Canal Day '09

From 2009-06-27 Canal Day

"Party On"
1/500 second at f/4.5 ISO 400

A beautiful day on the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal for the annual Canal Day event held in the harbor at Chesapeake City MD.

Click on the photo below to see the rest of the images.

2009-06-27 Canal Day

Mopar Muscle

From 2009-06-21 Chesdel Car Show

"Beep Beep"
1/640 second f/4.4 ISO 200

It was a beautiful afternoon in New Castle County yesterday and what better way to spend it than at a Father's Day car show.

Click on the photo below to view the rest of the images.

2009-06-21 Chesdel Car Show

God Bless the USA

"God Bless the USA"

Edited version of orginal image.

Air Supremacy

"Proud to be an American"
1/1250 second at f/6.3 ISO 400

Boy, I am not having much luck shooting on Saturdays of late. I was so looking forward to the airshow at Dover (DE) Air Force Base today, but the forecast called for rain most of the day. About 11:00am I saw a sliver of light and decided to head south just for the heck of it.

When I got near Dover, I heard an AM radio broadcast that the show would be delayed, at least, until 1:00pm. They shuttled us to the base from a nearby mall, however because of the rain starting to let up, all the people and the buses arrived at one time. We walked a good bit from the bus stop to the base admittance where the hundreds of people funneled down to a very narrow opening for security reasons. I finally got on to the rain-soaked fields at 2:00pm with my camera inside a large, clear freezer bag (with a hole cut it in it to allow the lens to extend, yet still shielded from the rain). All the viewing stands and booths were set up in the now puddled and muddy yard adjacent to the runway. The mesmerizing C-5 Galaxy did do a pass, however the cloud ceiling was only at 500-700 feet and feature acts needed at least 1,000 feet to perform.

So, I did a quick walk through (actually more of a wade through or shallow swim) before having to hike back to the shuttle area and, ultimately, my car. I work Saturday evenings, so I was unable to enjoy the festivities, if they did indeed resume. Oh well, there's always next year!

View a few other images from the set here.

Rain Dance

I took a chance this afternoon and headed across the Delaware River into New Jersey to see my first Pow Wow. I thought the colorful costumes would make for some great photos. Well, I was partly right. The outfits of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribes did not disappoint, however I no sooner got there and the heavens let loose with liquid sunshine and thunderous lightning displays. I managed to only get a dozen snaps in before everyone took cover and the celebratory dances were halted.

I didn't have time to wait around for the storm to pass and the festivities to resume, but it certainly made me hungry to seek out another pow wow this year, somewhere.

A Precious Bond

"Mother & Son"
1/320 second at f/3.5 ISO 100

Had the wonderful opportunity to shoot Amanda and her 18-month old son, Ryan the other day. What a special chemistry there is between mother and son. I hope the memories created will be revisited many times in the years to come and each time produce a bigger smile. Thank you, Amanda, for allowing me the pleasure to capture your family.

H2O Mirror

"Chesapeake City at Sunset"
1/200 second at f/4.5 ISO 100

Celebrated my wife's birthday Monday evening with dinner by the water and some dear friends. A beautiful evening all around.

Delaware City Photo Walk

What a beautiful day for a photo walk in Delaware City. The digital photography group spent the morning in this history-filled, quaint little town.

I hope you can join us for our next photo walks in Middletown, Delaware and Chesapeake City, Maryland. Drop me an email to be put on the notification list.

I Feel Terrible ...

1/160 second at f/7.1 ISO 400

... I didn't even know they were on the endangered list. As soon as I saw their plea for help, I stopped the car in the middle of the street and ran in the front doors. There I found a young man in a blue vest down on one knee holding a fallen apple. I helped him to his feet, embraced him and told him it was going to be okay, we would get through this together. He had pain written all over face, maybe because the world was toppling down around this brave young man or maybe because I was standing on his foot. In either case, I knew I had to do something. No longer could I stand on the sidelines and watch this center fall victim to whatever it is centers fall victim to. I placed a shiny new Washington dollar coin in his outstretched hand, closed his fist tightly around it and then turning to leave I waved and said, "Make me proud, Johnny."

Letting Off Some Steam

"Steamboat Willy"
1/80 second at f/4.5 ISO 200

Yesterday, I shot a horse in my pajamas ...

"Ice Station Zebra"
1/125 second at f/4.5 ISO 400

... how he got in my pajamas I'll never know. (special thanks to Groucho Marx for setting me up on that one)

Okay, this is something you don't see everyday, unless you work at Busch Gardens Animal Kingdom. My wife and I are coming home from a friends house last evening and she says there's a zebra in that front yard. I keep driving and she says, "I'm not kidding." So, I put the car in reverse and back up (you can still do this easily on country roads). Sure enough, there in this person's fenced-in front yard is a zebra grazing. I love this country!