Graveyard

Graveyards are very interesting places to visit and, if I have my camera with me, to photograph. There are many "old" graveyards around our province and each holds a bit of history. The photos I take in graveyards document the information that remains on the headstones. The three photos today are examples of how headstones fade away after a while. Those in today's photos marked graves that were put there in the early 1900s.

All three are in bad shape and in a short while, no one will know what is written on them, or even where the graves are for certain. I encourage people in all communities to photograph their graveyards just to keep a historical record.

I have another Graveyards Gallery at: http://lanephotography.com/graveyards/graveyards.htm

Iceberg

Yesterday I mentioned an iceberg in Trinity Bay and today I am sharing three photos.

The first was taken on the same cool morning that I took yesterday's lobster fisherman and the others the following day which was overcast and windy . I included the third image to give you an idea of the size of the berg.

I have seven Iceberg Galleries at: http://lanephotography.com/icebergs/icebergs2.htm

Lobster Fisherman

A lobster fisherman hauls traps in the harbour near Dildo, Trinity Bay. Even though it is a sunny day in mid-May, you can imagine that standing in an open boat on the Atlantic Ocean is still a very cold job. If you look closely, you'll see that the fisherman has heavy clothing and gloves and his ears are covered.

The day after I took these photos, I travelled to a nearby iceberg on a boat and felt the bitter winds and salt spray first hand! It was VERY cold. I have travelled with fishermen to capture photos of their day at sea. A typical day began near daylight (4:30ish in summer) and ended after dark - a long day at sea.

You can see more photos of the Town of Dildo at: http://lanephotography.com/tbs/dildo/dildo.htm

Food

As most of you already know, I often photograph food. I use the photos at school when students are discussing healthy foods and snacks. Students have access to food photos in the school's Photo Album Project. If any of you would like to contribute photos to the project, feel free to send images to mqpphotos@gmail.com. I will send the address to this project in a week or so because we are upgrading it at the moment and it is offline.

I like the shapes, textures and colours of food photos.

Since the snow melted I have been raking around my new house. In addition I built the first of several raised beds in which I plan to grow vegetables. I have tried growing vegetables for many years but, because I don't use fertilizers other than compost, I don't get large yields. This year I plan to photograph the process from planting to harvest!!

With the food shortages predicted in the near and distant future, everyone should take a bit of space in their yards to grow a little food. I remember visiting my grandparent's home in Winterton when I was a young boy and nearly every house had a vegetable garden. Even in the more urban town of Grand Falls, where I grew up, many people grew vegetables and fruit in their yards.

Chipmunk

Yesterday afternoon I walked outside my back door and saw a chipmunk just a few feet from my deck. It was the first opportunity I have had to photograph a chipmunk since moving to Holyrood 26 years ago.

These cute little animals are similar to squirrels but tend to live on the ground. They are not native to the island of Newfoundland. They were introduced to the Butterpot Park area around 40 years ago and have been around Holyrood since I moved here. Apparently they have not adapted well and are not widespread.

I created a Chipmunk Gallery at: http://lanephotography.com/animals/chipmunk/chipmunk_01.htm

Harbour Grace

Harbour Grace, located in Conception Bay, is an historic community about 45 minutes drive from my home in Holyrood. I make a trip or two there every year to take photos of the old houses, museums and scenery.

Unfortunately, the old stone house that is boarded up in the first photo was burned a few years ago. I imagine the inside is gone completely, but I am not sure. Of course, the stones are still standing.

The yellow house with all the windows is just next door and has always attracted my attention because I like all those windows. Since it faces east, it must be very bright and warm on a sunny morning.

Feel free to visit my Harbour Grace Gallery at: http://lanephotography.com/cbn/harbour_grace/harbour_grace.htm

Trees

The trees that grow in Newfoundland and Labrador are not really very tall compared to trees in the rest of North America.

The two photos I am sharing this morning show trees on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland. The first was taken in Gros Morne National Park near Lomond in Bonne Bay. As I drove around a huge turn, I saw the stand of trees on a small hill in front of me. I stopped the car and photographed the trees from the side of the highway. The sun was directly behind so the shadows of trees on the opposite side of the road were in the foreground.

The second photo was taken on the Viking Trail between Deer Lake and Gros Morne. This will show the relative size of the trees compared to the cabins around the lake. I would say the trees in this area reach around 30 - 40 feet in height.

Believe it or not, As I searched for photos of trees I realized that I didn't have a lot of images that would show their heights. Most of my photos include trees as part of a scene or close-ups of the flowers, leaves and needles.

Of course, you can visit my Plants Galleries at: http://www.lanephotography.com/plants.htm

Trees

I have chosen a couple of photos of trees that, even though they were pretty well dead when I took the photos, they had interesting shapes.

Both trees were taken within a kilometer of my house in Holyrood. I have had a request for photos of trees that are common in Newfoundland and Labrador. I will try to send some photos of the various species over the next while.

