It’s been awhile
It's been awhile since I've posted. During the winter I tend to get unmotivated with my photography. With no leaves things tend to be on the bland side. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of photo opportunities in the winter if you want to chase them. For me, I just can't seem to get motivated. Hopefully my hiatus is done now.
Took advantage of the nice weather this weekend and headed out. With the warm weather we've had lately, blooming is about a month early. Here are some dogwood trees at Doyle Field.
I then made my way through Lunenburg and found myself near Flat Hill Orchards
The apple trees looked amazing as seen below
I've read that there is some concern that because everything is blooming early, there is a chance that crops could be damaged if a heavy frost happens. Lets hope that is not the case.
We eventually made our way to the Nashua River Rail Trail. We usually park in Nashua, but this time I wanted something different and choose to park in Pepperell.
It was a busy day at this section. What I like about this rail trail which happens to be 11 miles long is that it is paved. Knowing this Ashley and I brought our roller blades.
Today was a busy day on the trail with a lot of roller bladers as well as bicylist. Even so I was able to capture a few pictures without any people in them.
As always Ashley is ready to strike a pose
Early morning
Got up before the crack of dawn this morning. Decided to take advantage of it and took off with my camera. I first headed out to Sky View Middle School hoping to capture the last of the fall foliage. I'd have to say that we are now on the down side of peak. That rusty orange is starting to dominate the area. Unfortunately, I found that it was too early for Sky View and the light was not there yet.
I continued on turning on Lancaster Ave driving into Lunenburg. I've been framing this shot in my mind for quite some time now. Funny how things happen like that. The problem I found with this location was a garage that is directly in front of the barn. I had to take the photo from an angle and I was not sure how it would come out. I have to say that I'm happy with the results.
I continued on through Lunenburg to another spot that I've been framing in my mind. Wasn't going to happen though since someone was out mowing the lawn. Imagine that, mowing the lawn at 7:15 in the morning. Hate to be his neighbor.
Heading back to Leominster I figured that I'd take Day Street and go by Cherry Hill Farm. Got this photo for my troubles which needed some post process work. There was a lot of contrast in the original with the sun washing out the barn and the grass in the shade being very much under exposed. Luckily or on purpose I should say I shoot in raw format. Doing so allowed me to change the exposure on this photo and generate a single image HDR photo. I sort of like HDR but find some people over do it some.
I now found myself heading to I-190 to exit 5. From here I took a left and ended up in Oakdale at the rail trail. This trail has been closed since the spring due to part of the trail being washed out. It seems some beavers built a dam which caused this damage. They re-opened on September 26th. At the entrance you find this beautiful row of trees.
Sitting underneath them was almost magical. The sun lighting the leaves was impressive.
I hiked the trail all the way to Holden reaching the Springdale Mill site. The Springdale Mill was built in 1867 and operated until 1905 when the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board took over the property. This was part of the plan when they created the Wachusett Reservoir. Someday I'll have to blog about Wachusett Reservoir, lots of history when it was built.
I found the rail trail to be very relaxing following the Quinapoxet River. After a roughly 4 mile walk I was rewarded with this view below.
I'm not much of a birding person, but I believe these are Blue Heron's. Made me wish I still had my 200mm - 400mm lenses. This was about as close as I could get with my 18mm-200mm lenses.
Sunset
Happen to be at Walmart tonight while the sun was setting.
There wasn't a whole lot of clouds but some of them were interesting.
Can't complain though considering that it was cloudy and rainy most of the day.
See other sky's around the world by following this Link.
My World #3
When you head out of Leominster on Day St. you end up in Lunenburg. While driving along Day St. you come up to a bend. Once around the bend this is what you see sitting up on top of a hill.
Cherry Hill Farm is a small family run dairy farm. A few years ago they build a ice cream stand as well that is open during the summer season. There is nothing quite like home made ice cream.
To see the world through others eyes, visit That’s my World, a weekly meme sharing photos and impressions of all the world seen through the participants’ eyes.
Sunday Sign #1
Signs fascinate me, especially old ones. There was an era of neon signs that I think is long gone. A time when a sign was used to capture your interest and draw you in. Every Sunday I will post a sign from the area. Some will be unique, others not so much. Hope you enjoy!
The first sign I will put up is this one from Tri Town Drive-in Theater. This sign will be coming down soon as the drive-in has had it's last season. Replacing it will multi-family residences of some sort.