Crazy week this week so I didn’t get a chance to write anything for today. But I haven’t been slacking. I’ve been practicing “Food Photography”. I can tell you the hardest part is not eating the subject…at least not til you’ve captured the photo.
These food pictures are from those wonderful, greasy, soooo good summer places that deep fry everything on the menu. With one exception…a healthy turkey wrap…
I’ll tell you the stories behind the pictures another time.
I think I have discovered the perfect Pumpkin Patch for Linus (Of Charlie Brown Fame) to find the “Great Pumpkin”.
Back from New York and the Adirondack Balloon Festival I’d barely had time to unpack when my friend Nancy told me she had arranged a meeting with one of the owners of the Sailing Cow Cafe in Dennisport, MA. They were interested in seeing my photos and cards to possibly order some for the restaurant. So here we were on a beautiful Tuesday morning driving down to Dennisport, MA.
At Nancy’s suggestion we were traveling down Rt 28 instead of the Cape Highway (RT 6) . The sun was shining and the sky was a deep blue. There was a touch of fall in the air, a perfect day. That was when we spotted the carpet of bright orange and green. Pumpkins everywhere. We had to stop.
There were big pumpkins and small, white ones and green gourds.
There was even a T-shirt stand with T-shirts, of course but also cookbooks with pumpkin recipes. The event is The Pumpkin Patch and it is well named. It’s a fund-raiser for the local church.
They set up a spectacular display. All those orange pumpkins spread out over the green lawn is a feast for the eyes.
Nancy and I wandered among the rows taking pictures as we went.
Nancy also bought a T-shirt for her grand baby in Ohio. Then it was time to move on. We still had to get to our meeting at the Sailing Cow.
According to the paper this is the “World’s Largest Photo Contest”.
Since I entered a few photo contests last year I get invitations to enter photo contests all the time. I seldom do because they all have that “popularity” part and I’ve never been one of the “In Crowd”. I don’t have 1000+ Facebook friends and of the friends I have on Face book probably only about a dozen are active and of those maybe 5 will actually take the time to vote.
In this case my friend Nancy gave me the paper with the details on this contest.
But this contest seems different. This is a juried contest. In other words there are real judges. They do have a popularity portion but it’s not for the “Grand Prize”. So I figured ..Why Not… so I spent the afternoon submitting photos. I may submit some more..who knows?
Anyway, I have a link that I believe will take you to my contest page. I’ve uploaded 12 photos so far. I think you can vote for one or all or any combination. I would really appreciate your support. It would be fun to win one of these competitions.
http://metrophotochallenge.com/profile/30030/df1f8a74c7e0f508d3de53ebf90e6a6b
After the 100 balloon morning
and a lazy Sunday afternoon, I was rejuvenated and ready for the drive back to Massachusetts. In fact I was so rejuvenated that I decided to take the loooong way home. Instead of going south to Albany and east on the Masspike (home in 3 hours) I decided I wanted to take ride back in time and return home through Vermont. I used to drive back and forth that way all of the time when I first moved to Massachusetts. Of course back then I lived north of Boston so it made sense. Now living south of Boston this is several hours out-of-the-way. Glad it’s a beautiful day.
Sandy did not want me going north on 87 and cutting over on RT 149. She said that road has too many accidents so I put Woodstock Vt. in my GPS and took off from her house. That put me on Rt 4 right away but it wasn’t long before Rt 4 merged with RT 149 so I was on the road she wanted me to avoid anyway.
As I drove through the little villages I reminded myself that I had to come back for a photo trip. Sometimes it seemed that time really had stood still. Silos and barns dotted the landscape while black and white cows grazed peacefully in the rolling pastures. I resisted the urge to stop at every bucolic scene that was unfolding around me and kept on to my goal.
Right over the state line in Vermont I spotted a large farm stand filled with apples.
I picked up a few Cortland apples to munch on. This stand was interesting because each kind of apple had a sign with its lineage. I never knew that my favorite apple for eating was a cross (hybrid) with the MacIntosh. I like MacIntosh for cooking but they are too tart for my taste for eating. Cortland apples are sweet with a firm but not hard flesh. Red Delicious apples are too hard. I’ve broken teeth on them so I stick with the Cortland. And these were excellent. Makes the ones you get in the grocery stores pale by comparison. If it weren’t so far away I’d be driving back for more right now!
