hogs, pies and fireworks

this was the second year of gardiner, maine's hogs, pies and fireworks festival; and boy did they ever deliver on the fireworks portion of the events! they did advertise the display as the largest in maine, but i still wasn't prepared for a 30 minute show jam-packed with exploding shells. this is one of the first sequences of fireworks:

unfortunately, the wind blew the immense amounts of smoke right at us - i'd checked and there was no suitable upwind viewing. at one point a piece of debris hit me pretty hard in the forehead, and i came back with black powder in my eyes, but i'd say it was worth it.

happy memorial day!

happy memorial day, to those in the united states.

these photos were taken at the korean war veterans national memorial in washington dc.

on dandelions ...

a few weeks ago, i captured this shot of the shed in my backyard just before sunset:



a week later, the dandelions had taken over!

i love fireworks!

surely you love fireworks too? i'm excited not only for summer, but for festivals and fireworks season! i always keep an eye on the fireworks permits issued in my area, and i go to as many public shows as i can.

to see some of the results of my fireworks photography, click here for a slideshow.

the most recent show i saw was a part of the national cherry blossom festival in dc - and i later found a little face in one of the photos that i thought i'd share with you:

funny, no?

tastes of warmer times

today was a chilly and rainy day here in maine, so i went back in my photo archives to find a few summer pictures to edit. over the next few days, then, i'll be uploading photos from the finger lakes region of upstate new york. it's such a gorgeous area that one cannot help but find stunning scenes to photograph!

this picture was taken in the upper reaches of watkins glen state park - although the park is often very busy even during summer weekdays, fewer tourists make it to the top, lending me a person-free scene at that moment.

next up: some of the more classic shots of watkins glen.

spring has sprung!

the leaves are finally unfurling in full force in the greater bangor area - soon everything will be green again!

except for the flowers, of course; and those also blooming! i was recently in the area of the university of maine's ornamental gardens, so i got my macro lens out and went in to investigate. it was a little windy, but i did capture a few cool shots, like this daffodil:

tangentially: my route to orono takes me over a bridge on pushaw stream, which you can tell is a popular fishing spot ...

i'd been meaning to get a photo of those for a while :)

an ode to winter

there is still some snow around here; but with warm rain and temperatures in the 50s, what is left is sure to dissipate quickly. and that, of course, means ...

 

that my dad will soon have to take the snowblower off his tractor!

this photo was from a storm just before christmas - after which this little guy really had his work cut out for him. click on the picture to see other wintry scenes.  like this one, a favorite from this past winter: