearling. Yesterday he had colic. Colic is probably the number one killer of horses. I have never had the vet out for colic before. For a 29 year old horse, Rudy is amazingly healthy and quite nicely well preserved. I spent over five hours yesterday and last night lunging and walking him. I pleaded with him not to leave me now. "We still have lots of good years ahead", I told him. At midnight I called my vet because Rembrandt seemed in pretty bad pain. There wasn't much more they could do for him except surgery, Dan Keenan said. "Just keep walking him and hopefully he'll pull through." I walked him until his pain seemed lessened. At 2:00 am I went inside, mentally and physically exhausted. I dozed for an hour. I went out and checked on him three times during the early morning hours. He was down more than he was up, but he seemed to be resting quietly. By 6:30, he had regained his interest in food when he quickly went to check out his feed bucket when I fed Rita. "Sorry, no food until later, vet's orders", I said. By 8:00 am he seemed more like his old self and has been eating small quantities of timothy hay that I soaked in water and drained before feeding. Knock on wood, so far so good. We have to be very careful with his diet over the next couple of weeks so he can have a full recovery from the ordeal. Here is a photo I took of him tonight. Sometimes we don't realize how much somebody means to us until they might be lost.

It's September First and Fall Is In The Air!

We are experiencing beautiful autumn like weather here today. It has been a perfect day to get me in the mood to work on paintings of the Jersey Devil. Here are two small watercolors I finished up today. You can see the preliminary drawings of these from last week and more about the Jersey Devil and The White Horse Inn on my summer sketching blog here. These originals are both already spoken for. Looks like I may be doing more than the usual series of three this year. Which version do you like better? Which color scheme, and why? Tomorrow I start on the bigger painting.

Struggles Of A Butterfly

From my Spirit Art Blog post today, August 31st ~
Whenever I see a butterfly these days, I think of this story. There are many versions on line but I like this one the best. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Struggles of a Butterfly

When he was a small boy, he had loved butterflies. Oh, not to net and
mount them, but to wonder at their designs and habits.

Now a grown man with his first son to be born in a few weeks, he found
himself once again fascinated with a cocoon. He had found it at the side
of the park path. Somehow the twig had been knocked from the tree and
the cocoon had survived undamaged and still woven to the branch.

As he had seen his mother do, he gently protected it by wrapping it in
his handkerchief and carried it home. The cocoon found a temporary home
in a wide-top mason jar with holes in the lid. The jar was placed on the
mantle for easy viewing and protection from their curious cat who would
delight in volleying the sticky silk between her paws.

The man watched. His wife's interest lasted only a moment, but he studied
the silky envelope. Almost imperceptibly at first, the cocoon moved. He
watched more closely and soon the cocoon was trembling with activity.
Nothing else happened. The cocoon remained tightly glued to the twig and
there was no sign of wings.

Finally the shaking became so intense, the man thought the butterfly would
die from the struggle. He removed the lid on the jar, took a sharp pen
knife from his desk drawer, and carefully made a tiny slit in the side
of the cocoon. Almost immediately, one wing appeared and then outstretched
the other. The butterfly was free!

It seemed to enjoy its freedom and walked along the edge of the mason jar
and along the edge of the mantle. But it didn't fly. At first the man
thought the wings needed time to dry, but time passed and still the
butterfly did not take off.

The man was worried and called up his neighbor who taught high school
science. He told the neighbor how he had found the cocoon, placed it in
the mason jar, and the terrible trembling as the butterfly struggled to
get out. When he described how he had carefully made a small slit in the
cocoon, the teacher stopped him. "Oh, that is the reason. You see, the
struggle is what gives the butterfly the strength to fly."

And so it is with us. Sometimes it's the struggles in life that strengthen
us the most.

Author Unknown

Monster in the Butterfly Bushes

It was a gorgeous day here today. I spent some time playing with my camera and different lenses. It was a "gear learning" session. I used three different lenses and two Nikon speed lights. This is my favorite for the day, shot with my Tamron 90mm macro lens. I call it "Monster in the Bush". This Praying Mantes posed for me all afternoon and barely moved a muscle. Much easier to shoot than hummingbirds! Especially ones being tormented by Yellow Jackets!

Another Shot From My Hummingbird Marathon

This is one of my favorite shots from the past week of renting telephoto lenses. It was taken with a flash (Nikon SB 900 Speedlight) to stop the motion of the wings. It is full frame with no cropping and I haven't done any post processing on it yet. My mentor, Nancy Louie, turned me on to the idea and helped me get my barrings with all the technical stuff involved. See more about shooting hummingbirds with a flash here.

Stillness in the Midst of Chaos

"Art is the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos." ~ Saul Bellow

Here's a few of the hummingbird photos I took over the past couple of days. See more about "Shooting Fish in a Barrel" on today's Spirit Art Blog.

Telephoto Lenses and Flies

Nano and I headed down to the Forsythe Wildlife Refuge yesterday afternoon to check out the telephoto lenses I rented for the week. What we did not anticipate however, is that there were massive numbers of biting flies! They swarmed our car like a pack of angry bees. Needless to say, we were not able to get out and try out the lenses. Afterwards we headed down the road to Atlantic City and took a few shots from a casino parking garage. Here is my favorite shot of Absecon Lighthouse looking eastward out towards the ocean.

A Hundred Happy Hummingbirds

I just like the sound of today's title, don't you? Here's another shot from yesterday. See the drawing I did from it on www.sketchingeveryday.com.

Big Lenses and Little Birds

The invitation still stands for you local people to come over and see some hummingbirds. I rented 2 telephoto lenses this week and I am trying to learn how to use them. I just received them yesterday afternoon and I'm hoping before the week is over that I'll get some good shots of my little jewels. Here's a couple photos of molting juveniles from this morning. My buddy, Betsy Hudson, who owns two "Life Is Good" stores, came over with her Nikon for a couple of hours and we tried to figure this out together. I may not have gotten a lot of good shots, but time spent with "Ms Sunshine" is always a fun and uplifting experience. Thanks Bets!

Interesting Side Note: Molting or Moulting in birds from Wikipedia:

"In birds, moulting is the periodic replacement of feathers by shedding old feathers while producing new ones. Feathers are dead structures at maturity, and they become gradually worn down and need to be replaced. Adult birds moult at least once a year, though many moult twice, and a few three times."

FREE CLASSES IN PHOTOGRAPHY AND SOFTWARE!

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, PHOTOSHOP, DREAMWEAVER & LIGHTROOM!


Take a look through the slate of upcoming FREE classes from Creative Techs, and sign up for a couple that catch your interest here. I took their 10 week Photoshop Class and it was AWESOME!

Relationships At The Smithville Mansion

This Saturday, I've been invited by friend and photography mentor, Nancy Louie to attend a photo shoot in Maryland. It is being put together by a group of iStockers from the Northeast region and it is called a "meetup". I'll fill you in on more details as I get them. All I know so far, is the theme is "Relationships". Working with the Venitskys, Sid and Shirley, yesterday at the Smithville Mansion already got me thinking a lot about the very subject. You can find out more about them and see more quotes on relationships in today's Spirit Art post.





"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." ~Marcel Proust

Wash Drawing Of Butterfly Bush Flowers

I've posted almost 60 drawings everyday so far this summer. I can't believe that it is almost August! For all you folks who haven't checked out my blog, www.sketchingeveryday.com yet, you may want to take a look. Here's today's finished sketch of the cut Butterfly Bush flowers that I posted yesterday. I decided to break out my watercolors and really try to bring these babies to life for you.