Soon I was passing through Rutland then Woodstock and finally there was the goal up ahead…Queechee Gorge.
This was always a must stop back when I was driving this route. I love the gorge no matter what time of year. Tour busses stop here and let the passengers cross the bridge where they stop and take pictures looking down into the gorge.
I bet there are thousands of identical pictures on hundred of cameras..including mine.
Another popular photo-op but not as common as the shot from the bridge is the shot of the bridge from the gorge.
As you walk the trail down to the bottom of the gorge there are signs that warn of rapidly rising waters because of the Dam upriver.
I took my chances along with a handful of other adventurous souls and picked my way over the rocks out to the center of the gorge to capture the bridge upstream.
Satisfied with my excursion I returned to the top of the gorge where there is a gift shop, public restrooms and a snack bar. I sat at a picnic table to enjoy my lunch then it was back on the road again.
No more stops today.
From this point on it’s all highway and I was getting homesick for Smokey and the Editor-in Chief (Rocky) . I knew they’d be waiting for me and I still had more than 3 hours left to drive from here. Time to get serious about heading home.
Early fall in the Adirondacks is always lovely. Nights are cool and crisp but days are comfortable and often breezy. As fall progresses you get treated to magnificent colors from the yellows and brown of the birches to the deep reds of the sugar maples. Fall in the mountains is a feast for the eyes.
It was still a little early for the bright colors but here and there a touch of color spoke of the promise of things to come.
I started the morning sitting on my sister’s porch watching the yellow finches and little brown sparrows fight for the seed in the feeders. Sandy was doing her morning walk. I was hoping to get a glimpse of her cardinal but he was nowhere to be found this morning.
When Sandy returned I suggested a drive up to Prospect Mountain and then a quick run over to find the Battlefield Park in Lake George where the “Moon glow” exhibition was scheduled for 8 pm. WE’d have to hustle to make it after the 5 pm launch at the Warren County Airport. I wasn’t expecting to be chauffeured around. I’m used to being on my own but Sandy offered and I was glad for the company and a treat not to be doing the driving.
It doesn’t take that long to reach Prospect Mountain. There is a fee to go up the mountain but it includes parking at the top and the shuttle to the summit.
There are 3 Lookouts or scenic views. We stopped at all of them.
At the top we parked and took the shuttle the rest of the way.
At one time there was a cable car that brought visitors to the summit where a hotel offering great views, dining and dancing was the draw. The Prospect Mountain House eventually burned down but parts of the foundation can still be seen.
The views of Lake George are fantastic and on a clear day you can see for 100 miles to the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We had a bit of haze but it was still breathtaking.
A little after noon we headed back down the mountain to find Battlefield Park. There was a lot of roadwork going on with lanes blocked and heavy equipment scattered all over. Even with that distraction we located the park but it was clear that parking would be at a premium especially with all the torn up shoulders and boulders from the work in the way.
That out of the way we headed back toward the airport to see the vendors and find a place to watch the balloons launch at 5pm. A brief stop at Friendly’s for lunch and we were on our way.
My Mom had been sending me clippings about the Balloon Festival and in one of them I’d seen a mention of a parking pass for $15.00 for the weekend. Sandy had gone on a quest for information and in the process bought one for us. What a difference that made! We had separate access to the parking areas so there were no lines, no waiting. It was definitely worth the investment. As we wandered through the vendor tents we could see the traffic from the non parking pass folks just crawling its way toward the airport.
It was really windy at the airport. We saw quite a few “Chase groups” huddled around. It was questionable if they would be able to launch in the wind. The day was warm and sunny, the only draw back was the wind and it was gusty.
We explored the tents and booths of the vendors and then headed to the field where we made ourselves at home on the ground..note for next time: bring folding lawn chairs!
As 5pm came and went we watched the balloons rolled out and propane set up but no effort was made to actually fill any balloons.
Little test balloons were sent up periodically and they took off like a rocket. Kites were flying and everyone seemed to be having a good time except the balloonists. Finally around 6pm we headed back to the car. Time to head back to Lake George for the “Moonglow”.
Maybe we’ll have better luck there because those balloons are tethered.