Then followed that beautiful season… Summer….
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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“Little boats should keep near shore”. . .Benjamin Franklin

Elizabeth and John journeyed 15 hours from Charleston, S.C. to participate in Saturday’s Blackburn Challenge. They have trained extensively for the event and sounded disappointed when they learned that the forecast is for calm seas.  Here they are putting the finishing touches on their sleek 18 and 21 foot ocean kayaks.

Note On Black and White Photography

Because color naturally attracts the eye, it can sometimes distract us from the photo’s subject or the story it seeks to tell. Before I converted this photo to B&W, I didn’t take particular notice of the little boy in the background. After conversion, without the color of the original drawing my attention, the whole context of the image became clear. Here was a mom giving her son some freedom, but under her cautious, watchful eye.

For many ( if not most) photos, color is appropriate and is an important element of the beauty of the image. However, I find that for intimate, moody and dramatic scenes, B&W forces us to concentrate on the details and context of the picture. Specialized B&W editing programs, when used carefully and in moderation, can allow us to re-create the experience of old fashioned darkroom cropping, toning, contrast control (by push processing), dodging and burning to enhance the image to help tell the story. It makes me remember the hours spent in the darkroom with rolls of Kodak Tri-X anxiously waiting for the moment when, like magic, the image appeared on the photographic paper.

. . . on Main Street

Here is  ANNE up from Mystic Connecticut going through the Cut.

But look more closely. It seems that our little yellow friend is moving up in the world.