Of course, spring is the time of new growth in the woods around my house and I am anxious to see what will grow naturally after all the destruction caused by building a house in what was previously natural forest.

Bay Bulls

The East Coast Trail winds along the coastline from Trepassey to Cape St. Francis. Today's photos were taken along the stretch of trail that passes through Bay Bulls.

As I walked along, the fog started to lift which made it excellent for taking photographs of the coast. The people on my lists who are not from Newfoundland and Labrador will have noticed that we have lots of steep sea cliffs all around our province. Of course, we get our share of fog as well. ;)

Feel free to check my Bay Bulls Gallery: http://lanephotography.com/irish_loop/bay_bulls/bay_bulls.htm

Seals

Every spring, protesters come to Newfoundland and Labrador to capitalize on the traditional seal fishery. In order to raise money for their various causes, they use outdated images of baby seals being bludgeoned to death by fishermen characterized as "barbaric". They are very successful at attracting media attention, which is their main goal because they get an enormous amount of free advertising, which in turn, increases donations to their causes. Partly because of this attention, the European parliament is considering a ban on all seal products from Canada based upon outdated images and misleading information.

I am not a hunter and do not kill the animals I eat, but I respect the rights of others to hunt, whether it be moose, caribou, deer, seals or any other living thing. I also respect the rights of others to eat meat from chickens, turkeys, cows, pigs or other animals. In order to get those animals to our tables they, too, have to be killed.

It is a fact of life that we have to kill in order to eat - this should include killing plants. I heard Paul Watson, a protestor in the news around here lately, stating that he was a vegan and didn't have to kill for food. Is killing plants really different than killing animals? In order to survive on this planet all living things have to eat to consume the energy required for life, which means that something has to die in order for life to continue.

While I do not hunt with a gun, I do hunt with a camera. During my first year of teaching in 1971, a young high school student asked me if hunting with a camera was really any different than hunting with a rifle. Other than the fact the animal does not die, I guess there is no difference whatsoever in the process, just the outcome. I have thought about that question many times over the years as I stalked an animal with a camera.

The seal photos this morning were taken in Holyrood. I have recently updated my Seals Gallery: http://lanephotography.com/seals/seals_02.htm

Birch

Since I was a young boy growing up in Central Newfoundland, I have always liked birch trees. I have been photographing them since I got my first 35mm camera in 1970.

Sometimes I wonder why I continue to take photos of these trees, but each image is unique. I like the shapes and textures formed by the bark as well as the the interesting form of the trunk. I have photographed different varieties of birch trees and have shared images with people on this list several times.

I have recently updated my Birch Gallery: http://lanephotography.com/plants/birch/birch.htm

Gros Morne

I have visited Gros Morne National Park many times over the past 28 years and never tire of photographing the scenery there. Today I chose two photos of the mountains near Bonne Bay.
The Long Range mountains were formed around 1 200 million years ago and have been worn down by erosion over time. Even though they have been eroded, they are still quite impressive.

I imagine that in their "youth", the Long Range Mountains were huge. The youngest of the Rockies (formed about 100 million years ago) are mere "babies" compared to these old hills!

If you wish to see other Photos of Gros Morne go to my updated site: http://lanephotography.com/gros_morne/gros_morne.htm.

Photos of the Tablelands can be found at: http://lanephotography.com/tablelands/tablelands.htm

Since starting the Alphabet Theme a while back, I have been updating my site by adding more photos and Google Ads. I never used to put links away from my site, but after I got a cheque from Google, I have been putting them on all new and updated pages. I get paid when people click on the ads. :)

Signs of Spring

We have had snow on the ground since December 1 and it is finally beginning to melt. I walked in the woods for an hour on Tuesday night (without snowshoes) and there was still quite a bit of snow in the woods. In clearings and wider trails, however, the snow is melting quickly and I was glad to notice a few signs of spring. I could hear robins singing loudly and there are sounds of many more birds than when I last walked up there.

The first photo shows the top of a small fir tree with the snow melting around it. You can see the buds on the very top of the tree just waiting for a stretch of warm weather so they could burst open with new growth. In the second photo a rose hip from last summer adds a little colour to the ground where snow is melting. The hips contain seeds that will ensure another generation of wild roses around my property.

I was pleasantly surprised to see green plant life where the snow had already melted. I guess that the bright green plants are evergreens because the snow hasn't been gone long enough for this type of growth to occur. As well, the weather hasn't been warm enough to promote that type of growth.

The photos today are examples of the theme for my Photo of the Day ... EVERYTHING'S A PICTURE

Old Book

Many years ago someone gave me a few old books and one of them was Shakespeare's Dramatic Works, published in 1859. The cover on this book is a work of art so I am sharing a couple of photos to show you what it is like.

One would think that such an old book may be worth something, however I have been unable to find the value of the book online. Once I saw a show on TV and the narrator said that if books from that period had illustrations, they may be worth money because the technology for duplicating illustrations hadn't been perfected and only a few could be made before another original had to be drawn.

