Water, Sky, Trees, Leaves

Tuesday, October 11.  Lake Bonaparte, in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains.  Last day at the Lake.

We were too busy cleaning, winterizing, and packing to be sad that it was the last day on Lake Bonaparte.  Still, the knowledge that I wouldn't see the Lake again for a while weighed on me, so I made sure to spend a little time that morning just enjoying the scenery from our dock.

Since we're on the East shore, our dock is shrouded in morning shadow.  Looking out on the Lake makes for a beautiful scene, though!

The other side of the bay was green just a few days ago.  I love the reds and oranges among the trees.

The glassy surface of the Lake provided some beautiful reflection images of both trees and clouds.

I love this knotty, rocky stand of trees next to our little dock.  As children, we pretended this was our house, with its own doorway, rock tables, and rooms.  Grammy had old pots and pans we could use to make "sand soup" and other concoctions.

Peeling birch bark

Sigh.  It was heavenly being there!  I glanced down at the water along our shoreline, and noticed again how calm it was.  Fallen leaves drifted gently along, and almost looked like they were floating in the reflection of clouds and sky.

Yeah, I threw a fish shot in here.  I wasn't prepared to take a photo into the water, but I figured I'd try to capture one of the larger fish to show my fisherman husband.  (He appreciated the gesture.)

My favorite leaf image is below.  I love the sharpness of the leaf, with its clearly defined shadow.  It does almost look like it's floating in the sky!  And if you're reading this post in November 2011, you can see this leaf as my blog banner above.  :)

Even though I sometimes feel like this leaf--afloat without an anchor--I know otherwise.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul,

a hope both sure and steadfast

and one which enters within the veil...

Hebrews 6:19 NASB

To read the next (and last) post about my Lake Bonaparte getaway, click here.

Previous Lake posts

Part 1 -- Autumn Lake Nature Walk
Part 2 -- Pontoon Panorama
Part 3 -- Saturday Scenes from the Boat
Part 4 -- Food! Glorious Food!
Part 5 -- People, Boats, and Pictures
Part 6 -- God's Hand Across the Sky
Part 7 -- One Last Ride in the Cadillac
Part 8 -- It Must Come Out!
Part 9 -- One More Boat, One More Campfire
Part 10 -- Walking Hemitage Road


Treasuring life's moments,

Christine

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Walking Hermitage Road

Monday, October 10.  Upstate New York.  Foothills of the Adirondack Mountains.  Another crystal clear autumn day at Lake Bonaparte.

A peek into our bay at the Lake

My mom and I decided to take a walk up Hermitage Road, mostly to see Charlotte (more about her below).  She was obliging toward my frequent stops and shots of the Lake and other scenes that caught my photographer's eye.  Thanks, Mom; you're the best!!

I'm going to try to do a "photojournal" post, letting my images tell the story, with a caption included every now and then.

Isn't the Lake pretty today?

Starting up the hill at Hermitage Road

St. Rita's; now being transformed into a private residence

Words needed now!  I know you're freaking out--as I did--at the below.  Let me introduce you to Charlotte, "pet" spider at the W. family Lake house.  She has been living on their deck all summer, and even had an egg sac with lots of babies!  Doesn't that thrill you to know there are potentially hundreds of little ones just like her hiding around somewhere??

Okay, quick--back to scenery and our walk!

The view from the W.'s deck

My favorite image from our walk

Back at our own Lake home...

And of course, as the hours rolled on, it was time for the end of another day.

Good night, Monday

I will sing to the LORD,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 13:6 NASB

To read the next post about my Lake Bonaparte getaway, click here.


Previous Lake posts

Part 1 -- Autumn Lake Nature Walk
Part 2 -- Pontoon Panorama
Part 3 -- Saturday Scenes from the Boat
Part 4 -- Food! Glorious Food!
Part 5 -- People, Boats, and Pictures
Part 6 -- God's Hand Across the Sky
Part 7 -- One Last Ride in the Cadillac
Part 8 -- It Must Come Out!
Part 9 -- One More Boat, One More Campfire



Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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365 Project -- #309-315

This is the time in my week when I look back at the images I've captured

throughout the previous week, and choose my seven favorites.

These seven--one for each day of the week--are featured below.

November 5 - November 11

Last week was an all-around nice week; so, let's get right to photos, shall we?

Even though our friends' dog Sunny does not like cameras, she seems to tolerate mine.  I captured some great shots of this old pup resting in front of the fireplace.  She sure has seen a lot of life.

[309] By the fire

Some explanation is needed for the next few shots.  Thomas had a science experiment involving an egg, vinegar, corn syrup, and distilled water.  Submerging the egg in each of these different liquids basically caused the shell to dissolve, and swelled the egg to abnormal size.  It looked like a glowing "orb of power" or some such science-fiction thing.  Thomas thought it was pretty cool.

[310] Experiment by Thomas

 [311] Glowing egg

When Danny came home from class, he handled the egg for just a minute.  However, an egg without its shell is fragile, and the shot below is the result.  It is pretty cool, and Danny cleaned up the mess.

[312] Mishap on the counter

Joe helped me bring up from the basement the last of the Northern Spy apples from our Michigan apple-picking trip.  I cored and peeled them, cutting off the brown spots, and they ended up becoming applesauce.

