The Way I See It

Goodbye to Summer

2010-09-06T22:29:00.008-04:00

Labor Day at the beach. What a gorgeous weekend it was; the sky was impossibly blue and the water was a beautiful sea green. It was a great summer and sad to see it go.

After Earl

2010-09-04T22:36:00.008-04:00

The sea was pretty rough this morning after Hurricane Earl passed by. We didn't really get much wind or rain... The beach was absolutely beautiful today!

Future Monarchs

2010-08-25T22:15:00.002-04:00

I "adopted" some monarch caterpillars that I found on some milkweed plants by my office. Two of them have already formed cocoons and if you look closely, you can see butterfly wings inside. Hopefully I can capture some photos of the butterflies as they emerge and dry out before they fly away.

Seaglass

2010-08-17T23:30:00.000-04:00

In the Pink

2010-08-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

It's butterfly season in the garden. I have had lots of "flying flowers" visiting in the past few weeks. They really love the tall phlox.

SPLASH!

2010-08-15T18:00:00.006-04:00

Today I did some experimenting with capturing motion and splashes with shells. I was inspired by my favorite photographer, Bryan Petersen, from his book Understanding Shutter Speed. In his example he was using strawberries, but keeping with one of my favorite themes, I used shells instead.

Viking Village in Barngat Light NJ

2010-08-01T12:35:00.009-04:00

The photo above was stitched together using 6 different images in order to get to get the complete panorama of these wonderful fishing boats in the Barnegat Bay.

Some of the old fishing nets and rusty chains were quite interesting subjects. Below is Old Barney peeking through the masts of one of the boats.

Playing with black and white

2010-07-29T05:50:00.002-04:00

Playing around with some black and white conversions with my new PhotoShop CS4. There are lots of traditional B&W filter effects you can apply to the color photos to achieve interesting black and white photos.

Back to Ol' Barney

2010-07-26T23:02:00.003-04:00

I've been to the Barnegat Lighthouse countless times and I'm always search for a new and fresh image. The sun was high in the sky with just a few fluffy clouds and I like the bit of lens flare I got with this one.

I never really noticed this viewer at the lighthouse before, but I thought of Michael and thought it would make a nice belated birthday photo since he is a big fan of viewers.

I played around a bit with the cool B&W filters in my new PhotoShop CS4 and was pleased with the results.

Seagull Beach

2010-07-19T23:36:00.007-04:00

Spent some time on the border between Spring Lake and Belmar beaches today. It was really hot and even the seagulls wanted to rest by the water and catch some cool breezes.

Sensuous Shells

2010-06-28T23:32:00.004-04:00

All of these shells have wonderful, contrasting textures which delight the sense of touch as well as being interesting subjects. Don't you just want to touch them?

Milkweed for Monarchs

2010-06-11T06:48:00.006-04:00

I went searching for milkweed, a favorite of monarch butterfly caterpillars, and while I didn't find any monarch butterflies or caterpillars, I did find plenty of other creatures enjoying the nectar from the flowers.

Abandoned

2010-06-09T11:10:00.006-04:00

One of my favorite themes is how nature eventually always takes back its territory from the things made by man. I pass all three of these places on my way to and from work every day and this year I finally stopped to photograph them.

Macro Mania

2010-06-08T23:57:00.008-04:00

I borrowed a friend's 100mm F2.8 macro lens and have been having a great time with it. This bee is so tiny. To get an idea of the scale, it is sitting on a yarrow flower with is a series of small flowers making up a larger flower head.

I found the vine below with these very delicate purple and yellow flowers while I was walking through the woods.

A black-eyed Susan getting ready to open soon.

Campanula, also known as bellflower.

These maple leaves are brand new and haven't turned green yet.

After the Rain

2010-04-14T16:32:00.005-04:00

One of my favorite times to take photos in the garden is right after it has rained and the sky is still cloudy. The water on the flowers and leaves is beautiful and the light filtered through the clouds is perfect to make the colors really pop.

Spring is Busting out all Over

2010-04-07T21:35:00.005-04:00

The bulbs are exploding everywhere with this unusually warm weather we have been having. I love the primary colors of red tulips, blue grape hyacinth and periwinkle, and the yellow daffodils. Ah spring!

Colorful Shells

2010-03-31T11:22:00.004-04:00

These shells are from Things A Drift on LBI and come from Japan, Cuba and the Philippines. They really are these brilliant colors from the sea.

Boca Bash

2010-03-22T21:37:00.014-04:00

I spent a long weekend with my friends Cindy and Mike at their home in Boca Raton Florida. It was a picture perfect day on Saturday when we went to the beach and the colors of the water and sky were spectacular.

This is one of the many inter-coastal waterways throughout the region with many boats of all sizes including huge cruise ships.

The lovely downtown Mizner Park is Boca style at it's finest. There are concerts, art shows, and festivals regularly in the park as well as tons of restaurants and shopping.

Cindy recently had some decorative painting done throughout the house including her favorite, palm trees on the lanai with her beloved cockatiels included in the mural. Here they are posing beside their portraits. While I was there I did some gardening which was a treat for me since I won't be able to plant annuals in my garden for another six weeks.

Cindy was my best friend in High School and we have remained friends throughout the years even though she moved to Florida 15 years ago. Going to visit in the late winter has become an annual tradition for me.

Catch a Wave

2010-03-07T18:06:00.005-05:00

What a difference a couple of weeks makes! I went back to the beach today and there was no snow and it was actually very warm. At high tide the waves were crashing perfectly on the beach and the water was a beautiful green in contrast to the bright blue sky. I collected some shells and basked in the warm bright sunshine. Springtime at the beach is a beautiful sight!

Snowy Year in the Garden

2010-02-14T11:45:00.014-05:00

We have had a record-breaking winter for snowfall this year with three major blizzards and it is still only the middle of February.

Blue jays, cardinals, along with many other birds took refuge in the trees during the blizzards.

Huge drifts in the backyard buried my garden so that you can barely see my white bench.

Snow at the Beach

2010-02-14T14:43:00.010-05:00

How many people see the beach in the winter with snow on the ground? Most times, even when it snows inland, the beach only gets rain. This year with all of the nor'easters we have had, the beach got plenty of snow. This is Ocean Grove, one of my favorite Jersey Shore towns.

Snow at Our House

2010-02-03T16:21:00.008-05:00

This has been the snowiest year we have had in the five winters we've lived down the shore in Barnegat. This morning we woke to a light snow that flocked the garden and the trees to make it look like a fairy tale.

Zach decided to make a few snow angels after shoveling for awhile.

Ocean Grove Pier in Black and White

2010-01-31T12:18:00.010-05:00

Just playing around with converting some of my favorite shots of the Ocean Grove Pier to black and white. Used channel mixer and lots of contrast.

Rachel the Swimmer

2010-01-24T17:00:00.013-05:00

Rachel began swimming competitively for the first time this year for Barnegat High School. She swims Individual Medley, Butterfly, Breast Stroke, and Back Stroke as well as freestyle. She is carrying on a family tradition as her dad swam all through High School and her Pop Pop Snell did too.

You can see more photos from the rest of the team HERE.

Glamour Girls

2010-01-08T12:40:00.004-05:00

My friend Michael Paulison is a Photoshop wizard who added some glamorous treatment to a photo of my friends and I. You can see more of his wonderful photography at http://www.paulison.com