Tuesday, February 28, 2006

PAD06 - Curses

This local Mayan woman in Santiago Atatlan was very upset that nobody purchased anything from her. As our boat pulled away from the docks, she stood their and bestowed a curse on us!


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Monday, February 27, 2006

PAD06 - Making Corn Tortillas

These women are making corn tortillas at a local restaurant between Antigua and Lake Atatlan. The brick stove burns wood for heat. Making the tortillas is not as easy as it looks as one member of our tour learned the hard way.


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Sunday, February 26, 2006

PAD06 - Living Beneath a Volcano

Antigua is surrounded by volcanos, one of which had a minor eruption just after we left. This is Volca Fuega as seen from atop my hotel.


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Saturday, February 25, 2006

PAD06 - Angelic

As part of the tour, we had the opportunity to have lunch with a local family. It was by far the most memorable part of the trip. This little girl was extremely shy but stood in that angelic pose for me while I snapped this photo.


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Friday, February 24, 2006

PAD06 - Horse Drawn Carriage

Antigua Guatemala was one of the more picturesque cities I visited during my tour of Central America. The streets are all cobblestone and the buildings quite comfortable. Horse drawn carriages can be hired to take visitors on a tour of the city.


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Thursday, February 23, 2006

PAD06 - The Green Pig

Pulling into Copan Ruinas, Honduras, a couple of us noticed an old house with the green truck overgrown with weeds. Thinking it would make a great photo, the following day we set off in search of the house and car. After two hours of wandering Copan Ruinas we came up blank. I spotted a small group of people standing on a corner and thought they might recognize it. Now, my Spanish is pretty rudimentary, but I knew enough to ask, "Donde es una casa con un muy viejo verde coche?" In English it's "where is a house with a very old green car?" They all looked rather amused and responded "No lo se." (I don't know.) I repeated the question for several other people all with the same result. Finally, we spotted the house - about a block from the hotel, of course - and we got our photos. But the story doesn't end there. You see, it turns out that "un coche" does mean "a car" in Mexico. Unfortunately, in Honduras and Guatemala it means "a pig"! So here you have my photo of a house with a very old green pig...


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Wednesday, February 22, 2006

PAD06 - Cashews

The cashew nut is actually the seed of this large fruit. The nut is the green hook at the bottom of the fruit. The fruit itself is edible, although it has a pretty sour taste. Surprisingly, the cashew is poisonous until it is roasted.


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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

PAD06 - Map of Boston

Today was a travel day and I had to be at the airport long before sunrise. There wouldn't be much opportunity for photography given the prospects of spending the entire day in airports or on a plane. Fortunately, there was a very interesting 19th century map of Boston in my hotel room at the Hilton Logan Airport


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Monday, February 20, 2006

PAD06 - Johnston Memorial Park

In the center of Johnston, Rhode Island, amid miles of strip malls, shopping centers, and car dealerships, sits this very small and peacefull memorial park. There are walking trails around a small pond, ball fields, playgrounds, and an exercise course, making it an extremely popular location in all seasons.


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Sunday, February 19, 2006

PAD06 / PC0206 - St. John's Cathedral

Today's theme was "absent". I thought this shot of an historic cemetary next to St. John's Cathedral in Providence fit the bill. The Cathedral was built in 1722 and is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Providence. This is also the fifteenth and final photo in the February 2006 monthly challenge.


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Saturday, February 18, 2006

PAD06 - Point Street Bridge

Today's theme was "Bridge". Well, RI has plenty of them, but I've been saving a lot of them for night shots. This one is the Point Street Bridge which crosses the Seekonk River in Providence. The three stacks on the right belong to the electric company. As an interesting side note, I lived not too far from here when I was a toddler. When I was three, the water in the foreground was the temporary home to a stranded pilot whale that the locals named "Willie". Crowds lined the shores for several days watching Willie swim back and forth in that narrow inlet. Unfortunately, he never found his way out to sea and died there. I remember being very disappointed at seeing Willie because he didn't look anything like the whales I'd seen in cartoons.


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Friday, February 17, 2006

PAD06 - How Not to Install a Stove

It looks like any other house in the neighborhood, except for one minor detail. Notice the stove on the steps. Not only is that a very odd place for a stove (it's been there for over a year) but look carefully at the stove pipe. Yes, it vents INTO the house! Perhaps it's a family of aliens visiting from a planet with a carbon monoxide atmosphere...


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Thursday, February 16, 2006

PAD06 - Disappointment

Today's theme was "Chocolate". I went to check on my Halloween stash, only to find nothing but empty bags. Disappointment, indeed!


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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

PAD06 - Boxes

Today's theme was "boxes", and I certainly have plenty of candidates in my basement. I opted for this stack of Diet Coke 12-packs, my drink of choice since they switched from aspertame to Splenda. I'm not a big fan of diet soda's but since I went on Atkins two years ago, I've avoided the non-diet ones. The box of green beans on top belongs to my dog, Princess, however. She's a 13 inch beagle that at one point weighed 37 1/2 pounds! The vet put her on a strict diet and limited her treats to string beans and carrots. She's now down to 26 1/2 pounds, which is a good weight for her size. She loves the string beans and carrots, though!


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Tuesday, February 14, 2006

PAD06 - Cookie Cans

Today was another day where I wasn't able to take an outdoor shot, so I decided to work on my Photoshop skills. This is simply a photograph of three different cookie cans manipulated in Photoshop to add a simple frame and change the foreground to diffused glass.


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Monday, February 13, 2006

PAD06 - Plastic

Today's theme was "Plastic". I don't know why this was lying around my house, but here's a plastic squirrel photographed in my light box and edited in Photoshop.


