Lights and Sounds of Christmas in Jacksonville

Before going to The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens last Tuesday, I went to Friendship Park in Jacksonville.  There is a pretty fountain there in which the music and lights are programmed with the water to make a gorgeous display!  This fountain is close to the Main Street bridge, otherwise known to me as the blue bridge, which was even bluer with its lights!

I walked part way up to the top of the bridge, which was easy to do and very popular with joggers!  It is a drawbridge and before I got to the top, traffic was halted and crossing bars went down so the bridge could open for a sailboat.  I didn't complete my walk up to the top of the bridge and down to the other side to the Jacksonville Landing, but I had a great view of the Landing from my position on the bridge.

The lights back at Friendship Park and Fountain seemed to be even more spectacular, since the sun had set.

After taking more photos, and wishing that I had brought a tripod to take the evening shots, I went to The Cummer which had two great exhibits going on.  One was a photographic study of people and customs in Africa that was just about ready to leave the museum.  The other was the first night of a special exhibit of paintings about Florida.

Signs of the Holiday Season!

As I have been driving and wandering recently, I have noticed many signs of the coming holiday season.  I was amazed to see not only one, but two and sometimes three cut Christmas trees on car tops during the days after Thanksgiving, in North Carolina!  In that area of North Carolina, the most north-western part, Christmas tree farms are big business.  Just from the many cars with trees that I saw in a couple of days, I can see why!  We didn't bring one back from NC with us - I just wasn't sure what a tree would be like after riding for 10 hours down a highway on top of a car.  There are plenty of tents set up here with trees that have come from many places north of here.  One is from the same area where we were at Thanksgiving.  I haven't been there yet to get a tree, but I know that I will get my tree there as I have done in previous seasons.  
The city of Atlantic Beach has transformed the entire area near the beach with the holiday decorations they have put up.  Here are a few pictures.  Lifeguard chairs and surf boards make all the decorations more interesting!

Working on a Poster!

Every now and then I like to work on a poster - putting together some of my photos that seem to go together.  A couple of years ago I did one showing photos of various market scenes in Aix-en-Provence.  It was one of the first ones I worked on - and my son helped me finish the final steps in Photoshop Elements to make sure I could print the poster the way I wanted to print it.  I like to use my HP wide format printer with 13 x 19 photo paper to print the poster.  Recently, I've been taking a class in Photoshop Elements at UNF, hoping I could learn more about this program myself!  The other day, I put some of my butterfly photos together to make a poster.  I decided to use photos showing nine different types of butterflies and identify them with their names below their photos.  Here is a small version of what I have been working on!

Fall Festival time!

Several weeks ago I went to North Carolina to go to two festivals, not to show my photography, but to enjoy the work of other artists.  Both festivals were held near each other, but both were different.  I like to go to Valle Crucis on Saturday - actually, it is only held on Saturday!  The first stop is always to get some apple butter that has been made by church members using all the different varieties of local apples that are grown around there.  It is delicious apple butter!  Sometimes the number of jars that one is allowed to purchase is rationed....this year there was no rationing - it must have been a good year for apples.  And our kids always ask for us to get them a jar.  The apple butter immediately goes to the car so it doesn't have to be carried around.  Next stop is for kettle corn....then I can begin to relax and really look at all the displays.  It is nice to see some of the same artists year after year and see what they have been working on.  I always take my camera with me because the festival is held in a valley with the most beautiful trees surrounding it!

The next day is the Woolly Worm festival....it is a two day festival.  The kids and grandkids  have practiced racing their woolly bear caterpillars up a string to get ready for the races at the festival.  None of us ever win at the festival, but it is so much fun trying!!  Then we wander for awhile and get something warm to eat.  The most important stop at this festival (well, other than racing the caterpillars) is to get a bag or two of local apples.  These are the most wonderful apples - so tasty!  And we have learned not to leave them outside on the deck of the cabin if we don't want to share them with the raccoons!

A Very Interesting Garden Spider!

For the past several weeks I have been watching a spider that has spun a web on the outside of one of my windows.  I might not have noticed this spider if it had been on any other window, but this is a window I love to look out of.  And, once I noticed it, I made sure I watched it as much as I could.  Most of the time, it didn't even seem to move.  So, I started taking photos of it.  Then it began moving -- and one day it wasn't at this window any more, but I did spy it, with a new web, down next to the garage.  This spider is called a black and yellow argiope - a garden spider that is also called the writing spider.  What makes this so interesting to me is the web that it spins.  The web has the most amazing zigzag pattern!

I discovered that although these spiders look scary, they are harmless to humans - they like to eat insects!

More Boats!

Here are a few more boat photos from my time in France this past summer.  I am always fascinated by the boats which are tied up along the Seine.  I'm thinking about the ones that seem to be like house boats with the most interesting items on them.  Of course, I love to see the beautiful flowers and bushes in pots, but this is the first time I remember seeing a car on one of the boats!

In Cassis, I saw these unusual boats, that I had seen only one other time in the south of France.  These are used in water jousting tournaments held throughout the summer in many cities along the coast.  The jousters are dressed in white and take turns being the one at the top of the board that hangs over the water.  With a shield in one hand and a wooden lance in the other, the jouster on one boat tries to send the jouster on the other boat into the water - all this with loud music and lots of cheering going on!

