Produce Market, Bailly-Romainvilliers, Île-de-France, France

I'm a simple man (some might say simpleton) who never left my home country until I was in my twenties. I never flew in an airplane until that first out-of-country trip. In the forty years since then, I have been fortunate to travel to a few other parts of this big world but, until now, I've never been to France. Leaving Boston on a cold winter's night between snowstorms, we landed six hours and 3,500 miles later in Paris.

The first outing after settling in was to the local produce market to stock up on vegan food. Counterclockwise from upper left, I am familiar with potatoes, pears, tomatoes, blueberries, and onions but, WHAT IN THE HECK IS THAT GREEN THING! I thought I was hallucinating from jet lag and sleep deprivation.

Turns out it is a Choux Romanesco, a member of the broccoli/cauliflower family. Of course, we took it home to try out.

Greatest Hits of 2014 - Last Rays of Sun

About this image:

This intent of this image was to capture the sense of place.  These two young women are sitting on a centuries old stone bench in the late afternoon slanting rays of sunshine - stone bench, stone walls, stone roadway, bikes with baskets which are the most common form of transportation in this Italian town, are nearby awaiting their riders.  I chose to remove all color from the image except the red reflector on the bike. The location is the city of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy.

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About this series:

Last year, I created about 20,000 images with my point-and-shoot camera.  Of those, I published about 2,000 in 329 separate blog posts. I sat down recently and wandered through those 2,000 images and decided to select around 20 of them to re-publish as my "Greatest Hits of 2014," along with a comment about the image.

First, a comment about digital photography. Comparing digital to film, if I use a purchase price of $7 per roll (for a 36-exposure roll of color film) and add another $13 per roll to process as a benchmark, those 20,000 images would have used about 555 rolls at a total cost of more than $11,000! which would have been unaffordable.

Since I didn't use film, my only cost was the memory card and batteries in the camera. Essentially zero cost per image. No wonder digital camera photography has taken the world by storm.

0° Fahrenheit, Manomet,Priscilla Beach, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Over in Priscilla Beach, the day after a blizzard, the sun shines brightly on Priscilla Beach Theatre. The Plymouth area has harsh winters but, the temperature doesn't often stay at or below zero degrees F as it is now.

A close-up of the drifts near the front entrance.

In a few short months, the weather will be warm and voices will be raised in song and speech as the theatre welcomes "Fiddler on the Roof," and "Chicago," to the freshly restored venue.

Over in "downtown" Manomet, the Simes House, which has weathered more than 150 harsh New England winters, stands tall against the post-blizzard winds.

And over in my driveway, it's not the shoveling itself that's so difficult, it's having to throw the snow on top of the increasingly high piles.  I wonder why I thought it was a good idea to get rid of my snow-blower? Seemed like a good decision when I made it wearing a t-shirt and shorts back in August.

Icicles, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Viewed just before sunrise, this icicle reflects and refracts its surroundings into interesting distorted images.

This one looks pretty cool also and, no - that is not my nose it's reflecting. 

When the sun rises, it refracts into dozens of mini-suns in this group of icicles.

Ever notice how icicles look like translucent carrots?

Why did this curve as it was freezing?  Is there a condition of almost-frozen when the wind can bend an imminent freeze? I am amazed.

All these carrots make me hungry for a bowl of soup on this cold winter day.

Yep, a bowl of soup would be nice right about now - except I don't usually eat soup at sunrise.

Later on, at midday, it's still only about 15 degrees so no melting has occurred.  Sure would like that bowl of soup now...................

Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Against my better judgement, I wandered up to Burial Hill in downtown Plymouth the other day. The wind was howling making wind chills below zero degrees F and the snow was frequently deeper than my legs are long. Here, the walkway disappeared into the snow drifts.  The 1820 Courthouse dome is visible in the distance to the north.

 It was a tough slog but dramatically beautiful.  

The Church of the Pilgrimage in Town Square is visible in the distance to the east.

This image is my favorite in this series - the snow looks like it was airbrushed onto the gravestones. Which, in a manner of speaking, it was. All of these images are in full color - there just wasn't much color on this gray, windy, cold day.