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Sunday, February 12, 2006

PAD06 - Wine

Today's PAD theme was "Wine". Here's a view of my somewhat pathetic excuse for a wine rack. Most of the wines on the rack are from Pennsylvania and Virginia. I actually prefer them to foreign or California wines.


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Saturday, February 11, 2006

PAD06 - Tool

Today's theme was "Tool" and this is by far the most frequent tool I use. That's a Dell Inspiron 700M and is the laptop I use to edit all of my photos. The background was added in Photoshop Elements 4.0.


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Friday, February 10, 2006

PAD06 - Blacksmith

Today's theme was "antique". Up until a few years ago, this was Mahoney's Forge, the last blacksmith shop in the state of Rhode Island.


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Thursday, February 09, 2006

PAD06 - Childhood Memories

Today's theme was "childhood memories" so I went in search of a playground. I was actually hoping to photograph a set of monkey bars - those huge cube structures made of iron bars - only to find out they no longer exists. Neither do see-saws (teeter-totters) or merry-go-rounds. Apparently, some city official that spent half his childhood getting stuffed in school lockers determined that these apparati were too dangerous for today's youth. Fortunately, I found this swing set before it was removed. (Don't laugh, they ARE replacing all the swing sets with versions that have the equivalent of seat belts.) Anyway, to capture the "childhood memories" aspect, I chose to render the image in black and white. I also chose a perspective that emphasizes the size of the set, giving the impression of a small child looking up at the swing set.


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Wednesday, February 08, 2006

PAD06 - Technology, 19th Century Style

Today's theme was "technology". Since they didn't narrow it down, I chose 19th century technology. Here's a set of train tracks, still in use, that service some old Industrial Revolution era mills in East Providence, Rhode Island.


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Tuesday, February 07, 2006

PAD06 - Invisible Fence?

Invisibility is in the eye of the beholder. Either that, or the spell wore off! I spotted this little gem on my way to work this morning and couldn't resist taking the photo.


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Monday, February 06, 2006

PAD06 - Mute Swan

Mute Swan

This greedy swan came over to see if I had any food when I stopped for photographs at the Turner Reservoir in East Providence, RI.


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Sunday, February 05, 2006

PAD06 - Inn on Bellevue

Bellevue Avenue dates back to the colonial period. This series of inns, capped by the colorful Inn on Bellevue in Newport, Rhode Island is typical of the period.


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PC0206 - Touro Synagogue
PC0206 - 7th Day Baptist Meeting House
PC0206 - First Church of Christ Scientist
PC0206 - First Lutheran Church

Touro Synagogue

The oldest synagogue in North America, the Touro Synagogue is a worldwide symbol of religious freedom. This synagogue was built in 1763 and houses the oldest Torah in North America. It is also home to a letter written by George Washington in 1790.


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Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House

This church was built in 1729 and is the oldest Seventh Day Baptist church in the US. The church is next to the historic Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island.


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First Church of Christ Scientist

Hidden away on historic Touro Street, this is the First Church of Christ Scientist in Newport, Rhode Island.


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First Lutheran Church

Built in 1895, this is the First Lutheran Church in Newport, Rhode Island.


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PC0206 - St. Mary's
PC0206 - Newport Congregational Church
PC0206 - Trinity Church

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church

This is St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Newport, RI. On September 12, 1953, John Fitzgerald Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in this church. Kennedy would go on to become the 35th President of the United States.


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Newport Congregational Church

Established in 1695, this is the oldest Congregational Church in North America.


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Trinity Church

Completed in 1726, George Washington worshipped in this picturesque church in Newport, RI. The church organ was personally tested by George Frederick Handel before it was shipped to the colonies from England.


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Saturday, February 04, 2006

PAD06 - Industrial
PC0206 - Allendale Baptist Church

Industrial

Today's theme was "Industrial". This is an interesting shot of the Lymansville Mill on the North Providence / Providence border in Rhode Island.


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Allendale Baptist Church

This is the Allendale Baptist Church on Woonasquatucket Avenue in North Providence, Rhode Island. This section of North Providence, known as Allendale, was an Industrial Revolution era mill town. This church was built in 1847 to service the mill community. The handicap ramp is a 21st century addition.


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Friday, February 03, 2006

PAD06 - Our Lady of Guadalupe

It was pouring all day today, so outdoor photography just wasn't happening. That was sufficient incentive to finally build the light box I've been wanting. Here's the first shot taken with the new light box. This is a small statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron of Mexico. I picked this statue up on a tour of Copper Canyon in April, 2005. The blue background was added in Photoshop.


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Thursday, February 02, 2006

PAD06 - Days Inn
PC0206 - Hope Congregational Church

PAD06 - Days Inn


This is a view of the Days Inn looking across the Seekonk River in Providence. I'm standing where Waterman Avenue ends right at the water's edge. Directly behind the Days Inn is the continuation of Waterman Avenue. Until the late 1960s, the old Red Bridge spanned this gap. This Days Inn is only a few years old.


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PC0206 - Hope Congregational Church


This is the Hope Congregational Church in East Providence, Rhode Island. There is a high concentration of Congregational churches in this section of Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts. The Congregational denomination is a direct descendant of the Puritan congregations that settled this region in the early 17th century.


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PC0206 - February Photo Challenge

The photo challenge for February is "Churches". The requirement is to photograph 15 churches throughout the region. All photographs in this challenge will be prefixed "PC0206" and will be posted in my pbase "Photo Challenge: February 2006" gallery.

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Wednesday, February 01, 2006

PAD06 - Mallard

One nice thing about photographing ducks where people feed them is they don't swim away from you! This Mallard stayed very close all the while I was photographing him next to the Olde Grist Mill in Seekonk, Massachusetts.


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