Storks' Nest

We went to visit one of the storks' nests around the area for sunset one night in August. 

Heron in the Meadow

This grey heron landed in the water and I got the chance to wait for him to move between me and the sun light that was casting across the water in the flooded river meadow. I love these re-natured river landscapes that were made into a protection area around here.

The Chipmunk - Video

When I was watching the garden through the kitchen window, out in New Hampshire, I was seeing the chipmunks running around. They were especially keen on the sunflower seeds that they picked from the flower heads all day long.

After a while I was noticing this little guy here that was pretty much flipping out in trying to catch this flower head. I kept watching him and was giggleling along. Then I grabbed my camera and went outside to sneak up on him. It actually worked without scaring him off and I got to take this sequence of video for you.

I hope you enjoy it just the same.

Als ich den Garten aus dem Küchenfenster beobachtete, in New Hampshire, flitzten die Streifenhörnchen überall herum. Sie waren besonders scharf auf die Sonnenblumensamen, die sie den ganzen Tag lang aus den Blütentellern zupften. 

Nach einer Weile habe ich diesen kleinen Kerl bemerkt, der total durchdrehte, bei dem Versuch, genau diese Blüte zu erreichen. Ich habe ihm kiechernd eine Weile zugesehen. Dann habe ich mir die Kamera geschnappt und habe mich draußen an ihn angeschlichen. Es hat tatsächlich geklappt ohne ihn zu verjagen und ich habe dieses Stück Video von ihm mitgebracht.

Ich hoffe, Ihr habt damit genausoviel Spaß!

Stork

We do have quite a decent amount of storks in our area now. This one flew over us a while ago when we were on a bike ride.

Head Shot

The birds were really interesting to watch on Photokina, 2014.

Taking Flight

This is another one of the eagles on Photokina 2014 doing their routine in the flight show. You get to stand pretty close to them, really. Pretty awesome!

Lighting up

You hear so much talk about lighting gear. Expensive, a lot, new stuff all the time.
And then you gear down. All the way. 

This shot was taken in a dark room with a black background and lit with one small LED flash light only. I moved the light from behind the camera and washed over the camera. My husband then painted the notes into the air with the same flash light.

Eagle's Stare

We spend Saturday on Photokina, the photography conference in Cologne. They have a flight show with birds of prey. 

Here is one of their eagles on the glove of one of the keepers, right after taking a flight.

Oh, there you are

Could a chipmunk look at you any cuter? I was standing right infront of him and looking up at the sunflower. When I moved slow and "unscary" they let me get within one foot of distance. And just went about their business untill I left. Very nice guys to hang out with!

Old Classic

Outside a very vintage styled bed and breakfast in Chester, Vermont, we found a really nice classic car. Here is what the Rose Abour Bed and Breakfast is offering.

The Guy in Orange

These little newts are all, really all over the muddy and moist spots in the woods. I could not believe how many they were. Woods of New Hampshire.

The County Girl Diner

We took a day trip to Vermont and came through Chester, Vt. There we noticed the Country Girl Diner and thankfully decided to stop there and have lunch. It was really great. The atmosphere, the food, the nice talk with the 2 waitresses and the only other guest at the time. In all: We had a great time! Thank you to the team!

Radiant

While experimenting on lightpainting, this is what we created. A flash light behind the scull, and one that my husband painted the rays with - and light the face.

The sceleton of light

my photocontest challenged me to do lightpainting. And this is what I made of it.

The lonely horse

This little lonely horse has been sitting in its shed for quite a while.

The little Thief

The chiomunks were stealing the sunflower seeds. Or maybe they were theirs to begin with. I think we could have argued about this. The goldfinches did not think that the chipmunks were cute, though.

Hummingbirds

In New Hampshire we got to hang around some really pretty flower beds and with them some humming birds. There were several regular visitors. They were juvenilles and a female.

Here is one of the cuties right on top of the flowers.

Mount Monadnock

We got some pretty good views of Mount Monadnock. But unfortunately we did not have the time to hike the mountain this time. 

Faneuil Hall

We - of course - went through Faneuil Hall when we were spending time in downtown Boston.

summer in Boston

Financial district in Boston, August 2014.

The road into the sunset

When riding along this road in New Hampshire, August 2014, I found the light of the setting sun to be irrestible.

One old cat

She may be old, but she rules over her house and yard.

Maybe a mouse will get by her these days, but surely no dog will take over her garden.

Chipmunk Alarm

Here is one of all those pictures I took of the chipmunks in the garden of my parents in law. They stole food, fruit and such and were being really bad for the garden. But they were so cute and they also were mainly feeding on the sunflowers in those two weeks.

The much older barn

This old tobaco barn is falling appart. Photographed near Amherst, MA.

Another view over the Connecticut river in Massachusetts.

Tobaco Farming

This is a tobaco farming barn. The long sides of the barn can be opened in lots of little slats to give optimal drying conditions for the tobaco leaves.

This photo was taken in the Connecticut river valley near Amherst.

Miss Florence Diner

In Nothampton, MA, I found this diner. We did not eat there but the exterior design was so wonderfully old school that we stopped to photograph it. When I was just thinking about the best angle to get my image I noticed that the sun had moved lower in the sky and that I could find a position to make it shine through nicely.

Photographically I had to over light as compared to the in-camera metering and of course I closed the apperture all the way to make the sun show the typical rays.

The Connecticut River

From the area of Nothampton we took a hike to a great view over the Connecticut River. This is the view we got.

These eyes

This is Bo-Cat. He has these amazing eyes with 2 colors. He is not quite sure if he wants his portrait taken at this point, but I guess he did not mind much, since he did play with me afterwards.

It's all in the Clouds

The sun right behind a single cloud can make some awesome appearance. I spotted this radiant display on the ride from Massachusetts to New Hampshire.