I would love it if you would check out my new book of photographs. You can view it by clicking its cover below. Thanks for taking a look!
My book was printed by Adoramapix. They did a great job! I found Adoramapix's book-creation software very powerful and easy to use. I will use them for my next book.
In late August of 1954, New England was hit by Hurricane Carol. I grew up in the Wollaston section of Quincy, Massachusetts. My memories of that hurricane have faded, but I do remember some of the fun it provided for a twelve-year-old boy. I enjoyed wading in the waste-deep water in the playground of my grammar school, Wollaston School. I "pigged out" on the free ice cream that Howard Johnson's ice cream plant gave away before it went bad from lack of refrigeration. Here are a few photos that I shot after the storm with my Kodak Brownie Hawkeye.
View from in front of my parents' home across Hillside Ave. to Everett Street in Wollaston section of Quincy, Massachusetts
Downed tree at Alouisi family's home at corner of Warren Ave. and Prospect Ave., Wollaston section of Quincy, Massachusetts
Downed tree in Wollaston section of Quincy, Mass. after Hurricane Carol in 1954 . I believe this was on South Central Ave.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia describes Carol as:
Hurricane Carol was among the worst tropical cyclones to affect the New England region of the United States. It developed from a tropical wave near the Bahamas on August 25, 1954, and gradually strengthened as it moved northwestward. On August 27, Carol intensified to reach winds of 105 mph (169 km/h), but weakened as its motion turned to a northwest drift. A strong trough of low pressure turned the hurricane northeastward, and Carol intensified to attain Category 3 status on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. The well-organized hurricane made landfall on Long Island and Connecticut on August 30 near peak intensity, and quickly became extratropical over land.Carol was similar to the New England Hurricane of 1938, as they were near the same intensity when affecting New England, in addition to both storms accelerating toward the region. Both systems hit within 40 miles (64 km) of each other at high tide, resulting in a substantial storm surge in Narragansett Bay. At the time, Carol was the third costliest United States hurricane, and the nineteenth costliest U.S. hurricane when adjusted for inflation, as of 2004.
and, The Patriot Ledger wrote:
Hurricane Carol, August 31, 1954
This compact, but powerful, borderline Category 3 battered New England, killing 68. With 100 mph winds, gusting up to 135 mph, Carol caused over $460 million in damage, destroying 4,000 homes, 3,500 cars, and over 3,000 boats. This was arguably the most destructive storm to hit Southern New England since 1938. It formed as a tropical storm near the Bahamas, making brief landfall along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The storm passed over Long Island, just east of the Hurricane of 1938 landfall, through Central New England into Canada, bringing a storm surge of 14.4 feet to Narragansett Bay and New Bedford Harbor. Over 6” of rain fell. Water depths reached 12 feet in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Some consider Carol the worst storm in the history of Cape Cod. All of Rhode Island, much of Eastern Connecticut, and much of Eastern Massachusetts lost power, with a 95 percent loss of telephone service. The storm was still producing hurricane-force winds as it traveled through New Hampshire and Maine. Notably, it knocked down the spire of the Old North Church. The name ‘Carol’ was the first Atlantic hurricane to be retired.
With great help from the folks at jR Customization, my photo site at ForrestFotos.com has been completely renovated. I would love for my friends, family, and anyone else who is interested to take a look. Please let me know if you have any trouble navigating the site as there are few bugs to be worked out. I am aware of an existing problem when the Home page is viewed on an iPad. However, the site has yet to be tested with other tablets and every type of browser software.
ForrestFotos.com includes sections containing photographs from my Navy travel in the 1970's, recent travel, sports, nature, landscape, military, lighthouse, auto, ships, and family photos as well as other themes. The "Photography" section includes some of my brother Steve's photographic art as well as some of my first attempts at infrared, high-dynamic-range, and monochrome techniques.
Thanks, in advance, for your feedback !
I recently visited Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Micanopy in central Florida. It is interesting to note that after living in Florida for more than forty years that I just recently learned of this huge wildlife area.
I started off the morning hiking into the prairie from the north on La Chua Trail which the state website describes as "three miles round-trip from the North Rim of the Prairie to the observation tower. This trail provides scenic views of wet-prairie and marsh habitat including Alachua Sink and Alachua Lake."
Along the side of the trail you can see hundreds of alligators.
