Ledge light

New London's ledge light sits at the mouth of the Thames river. It can be seen from the shore but getting a good picture is difficult. I made several attempts at getting a picture from the shore; however, the pictures never turned out very well.

The first nice day of spring - and the first Saturday I did not have to go into the office - was the perfect opportunity to clean the dust off the kayaks. I called up my buddy who just moved back to CT and asked him if he wanted to join.

I was excited to get the kayaks in the water. It would be the first time since the summer of 09. With only 5 hours of sleep I found myself pacing; waiting for David to show up. The plan was to drop the kayaks somewhere in the Thames river and have a leisurely stroll to the lighthouse.

David recently purchased an SUV which meant that we didn't have to wait for my roommates to get home to use their truck to transport the boats. I own a Honda Accord with no roof racks, which would make it impossible to use my car (so I thought). As I sat by the front window I saw David come around the corner - not in his SUV but in his brand new corvette.

We sat for a minute pondering our choices. There was absolutely no way I was putting the kayaks near that beautiful red machine. We eventually came up with the brilliant idea to folded the rear seats down which created enough room for the kayaks to be wedged into the car. We secured a rope to the spoiler and ran it through the trunk into the car. The rope was then threaded through the front leashes of the kayaks to provide a handle for David to hold onto while we drove to the boat launch.

Our spirits were high at this point; however, the only problem now was that I wasn't entirely sure if it was legal to drive my car like this... which meant that we would not be able to drive to the Thames to drop the boats in. We would have to drive down to the boat launch 1/2 mile away. No big deal...

We had a beautiful easy ride out to the light house. We stopped and talked whenever we felt need to rest. We arrived at the light house where I was surprised to find no signs prohibiting entrance onto the man-made island. Thus, I climbed up to get some pictures. It was an interesting task to get out of the boat. The bottom ledge was designed to have a boat dock, not a kayak. The lower part of the ledge was approximately 4 feet above my head. Regardless, I held onto a bumper as I hoisted myself up in a way a seal would... I tried to get David to come up but he was a little uncomfortable in the kayak to begin with, so climbing out onto a ledge which was 4 ft above your head was out of the question. Not to mention that the temperature was only 55 degrees - heat-wave for New England yes - but the temperature of the water was still extremely cold and we were a good half mile off shore...

The water was like glass. There was absolutely no wind on the way there - it was amazing day to kayak. On the way back was a different story. The wind picked up and made life a little difficult. Some waves were big enough to make their way into the boats, but we took it in stride. It really hadn't become aware to us how far we actually traveled until it was time to go back. We couldn't believe how tired our arms had become. Finally, we arrived back at the boat launch, 4 hours after departing. Neither of us really planned head for the long trip and we were very thirsty. We gathered the strength to carry the boats back to the car and secured them in the same fashion we did before. After we dropped the boats off at the house we retired at the local watering hole to rest our tired bodies.

The next morning I entered in our path to figure out how far we had actually gone. No wonder why we were so tired...(click on the photo to enlarge). During the trip I noticed a lighthouse south of our position, to the southwest of Fishers Island. When it gets warmer I will make a trip out to that lighthouse as well. If you have a kayak and live in the area, you are more than welcome to join. This time, we wont forget the beer...

Triathlon

I am a very active person. Also, I love trying new things and accomplishing new goals. I live by the motto - always try something once - that, and everybody wang-chung tonight.

Last year I decided that my next goal was to run a marathon. At the moment of decision I had never run more than 5 miles, so it was a challenge I never thought I would accomplish. Through the help of a running partner we somehow accomplished a goal I once thought was unobtainable.

A year later, I sit in contemplation. I have many things I want to accomplish in my life before it's too late. One of which is a triathlon. The traditional triathlon consists of: 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, and 26.2 miles of running (in that order). However, there are several shorter races catering to the less experienced athlete. While my initial inclination is to go for gold - that kind of distance scares me.

I live in New England where it gets very cold in the winter months, so to ease into the training process I purchased a mount for my bicycle so I could ride it inside. Several months have passed since my purchase and I'm growing more confident in my endurance. However, I only own traditional road bikes (and one bad ass bmx bike, equipped with pegs etc), which would get me killed if I attempted 112 miles.

I started asking around for advice about bikes. I'm not a rich man and started to learn that this is not a poor mans game... While I'm still out there, researching which bikes are better to get the job done, I received some good advice from a friend; practice on a road bike and then rent a tri-bike from a bike shop a week before the race. Brilliant no? That way I would gain more strength practicing on a road bike, and come race day, I can compete with the top of the line machine.

I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to do. The swimming portion bothers me as well. I started swimming in a small cove down the road from my house until I got stung by a jellyfish. Irony of it all - I actually swam out into the open ocean that day and only got stung 50 ft from shore on my way back in. I've been told that practicing in the ocean is better than a pool so I might just purchase a full wetsuit.

I'm open to suggestions, so if anyone has any tips I would be grateful.

Albany NY

I decided to take the NY bar exam - for more reasons than one - and was assigned to the Albany testing location. I was hoping for Manhattan but it filled up before I registered. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised with the city. Albany, as I forgot, is the capital of NY. When I arrived, instead of studying, I decided to take a walk around the city. I came across the NY state capital building - which happens to be the most beautiful capital building I have ever seen.

Most capital building are very stereotypical. Large white buildings with domes on the top. This building looked like something you would find in Europe while visiting some late Archdukes summer cottage.

It was unfortunate that my visit was during the winter months. The reflection pool in front of the capital building was drained. The reflection off the pool would have been perfect. However, I can't complain. Due to the single digit weather, there was nobody outside to ruin my shots.

I'm still experimenting with HDR photography. The photo you see above is an example of my progress; however, I was still battling with the dreaded 'halo effect' which usually occurs in most of my HDR photos - that is, until recently.

On my journey, I ran into an unsuspecting stranger. We started talking about photography when he saw my camera and I soon realized that he was also a photographer. We talked for about an hour - each sharing tips and tricks of the trade. I walked away with some really good advice and subsequently produced one of the best photos I have ever taken.

While I am still learning technique with the camera, as well as post processing, my chance encounter taught me how to line my images up perfectly in PS and then use the manual controls in both PhotoMatix and then Lightroom. For the longest time I would choose the lazy way out and just select a preset, but taking your time with the manual controls produces much better results.

This is the outcome. Funny enough, I was getting frustrated with the cars on the street. I was trying to get a photo without any cars, but having to keep the shutter open for 30+ seconds made that difficult. In the end, I've learned to appreciate the light trails. It projects the proper mood of the city nightlife.

If anyone is interested, I would be more than happy to discuss techniques about creating HDR photos. It is really simple once you get the process down, but getting there on your own can be a challenge.



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