St. David's

After looking back through my posts, I find that I left out a day.  And it was a beautiful day at a wonderful venue.

On Monday, we checked out of our accommodations in Saundersfoot, Wales and we drove to the town of St. David's to see one of the oldest churches in the UK, St. David's Cathedral.

This building has over 1000 years of history.  Just imagine what can happen in 1000 years.  How many generations have come and gone, each having their turn to be stewards of the church or to turn their backs on the church.

When we arrived in the town of St. David's we followed a sign for parking, which took us down a street that was wide enough for one car but was not one-way!  And then we found that the parking lot was full.  We circled it twice and found that it was still full!  So we drove back up into town and followed signs to a parking lot a little farther away and finally found, and paid for, parking.

The town was a little like a coastal vacation town in that it had many restaurants and souvenir shops all crowded together in the most popular area, which, of course, was the street leading to the cathedral.

The weather was very changeable the day that we were there.  When we were entering the cathedral, it was raining and dark.  When we came out we found that the sun was making an appearance!

On the way into the Cathedral
the sky was cloudy and
the day was wet.

On the way out of the Cathedral
The skies were clearing
The sun was shining

A dramatic difference from the first image
And after only two hours!

As we entered the cathedral, we were privileged to hear a part of a concert given by a young lady with a beautiful voice accompanied by a young man on the piano.  Just beautiful!

I grew up in churches with just the sanctuary and some Sunday School classrooms.  But this cathedral had so many rooms.  I could only guess at their purposes.  One room was called the "quire", which, if spoken, sounds just like "choir".  I wonder if that is a coincidence?

There was so much beauty in the architecture and the "decor" (for lack of a better word).  

The ceilings were works of art!  It is hard to imagine how they could make those designs in those times and up so high!  The next two pictures show some of this beauty and intricacy.

At first I though this was tapestry.
Upon closer examination I found them to be painted on the wood ceiling panels.

This intricate ceiling is in the main tower that you can see in the exterior images.

This next image is of the Lady Chapel.  I have no idea why they call it that.  The interesting thing to me is the plastering.  Many of these old stone buildings have fairly rough, uneven stones in the walls, but by all of the windows and doors they have smoother stones, such as you can see around this window.  I assume that this view is what they looked like when they were new.

The Lady Chapel at St. David's Cathedral

Most times when Annette and I are out shooting, I finish first and stand around waiting for her to finish.  (However, she is getting quicker with her camera work.)  On this day, the cathedral really spoke to me.  I had such a sense of awe and wonder as I walked around.  This day I was the last one to finish and Annette was outside waiting for me.

So with that in the back of my mind, I was hurrying through the remainder of the cathedral and I made this image of the organ's pipes.  I have looked through my files and there is only one image.  The image before this one was of a different subject and the image after was of a different subject.  This was a quick grab-shot.  But it turned out to be one of my favorite images of the trip!

I love the newness of the organ juxtapositioned with the oldness of the building.
I love the composition.
I love the lighting and how it highlights the new organ and puts the old components in shadow.
I love the arched window on the left and the way the light fills its alcove.
I wish I would have included the point at the bottom of the picture.

What do you think?  Is it OK or should I throw it on the trash heap?

Well, that's our trip.  It was wonderful, interesting and stressful and I'm glad for the opportunity.

Asticou Azalea Garden in Acadia NP

Sometimes someone wants to show you something and as you are approaching it, you are underwhelmed.  OK, you tell yourself, I'll be polite and make the best of it.  And sometimes, just some times, it turns out to be time well-spent.

That's what happened to me at the Asticou Azalea Garden in Acadia National Park in Maine.

Annette was taking a photography workshop up there and the instructors invited me along on the garden photo shoot.

When we were pulling in to the parking lot there was only a little, 2' by 2' sign that indicated that anything was there.  If it weren't for the instructors, Annette and I would have never stopped in here.

The parking lot could hold less than a dozen cars.

Even the sign at the foot entrance to the garden was understated.

So I listen to the instructor.

