Trish's Cards

(Scroll down to see my post for today) Yesterday Trish posted two images of playing cards. One was in color and one was bw. Jayme suggested that the bw image would look good if just one of the cards was left in color.

Trish thought that was a good idea, but her photo editing program doesn't do that, so she sent one of them to me. I left two of the cards in color just to see how it would look.

What do you think? Reply on Trish's blog if you can since it's really her image.

State of the Art Multi-Media Center

My husband is an RPI graduate (Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute [college] for those of you who are not local and might not know). The alumni department conducts field trips regularly throughout the year, and any alumni (alumnus??) is welcome to participate. This morning we gathered together at the RPI campus' newest Multi-Media center for a tour.

While we were waiting for the tour to begin, I was looking around at the people there and I suddenly realized that I was in the company of about 30 engineers. Oh. My. Gosh!! I will say no more on that subject.

This concert hall, below, seats 1200 people in comfortable pure leather seats, the frames of which are made of maple wood. Wanna take a guess as to how much each seat cost??? Never mind, I'll just tell ya.....$1,000/per seat. hmmmm

And of course, who would want to attend a concert unless they had their own, individual air flow sensor under their seat, along with the 1,199 others who were also attending the concert?

This is just one of the 4 venues in this new building.

One of the other spaces is an auditorium that seats 400--same seats and air-flow systems, but with a Broadway sized stage for mega-productions.

The next photo shows the outside of the facility, but still within the larger building.

Another view.

So! What would a structure like this cost? Only a mere $200 million. No folks, I did not make a typo on the zeros. Really two hundred million. Oh, but not to worry. They received an endowment of $340 million before they began construction. Three. Hundred. Forty million!! What does that mean? My brain can't even wrap itself around what those numbers mean. Is there really such a number?

Anyway, one redeeming thing about all this is that many of the performances cost only a paltry sum to attend--like $5 for the students. Yeah, and that's not a typo either. Five dollars. Pretty good if you ask me. The tour leader said that the average for a performance, depending of the type of performance is $15.

The next two images are of other buildings on the campus. I didn't get to walk around much of the campus, but what I saw was beautiful. I can imagine the changes that have taken place since many of the tour attendees graduated. One of the men graduated the same year I was born. It must seem like a whole different campus to him.

By the way, if you might be interested in attending any of the performances at this new arts center, go to www.empac.rpi.edu

There are no performances during the summer, but there will be many scheduled for the fall, so bookmark the site and check back regularly.

Another Family Portrait

When I opened Jaymee's blog yesterday and saw her post of a family portrait, it took me aback for a minute--"did I already post to my blog and forget?" (something which is totally possible--forgetting that is). But no, she posted her own family portrait--and a really nice one I might add.

This is my late post for Sunday. I had a job to photograph this family. We met on the Cobleskill College campus in this nice little flowered area. The timing was perfect because this side was shaded and right behind my back (a mirror image of the side you see) the setting was in full sun. And boy was it bright and hot. So we were able to use this shaded area for quite some time before the sun moved enough to ruin the beautiful light.

The babies, all boys obviously and each one as cute as the other, are within 5 months of each other. A very, very nice family.

I'm Out of the Running

I spent the day yesterday trying to remember to take my photo for my post. When I woke up this morning, I realized I hadn't done it. So now the rest of you have one less contender for the trophy next time.

On to today's post. I attended the Fonda-Fultonville High School graduation as the photographer today. In the process I took a couple of shots for myself. I liked the "diagonal" assignment so much that I thought I'd try it today.

Thursday's Assignment

The assignment for today was "find an image and then tilt the camera to see what you get". I had a photo job today. It was a 50th anniversary at a lake cabin. The whole time I was working, it never occured to me to tilt the camera. I guess I was too busy concentrating on the portraits.

So I decided to tilt the images in photoshop. That's kind of limiting because a lot of the image gets cropped off, but I still like the effect.

This first one is a straight shot.

Then the tilted image.

Another tilted image.

The tilt adds so much interest, but the tilt has to be enough so that it doesn't look like an accident. Good assignment, Steve. I gotta do this more often.

Endings & Beginnings

Today was a day of endings and beginnings. First thing this morning, Leah and I drove to FF Elementary School to attend the moving-up program for the kindergarten classes. It was pretty cute. So Jacob's kindergarten career ended, but they were celebrating the new beginning of entering 1st grade next Sept.

Back in his classroom I wanted to take a photo of mom, dad and Jacob. When Jacob tried to step up onto the chair, he slipped and hit his head a little (really, it was only a little bump). But between all the fuss and commotion that was going on in the room because of all the parents and kids, him being naturally shy, and the fuss his dad was making over the bump, Jacob's expression isn't too happy.

This afternoon we piled into the car, heading for the airport. We first stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Upon arriving at the airport, I documented yet another ending and beginning. The end of Leah's stay here in NY and the beginning of another adventure for her in Hawaii. It seems like I have an awful lot of images of her "leaving". hmmmmm

Last Game...

on a beautiful evening. I didn't know that this was Jacob's last game, so when I found out, I was really glad I was there. Nothing spectacular happened, but it's important for him to know I was there, as was his Aunt Leah.

Check out these guys. Only one in five is paying attention. They crack me up! (I love the pink helmet)

Wonder if these are Foster Grants?

Getting ready for the end of the game "handshake". Jacob is #11.

The End.

P.S. Leah flies off to Hawaii tomorrow afternoon. I'm sad...

Plotter Kill Preserve

I joined a hiking meetup today. There was a trail hike scheduled for this afternoon at the Plotter Kill Preserve. Scott and I decided to go. It was a beautiful afternoon and a nice walk. Probably about 2 miles.

One of the regulars had the foresight to bring cookies to share after the hike. Yum.

Ain't Technology Grand? (late post for Sunday)

Several weeks ago, the daughter of a friend of mine got married. The photographer was some relative of the groom, so I didn't really have a "job" that day. Until....the bride's mom called me about a week before the wedding to see if I knew anyone who had a camcorder.

We had just gotten a new one at Christmas, so I offered to do the video. Never having done video for something so important, I was pretty nervous, especially since I had also never used the camcorder since it's purchase.

Well, I won't brag about my abilities as a videographer, but I did it and at least they'll have something to look at as the years go by. This is definitely a job I don't ever want to do again!

Last night I finally got around to transferring the video to the computer and then burning it to a dvd. Of course, nothing is ever easy. My computer doesn't burn dvds, only cds. But, my son to the rescue. He has an external gadget that can burn dvds. We got it all hooked up only to find out that my laptop is missing something else, so it wouldn't read his gadget.

So, plan B. Put the video on the external hard drive, go connect it to his laptop, along with the external dvd burner, and eventually, voila!! dvds of the wedding. Hooray!

Then the icing on the cake (no pun intended when you see the image on the cd) is that my son has another gadget to put an image and text on the face of the dvd. Very cool. Ain't technology grand?

So the job is done.

Now I just have to get busy with all the other jobs I have to do that I've been procrastinating doing...

So You Want To Be a Jockey??

I spent the day at Sanford Farms doing photography at the Open House. Just step right up to the display, poke your face through, and for a split second you can be a jockey.

Another day that the rain held off until the end of the event.

Scroll down to the previous post to see my late pictures from Friday.

Friday Hike

We started out bright and early (not that it was bright, but it was early) on Friday for our weekly hike. The destination was one of the trail heads for Mt. Marcy. Our fearless leader wanted us to experience the beginning of the trail to Mt. Marcy so we could get the feel of what the entire hike would be like when/if we do it later this summer.

We finally got there, got all our gear ready, and began, hoping that it wouldn't rain while we were on the trail. About 2.2 miles from the trail head is Marcy Dam.

This stream was flowing without hesitation after all the rain we've had. It was really beautiful.

After arriving at the dam, we ate lunch while Jane consulted the guide book to see how much farther we would try to go. According to the book, another two miles would get us to a waterfall, and we would be a little over halfway to the summit. (This is the lake as seen from standing on the bridge over the dam.)

So off we went, up, Up, UP, over rOcKs and through mud. Oh, by the way, did I mention that we went UP? We never did make it to the waterfall, but the distance we did cover took about a mile an hour. I finally gave up.

It was a good thing we stopped when we did. After going to a diner to eat, and then driving a little over two hours to get home, I finally arrived at my house at 10. If we'd gone any farther, it would have been close to midnight before I got home.

Anyway, we tried to calculate how far we walked, and the consensus is that we walked about 8.5 miles. Whew! By the way, it didn't do much more than drizzle during our hike. Yeah!

Today's Thursday Assignment

Two Things That Make You Happy, or One Thing That Makes You Happy and One Thing That Makes You Sad, or Two Things That Make You Sad

Getting together with friends, especially for dinner, makes me happy.

My favorite food, pizza, makes me happy.

Playing word games with friends or my children (tonight it was with my children), usually makes me happy. However, look at this crazy hand. Argh!! I definitely lost that round, and therefore the entire game. So that mad me sad.

Brewery Tour & Late Post

Last Friday when my hiking friends and I were eating dinner, one of them shared her experience at this brewery in Cooperstown. It sounded so interesting that I knew Leah would enjoy going there. So we planned the trip for today (Wed).

It turned out that Caleb didn't have to work today, so he came along too.

I, personally, don't like beer, but the tour was interesting and there were plenty of samples to go around.

This is Ommegang Beer--never heard of it before, but since I never buy beer, that could be why I've never heard of it. I guess it's supposed to be one of the best in the area. And this little place sells it in 48 of our 50 states.

There are 5 varieties of beer showcased on this mantle, and we got to sample them all. Didn't change my mind, still don't like beer. Leah and Caleb were impressed though, as were the other participants by the looks on their faces.

This is out back of the brewery. People must picnic there.

Late Post for Tuesday, June 16

As I snuggled down into my bed last night, with my photo magazines (that I have shamelessly neglected due to reading the Twilight series), I sat bolt upright when I realized I hadn't taken my photo for the day. "Now what?", I wondered. Then I remembered that Leah has been working on her Kenya scrapbook and the book and the supplies were right downstairs in the living room.

Whew, saved by the scrapbook!

Peaches From Pine's

The first peaches of the season for me. Pine's has the best I've ever tasted. I'm a repeat customer all summer.

The Presentation

One Sunday a month, inbetween church and Sunday School, we have a mission's presentation. This week, Leah was asked to do a slide show about Kenya and her experiences there. It was very interesting, although way too short.

Karen's

Back in April, I went to Karen's shortly after if opened for the season. I posted a photo of this area before there was any product on the shelves.

Tonight we went over for some ice-cream, and sure enough, all the jams/jellys/teas, etc., were on the shelves ready for sale.

This is my favorite.

Friday Hike

We finally managed to do another hike today. One week it rained and the scheduled hike was too far away to take the chance of getting there and be faced with rain and thunder storms. The next week we didn't go due to a medical situation of one of the ladies.

This week we almost didn't go again because of rain. Instead of going up north as we originally intended, we decided to wait until around noon and go closer to home. So we went to Nine Cornered Lake, just up past Pine Lake.

By the time we got there the weather was beautiful, and the trail wasn't even too wet considering the downpour that took place last night.

Our total hike was about 3 miles with mild elevation. (I know the sign says .9, but that was just to the beginning of the lake and we walked farther than that) It was a good training hike. The reward at the end of the trail was much nicer than on the previous hike. The lake was beautiful, the weather was awesome, and we found a rock to rest on that dipped into the water--so we were able to take off the boots and socks and soak our feet in the cool, clear water of the lake.

On our way back to the trailhead, someone mentioned "Papa's" in Lake Luzerne. (Papa's is a funky ice-cream place that also serves food--it's right on the river, with an outside back deck overlooking the river. It's beautiful)

It was still early and we decided to take a ride up there for dinner. So we drove up the north shore of the Sacandaga, chatting and marveling at the beautiful vistas. We arrived in Lake Luzerne, stomachs rumbling and mouths watering. Only. To. Discover. Papa's was closed!! Not only closed, but FOR SALE. Argh!

So we headed toward Corinth, found a place there, and had dinner. Not the same, but adequate.

All-in-all, it was a great day

By the way, did I mention in my previous "hike" post that the goal is Mt. Marcy? O. M. Gosh! It's only the highest of the 46 high peaks and almost 12 miles. Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it.

We'll see.

Broken But Beautiful

That's the theme for today. I groaned when I saw the topic. I am so NOT good at abstract thinking. Fortunately, we got the assignment on Sunday instead of Tuesday, so we had two extra days to think about it. As each day went by, I despaired more and more however--I couldn't think of a single thing.

Then yesterday I read Leslie's post--boy did she nail it as far as I was concerned. Oh no, now what will I do?

I began to think about people being broken--but unlike Steve, who also nailed it with his conceptual poster, I was thinking about a broken leg, arm, head, whatever. See, I'm a literal thinker! Sure enough, I don't personally know a single person with a broken body part at this time. (which is probably a good thing)

Okay, scrap that idea!

Then on my drive home yesterday I passed this foundation. I pass this place every time I go to town and every time I see it I make a mental note to return to photograph it. This house burned down to the foundation several years ago. I love it. (not that it burned down, but the remains are just so....earthy)

Eureka!!! The light bulb went on. So here it is.

I love rock, wood and bricks. And I'm in awe of nature. God's creation. Nature is tenacious. It's persistent. It's glorious!

So in spite of the horror of destruction (brokenness, if you will), nature persists until there's beauty again.

So here is my, very literal, interpretation of Broken but Beautiful.