Afternoon quench

Taken with Sigma 150mm macro lens today on the deck. I've been wanting to take something like this for a while, and I'm pretty happy with the results. This could hang somewhere to give a nice green accent.

That dock

This is the Southwest Harbor, ME dock built for the owners of the Western Way Condos.

The Street

Taken the same evening as this photo. This 15 second exposure captured a windy, rainy evening in Easton, PA as a car drives by. If you look at the little pear tree on the right - doesn't it look like the shadow is a of a man?

Slippery when wet

Slippery when wet, originally uploaded by -SPK.

The unfortunate driver of this Jeep struck a fire hydrant exactly 8 years ago today. I was an EMT/Firefighter in Warren Township NJ at the time.

The red shale you see in the foreground was strewn there from the water after the hydrant exploded. It was a classic "water in the air" shot. (but too dark for a good photo)

Posted for my favorite website: shutterday.com Slippery When Wet.

Love you Homer!

No Parking within 50' of a fire hydrant

No, really. Our boy got everything he deserved. Found here.

Sand

I wish I could remember when little things like playing in the sand made me so happy. (ok, they still do)

This is Kaitlyn (I call her Kaiteybird for some unknown reason - but I have a nickname for everyone, why should she be any different?) enjoying a trip to Acadia.

jkirlin

Not sure how jkirlin and I started commenting on each other's blogs, but it was fate.

This handsome, talented, funny, photo blogger and jkirlin (you didn't think I was talking about him, did you?) met on our vacation to Maine last week.

Jeff is a "A nosey, over-enthusiastic, curious, adventurous Photowhore...... Will whore for comments, photocredits, faint praise, loose change or what-have-you." kind of guy.

We had lunch, talked about all of you and looked at the people who were lucky enough to walk by us. Sadly enough, I actually had a good time.

Here is Jeff's version of our meeting. And don't believe anything he tells you, he lies.

Face Blindness (Prosogagnosia): Explained with rocks, very interesting page from someone with face blindness

I read this entire web site tonight. It's really fascinating.

 

 

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Face Blindness (Prosogagnosia): Explained with rocks, very interesting page from someone with face blindness

via reddit.com: what's new online on Jul 12, 2007

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Acadia & Mt Desert Island, Maine

Click on the picture to advance....

or see the whole set on flickr.

I wouldn't go THAT far

But I do love me some D&D. I call it the nector of the gods. Is that wrong?

5 Wonderful Years

(as far as you know) Just kidding!

Tomorrow is our 5th wedding anniversary and since we will be in the car at 4 am, I won't be able to post this on the actual anniversary.

So do I have her fooled or what??? What a hot momma she was and has gotten more beautiful every single day. This shot was taken on the lawn of the Bar Harbor Inn. Guess where we are headed for vacation?? Correct! Maine and to the Bar Harbor Inn.

It also happens to work out that we will be going to Hawaii in October and that's where we were for our honeymoon. I won the trip for work and we are going to tack on an extra week and jet-set around the islands.

Babe, you are my everything. Forever.

17th Hole at Saw Mill

I've got some exciting news, kids:

I BROKE 90 TODAY! Yes, that's right - I shot an 89. DUM DUM DUM DA! First time ever.

"How does it feel Patrick?"

"Well, Jimmy, it feels amazing. I mean just a week ago I shot a 101 and today, here I am breaking 90. I'd like to thank my sponsors Paychex and Next Level Development for making this all possible. And to my wife, Becky..... you.complete.me."

And since Boom asked me already, the header is a picture I took today while playing and so is the above shot. How? You ask. The course was extremely quiet and I took along my camera and my cool new mini-tripod.

Bushkill River rope swing

Since I am running out of things to photograph in my back yard, I decided to take a hike today and bring along my Olympus E-500 and my cool new backpack with all my lenses.

I came across this rope swing that had been apparently been setup over the river on a tree for years. I didn't have my tripod, and most of these shots were taken at between 100 and 200 mm. Needless to say, out of the 40 or so shots, there were few that were worth posting to my flickr account.

I particularly liked this one because it highlights the motion in the background with the subject in good focus. One thing I'll say is that my respect for *real* photographers grows every time I try to do something and realize: "Damn, this ain't easy."

The view from our deck

Here is my very first attempt at using the AutoStitch software that is available for free. This is appx. a 300 degree panoramic shot from our deck. The right railing and the left railing are the same one... pretty cool, huh?

I will be playing more with this no doubt. Maine here I come.

The above picture is a series of 12 photos - 6 on the lower regions and 6 on the upper regions. AutoStitch places the photos together, cleans up any lines and deformities and creates these really cool panoramic images.

Must see the large version here.

Gotcha

A long line of thunderstorms was coming across PA last night... so I decided to *try* and get a lightning shot.

I set up the camera on my tripod, set the exposure for 50 seconds at f/13 and clicked.

This is the first photo I took.

A map of the nations of the world who have NOT accepted the metric system

Three countries use non-metric measurement systems: Liberia, Myanmar, and the United States.



Love wikipedia

Ma'am, where is your arm?

OK, that's kind of an inside joke. When I was an EMT in NJ, there was a motor vehicle accident involving a quadriplegic victim. She was in a van sitting in a wheelchair when the rollover occurred and when we found her she was laying on her left side.

As we begin to assess her, another EMT, who shall remain nameless, sees her arm sticking through the window and trapped under the van,. He proceeds to yell "Ma'am, where is your arm??!!!!" Needless to say, since she was a quadriplegic, she had NO IDEA that her arm was stuck under the van and starting screaming and crying.

I digress. Jessica's right arm looks like it's missing in this picture.

Danger!

One of my most favorite shots of all time. This is from way back in 1999 when I was in fire school in Somerset County NJ. On this particular night, we were practicing how to extinguish gasoline fires. I love the dark silhouette of the firefighter and the action of it.

(taken with my first digital camera: a Kodak EasyShare DC210 Zoom.)

Posted for the shutterday.com contest: Danger!

This aint your ordinary trash

Now, this is art.

You are looking at 6 months worth of artists' rubbish piled up ever so perfectly.

And yes, it's real.

more here.

I'm jumpiiiiiinnnnnnnnng!

P6073082.JPG, originally uploaded by -SPK.

That's what her face looks like to me anyway.

This is from Paige's LIttle Gym recital, Kaitlyn was a maniac on all the equipment.