Stirling Castle
Today we visited historic Stirling Castle, the William Wallace Monument, and Boune Castle (where part of Monty Pythons Holy Grail was filmed!)Tomorrow we're off to find Nessy!
Edinburgh Castle
Yesterday we hit up Edinburgh Castle. It sits high up on a rocky perch overlooking the city. On Saturdays they have a great farmers market at the base of the castle. I even made a new friend!
Kilconquhar Castle Estate
Today we made it to Scotland! We are staying in a 3 bedroom villa on the grounds of Kilconquhar Castle Estate near Fife. Tomorrow we're off to Edinburgh. I don't have my computer with me to upload "real" photos, so my iPhone will have to do. As long as I can get WIFI, I will keep you posted.
The Snoop is Here!
I've been contemplating this new "Snoop" camera bag from Timbuk2 for months now. With our trips coming up, I decided to just go for it. Sure glad I did! This bag is quality, just like the other offerings from the San Fran based company. It's waterproof and rugged, yet very comfortable to wear. The small size is perfect for my needs. I can fit my camera body with attached lens, 2 additional lenses, a flash, flash triggers, numerous accessories, and even a Gorilla Pod attached to the bottom without a whole lot of bulk. The bag allows for easy access to your well padded gear. The best part is that it doesn't scream "Hey thieves, come lift my expensive camera gear!" It looks like a regular messenger bag. I highly recommend not only the Snoop, but the whole Timbuk2 lineup.
Lorain 45
Wow, I'm glad it's Friday! Work felt like it would never end, my wisdom teeth holes are starting to get annoying, and my vacation is still another 2 weeks away. This guy needs some cheering up! Taking some photos usually helps. I drive by this place all the time and finally decided to swing by with my camera. It is an old steam shovel in front of the Pandolf-Perkins Sand & Gravel Co. here in Sterling, MA. There is something about old rusty stuff that always makes for a cool photo. www.baumgartfoto.com
Wisdom Teeth
Recovering from my wisdom teeth surgery yesterday. So far, so good. The only hitch was when I got a Ramen noodle stuck in one of the holes last night. Thankfully, my wife was able to carefully remove it with a pair of skewers! If anyone needs any kind of oral surgery, I highly recommend Central Mass Oral Surgery in Leominster, MA. Their building is beautiful, and the staff is super friendly and professional. I had 3 wisdom teeth out with very little pain or swelling at all.
Snowy River Had its Way With Me!
I was enjoying a nice, quiet day in the woods. The winter scenery was crisp and beautiful. The snow was pretty deep, but nothing I couldnt handle. So far my day was going great. That is, until I got lazy and decided to try and cross the river instead of backtracking the way I came in. I was half way across a snowy log bridge when things took a turn for the worse. Into the icy water I went! Fortunately my camera gear stayed dry. www.baumgartfoto.com
Rainy Day Window
The snow quickly turned to rain. Hopes of taking some outdoor photos today were washed away.
The Long Walk Home
Although it is still February, the temps today were in the mid 50's. Since it was such a nice day, I decided to leave work early and walk home. My 33 minute walk is summed up in this 2 minute video. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnLUfX2khf0&hd=1]
Flash, Flowers, and Alcohol
I just got my new wireless flash triggers the other day and finally had a chance to play around with them. A lot of people hate the look of "flash" photography, and prefer natural light. This is probably because the built-in flash we have in our cameras shoots out a torpedo of harsh light directly at our subject. While this will do in a pinch, it usually looks terrible. On the other hand, when a flash is used off the camera and shot through a soft box, white umbrella, or other kind of diffuser, the result is a nice soft, natural looking light. Wireless flash triggers, which consist of a transmitter on the camera and a receiver on the flash, allow creative ways of doing this. I'm by no means an expert at this, but I'm having a great time learning!
This is February
Although us New Englanders are getting pretty sick of cleaning up this stuff, the look of freshly fallen snow sticking to the trees never gets old.
Travel Plans
Danbo is doing some research for his upcoming trip to Scotland and Ireland in March. I think he is pretty excited!
Golden Monkey!
A friend of mine just got back from Costa Rica and brought this back for me. According to the can, it is "an exciting combination of ingredients". I love the hilarious can, but expected it to taste like a monkey. There was no foamy head whatsoever, but it actually tasted pretty good. Imagine a light beer mixed with canned peaches. Now I'm no beer connoisseur, but I would definitely recommend a nice cold Golden Monkey. Thanks Lukas!
Weekend Project
What kind of project? A beehive! We ordered the kit from bee-commerce.com. It took some time, but was pretty easy to build. Our kitchen smells like fresh cut wood, I love it! This hive will hold about 10,000 - 12,000 bees! Yeah, I'm a little nervous, but we will get at least 30 pounds of honey the first year and then 70 plus pounds the years after that. The queen and her swarm will be arriving in April. I will keep you posted ... with pictures of course!
Winter Garden
A frigid weekend here in Massachusetts with another Nor'easter expected on Wednesday. www.baumgartfoto.com
Danbo Goes Disco!
What do you get when you mix flash and liquor and throw in a little Danboard? Something like this I guess. I was experimenting a little with off camera flash setups. I fired a Nikon SB600 speedlight through 2 liquor bottles at camera right to light up the background. Danbo so the cool yellow and green lights and came running in for some poses. I had to use the pop-up flash on the camera to fill him in. www.baumgartfoto.com
What to do on a snowy day
Finally we got a substantial amount of snow here in central Massachusetts, 16 plus inches to be exact. What to do in such blizzardly conditions? Fortunately, work was out of the question. Why not bake a fresh loaf of bread? Or, at least watch your wife do it. I can barely make toast and ice cubes. The snowblowing could wait until later, so I decided to document the loaf baking process. It's amazing how easy and cheap it is to make a fresh loaf. Not to mention it tastes better than anything you could buy in the store.
