It has been over a year since I last posted last, I have started a new job, we are about ready to build a house, and have a new addition to our growing family. Needless to say I have been busy, but that is what makes me happy.

I AM SITTING OFF OR BAYWAY WAITING FOR ONE OF THESE SHIPS TO SAIL, AND WAS ABLE TO GET OFF THIS SHOT AND PUT IT TOGETHER. THERE WILL BE MORE TO COME SOON I HAVE SO BUSY WITH FINISHING UP MY OLD JOB AND STARTING A NEW ONE.

As the first snow of the year falls on our cottage, I am reminded how precious my time home is. I am really looking forward to the end of shipping and the normal beginning of life.

There is just something about the snow fall that reminds me of home, being a kid, and getting excited to venture out to the white world. The excitement still sneaks up on me but it seems I mind the bitter cold more and more with each year. Theses things never seemed to phase me a child, but know it does now and I just feel for my sister in Duluth.

It is a far cry from when I would sail year round, freezing or not, which I do miss, and would brave any cold do again...

I am getting excited to head home, and see my wife who I have missed these last two weeks. I am excited to go on a job interview on Thursday. I am excited to relax, and get off the tug boat. I am excited for the announcement of the Nikon D3X, although I could never afford it I am looking forward to the technology to trickle down to a camera I can afford.

Towards the end of my hitch I am not sure if it is more the excitement of going home or my sanity wearing thin but probably a little of both. I am happy and somewhat crazy. I can remember this happening while on the ship going across the Atlantic, or even crossing the equator.

Either way I am really looking forward to going home.

It is slow here in New York harbor on Thanksgiving, most of the harbor boats are in the yard, eating turkey, watching football, and thinking of our loved ones at home.

This is the first time not only has the boat been still enough, but the water is also calm for me to try some night shots. I stitched about seven photos together in Photoshop to generate each of these panoramic shots. (Taken with Nikon 20mm f/2.8 vertically and a 4" shutter)

Tonight I go to bed feeling sad because I not at home with my family, but I also am happy and thankful to have such a loving group of people in my life.

Thank you all for being there for me, and thank you, for coming and visiting this site.

As I return to work I am taken from my home in the woods surrounded by lakes and trails, to a city with many bustling avenues and congested waterways. The contrast between natures evolved beauty and mans forged instrument can be overwhelming. Although many times what we create can be fascinating, and even beautiful, it is often inspired by what occurs naturally or it is an abstract imitation of nature.

I am drawn by both natural and labored objects, whether it be the color of the rust on a plate of steel, the flare of a ships bow, or the beach sand eroded by the wind and waves. These things excite me, but I can not communicate this feeling through words. Now the camera is not the human eye, it is a machine, it has no emotion or feeling, and communicating emotion through a machine is challenging.

I am reading the Ansel Adams biography right now and came across a quote by Alfred Stieglitz on his explanation of creative photography. "I have the desire to photograph. I go out with my camera. I come across something that excites me emotionally, spiritually, aesthetically. I see the photograph in my mind's eye and I compose and expose the negative. I give you the print as the equivalent of what I saw and felt."

I think this quote is what inspired me to write today's note, but it is what is around us and what has not been seen that inspires me to take pictures.

Since I was a child I never liked crayons or painting, I found it somewhat frustrating, in fact, my favorite thing to do was sketch in pencil.  I would draw cars, sailboats, battleships, and helicopters in fine detail.  I was never as talented as M.C. Escher, but I took pride in the details, sometimes wearing the paper through with my eraser. A sharp pencil and piece of graph paper were all I needed, these simple things would keep me busy for hours, on the ferry on and off island, and in a boring class at school.

My parents noticed my monochromatic tendencies and took me to the doctor, to this day I can not make out the numbers in the Ishihara Color Blindness Test. I found that this effects my photography but not in a was that I would have guessed, I am only red green color blind so I have trouble with violets, earth tones, and well, red and green.  I find this most challenging in post production, I use auto levels whenever possible but sometimes I get carried away and my picture of a pink rose looks green.

My wife can attest to how this affects me when I pull out a fleece that I call red, but is really orange or when looking for a particular color shirt and I bring back something brown, it can be quite humorous some times. When it happens it reminds me of when you get a afghan from a grandparent that knitted for all of there life, but as time goes on the colors turn neon.