LHR Images BLOG

Many, many thanks to all who voted for my portfolio in the Artists Wanted Photo competition. The winner of the People’s Choice Award has been announced. And no, it wasn’t me.

Not surprising since 1) I found out about — and entered — on the last day for entering and 2) I found out on the last day of voting that people could vote multiple times (way too late to get the word out to everyone). It was one of those 1 vote per day per computer type of systems.

The last time I checked before the voting closed, my portfolio had about 80 votes with an average rating of 4.2. By comparison, the winner, Scott Irvine of Brooklyn, NY, had over 2000 (yep, 3 zeroes) votes and an average of 4.7. I wasn’t really even an “also ran”.

There’s still the formal judging left to be completed which isn’t supposed to be influenced by the popular vote. I’m not expecting much from that. Beyond that there’s this blurb from their website; “Outside the main prize we look for unique opportunities for every artist who submits work into our system. We have developed an incredible network of media/gallerists/buyers and we want to put that to work for you.” Time will tell whether anything comes from that.

You can view the top 20 People’s Choice portfolios at http://www.artistswanted.org/exposure/ .

Again, thanks for all who voted on my portfolio. I do really appreciate it!

I went for another paddle yesterday. The lake was calm — smooth as glass. Of course, I had to visit the eagles. I think they’re getting used to me…. they were definitely cooperative. The 2 adults sat in one tree… not exactly side by side but close enough so I didn’t have to move between photographing each of them.

Across the lake, this year’s young one had left the nest, exploring the tree it resides in. It’s the first time I’d seen it out of the nest. Won’t be long now before it starts flying.

On the way back to the landing, I took a few photos in the fading light.

I sure do like having this place close by!

I’d really intended to go back to the cliffs the evening of the first day. Too tired from my paddle with the group kept me from doing so. Besides, we had cloud cover for most of the evening in any case. So, instead, I went back the next morning, a little earlier than the previous day… and alone.

Skies were a lot clearer but there was a little more chop on the water. Not bad chop but it would increase while I was out. This cliff should look familiar:

Since I was by myself, I was more free to spend time exploring and composing shots… no where near as hurried as I’d been the day before.

The downside was that I had no other kayaks to “place” in the foreground of my shots.

I did a little experimentation while in one of the caves.

Due to the time of day, most of the points were in the shade. There were a couple of exceptions though.

Even though I got back to the landing on Meyer’s Beach much later than when we’d put in the day before, I encountered no other kayaks while on the water. I’d had the whole sea cave area to myself. I would have liked to stay longer but, it was time to return the kayak and begin the drive home.

On Thursday morning, I hooked up with a kayak tour group from Trek & Trail Outfitters. Destination; the sea caves along the mainland near Meyer’s Beach. The 10 of us, including 2 guides, were shuttled out to Meyer’s Beach, had some quick instruction, and then started getting our boats ready.

About an half-hour later, we were at the cliffs.

The cliffs were awesome!

This is the first tunnel we spotted.

A large crevasse lured us to explore its dank, dark depths.

The colors, patterns and shapes were fantastic.

Someone mentioned that it was like being at Arches National Park, only with water. I had to agree. It was definitely fun paddling through the arches…

…to find out what was on the other side.

Threading the needle… Scott, one of our guides, pulls himself through a particularly narrow arch.

We stopped on a sand beach for lunch. There was definitely more than enough to go around!

Lots of smiles to go around too, on the way back.

Did I mention the fantastic scenery?

That’s all, for now, from day 1. I’ll try to have the photos from day 2 (my solo trip) ready soon. Eventually, I also plan to have a slideshow on my site that will include more photos.

Sometimes, I go paddling at Chester Woods and hardly see any wildlife. Last night was definitely not one of those nights! It was a gorgeous evening and many creatures were out and about enjoying it.

When I first got to the lake, there were a few, puffy clouds.

Even they soon disappeared though. Further cloudscapes were out of the question and I paddled down the bay to the eagles’ nest. This particular evening, I was able to see both adults and this year’s eaglet. The latter was still hunkered down in the nest and I didn’t manage to get a good shot. The adults posed very nicely for me though…

Near where I was shooting the eagles, a large flock of geese and goslings hid in the grass along the shoreline.

Nearby, a deer browsed in the meadow

While a beaver chowed down on some vegetation in the lake… allowing me to drift quite close!

Turkeys were making a lot of noise near where I photographed the geese but never came out in the open. On my way back to the landing, owls were hooting and I saw a cormorant roosting in a dead tree. The nearly full moon was also tempting me. But I had to head for home.