Cole River
Swansea, Massachusetts

Heavy clouds to the south of the Cole River part enough to allow for some deep B&W IR photography on a warm summer morning. Having grown up on the southern, tidal end of the river where it meets Mount Hope Bay, I was unaware this lazy body of water miles away is part of it. The large rock left of center is a favorite perch of aquatic and wading birds; lately its been occupied by a double-crested cormorant—in years past, a great blue heron.

To my American friends, have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Filters: 590 nm IR (camera conversion by LifePixel)

Tags:   Swansea Massachusetts United States of America Cole River reflection clouds IR infrared 590nm black and white B&W monochrome

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Though common and invasive, the orange daylily still strikes me. After Googling them I was surprised to learn from one site that they're "almost fully edible," which led me to wonder what that means. After all, a blowfish is almost fully edible. Obviously more Googling is required before taking the plunge, but the site did say the bulbs can be baked and eaten like a potato.

I recently updated my Nik software and stumbled across two filters in Color Efex Pro—Duplex and Classical Soft Focus—that I thought worked well here. I waffle on the use of frames, but thought it made the image pop a bit more too. Hence, gilding the daylily ;-)

Tags:   orange daylily invasive almost fully edible

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India Point Park
Providence, Rhode Island

Remnants of the many piers that supported a once thriving commercial area on the Providence River. According to Wikipedia: "India Point was Providence's first port. It was established in 1680 and flourished as a center of maritime trade for 250 years. John Brown established his tea and spice trade with the East Indies here, which is what gives the park its name. India Point Park remained an important trade center until the Great Depression."

Also according to Wikipedia: "John Brown was an American merchant, slave trader, and statesman from Providence, Rhode Island. Together with his brothers Nicholas, Joseph and Moses, John was instrumental in founding Brown University (then known as the College of Rhode Island) and moving it to their family's former land in Providence." Interestingly (again according to Wikipedia), John Brown "was a powerful defender of slave trading, clashing aggressively—in newspapers, courts and politics—with his brother Moses, who had become an abolitionist." Holiday gatherings at the Brown household must have been real hoot!

Filters: Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue Polarizer, LEE Mist Stripe, LEE ProGlass IRND 15-Stop

Technical notes: By the time I got set up for the shot, the fog I was counting on for effect started to dissipate and reveal the nearby shoreline across the way. The Mist Stripe filter neatly took care of this, eliminating the need to deal with it in post.

Tags:   Providence Rhode Island United States of America India Point Park zombie apocalypse black and white B&W monochrome long exposure pier decay

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Opening arguments

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Rhode Island State House
Providence, Rhode Island

An IR presentation of the impressive, neoclassical RI State house in its natural habitat. Home of the General Assembly and various state offices, including the governor's.

Speaking of which, I've been listening to a fair amount of RI public radio while teleworking and have been generally impressed by the COVID press conferences given by Gov. (Gina) Raimondo (first woman to serve as Governor of RI). Informative, coherent, thoughtful, and compassionate—a far cry from the torrent of nonsense, illogic, and self-serving garbage coming from our Dear Leader at the national press conferences, which appear to be (mercifully) dead.

Going off even further on that tangent: as a counterweight to the rise of incompetent, so-called "strongman" leaders here and abroad, there appears to be a rise of actually strong and competent female leaders—Arden in New Zealand, Frederiksen in Denmark, Kaljulaid in Estonia, Caputova in Slovakia to name a few. Not to mention Merkel—in her twilight, but towering above them all. Can't say I'm up on all their politics and policies, but the contrasts with their male counterparts are striking, and initial impressions are refreshing and heartening.

Taken with a Nikon Z6 converted to 590 nm IR by LifePixel and the Nikon 24mm tilt-shift lens, shifted up about halfway to keep the State House from toppling over ;-)

Tags:   Providence Rhode Island United States of America State House IR infrared 590nm LifePixel black and white monochrome tilt shift

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