'Just had to be different,' Texas, June 2013

Just had to be different, originally uploaded by DC Products.

It's been a while. I had kind of lost my mojo when it comes to posting photos -- and then even to taking photos. I rarely took my camera out anymore, unless I was shooting a minor league baseball game. The seven-year-old Konica Minolta had some issues, and the photos needed quite a bit of work before they were good enough for posting.

But then, my 300mm zoom lens wouldn't focus anymore. The autofocus seemed broken, and then the manual focus wouldn't go past a certain point. It was time -- so a few weeks ago, I upgraded to a Canon 60D, literally a day before leaving on a short vacation to Austin, Texas.

And just like that, I fell in love again with photography and started carrying my camera with me just about everywhere -- like on short car trips or to work. I took half an hour one afternoon to drive to the Great Falls in Paterson, N.J., because I'd read that they were flowing at high capacity after so much rain. I'm having fun again.

And so it's time to get back into some of the weekly challenges I used to enjoy. For this one -- flowers in the field -- I'm using one of those Austin shots. But soon I hope to use the challenges as inspiration to go out and find something to fit the theme.

To new adventures ...

"Brothers Under the Bridge," Pittsburgh, September 2011

Between the bridge towers, originally uploaded by DC Products.

I didn't post much on the blog in 2011, but I still wanted to choose a best shot from the year. With two trips to Pittsburgh, and this concert capping a wonderful sixth anniversary day, I decided to go with it.

My gracious, giving and loving wife allowed me to spend part of my anniversary at the Notre Dame-Pittsburgh football game with three college friends. Afterward, we reconvened downtown (my three friends and one of their wives joining us) for appetizers and drinks before crossing back over the river for a Reds-Pirates game. The night ended with a postgame Steve Miller Band concert, which led to this shot.

Another great year.

New Year's Eve timelapse 2.0

I'm not about to attempt another year of photographs each day like I did in 2009, I would like to get back to posting here more. One way I hope to do that is to simply post one photo -- at least -- from each excursion, adventure, trip or day of shooting. Simply put: If I take a picture on any particular day, then I'll post it. If I shoot many, I'll pick one. That should help to inspire me.

And so we begin with one of the 800+ shots from my second (annual?) New Year's Eve timelapse. Again, we were visiting my former college roommate in the Boston suburbs, and I set up the camera and timer in the living room, but chose a different vantage point to get more faces as people sat on the couch and faced the TV. It was also a bit more inconspicuous -- instead of on a tripod in a corner, it was on the top shelf (a cubby hole, really) of a bookcase in a different corner. I'll have to come up with something new for next year. This shot came just a couple minutes before midnight.

"The last spring," New Jersey, April 2011

Spring, finally, originally uploaded by DC Products.

I took this photo in the spring on my walk to the train. The tree in full bloom with the cloud-dusted sky and the church steeple -- not to mention the late-afternoon light -- just caught my eye. It was a beautiful sight, a wonderful opening to spring and the promise of the weather to come.

On my walk today, I neared the church and felt something was amiss ... and then I saw it. Or, rather, didn't see it. The tree; it's gone. It's the second tree from in front of the church that has disappeared since we moved to the block, the first one cut down after half of it was damaged in a wind storm. I hadn't noticed any recent problems with this one, so I hope it was some sort of hidden disease or another problem not noticeable to casual passers-by and not simply because someone didn't want it there anymore.

"Game 1 hero," Camden, New Jersey, August 2007

Game 1 hero, originally uploaded by NJ Baseball.

With Spring Training well under way and Opening Day now three weeks away, I've been enjoying all the baseball images popping up (as well as looking through some of my own). So when it came time to find a celebration, I thought back to some of the home-run high-fives I've captured over the years. This one was at Camden's Campbell's Field, where Matt DeMarco (center) won the first game of a doubleheader with a walk-off home run. Looking at the smile on his face, it may have been the first such home run of his life.

"The less talk, the better," Arizona, March 2010

The less talk, the better, originally uploaded by DC Products.

"There is a deeper thing to express — the return of humanity to some sort of balanced awareness of the natural things — some rocks and sky. We need a little earth to stand on and feel run through our fingers. Perhaps Photography can do this — I am going to try anyhow. -- Ansel Adams

Today is Ansel Adams' birthday; he would have been 109 if he were superhuman. I was drawn in from the moment I first saw one of his black-and-white prints taken at Yosemite, so I thought I'd take a moment to tip my hat to the man today. The combination of his photographs and the crisp, exciting action shots I saw in Sports Illustrated are what drew me to the hobby.

The header on this blog, of course, also recognizes Adams, and for this day, I went back to find a photo taken out West, one that might have been taken by Adams (though in black and white) had he stood where I stood. However, I stood in a parking lot -- making sure to step forward enough so that the pavement did not encroach upon the view, leaving the contrast between blue sky and white clouds against the red rock and green desert foliage to speak for itself.

And, once more, I'll let Adams speak for himself:

"I hesitate to define just what the qualities of a true wilderness experience are. Like music and art, wilderness can be defined only on its own terms. The less talk, the better."

"Offseason in Truro," Cape Cod, January 2011

Left behind, originally uploaded by DC Products.

As a vacation destination, Cape Cod gets its share of visitors from Memorial Day through Labor Day. But it's a different scene in the middle of winter. Cottages are boarded up, stores are closed for the season, roads are empty and the restaurants that are open are more than happy to see you.

Sometimes you just have to get away, and with a friend housesitting in the woods on the outer Cape this month, my wife and I were more than happy to visit her on a cold January weekend. The signs in front of these North Truro cottages said "See you in May!" and the beach was empty, the waves lapping at the steps that lead down to the water and the wind leaving the sand flat and undisturbed.