WOMEN'S WEEKEND IN WAYLAND

Two of my friends and I spent last weekend in Wayland, NY, at our home there. We went to paint, but the weather was pretty gray and misty, so we had to paint from photos. We went for a walk to the top of the hill to the potato farm, took photos, painted, had a campfire, and talked and talked and talked. We had a wonderful time. Here are some photos that I took there.

BAY FARM FLOWERS

The fields at Bay Farm were full of these gorgeous mauve flowers. I don't know what they are, but they were all over the place and really made me feel that autumn is coming soon.

VIEW FROM BAY FARM

Took a walk through Bay Farm the other day with my friend. This is one of the beautiful views across Plymouth Bay.

BLUE HYDRANGEA

I went to Nantucket once when all the hydrangeas were at their peak. This is my favorite of the many photos I took.

WOOD

I don't remember where I took this picture of this tree trunk. I think it's a sycamore. I liked the way the bark peeled away from the trunk revealing all the layers and colors of the tree.

BONFIRE AND THE MOON

We had a huge bonfire on the 4th of July. You can see how large the fire was compared to its audience. That is also the crescent moon in the sky.

BAT HOUSE AND BAT

Here is a picture of the bat house and a bat that has left it. It's funny how the bats just fall out of the bottom and then fly away. And it's amazing how many bats are in that little house. We counted over 60 bats that night.

BAT HOUSE AND MOON

My brother-in-law built a bat house on our land in NY and every evening likes to sit and count how many bats fall out of the house. This July 4th, the bats had an audience of about 15. I tried, without much success, to take a good picture of one of the bats. What I did get was this nice photo of the moon and the bat house.

BONFIRE

We spent the 4th of July at our house in NY and had a grand bonfire one night. These photos are of my nephew's girlfriend (a) blowing bubbles by firelight, and (b) taking a picture of the fire.

ROCKS

These lighting on these rocks in Scituate was beautiful as the sun was setting.

ROPES

Went to Scituate this beautiful September afternoon and saw some interesting ropes.

FENCE GARDENS

Just a couple of pretty gardens planted along a river in Duxbury.

MORNING COFFEE

This morning's coffee was sitting in the sun, and the steam was flowing, so I tried to take a picture of it. This is what I got.

FERNS

Last Thanksgiving, my family went for a hike before dinner. I spotted these beautiful ferns and fell in love with the lighting on them.

BEAUTIFUL DAY AT THE BEACH

Yesterday morning was so beautiful that I took my camera to the beach. I'm always attracted to the dune paths, and I found this beach rose, one of the few remaining of the season. It's still in pretty good condition. Most of them are withered by now.

BLUE HILL

This pastel painting is from a photo that I took in New York, just south of Rochester. We went for a walk through a neighboring farm, and this was the view from the dirt road. So beautiful!

PATH TO THE BAY

This day I was attracted to the small path that led to the bay. The wonderful blues of the water and sky helped, too. This was a truly beautiful day!

DUNE FENCE AT SUNSET

I can't decide which one of these I like better, so I'm posting both of them. I like the colors in the sky with the bay in the background, and I like the simplicity and pink cast of the other fence.

TREES

Yesterday was a 12 on the scale from 1 to 10! The sky was so blue, and it shows in these photos that I took of two of my favorite trees.

SUNRISE AT WAYLAND

Late autumn. Sunrise. The sun was bouncing off the dewdrops on the underbrush in the forest and created this beautiful glow.

PEONIES

This year, my peonies are so beautiful. In spite of their size and weight, they are still very delicate. I had to stake them up because they were so tall and the flowers were so heavy that they were leaning over almost to the ground.

MORE LILACS

Another year at the Lilac Festival in Rochester, NY. They are so beautiful, and there are so many to see. All colors, but the purple ones are my favorites.

CAMP FIRE

We have a campfire every night at our country house in western NY. There is always someone who wants to poke at the fire, while the rest of us just stare at it and have wonderful conversations. It's a great way to end a long day.

SWANS

Yesterday morning I took these photos of the swans and their babies in my friend's backyard pond. She threw a little bread in the water, and they came right over and posed for pictures for at least an hour. I have many other beautiful photos, but I wanted to show you these cute little swans, and these were the best shots to do just that. I tried to use a tripod to get better focus, but they were moving around too much, so I had to abandon that idea and shoot hand-held photos.

AFRICAN VIOLET

Normally, I have a black thumb when it comes to flowers, but my African Violets must be in just the right place in my home. They really seem to thrive, and this one is my favorite. When it blooms, there are so many flowers, and it is really dense. They last a long time, too.

MORE FLOWERS

I took more photos of flowers today. Now I have vases of flowers all over my house because I had to go out and buy them. I think it was worth it because I'm excited about how these turned out.

TULIPS

Today I began trying to photograph flowers against a black background. I used aperture-priority with a shallow depth of field. These tulips are the photo that I liked the best. Some of the others had focusing problems. But, I'll keep trying.

SCITUATE CHURCH

This is a photo of the church on Country Way in Scituate, Mass. a little after sunset. I'm still trying my hand at night-time photography. Practice, practice, practice -- that's what they say!

WORLD'S END TREE

The photo for the pastel painting of this tree was taken at World's End in Hingham, MA just after sunrise. The backlighting was beautiful, and I loved the colors in the trees in the background. I'll have to arise very early more often. The lighting is fantastic for photography.

NIGHT-TIME PAINTINGS

Here are two recent paintings done from night-time photos. The waterfall is called "Ruth's Waterfall". It is in my sister-in-law's back yard. She and her husband are avid waterfall hikers and finally got to have their own.

UPPER CABIN AT DUSK

I've been practicing taking night-time photos. This is the upper cabin at our property in Wayland, NY. I used a tripod and about a 30 second exposure on f/16, I think. I'll have to get more serious about the statistics now that I'm taking this more seriously.

VIET NAM WAR MEMORIAL - D.C.

I took this photo a few years ago. It was juried into the summer show at the North River Arts Society in Marshfield, Mass.

WINTER STREET TREE

I have taken photos of this tree in all the seasons, but in autumn, it is at its most beautiful.