Saturday, January 26, 2013

Once again I found myself at Round Lake with the camera last week.  If you saw the lake today, you'd see ice fisherman sitting on their stools, some with what look like porta-potties for shelter, and others just sitting with their ice augers beside them and fishing poles in hand.  We've had a spell of intense arctic air, and the temperatures are at or below 0 degrees Farenheit at night.  Now the ice is thick and will last a long time.  It also has a thin coat of snow, so the once interesting surface is a sheet of flat, white stuff void of detail and visual interest.

But, last week, when this photograph was taken, the lake hadn't made much of a commitment to  solidity, and anyone venturing out on it would have gotten very wet, very quickly.  I've no idea how these radiating breaks in the ice occur, but they give ample warning to humans, at least, to stay on shore. 



Monday, January 21, 2013

Monroe, NY is barely a blip on the map. It's a  commuter town about 50+ miles from NYC.  There isn't a lot of visual appeal here....a small business district that some moron thought would be more attractive if 'modernized'.  So charming, but elderly storefronts were demolished, and contemporary facades were substituted.  There's simply zero character left save one stroke of genius.  The Goose Pond!!  It is a very popular park as well as true haven for geese! They flock here in great numbers littering the ground with their 'presence'!!

One foggy morning recently, which is a rarity in itself, found me near this mile and a half path for walkers and joggers that circumscribes the banks of the pond.  It was foggy, and icy, and tempting enough for me to get out the gear and go for a walk until I chose this to photograph.


Update:  Yesterday, February 4th. all these trees were cut down, chopped up, and carted away.  I was so sad to see that happen.  It just seems that the town fathers in Monroe can't abide charm and beauty, and do whatever they can to expunge it. 




Saturday, January 12, 2013

As I've noted before, fog is a rarity in this area, especially fog that lingers for more than a few hours in the morning.  But on a Saturday, when I can go out with the camera, fog that lasts well into the day is too good to ignore.  I drove around for quite a while looking for something like these two subjects.  And, in some remote part of my mind I knew I'd find something worthwhile to photograph in this place which is a dairy farm not very far from where I live. But, before arriving where these were made, I got myself lost on rural roads that were beautiful in their own right if not particularly photogenic. Both of these photographs were made at Belleville Farm in Orange County, New York.

What's unseen in the top picture, are the hundreds and hundreds of Canada geese sitting in the field just behind the tree.  Had I done something to roust them into flight,  they would have darkened the sky yet more than it was.  But....I didn't do that!