About A Boy

My son is turning 13 this month so obviously he spends his life being cool or at least thinking he is being cool. He flips his hair too often, thinks about girls even more often and curses with his friends hopefully less often. Anyway, the reason I am writing this is because I finally got some shots of my son not being cool. Every time a baby comes around, my son melts; coolness out, sweetness in. Love it!

Boo Hoo

I was planning on going out this weekend to photograph the gorgeous foliage seen at this time of year but obviously mother nature had other plans. Snow around Halloween is a scary thought so here are some images mostly from last year. I just couldn't bare to take snow pics yet.

Joe

This is a photograph of Joe. Joe is a gentleman I volunteer to drive as part of Westport's ITN transportation program for the elderly; "opening more than car doors for seniors". I wanted to write about Joe because I am thinking of going to visit him. I am hoping he remembers me. I used to drive Joe once a week to visit his wife at a nearby convalescence center. Joe went to the center every day from 11:00-6:00pm to visit his wife with Alzheimer's Disease. Joe sat with her, read to her, ate his meals with her and sat with her some more. I only saw Joe once a week for about 10-15 mins on mondays while I drove him home. Sometimes we sat in his driveway talking a bit more. We talked about the news, books, our families, the usual things. One time we stopped at Dairy Queen and got ice cream cones. Joe said his rides to visit his wife were the only interesting conversations he'd had in a very long time. Joe's wife died over the summer. He doesn't need rides anymore. Friends have told me that Joe must miss me. I think I miss Joe more.

For more information on volunteering to drive seniors click on this link. http://www.itncoastalct.org/

It's so easy. After you sign up, you get an email once a week of upcoming rides and if you have time, pick a date and drive. That's it! The rides are local so they only take about 15mins of your time and you meet such wonderful people.

Bird Flu?

There is a strange phenomenon going on where I live in Westport, CT. It seems everyone in town wants to be a chicken farmer. Doctors, Wall Street guys, real estate agents, yada yada yada, all seem to have sprung chicken coops in their backyards over night. Westport is an upscale surburban community about an hour from Manhattan. Here you would expect the members of the community to exercise too much, travel the globe and get overly involved in their kids sports. This all may be true but Westport can also be a real small town where people get involved in local causes, care about their neighbors, the environment and appreciate the basics. I believe Westporters want to make the world a better place and start right here at home. Now I am not sure what raising chickens has to do with all this but I love receiving fresh eggs from all my friends and taking pics of all the new chicks in town!

Gotcha!

My 14 year old daughter told me she does not want to be on my blog. She does not like taking pictures and hates all pictures of herself. I found this pic I took of her a few years ago where technically you can't see her face, so hopefully she won't complain. It was taken right after throwing a pie in her face. For some reason both my kids have always wanted this done to them and told me to do it when they weren't expecting it. Obviously I obliged and it was awesome!

Happy Birthday Little Brother

My brother's birthday is this weekend and one of my favorite shots is of him holding his daughter Soleil's hand at the beach. They have a very special relationship and spend an enormous amount of time together. It's funny because my brother was the cool one in school; my own Ferris Bueller. My brother loved high school, loved his friends and has a million crazy stories from the old days. Now that he's a father, it's a bit different. The only thing on his mind these days are his lawn, how much time he is going to get to read the newspaper and if he can get his daughter asleep before 10pm for a change.

And he wouldn't have it any other way. He calls Soleil, Tink (as in Tinkerbell) and she calls him Peter (as in Pan).

I Don't Get It

I love this pic. Many people ask me why. They say "half the picture is missing", or "the sneakers don't match the outfit", or "I don't get it". I don't get it either but I love it.

Sunset on the Water

This is an image of the Long Island Sound at sunset on Compo Beach. It was a windy evening with lots of clouds but when the sun poked through it was magic. Unfortunately I was so busy shooting the really cool glow off the moving water, I forgot to look up and missed taking shots of the sun setting!

Special Delivery

I had to take a picture of this little tutu. It's the sweetest little thing and the way it was just hanging off the old mailbox made love it even more. Btw, my 12 year old son told me this is the worst pic I have ever taken.

Young Love

Day 2 of images that my family thinks I'm crazy for not deleting. Although I have to admit today's shot did get a slight reaction from my teenager daughter and her friends. They can see the romantic side of anything, even graffiti.

Hanging Out in the Tree House

This week I am going to post one pic a day of images I took that I love but most people (esp my family) don't get. They look at the image I am so excited about and wind up saying "why?" or "delete!" Let me know what you think. Hopefully you will agree with me on a least a couple and see the beauty in the ordinary.

Soleil

I had to post a few images of my niece Soleil just because she's awesome. It was tough to choose right ones because she can't take a bad picture and I wanted to put ones up that expressed her personality honestly. I truly believe that Soleil should have her own reality show on MTV and it would blow The Jersey Shore right out of the water. She's that hysterical and that clever. Soleil is also 4yrs old so she loves pink, chocolate cupcakes and never wants to go to bed. Have I mentioned that she's awesome?

Hurricane Feet

A few people have asked if I have any pictures from Hurricane Irene to post. We were hit pretty hard and the shots would have been very cool if I had taken any. Unfortunately I wimped out and didn't leave the house until the winds had died down. By then the streets were blocked by downed trees so I turned around and spent the day eating junk food with my kids (what else can you eat with no power & no water) and playing scrabble on my cell phone. I did get one cool shot even though it's technically post Irene.

Summer Lovin' Had Me A Blast

The weather in Southern New England has suddenly become chilly and everyone is excited for sweaters, changing leaves and apple picking. For me on the other hand it's just an habinger of things to come; frozen toes in bulky snow boots, icy cold breath when running outside to warm up your car, looking out your window to see darkness falling at 4:30pm and hoping you can get out of your driveway when Al Roker predicts more snow. So I am posting my favorite pic from this past summer. It's of our local beach at sunset being viewed by the best 4 yr old around (more about her later). How many more days until Memorial Day?

Brooklyn Bound

A dear family friend allowed me to practice on her growing family this summer in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The kids were adorable, the weather perfect but when I left I found that my car was broken into. The car was a shambles. They took my GPS, all my cash, my sunglasses and some computer accessories. Luckily they didn't take my camera or I would have driven off the Brooklyn Bridge on my way home. Photos came out great though! Take a look.

Plug

Very Excited! My photograph (above) was chosen for the LOVE exhibit at the Westport Arts Center. Go check it out!

Welcome Baby Alice

Obviously the first post had to be about the baby. My little sister had her first child Alice about a month ago and you are going to be seeing lots of pics of baby Alice. She is an angel and luckily is too young to complain about my camera obsession like my own children do. Sleep well baby Alice (even though your mom isn't). I'll always be here for you with or without my camera.