Here are a few shots of more typical looking boats in Cassis.  The photo with the vignetting was taken with my Kenko 180° fish eye auxiliary lens, which is a lot of fun to use!

Boats

I was in a photography class recently, looking at some photographs of boats that were shot on a very foggy morning.  They were interesting photos and reminded me of all the different types of boats I have taken photos of. 

Mayport, with its ferry and shrimp boats, is just about in my backyard.

Here are some from the Outer Banks

and some from the Eastern shore.

A Great Y-ART Sale!

Thank you to all who came by and said hello and shopped for some wall art last Saturday!  It was a wonderful first Y-ART Sale!  Although it was hot and muggy outside, it was perfect inside.  It was so nice to meet and talk with everyone - what a fun day!

Artist Y-ART Sale

Coming up this Saturday, September 8, is the Artist Y-ART Sale at the Adele Grage Cultural Center in Atlantic Beach.  I am excited to be a part of this!

This Y-ART Sale is like a YARD Sale for artists - and much easier to get ready for than a show, like Arts in the Park!  For the Y-ART Sale I am gathering things that I have had for several years - and hopefully will sell them for a fraction of what they had been listed at before.  Many of them have come from the art gallery where I sell my work in North Carolina. About two years ago, I changed the shape and design of my display there and was unable to show some of my larger vertical sized work on the shelves that I like to use there.  So, this sale in Atlantic Beach will be a perfect place to put these items.

Spread the word and stop by and say hello!

Flowers

I have always loved flowers.  I love to look at them.  I love to photograph them.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to grow them.  Well, living in a shady area means that I can grow a few types of flowers - such as impatiens plants, but not many other types of flowers.

So, I am always on the lookout for gardens - and other places where I can stop and look, enjoy, and then photograph and photograph and photograph!

If I have planned ahead and brought my Micro-Nikkor 60 mm lens, I can also take some close-ups of flowers - and perhaps some butterflies, as well!

rain...rooftops...and roses....

I've been thinking about all the rain we have had here recently.  Every day we have had an afternoon deluge.  I have been caught in it several times and that reminds me how quickly this area, so close to the ocean, gets very saturated.  When I was in Paris, not too long ago, there was a lot of rain, as well.  I always love to take photos of rooftops when I am visiting cities.  The view is so different than the view I have at home.  Even in the rain, the rooftops are very interesting.

And there is always the surprise of pretty flowers that can be seen at windows and window boxes that give a hint of brightness on a dreary day.

Here at home, I have one struggling rosebush trying its best to brighten a corner of my yard.

Swimming and sailing

How inspiring the Olympics have been!

I keep thinking of all the hard work and practice involved in learning a sport and then being able to continue on and excel in it!  It reminds me of a day in Cassis, in the south of France, this summer.  I wandered around enjoying the sun and the breeze and of course the beautiful Mediterranean Sea.

As I was taking photos of the crowded beach and also the way the water was splashing against the rocks, I noticed a group of young sailors out in the water...learning how to maneuver their little boats.

It was a joy to see how they kept practicing and working at their sailing lesson for the morning -- and how happy they were when they felt they had done well and came ashore.

A return trip -- again....

I visited Paris this summer.  It was a return trip for me.  This may have been the tenth time, or so, that I have been there.  Every time I go it is special - and it is both the same and different. The same, because the thoughts and feelings I have about this wonderful city don't change much -- and different because no matter how much things stay the same, there is always something new and different.  This time the weather was cold and rainy.  It was not as wet as it was another summer, but certainly not hot and dry as the last time I was there.  It is always so much fun to explore the different parts of Paris.  This is the first time I stayed near the Eiffel Tower.  So, of course, I had to walk over and take a photo of the tower right away.  It was close to sunset this time when I arrived - so this shot was taken around 8:30 or 9 at night.  I have always been fascinated by this huge metal structure - it is so tall and forbidding, but when one looks closely, the metal grid is almost delicate, like lace.

Then, I had to go back the next day to look again.  This time it was very overcast - no rain yet, but almost.  The Eiffel Tower was being readied for the fireworks that would be held on July 14th, Bastille Day.  It almost looks like the Times Square ball hanging in the center of the tower.

OK...another walk by the Eiffel Tower...can't help myself....  This time the sun was out.

And here are the fireworks at night - absolutely wonderful display!  And although it was very crowded - everyone was happy and excited to be there!

I tend to take many shots of the things that interest me.  It is so nice to shoot digital now, instead of film.  I remember the first time I took photos of the Eiffel Tower at night, I ended up developing 48 pictures of just that one night time view.

Arts in the Park! 2012

What a wonderful day at Arts in the Park!  The weather was gorgeous - sunny and breezy!  Thank you to everyone who came by to say hello - to look and to shop!  No, this little kitty did not come to the show - but this is one of her favorites that was in the show.

Also, I have had several inquiries about the Mayport ferry photo.  If you are local and would be interested in buying a copy of that photo - please email me at PepperRunStudio@gmail.com and I will be happy to talk to you about making some prints.