Bald Eagle State Park

I visited the Bald Eagle State Park a few weeks ago when the fall foliage was peaking. With almost 6000 acres in this park, there is much to explore. I've been here several times but always go to the lake where I can swim during the summers. So I decided to explore another section of the park and discovered this creek as I was on my way back home. I had to get to work and was already running late, but I snapped this image from the roadside. I plan to revisit this park over the winter and explore it even further.

Fall forest

I found myself drawn to the way the light hit the yellow fern leaves in this forest in the early fall.

Snow leaves

Here's another image from the snowstorm we had last month. I liked the contrast of the red leaves against the white snow.

Fall lane

Taken at the beginning of the fall season, I found this dirt road at the end of a dead end road and decided to explore.

Mika

Exactly 6 months ago we learned that my dog Mika has cancer. It's been quite a journey since then. From chemotherapy, umpteen trips to the vet, emergency room visits, supplements and experiments with various medications we have been doing our best to help her overcome this dreadful disease. The outside life expectancy for the type of cancer Mika has is six months according to the University of Pennsylvania. We don't pay any attention to the stats, instead we just treasure each day for whatever it has to offer. Believe me there are plenty of bad days, lots of tears but also celebrations and joy as we overcome each obstacle she has had to face.

A couple of months ago, I bought two new lenses, one of which is a 35mm f/1.8. Since I have a job working with animals, I have been experimenting with pet photography. Thus far Mika has been the main subject. My first challenge was to compile a photo essay of her using only this lens. The other requirement I had was to only take images at my house thus forcing me to see my home more creatively.

National Building Museum

Since the weather didn't cooperate for our morning shoot in Great Falls National Park, we headed into Washington DC to find some other subjects to photograph. I have never been in this museum, but had seen images from other photographers. It's a great place to experiment with hdr processing.

Great Falls National Park

On sunday, photobuds Mary, Beth, Margie and I headed down to Great Falls National Park in VA. The weather didn't cooperate with our plans, but we made the most of it and headed into Washington DC to photograph some museums while we waited for the rain to clear. Eventually it did and we finally got to snap some images of this beautiful park. I've never been here before but undoubtedly, I'll be back.