Oh Say Can You See....Newport, RI

"Freedom is nothing but a chance to be bold." -Albert Camus

Our Backyard Just Before a Spring Storm

"Don't knock the weather. Nine tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change every once in awhile." -Kin Hubbard

Fall Foliage in Vermont

"Turbulance is life force. It is opportunity. Lets love turbulance and use it for change." -Ramsay Clark

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

"The goal of life is living in agreement with nature." - Zeno

Abandoned Building, Pawlet, Vt

Beauty comes as much from the mind as from the eye. -Grey Livingston

Boat Stuck in the February Ice, Northport, NY

Dreaming of winter.....

"The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination" -Ward Elliot Hour

Twin Horses? - Paulet, Vt

On May 19th my husband and I learned we were going to have a baby and could not have been more excited or thrilled. However, nothing will ever compare to the surprise of our first Dr. appt on June 2nd, where we discovered we were having TWINS! We feel so blessed and fortunate to be able to have such a unique experience and can only imagine what this journey will bring.

At the beginning of every new experience in life, I believe its one's attitude that makes all the difference. Thankfully, we are surrounded by such loving and excited family and friends that I can't wait for them to arrive, as they are already so loved.

As with so many aspects of my life since starting my "journey through the lens," I am once again presented with a photographic aspect. I love how I am already photographically connected with my babies. Since I'm considered "high risk" I have had and will continue to have many ultrasounds and therefore many opportunities to see them at various stages of growth and development. And, as evidence of their progress, I get wonderful photographic images to show my family and hang on my fridge. Its quite amazing seeing through a lens how they are growing and becoming little beings. Of course, I can't wait to discover baby photography and all aspects of capturing their lives and personas through the lens.

House on a Hill, Pawlet, Vermont

When I came across this house on a hill last weekend in Pawlet, Vermont, I simply had to stop and shoot. It reminded me of a Warren Kimble painting! This scene is my idea of the quintessential Vermont landscape .... a beautiful Colonial with the requisite red barn overlooking dozens of acres and a feeling of sturdiness, solitude and tranquility. One of the millions of reasons I love Vermont.

Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, New York

While hiking in Pound Ridge this past weekend, I was excited to see this beautiful tree in full bloom.

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." -Anne Bradstreet

Breckenridge Reflected Through Barn Window, Colorado

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." -Lao Tzu

Jonathan Livingston Seagull Landing - Northport, NY

"How much more there is now to living! Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there’s reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!" -Richard Bach

Three Ceramic Pots on a Doorstep, Cold Spring, NY

"Your life is a piece of clay; don't let anyone else mold it for you." - anonymous

Sunflower, Cold Spring, NY

Sunflowers have been an object of fascination and importance throughout our history. From ancient Inca priestesses who wore them as headdresses to Renaissance painters who seemed hardly capable of capturing a scene without their depiction, to their myriad modern uses in medicine (as a diuretic, to treat coughs and bronchitis), sunflowers don't seem to be waning in their beauty and purpose. Typically seen as a symbol of foolish love (the flowers blindly follow the sun), they are also symbols of prosperity and good health.

For me, the sunflower is the epitome of the spring and summer - that time where we feel more carefree and perhaps more openly joyous, where we take in the sun and feel more healthful, where we have more hours in our day with which to explore and go about our lives, and those days which remind us of being young and childlike. What a perfect wintry day* to post this photograph of a sunny yellow sunflower to remind us of summer days past and of those yet to come.

*I'm writing from NY at 5pm where its cold, windy and has already been dark for an hour. :)

Adirondack Chairs - Garrison, NY

I photographed these chairs while attending the wedding of good friends in Garrison, NY this past summer, and was struck by the emptiness and solitude of these chairs, while just one hundred feet away, dozens of their family and friends gathered to celebrate such a wonderful and festive occasion. Perhaps it was the contrast of the empty chairs adjacent to the bustling festivities that got me thinking about the significance of photographing empty chairs, and why I am typically drawn to such images.

I am clearly not the first, nor will I be the last, to capture such an image on film and raise the topic of what an empty chair symbolizes. Does it remind us of those who should be present but who are not? Do we assign personalities to different chairs? If so, do the owners or occupiers of those chairs reflect, enhance or contradict the "personalities" of the chairs they choose? I tend to think about those who have possibly occupied the seat in the past - what they saw, what they may have done while utilizing the chairs, how they may have relaxed or have been comforted by their respites, etc. So much of our time is spent in chairs- especially for many of us whose jobs require working at a desk. What do your chairs say about you? How do they comfort you? How could you make changes in your life just by changing or perhaps rearranging your empty chairs?

St. Pierre Cathedral, Geneva Switzerland

Haunted house or ancient place of worship? I took this shot from the banks of Lake Geneva on a whim when I turned and saw the sun setting behind St. Pierre Cathedral. It was actually quite light out at the time, but for a few brief seconds as the sun fell behind the Cathedral, uphill and in the distance, illuminating it from behind, it created this wonderful illusion of a haunted mansion. While I know I'm technically not supposed to look into my viewfinder when the sun is shining so brightly, I squinted and hoped for the best. I was so excited when the shot came out this way because it creates such a juxtaposition - while it appears to be a haunted mansion, it is in fact a magnificent, beautiful, and quite ancient religious site, which fuses Romanesque, Gothic and Neo-Classical styles. Additionally, beneath this behemoth structure lies one of Europe's most extensive and exciting archaeological sites. A climb to the top of the North Tower afforded Brian and I a magnificent view of Geneva and Lac Leman, not to mention Mont Blanc and the Swiss Alps in the distance.

Eye of the Needle, Tignes, French Alps

"Man plans and G-d laughs." - Anonymous

My husband and I were just two days away from spending our two-week vacation in Winter Park, Colorado. We had been looking forward to spending time in our home there, and I was especially nervous/excited to try skiing after a rather upsetting season on the sidelines. However, when we checked the weather forecast, there was no snow in the near future and only three trails open! Frustrated, we starting thinking of other options. Even though it was last minute, we're both very spontaneous by nature, so no one was really shocked when we changed our plans and had a new itinerary within a day - off to Geneva, Switzerland for a few days then skiing in Val D'Isere/Tignes in France for eight days!

Needless to say, the vacation was phenomenal and one of our all-time favorites. There is something quite exciting (and perhaps adventurous) about such last minute plans - we never had a chance to think about anything, so the excitement was truly palpable. We didn't even realize how lucky we were- apparently the best early season conditions in over fifty years! We arrived in a blizzard and each day skied in knee-to-waist deep powder- fresh tracks everywhere! For me, there was nothing more exhilarating (and emotional) than being back on my favotie Stockli's and to be able to ski hard through insane powder and feel no pain....I am truly blessed and thankfully recovered.

This is one of my favorite shots from the trip- the "eye of the needle" on the Tignes side of Espcace Killy (the name given to both resorts together). It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day and I was following my private guide/sherpa (aka Brian) through some pretty interesting off-piste terrain on the other side of this beautiful rock sculpture.

Espace Killy - Val D'Isere and Tignes, French Alps

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Muriel Strode

"There's no waiting for friends on a powder day. " -Author Unknown

Rusted Car Parts- Greenport, NY

"If you rest, you rust." - Helen Hayes

Windsor Wax Co., Old Hoboken Building

"....to heaven, hell or Hoboken by Christmas...." -Woodrow Wilson

Dried Flower Pot, Long Island, NY

"The Earth laughs in flowers." -Ralph Waldo Emerson