Chatsworth House, Derbyshire

If you have an ounce of a soul in you, you'd probably enjoy Chatsworth House, at least today. Today was filled with gorgeous art and baby animals and gardens and beautiful spaces and flowers. After a WARM night (must have worked to our benefit that I tipped up the furnace) Tabitha and I woke happy. Lisa, our hostess, drove us down to the bus stop to catch the 9:12 to Chatsworth House in Peaks National Park. It is the ancestral (and current) home of the 12th Duke and Dutchess of Devonshire.
After a lovely half hour drive in the countryside, we arrived before opening. We got a cup of coffee/tea and wandered through some shops, then into the gardens surrounding the estate. We lucked into arriving on one of the days of the "Florabundance Festival". Even though it was raining, we walked for several miles admiring all the landscaping and flowers in bloom and baby animals (lambs and ducklings). The home exterior was undergoing some renovations, but the gardens and interiors were still fantastic. The tulips were all in bloom, along with about every other flower you can imagine. It was really incredible. Reminded me a bit of Biltmore House, Versailles... you know, houses and gardens erected by really rich people, who now must let the likes of me inside their homes, in order to pay for them!
We dined at the restaurant and then tackled the house itself. The art collection alone was worth the trip: from Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Franz Hals, and Correggio, to Joshua Reynolds, David Hockney, and Lucien Freud. Then there were the awesome interiors. Then the gorgeous flower arrangements. Just my cup of tea, for sure.

Oh, and be sure to watch the upcoming documentary about Chatsworth House on the BBC. It will feature all three of these feet.

Snow day!

Zeus illustrates just how excited EVERYONE is about snow in the south!

Zeus in snowy dog heaven

Halloween

The Runner's Prayer

This was taken at the state crosscountry championships, which we won! Zeus proved to be a lucky mascot!

Saving loggerheads

I am at the beach and am leaving tomorrow to go home. All week I've been watching the loggerhead turtle nests, hoping to see a hatching. Every night I after dark I would walk to the nests and see absolutely no change. But tonight, one of the nests had a three inch hole that appeared to be about 6 inches deep. I went home and got a chair and a flashlight, and a few kids to accompany me. We set up our chairs to watch for the hatching. Within 3 minutes of getting there, the hole caved in further and started squirming (top picture). Even though there was a full moon, clouds completely obscured it. Some of the houses had their lights on and the turtles started heading for the houses, not the ocean. They would all have headed to the houses and not made it. (I saw baby turtles on my street last year who had headed inland toward the artificial lights and died.) I shone my flashlight on them and they immediately turned toward it. With flashlights and cellphones we led all of them to the ocean. I've witnessed a hatching before (and two nestings!) but have never felt like my participation made a difference, until tonight.

Light and shadow

This week's assignment is to explore the interplay of light and shadow. For the photo to be successful the shadow must play an integral part of the design. All these were shot with ISO 50 film. For purposes of the assignment all "Light/Shadow" photos had to be on a separate roll from the "Light/Texture" photos...which was frustrating. I think the jellyfish here could go in either category, and the photo of Zeus in the "Light/Texture" post could equally well go here.

Light and Texture

The assignment here is to use light to accentuate surface texture. It helps on these to click and enlarge, in order to see surface texture well.

ISO 50, 125@f8


ISO 50, 2@f11


ISO 50, 125@f8


ISO 50, 350@f4

Pan Action

The idea on this assignment is to use a slow shutter speed while you pan the action of your subject. As you're moving along with the subject you snap the shot. Ideally the background is blurred and the subject is in focus. But realistically, as long as something about the subject is in focus, it's ok.

Devildogs

This English bulldog named Hummer is the mascot of the Marine Corps at Parris Island. Apparently, the German soldiers gave the Marines they battled the nickname "Devildogs", so their mascot is to remind them of that.

Two friends

Parallel Play

Fanciful light fixture

Kingfishers

I'm pulling some photos out of cold storage (well, from a month ago) because photo ops have been a bit lean lately!

77 degrees

Everyone's trying to stay cool, peeling off clothes, opening the windows, going barefoot, or In the case of these cows, even going for a swim!

Zeus: Glamour Shot

After a morning of roughhousing with Fibi, his (platonic) girlfriend, Zeus shot me this look, which I overexposed for the glam effect.

Cows at 45 mph

Loved the light this afternoon but didn't have time to stop and take a proper photo, so I just rolled down the window and clicked.

...Like a proverbial bat outta hell

My Monday routine involves taking Zeus for a long walk on the golf course, since it is closed Mondays. So I can turn him loose and let him chase squirrels to his heart's content. I love the early morning light of October, and thought this captured both of our enjoyment of Monday morning.

How much wood would...

A man from a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organization had this woodchuck in his arms. The woodchuck seemed pretty content to sit there and look cuddly. Maybe he's trying to figure out how much wood would a woodchuck chuck (if a woodchuck could chuck wood)...

Tour d'Edisto

It's not the Tour de France; it's a whole lot flatter!


Egret hunting amidst the oyster bed


Old cypress on the Spanish Mound, an ancient midden (trash heap, made up of oyster shells).


My friend Beth and Bill get into a tussle over use of the water hose