• "Look for the fiddle head ferns."  
• "Try to shoot from the shadow side of the  flowers.  It will make them glow like they were lit with a light from within."  
• "If a large overall scene doe not work for you, look for the details."  
• "Simplify and isolate."

OK.  I'll give it  try.

I was very pleasantly surprised!  So surprised that after the workshop, Annette and I came back to the garden to get more images!

Fiddle Head Ferns

Simplified and Isolated

Look at the sun shining through the petals!

The instructor allowed me to borrow a close up filter to get really close!

Isolated Stepping Stones

Sand Garden Detail 

Birch Bark Details

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Anderson Grist Mill, 2012

It's been two great days this weekend!  The only problem is...they are over!

I'll tell you about yesterday in a future blog, but for now, let's talk about today.

Last year Annette and I arranged for the camera club to go to the Anderson Grist Mill near Mercersburg, PA.  The participants who attended the photo shoot last year were very excited about all of the opportunities for pictures inside of the grist mill.  Several asked if they could get in on their own!  The club president said that it was the most requested photo shoot of the year.

So, what could we do but an encore.  Annette and I arranged for the Camera Club to go to the Anderson Grist Mill near Mercersburg, PA for the second time.  The weather shaped up right on cue.  It was a beautiful day full of warm fall air and wonderful sunshine!

The grist mill is so full of ingenious contraptions that I just look for more time than I spent taking pictures!

Inside the grist mill there was a tool room with all kinds of hand tools laying on the work benches and hanging from the wall.  There was also quite a bit of old junk.  In the middle of the floor was a table with window light hitting it just right.  So, I used that table as a place to "stage" some of the junk treasures.

This first picture includes a bottle, just for Annette.  On one of our first workshops, Annette found some old bottles and arranged them just so against a colorful rusted bucket.  I wondered why she was photographing trash!  Now here I am doing the same.

This second picture is of a wooden box with an orchard brand name stamped into the end.  I set up the box so that the sunlight would rake the side of the box and create shadows in the imprint so that the imprint would be more visible.

There were three planes in the tool room.  One of them had so much dirt and grime that you could no longer see the wood grain.  So I set up the two other ones.  I wanted the handles to echo one another.

I even had a chance to make an abstract photo.  The lights in this abstract are from holes in the wall of the mill.  I used a longer shutter speed to get more length to the streaks.  I was pointed up a little so I think the blue color comes from the sky.

One other thing that deserves more telling than I am going to do is that it was great to see fellow photographers in action and share tips and tricks.  This is the way that friendships are born.  I think some were birthing today!

Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing from me again and also enjoyed the pictures.

More importantly, get out there an keep making photos!

Shem Creek

Shem Creek is a great little area near Charleston.  Annette and I went there for dinner and spent the rest of the evening taking images.

Shem Creek used to be a very active port for fishermen in the area.  However, as of late, the fishing industry is having its challenges and the fleet is shrinking.

There was a great pier/walkway that was built quite a ways out along Shem Creek.

The end of the pier.

Pier Light from below.

 I can't take credit for the concept for the Pier Light photo above.  I saw Annette taking the picture and had to have a picture of my own.

Two Fishing Boats in Daylight

Fishing Boats along Shem Creek

Fishing Boats on Shem Creek at Dusk

Fishing Boats on Shem Creek at Night

 

Fishing Boat on Shem Creek at Night

Downtown Details

On one of the early days of our trip to Charleston, Annette and I walked through the old-time neighborhood and took pictures of some of the great details of the beautiful houses.  Check out these pictures and see what I mean:

This park bench detail can be seen all over Charleston.  I thought it looked better in black and white.

Cobblestone street.  Very difficult to walk on.

Gas Lantern.  Actually field by gas.  They were everywhere in downtown Charleston.

Entryway.  Notice the gas lantern.

Entryway.  Notice the gas lantern.

Entry.  Beautiful Ivy.

Wrought iron detail

This address may be hard to find behind the greenery.

I thought it was fascinating how they trained the ivy all over the front of the house.

Door Knob and Ivy

A great look for stairs

This is the first vertical sun dial that I have seen.