Posted on February 29, 2020
The Coastline of Maine is beautiful, and we got to explore the area. Heading up to Bar Harbor, Maine, Richard had a goal. Visit Arcadia National Park. If you know anything about me or if you have learned over the past few years, I have had 3 foot surgeries. The words National Park, and foot surgeries do not go well together in my opinion. I know what to expect when I hear National Park. While my feet are okay they certainly are not pain free and after 3-4 hours of walking I need to stop and rest for a while.
One thing that I really enjoyed about Arcadia National Park was the coastline. And yes, it did involve the word “Hiking”. Ever since my 20’s the word “hiking” makes me want to run and hide. I do however, get through it and typically find I have enjoyed it by the end. Hiking in Arcadia National Park is really not the same as hiking in South Africa. In the USA it is more drive to the next parking lot, spend 20 minutes trying to find the furthest parking from where you are actually going and then walking on a pathway/steps etc to get to where you are going.
Arcadia was not far from that although we did get to do some rough climbing over rocks etc. The coastline is rugged and impressive and is well worth the visit. On some of these images I stood at the top of the rocks looking down watching the water come in and go out and kept getting the feeling that I was being sucked into the flow.
If you are visiting Maine, do your best to plan a stop over in Bar Harbor and Arcadia National Park. Visit the Mount Desert dramatic rocky coastline and also look out for Jordan’s Pond in Arcadia, or also know as Long Pond. It is definitely a highlight in the area. Look out for our early morning sunrise at Bar Harbor blog coming out on the 6th.
Thank you for joining me this month as we spend time sharing another day in our lives. This is a circle blog. Take some time to view what the other artists have for you this month. My friend Mindy of is up next and I can’t wait to read what she has to share.
Posted on February 24, 2020
If you are heading to Maine, take a bit of time to visit Ogunquit, found on the southern coast of Maine. Lying between the Ogunquit River and the Atlantic Ocean, Ogunquit Beach is a long, sandy peninsula with grassy dunes. There are also cliff walks with coastal view
While in town, take some time to look up the Ogunquit Museum of American Art. I visited with a friend on an overcast and damp{ish} day. The art is unique and interesting, the gardens are beautiful, and the view over the bay stunning. The grass was a little waterlogged but we continued on through the gardens. Here is my 30 minutes of the exterior visit the Ogunquit Museum.
Henry Strater was the founder of this art gallery in 1953. This art gallery houses over 3000 pieces of artwork – prints, photographs, paintings, drawings and sculptures.
Current exhibits at the time of writing this blog include Kathleen Speranza, Emily Nelligan, Jo Sandman and Charles Woodbury, along with Art’s Ball: Wood Gaylor and American Modernism, The View from Narrow Cove, Bicentennial Ogunquit, and Light Southerly: Henry Strater in Verde Valley.
If you are planning on visiting the Museum, remember that it is closed for the season. Open hours are Daily, 10am – 5pm from May 1st to October 31st.
Also make sure to check out the website for their photography policy
We did meander through the interior of the museum before heading on to our next destination, Nubble Lighthouse. Sadly the Lighthouse was under construction and was covered in green cladding preventing us from actually seeing the beauty of the lighthouse. It was also raining and out stay there was not long.
Posted on February 7, 2020
Burrowing Owls are the cutest little feathery critters that I have had a close up encounter with. Every so often I will take a drive down to the reclaimed garbage dump that was turned into a park. Fortunately it does not smell anymore. This park seems to be the home for the largest community of Burrowing Owls that I have found in the south.
While it may look like I am up close and personal with the owls and maybe even in their space, I am truly not. Each owl burrow has fencing around it, preventing you from encroaching on the owls space. My trusty zoom lens (which is not so trusty anymore) is the best way to get close to these tiny owls.
The owls are on constant look out for predators, so while they are watching me they are also watching the sky. They typically do not go to far from their burrow.
This little one above popped out of it’s burrow to see what I was doing. Often they will shoot into their burrow as you approach and then curiosity gets the better of them and they will pop back out again. I typically lie down flat on the grass and just try to keep as still as possible.
The burrows can house quite a few owls. The most I have counted has been six. Today this lot had 3.
This burrow actually had 5 owls. At least one of them is keeping an eye on you at all times.
Often you will find an owl having a sand bath. It helps to keep the mites down. It amazes me how the owl blends with the surrounding area. It’s really helpful when it comes to hiding from predator birds.
This little owlet was just a ball of fluff out in the sand. They are cuteness personified and I love taking the time to go down and visit with them. It does help that the South African shop is down there and I can stop by and stock up on the goodies I miss from home.
Thank you for joining me this month as we spend time sharing another day in our lives. This is a circle blog. Take some time to view what the other artists have for you this month. My friend Mindy is up next and I can’t wait to read what she has to share.
Category: Tell Me a Story Tagged: #burrowingowls, #canonphotography, #natgeo, #outdoors, #sharleenstuartphotography, Canon, Canonusa, Nature
Posted on February 6, 2020
Did I say Share Six was going to take us out of our comfort zone this year. Well so far it has. I chose the theme this month and yesterday realized that I had not got all six images, so some quick work had to be done. This month’s them is {out of focus}.