Burial Hill became a cemetery is the late 17th century and serves as the final resting place for some of the original Pilgrims.  Although closed to new burials since the 1950's, for those already here, it seems a nice place to spend eternity in America's Hometown.

Pure as the Driven Snow, Old Sandwich Road, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Old Sandwich Road has long been a favorite of mine in southeastern Massachusetts - whatever the season. After the snowplows cleared the mostly unpaved road, I wandered along to see what I could see. These first four images are in full color, straight out of camera, with no other post-processing.

Definitely a winter wonderland. Snow is nature's original version of time-release rain - it melts slowly and seeps into the ground like a time-release aspirin into the bloodstream.  

These final three images I manipulated by eliminating all color and increasing the contrast and brightness until the image screamed, "enough already."

As a cousin has astutely observed, "after the first day I am generally 'over' the beauty and ready for it to be gone."  I have to agree - but it sure is spectacular when freshly fallen.

Hmmmn, cold, white snow or warm, white sand? - not much of a contest.

Old Sandwich Road - pretty in any season. (Panorama - click on image to view full width.)

Amy and Her Snowman, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Amy poses with her rather dapper snowman.

Unfortunately, snowman is about to become part of that snowplow pile.  We're at the end of the road so it all gets piled up here by the plowman. That's green snow, not yellow.

Bench seating for two - no waiting.

Or, seating for one - no waiting. (Panorama - click on image to view full width).

Ever notice how fresh snow looks just like warm, white, Caribbean beach sand?  Nope, neither have I.

Around Town, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

In downtown Plymouth, piles of snow are slowly creeping up this brick wall, blocking the colorful graffiti from view.

On one of the many narrow lanes in Manomet, an all terrain vehicle owner has attached a small plow blade to his rig to dig out his driveway.

The "real" plow operators though, usually have heavy-duty pick-up trucks. And sitting down in the roadway to get this ground level image was, in retrospect, probably not such a good idea.

When I got home from driving around enjoying the beauty of the snow, I noticed I had reached a milestone. My Toyota Camry just turned 100,000 miles! I hope I can get another 100,000 miles out of it.  Now if I can just figure out how to attach a snow plow blade to it...........

The following morning, the miles kept going up while the temperature kept going down.  I'm starting to understand why Florida has quite a few former New Englanders.  And I've reached eligibility - I'm over 62 and I like to eat dinner really early.

Snowfall at Priscilla Beach Theatre, Priscilla Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

With a couple feet of it already on the ground, the snow just keeps falling on Priscilla Beach Theatre (PBT). PBT just completed its 78th year, and is the oldest barn theatre still in operation in the United States. The ongoing restoration work by owners and guardians Bob and Sandy Malone will be completed in time for this coming summer's performance season. "Fiddler on the Roof," and "Chicago" are already scheduled. You may call 508-224-4888 to get your tickets/reservations now or visit their website at http://www.pbtheatre.org/.

Elsewhere on the PBT campus, snow, snow, and more snow. The Geronimo Black Box Theatre, one of three performance venues on campus, is at left and the Box Office at center.

Support local live theatre wherever in the world you may live.

Greatest Hits of 2014 - Reflection

About this image:

This intent of this image was to capture the idea that the view in front can be almost interchangeable with the view to the rear.  The almost alignment of the road edge paint marking creates a momentary illusion that the view is not a reflection. The location is in the countryside near Lucca, Tuscany, Italy.

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About this series:

Last year, I created about 20,000 images with my point-and-shoot camera.  Of those, I published about 2,000 in 329 separate blog posts. I sat down recently and wandered through those 2,000 images and decided to select around 20 of them to re-publish as my "Greatest Hits of 2014," along with a comment about the image.

First, a comment about digital photography. Comparing digital to film, if I use a purchase price of $7 per roll (for a 36-exposure roll of color film) and add another $13 per roll to process as a benchmark, those 20,000 images would have used about 555 rolls at a total cost of more than $11,000! which would have been unaffordable.

Since I didn't use film, my only cost was the memory card and batteries in the camera. Essentially zero cost per image. No wonder digital camera photography has taken the world by storm.