Real winter in orange and yellow
Film - Orange/Yellow, a set on Flickr.
I've been working so hard on my novel and working hard at my jobs, so I haven't really had too much time to post on my blog this week. I was perusing some old photo albums on my Flickr and found this one from January 2011... We've had such a mild winter this year that looking back at these makes me realise how lucky we have been!
These were all taken with my Canon AE-1, using a 35mm ISO 100 Lomo negative film without flash. Most in Mastic Beach on Long Island before my mum moved back to California, but some in NYC. I miss using my AE-1 and playing with the settings to get interesting photos, but I can't really afford to spend too much on film and developing film right now.
I kind of also miss the beauty of winter right now too... Maybe we will get one blizzard this year, but it's already the end of February and it doesn't really look like it...
Winter sunrise
I braved the below 10 degrees F (minus million in C) cold yesterday morning and walked down to the Bay to catch the rising sun. Beautiful pinks and purples, mixed with oranges and yellows, fanning out over the sky and the water.
Here are more photos from yesterday (B&W and Colour): Flickr set
Sunrise - Mastic Beach 09/2010
I switched between my own Canon 18-55mm lense and my Mum's Canon 75-300mm one.
More here: Flickr
Labour Day weekend 2010 - Part 1
First came the usual amazing sunrise over the bay from the East. I am only using the manual settings on my camera, and I still need to work more on the lighting settings, but I'm getting there:
I finally figured my direct sunlight settings once we were walking Bella, and got the rising sun over the bay, with Fire Island in the very back:
We made our way to Smithpoint beach to see the waves. As it was low tide they were not as impressive as I thought they would be, but I wouldn't have ventured in myself:
After a trek to Best Buy, Borders and HomeGoods we stopped of at Manor St George, just off William Floyd Parkway in Shirley. I had no idea that behind all of the trees there was a amazing piece of land looking out onto the bay! Despite getting eaten alive by mosquitoes (literally), we had a really good look around. The house was first built in the 1600's and then added onto in the 1700's.
Interesting flag ;):
We then drove West along Montauk Highway towards the Westhampton Beach area, and I noticed a signpost for a graveyard along the way, and made Mum turn around and go back to it. It didn't look very impressive from the road, but it was literally huge. We spent about 30 minutes driving up and down the lanes and taking pictures of the stones. My favourite part was definitely catching the crow on the gravestone:
And then finally Westhampton Beach where the waves were very impressive. The people who were braving them were pretty dumb in my opinion. I was actually surprised that the lifeguards were letting anyone except surfers swim. Granted, there was only a tiny area of the beach where swimming was allowed, and also about 20 lifeguards hanging around in case anyone got pulled under and away by a riptide.
We ended the day with a two mile walk (a mile each way) to Paradise Ice Cream Parlor in Mastic Beach, under the blue velvet sky twinkling with stars.
Here are all of the pictures I took: Mastic Beach-Smithpoint-Shirley-Westhampton
Here is my Mum's blog (her pictures are amazing as usual): Alison's Blog
Houses and dreams...
I'm thinking more and more about buying a small house out there, The prices are affordable right now, and I have always dreamed of owning my own house right by the bay, not far from the ocean. I already know how I would decorate all of the rooms, and how I want the garden to look. But would I want to live so far away from the city? In any case, I could never afford a down payment right now, so it's out of the question, but one can always dream.
I loved this one:
It needs a LOT of work, but it was really cute and quirky inside, and had loads of potential. I love old houses, places with character. I don't think I could ever buy a new house, unless it was built EXACTLY the way I envision my dream house. This one had a huge garden with lots of trees. Something I will always miss, living in an apartment in Bushwick.
We went to see a place that is priced at $2.8 million, right by the bay. Amazing. If I had that place I would never ever ever want to sell it. EVER. I liked the location too - It was in East Moriches, so still a nice peaceful area, unaffected by the Hamptons and all that crowd. I like towns and villages that still have character.
Anyway - it's nice to have dreams like this. Maybe all this will finally motivate me to learn how to drive. Because I would need a car out there...