Frequently the gators will crawl up onto the grass of the trail to sleep in the sun. I shot this photo as the big guy was backing back off the trail in front of me to return to the lake.
Here he is as he re-enters the water.
Many birds make their home on the prairie. Here is a red-winged blackbird that I photographed during my hike. I also saw herons, egrets, storks, cranes, and many birds that I couldn't identify.
The prairie is also home to wild horses and bison. I had hoped to see them during my hike on La Chua Trail but they never appeared.
However, that afternoon I entered the park at the southern entrance and was able to see about six bison grazing in the distance. I shot this photo from the observation tower at the south end of prairie. As luck would have it, when I arrived at the visitor center near the tower, the folks there were saying the bison had been grazing very close to the tower just minutes before I got there. They had retreated to about a half mile away by the time I arrived. I was interested to learn that bison were native to this area.
You can learn more about Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park at the Florida State Parks website and Friends of Paynes Prairie's website.
I would love it if you checked out more of my photos at my photo site, Forrest Fotos.
I shot this photo of a Barred Owl in our backyard the other night. He frequently sits in that tree and watches the area.
Another shot.
I spent a couple of hours in Hanna Park, in Atlantic Beach, a few days ago. Although the ocean beach at that park attracts many people, I like to visit the less-traveled area around the lake. I shot several photos there including these two:
I believe this "rubberneck" bird is a cormorant. (Somebody, please correct me in the "Comments" if I'm wrong.)
You'll find an interesting mix of wildlife around Hanna Park's lake including turtles "working on their tans."
I shot this at the campus of Montreat College, Montreat, North Carolina
A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days in western North Carolina. I was lucky enough to be there near the peak of the fall foliage. Here are a few of my photos from that trip.
This view is from the Blue Ridge Parkway, north of Asheville
No visit to western North Carolina is complete without a visit to DuPont State Forest in Transylvania County, which is called "The Land of Waterfalls." Here are few of my shots from that area.
Hooker Falls, Dupont State Forest, North Carolina
Covered Bridge, Hooker Falls area, Dupont State Forest, North Carolina
From Covered Bridge, Hooker Falls area, Dupont State Forest
I spent a few hours in Cullowhee on the campus of Western Carolina University, where I watched their football team, the Catamounts, play Appalachian State's Mountaineers. Here's my photo of the statue of Western Carolina's mascot.
Statue of Catamount, mascot of Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina
[Photo note: I shot these photos with Four Thirds format cameras from Olympus (E-30) and Panasonic (G1.) All were edited with HDR software from Nik, and framing software from onOne. I hope you view more of my photos at ForrestFotos.com.]
"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe."
Carl Sagan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, author, cosmologist, and highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics and other natural sciences. During his lifetime, he published more than 600 scientific papers and popular articles and was author, co-author, or editor of more than 20 books. In his works, he advocated skeptical inquiry and the scientific method. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Sagan became world-famous for his popular science books and for the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which he narrated and co-wrote. A book to accompany the program was also published. Sagan also wrote the novel Contact, the basis for the 1997 film of the same name.
St. John's River from Bostwick, Florida. Seminole Generating Station in background
I shot this recently while traveling in central Florida. I like how nature is represented by vegetation and the river, recreation by the boats, and utilities by the smokestacks. My first thoughts were wondering the extent of damage to the atmosphere caused by that plant. I was relieved to read the following at Power Magazine:
"Complying with a corporate environmental policy requires much more than just writing a check for equipment upgrades. It takes a dedicated and knowledgeable staff that’s willing to invest years of work to permanently reduce a plant’s environmental footprint. The staff of Seminole Generating Station have completed multiple, incremental plant improvements over the past decade that have significantly reduced air emissions and minimized solid waste disposal."
[Photo notes: Olympus E-30, 27mm, f11, five-exposure bracket at 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, edited with Photomatix]
A couple of weeks ago I noticed an accumulation of bird dropping on the walkway in our backyard. It was all centered close to our house under the overhang of the roof. When I looked up, I saw Petey perched upon the floodlight under the eve of our roof. After a few days of watching him, we have discovered that-
We have been adopted by a pigeon!
Petey Waves "Hi!"
Petey leaves for a while each day (probably to find something to eat.) However, he spends most of his time on his perch including sleeping there. I guess we'll get used to cleaning up pigeon poop.
[Photo Note: Olympus E-30, 70mm & 120mm, f5.6, 1/250]
