We spent the weekend, courtesy of friends at a beach rental in East Lyme/Niantic. It was a nice break from life and great times with friends. Our friend’s kids kept Craig busy wanting to play games and go exploring. While at the beach Dunkin Donuts flew their banner over head several times.

It was really peaceful to be in a private community where you can walk around, leave the house unlocked, everyone waves and says Hi, and people follow the speed limit. There was also something rejuvenating being near the water and having the expectations lowered significantly for two days. More photos on Flickr.

Bryan and his dog Anna

Val and Autumn

Fun with cameras

In my efforts to lose weight and get my health back, I opted for an impromptu hike nearby last weekend. We’ve tried to hike at Black Rock twice before but our timing wasn’t the best (frigid winds in the winter). I came armed with my map found at the CT DEP‘s site. We headed up the blue trail on the western side of the park.

As usual with CT, it starts off gradual for about 50 feet and then up! This is a deceiving “short” hike. The funniest part was on the way back down we passed several people in their 20-30′s who said, “good grief I feel old”. I’m guessing too many of us sit behind our desks and computers too much. Then there was one guy who was pretty lean and limber and was doing the loop, up and over the mountain and back down, he passed us 3 times. Pretty damn impressive.

I’ve kept up with eating vegan and exercising minimally 3 times a week. My total weight loss is 12 lbs so far. My short term goal is another 8 lbs. The next goal is 45 lbs from that point. The final goal is another 25 from there. I’m sure there will be plateaus and I’m preparing already to mix things up.

Wednesday had an unexpected downpour in the afternoon, right when Kelly and I were supposed to be meeting to shoot photos at Southford Falls. It didn’t look like it was going to pass in the next 15 minutes so we opted to reschedule. By the time I got home it was dry and I decided to head down there after dinner.

The park was empty and I was trying to beat the setting sun, but I’m very happy with the photos and how they came out.

All of the photos I shot were with my tripod, a wireless remote and a neutral density filter. The photo settings were all the same as well, f/22 for 30 seconds at 400 ISO.

Now the grass a luscious green, the plantings haven’t come in yet, but the trees were in full green leaves. We explored a section of the park we hadn’t been to. I can’t wait to go back with my bike, and ride this never ending road.

There is a beautiful stone wall that runs the length of this road on either side. I loved the old trees.

We headed back to the main house to enjoy the sunset from the back porch. There were people playing frisbee and families enjoying the grounds. As the sun started to set, I realized there was this beautiful glow off the windows.

I’m finding it very hard to capture a sunset straight on, I need to read up and experiment more. Before we left I walked up to the big apple tree and noticed the silhouette it’s branches made. I like how the branches resemble a printed pattern.

We walked back to the car in the dusk light, and I snapped this one last shot from the parking lot.

If you live in the area, I can not recommend enough visiting this park.

Several weeks back my photography friend’s, Shanna and Kelly, decided it had been too long since our last photography field class. Sadly enough, Shanna couldn’t make it today, but Kelly and I headed over to Harkness Memorial State Park to shoot photos. I went to college on this side of the state and discovered this park with Craig while driving around and exploring the area. Since that time I love to come over and visit. There’s a mansion on the property, gardens, a long stretch of lawn and ocean front.

We decided to head over a little later and let the morning storm clouds pass. When we arrived it was sunny and a light breeze. Perfect for our photo walk. Craig kindly came along and allowed me to shoot photos of him. I am very happy with how the photos came out today.

Slideshow available here.

The technical:
I shot all of today’s photos with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi, Canon 50mm 1.8f, Canon 100-300mm, Canon 18-55mm kit lense and tripod. I used primarily for the sky photos a graduated neutral density filter. I also shot, but not shown here, 120mm format black and white film with a Diana F+ camera. I’m hoping to work on those soon. I post-processed in Adobe Lightroom 2.0.

Processed with a Lithograph preset in Lightroom.

HDR of the park from the ocean side.

Craig coming to get me.

We got chatting and discovered we only lived one road apart for a few years. I have yet to have a chance to take Ted up on going out for a photo walk, but I am very excited to be able to go see his photography at the Common Ground Caffe in Litchfield.

If your in the area please take some time and go see his beautiful work.