It's a cloudy and somewhat biting day here, but less rain than yesterday. Perhaps I'll start a novel like Lord Byron and Mary Shelley. A few places around here make you feel like it is 1816 again.
We're off to Martha's Vineyard tomorrow for the day.
I have not had any beans yet, but lots of Chinese tea and great architecture. Boston is a wonderful town. A quick walk across the Boston Common and we were in Beacon Hill. Almost immediately a local resident who was walking his dog sparked a conversation with us and started giving me some of the local history and culture. Within seconds he said "follow me" and led us to some of the great architecture of the city. Some blocks later having parted ways with my first host, a gracious lady coming home struck up a conversation as she entered her home. She said "Oh you're from Austin, the people there are different from the rest of Texas aren't they?". I said "yes, we didn't vote for George".
So much history here.... I walked 12+ miles on the first day, and 9+ on the second. The whole of the "Freedom Trail" to Bunker Hill Monument, the USS Constitution, water shuttle back to downtown, Boston Common down Commonwealth Avenue, over to Newbury... across Harvard Bridge, and like a magnetic pull I was drawn to Frank Gehry's architectural masterpiece on the MIT Campus. Then back to the city across the Charles River and a sail boat race. Boston has it all. Tomorrow I am off to Woods Hole, MA. More from there....
A year ago today, I was pondering a lot of cold thoughts. Most due to the weather and not neurons. The Antarctica video is still in progress... but with the help of a talented documentary maker (we were working on it today), it may actually be finished before I do it again in HD. Meanwhile, I have uploaded an odd collection of West Texas images, a few of which I really like. They can be found here.
2007 is gone. What a year. Remember: Drive the road like you know where it is going. Sometimes it turns out that you do. In any event, the view is grand!
I hope everyone finds their cloud over the horizon. - rj.
Landmannalaugar, Iceland. '07.
Christmas has past, and News Years is upon us.
So I have been reflecting some on the past year's images. A few from the Caribbean (right) had never been touched before [night time shot with my little Canon SD800, Gustavia, St. Barthélemy, FWI]. Several more can be found here in this gallery. The most interesting perhaps is a Flash VR of five images taken in 1984 of Baie St. Jean, St. Barthélemy. Taken a decade before Apple Computer invented QTVR. CLICK HERE, it is a window into the past, everything but the pecan pie at Chez Francine on the beach. In 2008 I'll go back and make an update. Happy New Year.
I went to a Remote Control Aircraft Park, airport really, last week. Flight commencement was supposed to start about 9am, but like JFK Airport, there were delays. 
I was restricted from getting a vantage point that would have eased the sun's morning angle in my face, so I made the best of it. An hour of roasting in the morning rays were about all I could handle, but it was quite the sight to see there on the tarmac. Scaled down versions of some classic aircraft, and most all of them would fly. There were even a few experimentals, 
like this powered hang glider, whose creator said he had about 500 hours in building it. Some had sponsors, and some did not. 
Or perhaps they just liked beer and put the name on it anyway. In any event, it was a beautiful display of dedication and workmanship on their part. The crowd was electric with excitement for the first flights. Some were prepared for the morning glare as evidenced by my friend's son.
Photoshop World was over today. I saw several familiar faces, met a few new folks, and learned a few new things. Curiously most of what I learned this time was about video. Time Lapse.... and it really looks fun in Photoshop to export SLR images to HD video. Can't wait to try it. Meanwhile, I have set my sights high, and these instruments I saw on the trip here are the tools to do just that. The Very Large Array, west of Socorro, New Mexico.
Tomorrow morning I depart for Photoshop World. A journey to let me explore my creative side in new ways. I am always ready to embrace them. The image at the left was my pilot on a balloon ride in Snowmass Village, Colorado in 1995. As the sun rose, I asked her to go to the far side of the balloon and express to me how she felt. She loves ballooning.
I was looking for another image and stumbled on five images that I had not stitched from the Iceland trip. It is now in the Iceland Travel Gallery. I call it YELLOW CONTEMPLATING BLUE (the tourist in the yellow hood is staring at the blue berg bit). A nice discovery for me and him.
Speaking of discoveries, my Iceland travel pal, is now in Fairbanks, Alaska heading north. Steve Ginn writes about it here. Steve has now been to Antarctica (almost 66 degrees south), to Iceland (above 66 degees north) and now to Alaska, and above the 67th latitude. All in one year. Having done 2/3rds of that with him, it is a huge effort. I expect to see a lot of great images from him this winter.
Having the camera in hand and ready to go is a must sometimes. This image was available for about 3 seconds before the parents rushed into the passage way to retrieve their lost child. I first heard them calling for him, spun around and there was the photo-in-waiting. Almost two years later I decided it was better as a black & white with a colorful child. Canon 5D, 15 mm FFF, 1/40th at f/2.8, ISO 320, dewarped in post. Abbey at Mont St. Michel, Normandie, France. 21 November 2005
