Good Friends

We had a great time this morning getting together with old friends for breakfast. Our friends the Daggets, who were our next door neighbors and dearest friends for years, were up from Florida for a visit. It was the first time in twenty years that Jason had visited with them. We had a wonderful time and are hoping to get together again real soon. Click on the picture for a larger image.

Happy New Year

A five second animation to wish everyone a Happy New Year and a Prosperous 2010 - and to say thanks for stopping by. This animation was created with Cinema 4D and Adobe After Effects. The sounds are from Designer Sound FX from Video Copilot. I created this after watching a tutorial from Pariah Studios - with a couple of twists. You can also watch in High Definition on YouTube here

Bamboo wars continue

The Bamboo Wars continue with the latest assault coming on Saturday. Yes, we have been 'deered' by the dreaded Deer napper. A new deer has appeared, named Bam-Booey who was covered with bamboo. Retaliation cannot be far behind. . . updates will be posted.

Irish Santa

(click image to view panorama)

Every year at Christmastime we get together with friends and celebrate with an "Irish Santa" party where gag gifts prevail. It is always a good time with great friends and family and great food and drink. This year Erin and Shawn hosted the party in their new home, congrats and thanks to Shawn and Erin. . . . I even got a cruising guide to the Suez Canal. . .

The image above is a link to an interactive panorama. To navigate the panorama simply click on the image and drag your mouse.

Winter Storm Time Lapse

Click on image to view video

A time lapse of this weekend's winter storm, from no snow to 18 inches in one minute. This video was created between the hours of 9:30 pm Saturday night and 10:45 am Sunday morning. I shot this with a Nikon D300s still camera at the rate of one frame per 20 seconds through a 10.5 mm fisheye lens. The storm ended up dropping 12 - 18 inches of snow here in Rhode Island. We measured just about 18 inches when we shoveled out. Click on the image or the link to view the video on YouTube.

Stolen Art

A quick 3d sketch inspired by (stolen from?) my friend Kathy Weber's latest post on her blog. Go see the original, it is really great. I have always admired Kathy's sense of color and composition so why not steal from the best... apologies Kathy. Really just having fun trying to get the light and textures right - it doesn't do her work justice. Brushes are still the best tool for something like this. I created this image using Cinema 4D - total modeling time about 15 minutes, materials and lighting maybe 20-25 minutes and render time about 8 minutes but I rendered it several times changing bits here and there. The cup shape isn't right, I know, but I was more interested in the lighting than the modeling.

Providence sunrise from Conley's Wharf

click image to view panorama

Sunrise this morning was at exactly 7:00 and I had the good fortune to be at the end of Conley's Wharf overlooking the Providence waterfront. It was bitter cold but I think this shot was well worth the long walk down the dock.

McAllister Tugs in Providence

click image to view panorama

While on my way to a doctors appointment today I passed by the tugs docked downtown under the new I-Way bridge. The weather was not optimum for shooting but I did a quick shot. I was amazed by the amount of litter in this newly renovated area. The tugs, Roger Williams, Puma and Resolute, are now operated by McAllister Towing and have been painted red, the company's color of choice for their tugs. Reliance must be out on the job. Those of you who have been around Providence for a while will remember these same tugs as a deep green. This image is made up of 49 exposures, which you can tell by the movement of the tide coming in, changing the position of leaves that had fallen on the water. Can you spot the gorilla?

La Salette Shrine, Attleboro MA

Click on image to view panorama

La Salette National Shrine is always a treat this time of year as the light thousands of lights on the grounds. We visited this evening and I took a few shots. You can visit their website here. The nativity scene set in this building was impressive and they had live donkeys for the children to enjoy. The Stations of the Cross were all lit as well. And Ben lit a candle in the Chapel of Light. We had a great evening and all went to dinner after at Bliss Dairy.

First snow of the season

We woke up to our first snow of the year this morning. It started snowing at about 8:00 last night and we had a total accumulation of about two inches. Thought I would share.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner at Megans house... posted a bit late but had to do some rework - still not 100% happy with this image but it shows what a wonderful setting Dan and Megan had made for the day. Besides the wonderful lamb, Dan is at the counter carving a large turkey. I think we all over ate. So there are four people in this picture can you find them all? The pictures on the walls don't count, just the people that are present in the picture.

Brilliant Stopmotion Animation

Every once in a while a piece of art comes your way which is just inspirational. This short piece has struck me that way. Amazing mix of motion and sound and color that is absolutely brilliant. Great job Michael Langan, truly fantastic. I hope my readers enjoy this piece as much as I have.

The Foundry Artists Show

The Foundry Artists Show is held each year in early December at the Foundry in Pawtucket Rhode Island. This is a wonderful old building. Their website is here. My friend and favorite painter Kathy Weber shows at the Foundry Show each year, a panorama of her booth can be found here. And visit Kathy's Blog to see her paintings up close, maybe even buy a few. . .

Each year they have a great jazz band, this year was no exception.

Here is an colorful shot of some wooden items.