I lean towards abstract images as being some of my favorites. There are ladies in this group that excel at these images, and leave me green with envy. I wanted to attempt this myself.
Lensbaby is a great way for me to get an out of focus image. Sunsets are a favorite time of day So what a great time to get images. I headed out to the wetlands to play and see what I could come up with.
This was another lensbaby image. Partial blur. I love black and white images and played around until I got the finish I was looking for.
In camera motion or my attempt at taking a photo from a moving vehicle. I am definitely going to try this again. We were out at St Petersburg, had just watched the sunset from the beach and were now heading towards the Sunshine Skyway. I decided to pull at the camera and slow the settings and see what I could come up with. Not perfect but I am okay with it for a first attempt.
Another Lensbaby and post edit combination. While the container was out of focus the straws were more defined. I played around in Photoshop until I got the result I was looking for.
This photo was also taken heading towards the Sunshine Skyway just outside of St Pete’s. This time I was passing some bushes. It’s kind of creepy but I love the wave effect of the water.
Last but not least, I had a friend visiting and we took her grandson to the park to wear off some of his energy. The park was amazing for that. Next to the climbing area was a carousel. I knew that this was going to be one of my out of focus images. The color images was great but the black and white created the mix of definition which I loved.
I am by no means an expert in {out of focus}, but practice and more practice will be what helps to make it better. I hope that you enjoy the topic and feel like you are stretched a little bit further as well.
Thank you for joining me for this month’s Share Six blog post. This is a circle blog. I love sneak peaks – they are always amazing. This is an incredibly talented group of ladies. Please take time to visit my friend and very talented artist Liz of It’s Still Life Photography by Elizabeth Willson and see what she has for you this month. To check out her Facebook page click here and her Instagram page here.
Keep following the circle to see what the other photographers have shared this month. Don’t forget to leave a little love on their page as well.
Come and share your images Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_macro
Category: Share Six Tagged: #blackandwhite, #blur, #canonphotogaphy, #canonphotographer, #carousel, #monochrome, #outoffocus, #sharesix_oof, #sharleenstuartphotography, #sunsets, Canon, Canonusa
Posted on February 3, 2020
We traveled so much last year that I did not have time to edit all the images that I took. So I decided to go back and do some editing today and share the photos I had not shared when we visited last year.
San Antonio Riverwalk was definitely something I had read about, and something I wanted to see. This is definitely more than thirty minutes but I wanted to keep all the riverwalk images together in my blog. I have shared a few images on the Riverwalk last year, however, there are more photo’s that I did not share.
The hotel that we stayed at opened directly out onto the Riverwalk and so we walked out of the building and onto the buzzing walkway of restaurants and people. Lots of people. Clearly the easy was to see the Riverwalk would be to do a ferry right, but we don’t do easy. We walked. To be honest it was not a lot of walking. We ventured out for breakfast and then we were out again for dinner. Most of the restaurants were to the right of our hotel. Some of these are the restaurant walkway and some are of the road less traveled 🙂
Meander with me as we head along the Riverwalk…..
The restaurant area is busy. Lots of people, lots of restaurants, a hive of activity. There are so many places to eat at. We had bangers and mash at Mad Dogs, Seafood at Joe’s Crab Shack, Breakfast at the Original Mexican Restaurant and we stopped for beers at Durty Nellies Irish Pub. Oh and add a few sausage rolls to that order.
On of the things that I really loved about the San Antonio Riverwalk was the mix of old and new. These arched bridges give the sense of a timeless period long ago. Similar stone was just at the Alamo and at the Missions.
Always a favorite of mine is natural wildlife and the riverbanks and the river itself had these beautiful ducks out and about.
This walkway headed up to another shopping center and restaurants, and was also the pathway to the Alamo. Starbucks was around the corner and we stopped there on the way to the Alamo We also stopped by Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville for dinner one evening,
The stairway took us up to the restaurants and a busy area givent
Walking back from the shopping area we meandered down this pathway, past the waterfall and back to the busy canal. I love the colorful umbrella’s and the pathways of green.
All this walking definitely creates a thirst and this was a great spot to hang out and drink a local beer. The ducks were swimming up to the edge looking for handouts.
Heading left from our hotel, the area is quieter, more peaceful and relaxing. The walk was more meditative. There were no general restaurants in this area and the few that we did see were the dining areas for a specific hotel.
Outside the Briscoe Western Art Museum was this incredible set of statues of a cowboy herding cattle. The stairway below leads to the art village La Villita Art Village. We meandered through there one of the afternoons. The last image is of Rosita’s Bridge leading over to the River Art Group.
You have the best of both worlds on the Riverwalk. You have the hustle and bustle of patrons heading in and out of hotels, looking for places to eat, listening to music, and then on the other side you have this quiet, relaxing, peaceful walk.
This was definitely worth the visit and I was glad I could cross it off my bucket list.
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