[313] Last of the apples

One day, I noticed the bright colors of some of the leaves in my front porch garden.  I grabbed my macro lens (duh!) and went back out to the porch.  The coral bells (marmalade) were especially colorful at this time of autumn.  I also experimented with some black and white images.  But then again, it is autumn and I love the brilliance of color.

[314] Autumn coral bells leaf

[315] Autumn coral bells leaf [B&W]

Lately, I've been closing my posts with Scripture.  I think I will do the same today.  :)

But let all who take refuge in You be glad,

Let them ever sing for joy;

And may You shelter them,

That those who love Your name may exult in You.

For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD,

You surround him with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5:11-12 NASB

Treasuring life's moments,

Christine

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One More Boat, One More Camp Fire

Sunday, October 9.  Lake Bonaparte, foothills of the Adirondacks, upstate New York.  Afternoon.

Residents along Hermitage Road, East Shore

A post or two ago, I blogged about the ritual of taking my dad's Cadillac out of the water and into his shed.  Well, there was one more boat to undergo the same action:  Rick's pontoon boat in which I enjoyed my first autumn boat ride.  To watch this activity, my mom and I walked over to the marina, just 50 yards or so down the road.

Docks in the bay

The pontoon boat is bigger than my dad's Caddy, and is removed from the lake with a truck and trailer.  Basically, you just drive the boat right up on to the trailer, and you're done!  Well, pretty much, anyway.

Away they went, to winterize the boat.  It gets parked on my cousin Tom's property down a ways, and then it's cleaned up and tarped over (is that a word?) for the winter.  So long, pontoon!

Then it was time for another sunset picture.  Not my last, since we'd be there a few more days.  But the last of a busy weekend with lots of people, food, and fun.

I could tell just walking down to our dock that it would be another calm, peaceful sunset, without clouds or even a breeze.

Below is the actual sunset.  Again, as I've said before, for a photographer, it's nothing spectacular.  But that evening, I was simply Christine, daughter of the King who created that sunset for me.

The sun cast such pretty colors that I repositioned the camera and shot more toward the north.

This is just about where the sun sets during the summer months

On my way to our last group campfire, I spotted the moon rising above my parents' home.  That would be fun!  I had wanted to get some Milky Way shots, but the moon was out each night we were there and it was too bright to see many stars.  So I decided to have some fun with exposure by shooting the moon.  :)

ISO 100, f14, 30-second exposure; kit lens at 17mm (as wide as it would go)

Then I switched lenses to zoom in as much as I could to capture the moon.  I'm so glad I've learned how to shoot in manual mode--I was able to tell Ellie the exposure I wanted, even though Ellie told me that the exposure should be longer.  It's basically just a boring moon image.  I'm glad I took it, though.

ISO 100, f5.6, 1/800 second exposure, 70-300mm lens at 300mm

I lugged my tripod over to the fire for an evening shot.  Slow shutter speed meant motion blur, but I wanted it in the shot, since it helped set the mood.

ISO 100, f5.6, 1.6 second exposure, kit lens at 17mm

Well, I guess I got photographically technical there for those last images!  Sorry about that.  But I know some of you want to know.  :)

You wouldn't believe--or maybe you would!--how many more images I have to go!  I'm trying to space out these posts, but I've already run out of October.  I'll just keep plugging away, and you and I can both enjoy autumn at the Lake for a few more weeks.

Since I included the sky images, I thought the following would be appropriate.

The LORD has established His throne in the heavens,

And His sovereignty rules over all.

Psalm 103:19 NASB

To read the next post about my Lake Bonaparte getaway, click here.


Previous Lake posts

Part 1 -- Autumn Lake Nature Walk
Part 2 -- Pontoon Panorama
Part 3 -- Saturday Scenes from the Boat
Part 4 -- Food! Glorious Food!
Part 5 -- People, Boats, and Pictures
Part 6 -- God's Hand Across the Sky
Part 7 -- One Last Ride in the Cadillac
Part 8 -- It Must Come Out!


Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Find me on Facebook

It Must Come Out!

October 9, Sunday, The Lord's Day.  Lake Bonaparte, upstate New York.

A quick post about another ritual which was brand-new to me--the "taking out" of my dad's Cadillac from the lake.  This is a family-and-friend effort, with most pitching in to help, and the rest running around taking pictures as the boat is removed from the lake for the winter.  My dad's isn't the only boat removed, but I'll save that for another post!

Apparently, in years past, the group devised a system of hefting the boat out onto logs, then pushing the boat along the logs, with people grabbing a log from behind and running it around to the front as they went along.  I wish I could've seen that.  This year's advanced version of boat removal is due to our superior human ingenuity and intelligence.  ;)

Al drove the ATV, pulling the boat around the side of Jackson cottage #1...

...and up the driveway of Jackson cottage #2.

It takes a lot of people to get that little boat into my dad's shed!

The beloved Cadillac sits, protected and patiently waiting until next spring.

Many hands make light work.

Aaaand...speaking of hands (I had to tie in a Bible verse somehow!):

O clap your hands, all peoples;

Shout to God with the voice of joy!

Psalm 47:1 NASB

To read the next post about my Lake Bonaparte getaway, click here.


Previous Lake posts

Part 1 -- Autumn Lake Nature Walk
Part 2 -- Pontoon Panorama
Part 3 -- Saturday Scenes from the Boat
Part 4 -- Food! Glorious Food!
Part 5 -- People, Boats, and Pictures
Part 6 -- God's Hand Across the Sky
Part 7 -- One Last Ride in the Cadillac


Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Find me on Facebook