Mantis, with Iron Oxide

As promised, here's the in-focus mantis in all its water-droplet glory. A cooler photo than the original, but not exactly the right for the Photo Hunt.

Iron Oxide, with Mantis

I thought I'd have to hit the archives for a "Mineral" photo for this week's Photo Hunt , but the perfect shot was waiting for me this morning as I gassed up my car.
For another version of this shot with the mantis in focus, click here

Spider in the Sink...

...Who provided a good opportunity to test the Macro settings on New Camera. Figured it would make a good entry for this week's Photo Hunt.

Jersey Shore Night

The top 2 photos are from Wildwood's amusement piers. They were taken the same day as the Lighthouse photos below, that day's beautiful blue sky turning into a brilliant sunset.
Bottom: a view from the Washington St. Pedestrian Mall - coincidentally also the home of Tides of Time, a shop run by photographer Corey Gilbert (check out his online store in the "Links & Inspirations" section, top-right on this 'blog). His shop is one of our regular stops when in town, and his work definitely inspired me to try to get some better shots on this particular trip!

Cape May Lighthouse

As promised, more photos from last year's Cape May trip.
Bottom: the traditional postcard shot. Middle: the view from the base. Top: the actual lamps.

More from Cape May 2005 to come...

Cape May Footprint

This post is serving double-duty: both as another test post for the Photo Hunt, and the start of a series of posts from our Cape May vacation last year.

Blue Boat

A test post, for what will hopefully be a new and improved Photo Scavenger Hunt!
This is from the harbor in Oceanside, CA.

Insulators, and such...

To make up for the recent dearth of postings, I'm putting up a 2nd set tonight:

On a recent job-site visit, I found that several utility poles had been taken down and stacked. Not sure who actually did this, but it doesn't appear to have been the power company (!).
So I documented what I saw, taking a few extra shots for myself - it's not often you get a chance to see this type of stuff up close.
The 2nd shot from the top is my favorite of the day.

California at Sunset

Rounding out my postings from SoCal:
Top - Sunset as viewed from El Camino Real, San Clemente's main drag. Middle Two - more views from the Municipal Pier, a weathervane on top of Schleppy's Hot Dog Stand, and a surfer paddling out. Bottom - the San Fernando Valley, as seen from Universal Studios

Palm Trees & Pelicans

Some more images from Southern California, featuring two things we don't have in Pennsylvania.

Surf's Up!

Greetings from San Clemente, California! We're out here visiting family, enjoying the beaches, taking in the sights, and watching a lot of surfing. The middle 2 photos are of Jason, one of our gracious hosts. The 2nd is my first stab at a b&w conversion - it just seemed fitting for the image. I might try the same with the last photo. The top shot is from the San Clemente Municipal Pier, where you can see surfers from a rare vantage point (if you don't surf) - the side.
07/07/06 - I've edited this post with some post-processed versions of the same shots. The one of Jason surfing has been cropped and had the color saturation bumped up, the b&w ones (now theres 2!) have had the contrast pumped up, with the bottom one being cropped slightly.

Dali's Eyes

This shot is from last year's Salvador Dali Exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The famous steps were transformed into an ingenious giant mosaic of the surrealist master - one of the best promotions I've seen from the Museum. After we viewed the exhibit (which was brilliant), I was lucky enough to snap this immediately after the two women shown took a photo from the same vantage point. It almost appears that Mr. Dali is annoyed to have these people walking over his face!
This is another Old Camera shot, so the quality is not what it should be. But I like it nonetheless.
I'm also using this for my "Something Oversized" entry in the Photo Scavenger Hunt. After wracking my brain about what to shoot for it (after J. Brookston himself used the best oversized item in Philly as the example!), I remembered this shot and reckoned it would work.

This Just In...

...I've finally learned how to enable anybody (not just fellow 'bloggers) to leave comments! Go me.

So all of you "Finding My Way" fans who've been thwarted in the past (yeah, both of you) can now comment away to your heart's content!

And Jorj can kill that fake 'blog he created just for my sake (don't think your efforts are unappreciated, brother).

Thanks for everyone who's provided feedback - posted or otherwise!

(P.S. - above: an unexpected parabolic dish antenna in suburban New Jersey)

Red Bank Rolex

For this week's Photo Hunt, a view of the ornamental clock outside of Reussilles Jewelry Store in downtown Red Bank, NJ.
Though if this is a real Rolex, this particular clock is not a very good advertisment - the rear face was 10 minutes behind the front face!

Crescent Moon

Some "inspired Lunacy" for you. This is from my first attempt at shooting the Moon. After some 2 dozen pictures snapped, I have this one really good shot to show for it.
The sun had just gone down when I took this, but I had to use the low-light setting (not to mention a tripod) to get any definition. The unintended result is the black sky. All my "blue sky" shots were a little short on crater detail.
But when looking at the moon - it's all about the crater detail!

Celtic Crosses

I love Celtic Crosses - especially with lots of scrollwork, like these two monuments.
The top is another shot from Riverview Cemetery in Trenton.
Below it is one of the better images from Laurel Hill Cemetery last November. Even though it was taken with Old Camera, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Fully Involved

OR, "Why I was late for work on Tuesday." I witnessed this on the PA Turnpike. The traffic slowed down, and I could see a column of smoke, so I grabbed the camera. Managed to pass a tractor-trailer (visible in the sideview), roll down the window and snap the picture.
Not an amazing photo, but a pretty compelling subject!

Another view from Riverview

Another shot from my short session from Riverview Cemetery in Trenton. I really like how this one turned out - right down to the spiderweb hanging from her chin.
This is the kind of shot I would have liked to have gotten at Laurel Hill last November, but Old Camera just wasn't capable. A return trip to Laurel Hill may be in my not-too-distant future...

Conshohocken Ruins

For my entry into this week's Photo Hunt, I went to the First Baptist Church at 4th Ave. & Harry St. in Conshohocken, PA. This 103-year-old structure was almost completely destroyed by a fire on May 10th, 2005. Only recently has the clean-up/rebuilding process begun. This is the mainly in-tact bell tower, with the remains of the front wall.

Memorial Day

Two images to commemorate Memorial Day:

The top image is from Centralia (probably one of the last ones from that day that I'll post in for a while). This flag is located at a Veteran's memorial right off the main road in town.
The bottom image is from Riverview Cemetery in Trenton - which could be described as that city's version of Laurel Hill in Philadelphia. It's a 19th century cemetery overlooking the Delaware River on the southeast side of town. This monument to a fallen serviceman seemed an appropriate companion to Old Glory for today.