A Busy Summer

In Vermont, summer is all about our natural surroundings.  Winter is now forgotten and the bitter cold weather has been replaced by gorgeous warm days and beautiful colorful landscapes.  This summer has been a very busy one focused on home improvement and outdoor projects.  Between putting new fences, building a lovely stone patio in the back of the house to a new fireplace and a gourmet kitchen, I feel that I missed summer!  Not all is lost as Foliage is the most beautiful season of all and this year the colors are forecasted to be spectacular.  Jasper (my Drathaar) and I will be in the woods chasing the grouses and partridges. 

The picture of our new patio down below was taken with my Nikon Kodak DCS 760, equipped with an 80mm 2.8 Mamiya lens from my medium format set.  I took the shot early in the morning to get sharp contrast and pleasing shadows. The post-work was completed by using Photoshop.

Flowers are also the central focus of summer in a State covered by snow almost half of the year. They surround the patio and the gardens located on the property.  The picture of the red Tulips posted below was taken late Spring using my Nikon F5 equipped with a Vivitar Series 1 120-600 objective set at 120. Sandy soil is best for Tulips (or any bulb) to increase and flower in later years. Good drainage is essential. For best results it is better to plant bulbs in October or November. As a rule of thumb, the depth that tulips should be planted is approximately three times the length of the bulb.

Taking the shot was tricky because of the back-light and the low position of the sun that morning.  The picture was then reworked in Photoshop to give it a watercolor feel.