David Griffin Photography

Monthly Archives: July 2008

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Lightroom 2 is here

July 29, 2008 – 10:48 pm

Just yesterday I was poking a bit around the net thinking “shouldn’t Lightroom 2 be baked by now?” All the indicators pointed towards September. Six hours later Adobe released it. “Missed it by that much!”

I had played with the beta just a bit several months ago and have been (im)patiently waiting ever since. It has arrived and I’m in my happy place (except that I really need to add another few gigabytes of RAM so I can have Lightroom and FCP comfortably resident).

2008 has been a very heavy shooting year for me and I’m thrilled to have such great tools available. I’m ready to master the new features in LR2. With the sharpening tools derived from PixelGenius, Photoshop will be collecting even more dust now in my workflow.

[By the way, that's a Green Heron waiting for dinner. Assabet Reservoir, Westborough -- my first exported image from LR2]

By Dave | Posted in Photography | Comments (0)

Little swamp near Route 27

July 24, 2008 – 11:20 pm

I’ve passed this small swamp maybe 200+ times over the past few years and I often find myself saying “I should see if there is a picture in there”…. (I am all too aware of the fact that many places look much better at 30 mph.)

How many thousands of people drive by each day and never even see the possibilities?

A couple of weeks ago the light was nice and I wanted to get out and feed the local mosquito population, so what better place than a swamp? I’m not sure about these pictures, and I think a few more return visits are in order. It has promise…

By Dave | Posted in Environment, Photography, Staring | Comments (0)

Horsing around in New Hampshire

July 24, 2008 – 11:03 pm

Some photos from a recent visit to our friends up at Chinquapin Hill Farm in Pittsfield, NH..

More photos from this shoot and others at: http://chf.dmg-photography.com

Foals, Colts, and Fillys…

By Dave | Posted in Horses | Comments (0)

Osprey at Assabet Reservoir in Westborough

July 14, 2008 – 8:31 pm

Despite hoping to spend a lot more time this year with the Osprey, my schedule and other circumstances simply hasn’t worked out so far — which kind of bums me out. We made time on Saturday and headed over to Westborough, fingers crossed that the nest would turn out to be successful. As I paddled over to the nest site it was ominously quiet, although it was in the morning and Osprey are not typically early risers. I thought the original scene was three adults (which would be very strange), but it turned out that it was a juvenile on the nest and the adults were in adjacent trees. About an hour later I noted signs of a second young one in the nest and once some wing-stretching started it was obvious they have raised two young birds to the brink of fledging.

I’m going to try to visit a couple of times a week through the fledging phase and till they head south. This is the fun time to visit the nest.

Mostly bright clouds made for less than wonderful photos. Another reason to start visiting at sunset.

A young Osprey pants under a summer sun.

Sibling Osprey share an increasingly crowded nest

An adult osprey joins the nestlings (I think this is the male, but I’m not 100% sure)

By Dave | Posted in Osprey | Comments (0)

Stone Mountain LIVE w/ The Wailin’ Jennys

July 14, 2008 – 5:41 pm

The July 13th Stone Mountain LIVE show featured one of my favorite bands, The Wailin’ Jennys. If you haven’t heard the Jenny’s perform, please give them a listen. They have a style which is quite unique in today’s cookie-cutter music business.

I’m so happy to have permission to photograph these shows — I hope people enjoy seeing some scenes from this jewel of Maine, the Stone Mountain Arts Center.

For a full gallery of this and many other Stone Mountain LIVE shows, head on over to: http://smac.dmg-photography.com

When we arrived, Carol’s neigbor Tim was in the parking lot with Donner, a 12-year old, 1800 lb. Belgian draft horse. She’s a darling…

Katy and Carol Noonan in their pre-song banter…

The Stone Mountain Boys, featuring vocalist Chris Cote, belted out some great tunes

And The Wailin’ Jennys…

Heather Masse grew up just a couple of towns over (near Fryeburg), so she’s a hometown hero when the Jenny’s perform here. Heather was out in the audience area before the show and it was like being at a family reunion.

Nicky Mehta

Ruth Moody

and Jeremy Penner on fiddle…

There’s no easy way to explain the next couple of photographs. That’s “Monty” from the Inn at Crystal Lake.

A few shots of some of the Stone Mountain Boys after the show…

By Dave | Posted in SMAC | Comments (0)

Everybody should buy a Duck Stamp!

July 8, 2008 – 4:10 pm

Really, you should. (Especially if you are a photographer of the outdoor world.)

Many people associate Duck Stamps with hunting, and think that if you purchase a stamp you are supporting hunting (which some people don’t like). Officially the stamps support both hunting and conservation.

Duck Stamps provide our incredibly underfunded national wildlife refuge system with monies to acquire land to create new refuges or expand existing ones. In the past 75 years the sale of stamps has been used to acquire five million acres of critical habitat for our national refuges. Ding Darling in Florida, Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, and Parker River (Plum Island) right here in Massachusetts are all places I’ve visited and just a few of the refuges that have benefited from Duck Stamp revenue.

The sight of thousands of Snow Geese taking off at once, the exotic sounds of Sandhill Cranes chattering back and forth, marsh grass glowing at sunset, turtles basking on logs, and countless other sights and sounds are protected because people pony up $15 once a year and purchase a stamp.

So head on over to your local post office or wildlife refuge visitor center and buy a stamp or two. (Many people collect them as artwork, as they are quite beautiful.) If you value conservation of land, this is one of the best investments you can make.

But wait, there’s more! Your Duck Stamp acts as a pass to U.S. National Wildlife Refuges that charge admission fees — so you get to see the results of your purchase.

To learn more about the program visit: http://www.fws.gov/duckstamps

[Photograph: Puffer Pond, Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge]

By Dave | Posted in Community, Environment | Comments (0)

Backyard Wildflowers 1

July 8, 2008 – 12:23 pm

Our wildflower garden has finally come into bloom. A warm, unusually still afternoon with soft light beckoned me to the backyard with a macro lens.

By Dave | Posted in Environment, Staring | Tagged flowers, macro, wildflowers | Comments (0)

AVLL Softball - Maynard v. Wakefield

July 8, 2008 – 12:13 pm

A Pixel Corps challenge got me out of the house over the holiday weekend looking for some photojournalistic opportunities. The late afternoon light was pretty sweet and I was hoping there would be kids at the skateboard park, but alas it was empty.

Found a softball game in the final few innings and the light was holding — so I took a few shots. It was a close game but, sadly, Maynard lost by a run in the final inning.

A somewhat larger set of photos is in my community gallery: http://community.dmg-photography.com/2008-avll-softball