Here is an interesting trivia question. What building in the USA is the the most often-painted building by artists? According to Wikipedia it is this little red building in Rockport MA known simply as Motif Number 1.

I took this photo from inside a gift shop overlooking Rockport Harbor. Its easier to see the details in this photo when you click on the image to make it larger.

A few weeks ago I went to Rockport,  MA for the first time.  I definitely will be going back as I found it a really charming New England harbor town!

Taken last weekend. When you see the birds starting to fly south for the winter it is a sad sign that Summer is almost over.

I took this photo this past weekend at Hampton Beach, NH. There were not many people around because of Hurricane Bill. Luckily the Hurricane missed New England for the most part.

You could not pay me to get on this boat! I don’t think this boat will be above water for much longer.

I never got around to posting this photo from my Nubble Lighthouse series so I figured now was as good a time as any!

Just thought this was funny seeing this guy with his laptop and headphones on this old looking Tall Ship!

Another photo in my Boston Tall Ships 2009 series. Here is the tall ship Capitan Miranda.

Here is some info about the ship:

Name: Capitan Miranda
Homeport: Montevideo, Uruguay
Rig: Staysail Schooner
Sparred Length: 205’
Draft: 12’
Beam: 27’
Hull: Steel

Continuing my Boston Tall Ships 2009 series. This was by far the larget of the Tall Ships that I saw in Boston a couple of weeks ago.

Here is some info about the ship:

Name: Kruzenshtern
Homeport: Kaliningrad, Russia
Rig: Four-Masted Barque
Sparred Length: 376′
Draft: 19′
Beam: 46′
Hull: Steel

This fire ship was putting on a show the day of the Tall Ships in Boston and shooting its hoses into the air.

Also just want to let everyone know I will not have internet access for the next week so I will not be able to visit or comment on your blogs. I  have setup my blog to auto-post some photos over the next week though so if you want to stop by it is always appreciated!

This is the fifth photo in my Boston Tall Ships 2009 series. Here are some of the smaller Tall Ships as seen through this poem on glass entitled “New England Ode”.

A view of Boston Harbor from the back of the Tall Ship Mircea. This is the fourth photo in my Boston Tall Ships 2009 series.

The third picture in my Boston Tall Ships 2009 series. Here is a sailor observing the scene and large crowds while aboard his ship. In the background you can see the Tall Ship Mircea that I posted a photo of last time.

Here is the second photo in my Boston Tall Ships 2009 series. This ship named “Mircea” was one my favorites of the tall ships that I saw on Saturday.

Here is some info about the ship:

Name: Mircea
Homeport: Constanta, Romania
Rig: Barque
Sparred Length: 270’
Draft: 18’
Beam: 39’ 6”
Hull: Steel

This it the first photo in my Boston Tall Ships 2009 series. Yesterday I went to the 2009 Boston Tall Ships event in Boston, MA. There were over 40 of these tall ships from around the world docked all around Boston that you can look at and tour. Sadly because of budget cuts there was no “Parade of Sails” this year so there was no opportunity to see these boats under sail. Still was a great event though! The Tall Ships will be in Boston until July 13th so if you are in the area I recommend checking them out! I will be posting more photos from the Tall Ships event over the coming days so stay tuned!

Here is some info about the ship:

Name: Sagres
Homeport: Lisbon, Portugal
Rig: Barque
Sparred Length: 293’ 6″
Draft: 17’
Beam: 39′ 6″
Hull: Steel

I took this photo on July 4th at Salisbury Beach in Salisbury MA. I could not decide if I should crop out the beach next to the wall or not but I finally decided to leave it.

Some kids playing with Sparklers at the beach while waiting for the July 4th Fireworks to start.

If you have been visiting my photoblog for awhile you may remember that last year I posted alot of photos from the annual Hampton Beach Sand Sculpture contest.  This past week the 2009 contest was held. I was sadly not able to stay to see any of the finished designs but I was lucky to of least see one of the artists in the very early stages of creating his sculpture. If you want to see the photos from the 2008 Sand Sculpture competition check out the ones I posted here  last year.

I kept processing this shot and could not decide on the best way to present it. Finally I settled on this b&w version. I think it gives these waterslides a different feeling than seeing them in color.

Wonder if he found any buried treasures?

