Went out again to see what I may see. Someone mentioned to me that a large dolphin washed up near the Brickyards in chilmark and since this is kind of rare in these parts I took a walk in that direction.
    No sign of the dolphin, but I did spot a solitary seal sunning himself and giving me the eye as I walked past. I guess I was not much of a threat with my camera and tripod so he stayed and tanned some more.
    The sun started to set with its familar yellows and orange glow. I stayed and tried for some nice shots, but before I knew it the sun had set, it was now dark and I forgot I had to hike two miles bck through the woods! I know there is nothing to fear here on the island but there is still something scary in walking through dark woods. Every twig snap and leaf russell got me to jump, and all the dangerous chickidees and bunny rabbits had a good laugh!

    Its been bitterly cold lately. Yesterday the wind drove that bitter cold right into your body. If any part of your bare skin was exposed it would instantly sting. The wind was not blowing today but the tempatures were still in the teens. So what a perfect day for a walk?!
    You have to watch your camera on days like this. If you allow it to get cold then bring it into a warm house, condensation will form inside the lens. Many say keep your camera under your jacket close to your body when outside. Then place in a plastic bag or baggie when you come inside and allow it to warm up slowly. Supposedly the condensation will form on the plastic bag and not your gear.

    Today was much warmer than expected for January. But I had trouble with the ambient light. It seemed to be either unubstructed bright sun or slightly overcast. at these times i have trouble calibrating the white balance. No matter what I did my photos were over or under exposed. But like i said it was warmer than usual so it was a nice hike.

      Today was my day off from work so I was hoping to enjoy some photographic tours of the island. but it was not to be, today had warmer than usual tempatures but a vicious gusting wind and a all day rain. Neither are very good for my camera equipment. I made a promise to myself to try and take bettter care of my investments.
    But here are a few shots I managed to take yesterday. The tide was very low and I found myself ankle deep in stinking low tide muck. Every foot step sunk in and the mud held it tight, even pulling my boot off as I pulled it out!  

    I can really appreciate how nice ,quiet and calm it is here on the island compared to other places such as Boston. Its always nice to get off and visit the city. But talk about a busy place. Cars speeding along,crowds of people everywhere you look. You take your life into your own hands if you risk crossing any street againt the lights!
    But its a great place to take a camera. So many modern and historic sights and they are all in walking distance from each other. It was a great visit but I am happy to be back.

    The weather is warmer than usual for late January. The days are short this time of year so the light is fading fast at 400pm. In other spots of Massachusetts it is snowing but here on the Vineyard there is only a sprinkling rain. I wait for the ocean wave to withdraw back and walk down to take the photo of the large boulder left by glaciers eons ago. Set myself, I only have a few seconds, before the next wave will rush up the beach, and SNAP the shutter. Now run back to the car before my camera equipment is ruined by the rain and salt...

    I wait so long for my days off so I can relax and practise some photography around the island. So you can imagine my disappointment with the rainy conditions today.
    My camera gear is not cheap and I should not be lugging it around with a nice cold rain falling. But thats exactly what I was doing today...(not too smart!) I had to rush everythng and had no time to really enjoy my time. Mother nature was just to hard on me today.

    This time of year can be pretty tough sometimes if you enjoy photography. Take today for example, sky was total gray all day. There is not a hint of plant life and the ground is covered with week old snow. It can get you down if you let it.
    So when you know of a good scene you tend to return a few times. These shells that are washing up on Gay Head beach are a great diversion. It also does not help that I just got a great deal for a MACRO lens on ebay and will use any excuse to continue to try it out. I will try not to go to this well again but here are more shells! lol

    I took my usual ride up island today just looking for anything interesting. Perhaps I was listening to my music more than thinking about photography but it was a nice, quite day. I could not resist a great deal on EBAY and recived a wonderful macro camera lens. So today was my first chance to try it out.
    One thing we have alot of here are seashells. So this is what I used as subject matter. For my first try I thought they came out ok, and I can tell this is going to be one of my favorite lens! 

    Well, I have been around and around the island so I often times end up in the same locations. Gay Head is usually that place. The sunsets are always dramatic here and the wide open space gives you full access to the whole sky and the south shore of the island has a nice straight and long horizon. So I have many,many and many more, photos from this same area. But honestly the light is never the same here so even though the locations are the same the ambience is always different.