On e-bay, I saw the Complete Works of Shakespeare from around the same time and the highest bid was $ 9.00. If anyone out there knows the value of books like this, I would be happy to find out.

Sunrise

Good morning,

This time of the year is great for photographing sunrises because the sun rises at a reasonable hour (around 6 am). In the winter, I am on the road or at work when the sun rises. In summer, it rises around 4:30 am.

The two photos this morning were taken just outside my back door here in Holyrood. As you can imagine, it was a beautiful and peaceful morning. Just after I took these photos, I heard a moose walking across a bog not far away. I did see it, but it was too dark to capture a photo.

Yesterday's links did not work even though I created them the same as I have been doing for the past 5 years. I uninstalled and reinstalled my web page editor and now it is working!!
If you wish to see other SKY Photos, go to: http://www.lanephotography.com/sky/sky.htm

Peter Pan

There is a statue of Peter Pan in Bowring Park, located in the West end of St. John's. I really like the statue and have photographed it many times over the years.

When you point your camera up to photograph a subject, it gives the impression of dominance. I tried to position myself to get rid of the trees, but it was virtually impossible. I added the transparent "fairies" a couple of years later. They are actually a group of dancers that were performing at a Remembrance Day Ceremony in 2005. You can see more photos of the dancers at: http://lanephotography.com/veterans/Dancers/dancers_02a.htm

Last night I sent my first Photo of the Day using my new computer. Approximately 50 messages were bounced back for a variety of reasons. I will continue to monitor this. If you miss photos, feel free to check my Photo of the Day Blog.

Holyrood Boats

I've been busy all day transferring files from my old computer to my new one. As a result. I am late getting all the software and files I need to send my Photo of the Day out to all 750 of you. It is more time consuming because the old machine crashes often.

You will notice that the photos are larger today. I noticed how small they looked on my new screen and wondered how many of you have larger screens these days.

Both photos were taken in the Holyrood Marina on a beautiful fall day in September, 2005. You will notice that there are many sailboats in the marina and I have stopped many days to photograph the boats as they sail around the harbour and beyond.

If you like photographs of boats feel free to check my Boat Pics Galleries: http://lanephotography.com/boats/boatpics/boatpics_intro.htm

Flowers

This morning I am sending three close-up photos of flowers. The images were made in front of my large living room window with a close-up lens using manual focus and natural light instead of a flash.

Notice the shallow depth of focus (the only parts in focus were the parts I focused on - the rest of the flowers are out of focus). I really enjoy taking extreme close-up photos. It opens up a whole new world for me to see!

I had to buy a new computer yesterday because the motherboard in my old one died after 4 years. I purchased a fast machine with 8 Gb RAM and a nice new 22" monitor - a $1700 expense I didn't really want to splurge on, but because of my digital photography, I need a fast machine. I am hoping to set it up tonight! It will probably take a while to transfer files and get it set up the way I want.

Red Squirrels

Three red squirrels have been feeding off bird seed and compost in my backyard all winter. One of them seems to have made a connection between us and food because it doesn't run away when the door opens or one of us arrives home in the evening. Last weekend when I arrived home from a 2 hour snowshoe hike, I photographed one of the squirrels in a tree near our house.

The first photo was cropped from the original image because I wanted you to see the details in it's face: white ring around its eyes, whiskers, nose and colour of its fur. The second photo is a little wider shot and you can see the whole animal.

I am a little worried about the squirrels because our cats are anxious to get out now that the weather is finally starting to warm up (going up to 12°C (54°F) and the snow is melting fast. The cats will keep them away from the house which is a good thing because I don't want them getting inside.

Theme Revealed

Congratulations!

Yesterday most of you guessed that the theme was counting in consecutive numbers. Thanks for the 35 of you who made guesses.

In the beginning, I planned to send two photos a day until someone guessed the mystery theme. I sent the extra photos because a few people were getting close and I thought I'd give the extra hint (3 photos with groups of 3 and 4 photos with groups of 4).

Of course, I had five headstones and six blueberries lined up. :) and it was getting more difficult to find photos with numbers of objects.

The most common guesses up to yesterday were:

• water
• spring
• tourism attractions
• summer

If you wish to view other photos of graveyards: http://www.lanephotography.com/graveyards/graveyards.htm

Or Blueberries: http://www.lanephotography.com/plants/blueberry/blueberry.htm

Guess the Theme, Continued

Up to 5:30 this morning, five people had guessed the connection between the photos I have sent out over the past few days. Since many of you have expressed how much you are enjoying this little game, I decided to try one last day of photos for you. I expect more of you to get the connection today!! Remember that ALL eleven photos sent thus far are connected.

The first photo this morning shows lobster pots that have been left on a cliff near the ocean. They have probably been there a while because the grasses have grown up around them.

The robin eggs were in a nest behind my uncle's house in Grand Falls-Windsor. I planned to photograph the young robins, but the next time I visited them, the eggs were broken on the ground and there was nothing in the nest.

The tulips were photographed in my backyard last spring and the house was located in Broad Cove, Conception Bay.