Taken Memorial Day Weekend at Hampton Beach NH.

These Ducks tucked their heads in when I came near. I think they where cleaning themselves but it looks like they are trying to hide! Or maybe they were mad at me for interupting their romantic seaside date so they gave me the cold shoulder?

I wanted to show this angle of the Nubble Lighthouse so that the white trolley system to the left could be more easily seen. This trolley was used to transport supplies and food to the Light Keepers who lived on the island.  One interesting story I read about online told how one of the Light Keepers from the 1960’s used to put his children in this basket everyday to ferry them across the ocean for school. When a photo appeared of one of the children in the basket suspended over the water in the local newspaper the district commander decided to ban families with school age children from living on the island. If your interested in reading a lot more history about the Nubble lighthouse and want to see the famous photo from the 1960’s of the child  in the trolley above the water check out this very  informative Light House website.

Forget a quarter this seagull was not going to let anyone use this viewfinder at the Nubble Lighthouse unless they paid him with some treats!

This is the third photo in my Nubble Lighthouse series. Here is a closer look at Nubble Lighthouse showing all the buildings on the island.  The little red building in the front contains the emergency generator that powers the lighthouse light and foghorn in case the island loses power in a storm. I wanted to share a fun fact about the Nubble Lighthouse that I read on Wikipedia:

“The Voyager spacecraft, which carries photographs of Earth’s most prominent manmade structures and natural features should it fall into the hands of intelligent extraterrestrials, includes a photo of Nubble Light [along] with images of the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal.”

I just thought that was a pretty cool trivia tidbit!

This is the second photo in my Nubble Lighthouse series. Here is a closeup of the light tower on the Nubble Lighthouse converted to b&w. I decided to leave the light in color so it could be seen easier. One interesting thing I noticed  about the lighthouse is that it seems to be easier to see the light from afar then when close up. It must be designed that way I suppose.  Later I will post a photo of the lighthouse from much further away so you can see.

Here is the primary reason I went to Maine in the first place to take photos of my favorite lighthouse the “Nubble Lighthouse” (also known as The Cape Neddick Lighthouse).  This lighthouse is located in York, Maine. The lighthouse was built in 1879 and has been in continuous service since.  A light keeper lived on this island until the lighthouse was automated in 1987.

On this particular day it was so foggy that the foghorn on the lighthouse was blasting every 10 seconds or so to warn sailors who could not see the light.  Starting today I am going to start a series featuring photos I took of  the Nubble Lighthouse on this foggy day.

Taken the same day as my other “foggy” Maine shots. It was a cold March day but there were already surfers enjoying the waves! The fog and the black wetsuit combine to make the surfer look like a  shadow.

Ghost fishermen endlessly sailing in a dizzying sea of fog and shattered dreams. Cursed to eternally search for the “Big One” that got away.

This walkway and bouncy green suspension bridge lead to a cool little island with a nature preserve and trail to hike on. There was a surprising number of people out and about despite the foggy weather.

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I thought this poem entitled “The Rainy Day” was perfect for this photo since Longfellow was from Maine and this shot I took of a sailboat moored in the fog was taken in Maine.

This past Saturday I went up to Maine. It ended up being a foggy day which sometimes puts a damper on taking photos. I personally like the atmosphere that fog creates though so I took advantage of the day. So I will be starting a series with some photos from this foggy day starting today.

Pretty cool name for this fishing boat in Plymouth Harbor.

I am not sure what these old looking buildings are in Plymouth. There are right near Plymouth rock so I assume they must be some sort of recreation of some old fashioned buildings? Anyways there was a big ugly red wastebasket that was between the two buildings so it took a little while to find an angle to shot this at that did not show the basket. But as you can see I eventually did find an angle that worked!

The entrance to Salem Willows park. Looks kind of scary after the processing and with the Lensbaby effect! I can assure you in person its not!

Here is a shot I took at a Marina this past weekend of the undersides of a bunch of boats being stored over the winter there.

I got a chance to go to Salem MA over the weekend and I used my new Lensbaby lens alot. Having said that I am not sure about this shot. I like it but I sort of think it may have been better with a higher aperture on the lensbaby so there would be a bit less blur. What do you think did I go overboard with the lensbaby on this shot?