IT'S WINTER ALREADY!

Wow - I can't believe I've been so busy that I've neglected this blog big time! I was going to wait until the new year and start fresh, but there's no time like the present, so they say........

This is a shot I took from Baxter Boulevard in Portland around 7:00 this morning, in the aftermath of yesterday's snow storm:

We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow afternoon/evening, so we'll see if we can't come up with something even better!

FALLEN SOLDIER

I went for a walk on this warm, but dreary, day - and spied this leaf whose time has come, still upright in the grass, but soon to be snow-covered and forgotten:

FANTASY

Whew! Been busy.......but had time to play with one of my senior portraits:

MAINE WILDLIFE

Last weekend we went to the Wildlife Park in Gray, Maine. I hadn't been there in over 20 years, so it was nice to see that, despite the wildlife service's limited budget, the park was very nice. We saw bears:

...a lonesome coyote:

...and a tortoise (I've been informed that only the seagoing ones are turtles; the landlubbers are tortoises):

It's a fun place to take smaller children!

WHO ARE MY CLIENTS?

Who are my clients? That’s a fair enough question. If I were looking for a photographer, I would want to know if the people who had previously hired that photographer were people like me, with similar needs, tastes and goals.

My clients are, first and foremost, those who value their family history. They are committed to amassing a visual record of events that were important to them, as well as a record of their everyday lives. They want their children and grandchildren to know what it was like to be “them.” They are people who raise their children to value their family heritage.

My clients are not bargain-hunters. Their primary consideration is not price, although that certainly comes into play at some point. They are those who look first for the value in what is offered. I have had clients who place large orders without batting an eye, and others who save up to come to me, perhaps only once every few years. Both clients are valuable to me, because I know that they appreciate what I do, and we have similar philosophies. My prices reflect the time, energy and education that goes into creating a memorable photographic experience. I refuse to compromise on the quality of my photography or the quality of customer service; to sacrifice either of those for the sake of low price is not something I would ever do to my clients, who are people I care about.

For a good portion of my life, I worked in customer service – I was trained by the best in the business. The principles of service and fair play have been thoroughly ingrained in me, and I wouldn’t think of allowing my clients to receive less than the best I have to offer. I welcome any inquiries from those of you who value what I do!

BEFORE THE STORM

It was odd that there would be a rainbow before the storm last night:

The clouds looked like they were on fire:

But, since the storm never materialized, we realized we were looking at someone else's storm...

HIGH WATER

Waking up to a cellar full of water is not something that will make my day. When I went to bed last night, the floor was a little wet in places. This morning I found it an inch from my brand new boiler:

Three sump pumps kept the water at bay, and hopefully I will be able to turn everything off at a decent hour tonight.

Then the cleanup begins.......ugh.........

UNDER THE CANOPY

It's said that spring is the best time for infrared photography, since foliage renders especially well at this time of year. I can believe it - here's a photo of an old elm tree near my house:

HOUSE ON THE HARBOR

I went out exploring up the coast of Maine this weekend, and came upon this weathered old house right on a harbor, shot with my infrared camera:

 And, of course, there was the ubiquitous boat in the side yard:

WATCHING THE EAGLES

Again this year I'm watching the Decorah Eagles. They've just hatched the third baby. I usually go online a couple of times a day to watch them and hopefully get a chance to see the babies. Now another resident of my household has decided that he might like to watch, too:

A BREATH OF SPRING

Yesterday a group of us went to The Butterfly Place in Westford, MA. I had never been to a butterfly house before, and I admit I was a little unprepared to see so many different butterflies all in one place, none of which I had ever seen (or probably just didn't notice) flying around outside. There was this pretty orange one:

And this one, which was one color on the bottom of its wings:

And another color on the top:

It was suggested that we wear bright colors, and my sweater happened to be the color of the flowers that were blooming at the time. While I was bent over photographing one butterfly, another came in for a landing to check me out!

We were told that in another two months, there would be some very different varieties of butterflies, so it might be worth a trip back!

PORTLAND'S VALENTINE BANDIT

Once again the city of Portland woke up to paper Valentines posted on windows all over town, as they have for the past 10 years or so. No one knows who's doing this, as he (or they) is never seen. But it is fun to see all the red hearts in every window!

MY RESIDENT MODEL

I created a new Facebook profile picture, when people declared that we should put our pets up there for the month of February. This would help draw attention to the fate of abused animals. Bo, my model-in-a-pinch, graciously donated his time to the cause. I figured it was a good opportunity to practice my pet photography. Here's one of many that I was able to get him to pose for in the limited time he had for me in his schedule:

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Just playing around with a couple of polarizers and some plastic dinnerware:

SEA SMOKE

Breaking with tradition, I got up bright and early this morning to take photographs. Someone had told me this was going to be a good morning for sea smoke, so I trudged out there just after sunrise (at 2° below zero!). It was a disappointing showing; I've seen much more dramatic sea smoke. But after all that trouble, I just had to work on a few:

ICY SNOW

Brrrr..........we had a snowstorm last week:

Then we had a fine rain on top of it, and the snow now reflects things..........and the temperature is in the single digits!

Winter is a great time to take photographs, but when we're looking at them, we seem to forget how cold it really was........

HAPPY (FROSTY) NEW YEAR

As much as I'd like to say that I got up, camera all primed and ready, to take pictures of the first dawn of the new year, I just can't. Nope. Ain't gonna happen. But I did get out fairly early, before the sun got too high and the frost was gone (does that count?). Sadly, there was no snow - was the day before Thanksgiving all the snow we're going to get this year? - but the grasses were all frosted:

And I just love the way the ice crystals encase anything metal: