VNS Photography's Blog

Last August Sue and I decided to take a RIDE to Nova Scotia. The Ride up was beautiful and we stopped in Bangor Maine the first night and continued on until we got to St. John, New Brunswick Providence, Canada.  We spent a few hours there and went to see the Reversing Falls where there is a 25 foot drop of the tide on any given day.

As you can see from the very large boats above they have a long hike up to get to the dock. In the following picture you will also note the very low water lines on the rocks. There was a “terrific” current in this area.  

We traveled by a VERY LARGE FERRY from St John over to Nova Scotia. I was so large it had an elevator platform to stack the cars 2 high. It was about a 4 hour ride and it was very relaxing. The next morning we woke up to FOG as is generally the rule, so the locals say. Unfortunately, we were scheduled to go “whale watching”. Luckily, by the time we got to our destination it had cleared a little. Here are some of the whales we had been able to get pictures of. I checked their blog the next day and of course a whale completely broke the surface as you would see them do on TV.

We actually ran into two groups of whale and the second became quite entertaining after a while. I could  bore you with many more photos of whales but I figure I would just keep on with the trip.

This church to the left was built in the early 1900’s and it took “three” years to build. I was absolutely beautiful inside and had beautiful workmanship throughout.

This church on the left was built completely out of wood and was built in “one” year. It is said to have the highest wooden steeple in North America. The inside of the this church had all the ceilings lined with FRENCH needle point linen cloth. It was absolutely beautiful.

We arrived at “Peggy’s Cove” ( one of the biggest attractions of Nova Scotia ) just about ready for Sun Down. Needless to say it was packed with tourist. Sue and I were able to break away from the crowds and get Two of the shots we are showing here.

I was lucky enough to make reservations a couple of weeks in advance for a B&B that was right outside Peggy’s Cove and got up the next morning and caught a Sunrise. ( Hard to tell the difference between a Sunset and Sunrise when you are no  there). Lucked out, No FOG>

We spent the next two days in Halifax. Really nice place to visit with plenty to do. We opted to go on two different Harbor Cruises. One was on a sailing ship and the other on a “DUCK”. I really enjoyed the sailing cruise. It was very relaxing to have someone else do the “Driving” for a change. The Duck was nothing but FUN.

I have always been a power boat man  and have enjoyed the wide open FAST seas. However, the two hours spent on the sailing vessel are some that I will remember for a long time.

The above shot is of the “Harbour Hopper” If you are ever at a location that has this type of RIDE, take it. This is the second Sue and I have been on and they were both a blast.

The next few pictures are posted at random and they are of the Cabot Trail. We spent two days on the trail and it had an awful lot to see and probably could have seen a lot more if we had a 4 wheel drive vehicle.

On the way back we stopped at my brother’s house in Massachusetts. We did some more touring around while there. On a day trip we went to Gloucester, Ma. and Rock Port, Maine. It was an absolutely beautiful day.

We decided to end a great day in Maine with a big LOBSTER Dinner.

The next day we were treated to a bit of “Falconry” by my niece who rescues and rehabilitates hawks and other birds of prey. We never know what bird she is going to be helping whenever we go there.

Well I hope you enjoyed this little trip.

On a very quick unscheduled trip I made a 400 mile run up to my nephew’s camp in New Hampshire. It was an absolutely beautiful weekend BUT none of the trees were in bloom for the fall colors. I guess it was just a little early for the Fall Foliage. I did however find this very beautiful location on the trip home. Bath, New Hampshire is located very close to the Vermont border and about 100 miles from Montreal, Canada. One of the places where you say, “I wish I could live in the area”. I shot the picture of the bridge and produced it in HDR. I tried not to overdo the effect and I think it came out OK. Hope you all like it and can sit back and listen to the river flow under the bridge.

Just figured I would include a picture of a church with a fellow player this pipe organ. It really sounded great.  While there I visited this General Store. It says that it is the oldest general store in America. I was quite neat inside. The store dates back to the 1800s.

While visiting my brother’s house I came across this little creature. I don’t really like spiders and the idea of shooting him in macro was not too appealing to me. After posting it on another website someone made a comment that it was a highly venemous spider but could not be fatal to humans. I wonder what else it would do to them. I am glad that I didn’t have the opportunity to find out. I am still alive. (Click on photo to enlarge)

We have seen very few Butterflies around this year. Maybe it has been too “hot” for them. Who Knows? Anyway here are a couple Sue took with a rare shot of a “Stick Bug”? Not sure if it is or not.

This guy has been hanging around the house since the Spring weather. It is the strangest Dragon Fly we have ever seen. It almost looks like a Bi-plane. I only wish I can get Sue to use a tripod so the picture would be a little clearer. She just likes to shoot everything “hand held”. BUT overall I must compliment her on the great pictures she takes.

Here is another shot.

Back in May I had the opportunity to join other members for a trip to a “Sky Diving” outing. I was quite impressed with the number of people that were willing to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. (Only wish I was brave enough) Below are just a couple of shots I was able to get. Can’t wait to go back again.

I haven’t been able to shoot much  lately and decided to head out with the camera just to see if I remembered how to use it. I came found this pond that had some water lilies in it< but they were quite far away. I put on my 70-300mm lens with a 1.4 TC and waited for this bee to come back and stay in one position for just a little bit of time. I had to be careful and not jerk the camera as I was shooting handheld. It took a ccouple of rapid shots but       I got the result I was looking for.

On January 6, 2011 Myself, Sue, Pat and Denise took a trial run to get to the South Street Bridge in Philly. It was a fun trip getting there. I think we hit every Traffic Light and Stop Sign that was in the city. We traveled so many back streets, that I felt like one of the “Back Street Boys”. LOL. We did get there and it was very nice with a great view of the West Side of Philly.

When we did get there I was not able to make the run up the bridge as I was not feeling well. So, all the pics taken in this entry were taken by my wife Sue. The first one is of a mural on the side of a building right where we parked. 

The next pictures are of the West Side of Philly. Starting with daylight . 

After awhile the sun was starting to go down and below is one of those shots.

The last picture is at night. I think it is a beautiful picture and Sue did a “great job” of capturing These pictures.

For the past two years we have had a family of deer living in the woods behind our house. They come out and feed off whatever it is they like in our back yard. (Even our flowers and veggies). It is still great to have them come out and get as close as ten feet from our door. Below are some of the pictures that Sue took just the other day. These photos were taken with a Panansonic Lumix FZ35 Point and Shoot Camera. ( Which is for sale-Contact me if interested)