Vermont Photographer Benjamin D. Bloom

OK, so I’m mostly just testing a newly installed plugin… Please forgive the noise!

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When the snow melted, I saw all these little things over my lawn and got curious where they came from.

The problem I had was this... a squirrel chewed through my (relatively) new siding and into my attic. Yesterday, I put up the heavy screening you can see, which kept him from getting back in, but didn't stop him from chewing some more and making a hell of a racket last night.

Having solved the blockade issue yesterday, my challenge tonight was to prevent the squirrel from doing any more damage (to the house and to our sanity.) Having used cayenne pepper to keep rabbits out of the garden, I figured it might work on the house, too. These were the contenders.

The winner. A slight back story. The powders all smelled too sweet and we didn't have cayenne in the house. Tobasco is OK, but didn't seem all that hot. The chili oil is some of the hottest I've ever cooked with, but while my mouth remembers being scalded by it, my nose wasn't impressed. The Dumb Ass Hot Sauce I've had in the house for a while. Why, you ask? Well, because it's so damn hot that I fear using it on many foods. This hot sauce made taco soup so hot that Fluffy wouldn't finish his serving and had to beg for mercy.

But how to apply it?  Aerosolize it.  If it’s good enough for anthrax, it’s good enough for me.  I found an old spray bottle in the garage; it had previously been used to apply paint stripper, so it was probably laced with all sorts of poisonous chemicals to boot.  Bonus.

Under no circumstances what-so-ever should you test your sprayer in the kitchen.

I drenched the opening as much as I could, spraying into the louvers and onto the screens beneath as well. It should be noted at this point that wearing a mask and goggles is probably a good idea, should you try this yourself. Dumb Ass Hot Sauce really burns the nose & eyes! Definitely apply in a well ventilated area, preferably at arms length or further, standing upwind, and above your target. Don't ask why I make these recommendations. At least I didn't fall off the ladder.

I suppose I could have gone after it from the roof...

You can't forget to stop and smell the flowers along the way; as long as you don't have allergies. If you rub your eyes at this point, you're pretty much screwed.

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We woke up to falling snow and the sound of snowplows and snowblowers.

Tawny, on our warmup run down Mach Schnell. 

She found the white room.

Jake in the Black Forest woods.

9-year old Sam ripping some turns in loose snow.

Tawny, cruising on some post lunch runs.

My Aunt Theresa, skiing the trees near Bananas off of Gad-two.

Cruising down to the house on our last run of the day.  We were going to make one more until we realized that it was nearly 4pm!

Woke up this morning to clearing skies and another few inches of snow.  Can’t wait to see what we find today!

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Yesterday, the skiing at Stowe wasn’t all that, but the company was good. Having someone around to laugh with makes rough conditions much more entertaining. Today, the plan was to head to Smuggler’s Notch for some quick lift served laps. Last night, I heard that Smuggs delayed their opening until Tuesday which left me a dilemma; do I skin somewhere like Bolton where the conditions would be much like yesterday or do I head to Smuggs to skin under the snowmaking.

It turns out, the answer is neither. The skiing is just getting going and the fact that we don’t have snow in the Champlain valley means that the mountain biking is still pretty good. I headed to Saxon Hill instead with the intent of riding around and taking some photographs. It turns out, I wasn’t the only one with biking on the brain; there were between 10 and 15 cars parked at the end of Thompson Drive when I turned the corner.

The trails are dry, though the leaves sometimes obscure the less traveled routes.

Evidently, it's cold enough for snow. Someone should tell mother nature that we've had enough rain.

Proof: it's not just Texas and Kansas that get snow!

Self-portrait action photography presents a bit of a challenge without a wireless remote.

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I’ve had a few great senior portrait sessions recently. This past weekend I photographed my brother in law in New Hampshire. Chris is the starting varsity goalkeeper at Souhegan High School. I knew we needed some standard portraits and Chris’ Mom made a request for a soccer shot of him in front of the net. Once I knew we had some more traditional portraits in the bag, we took out the lights and created a few dramatic portraits.

The more traditional portraits:

Earlier in the week, I photographed Erika at the Mills Riverside Park in Underhill, VT.  When we arrived there were a dozen school busses and a high school cross country meet going on.  This meant we couldn’t shoot in the places I was most familiar with, but I think that worked in our favor.  We scouted out a few locations and made some great photos!

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I was on vacation last week and it felt great.  I spent the week down in Rhode Island on the Misquamicut shore.  The beaches are nice and the waves can get large enough to be scary (well, for an east coast mountain boy like myself.)

Our neighbor at the beach house:

I have a mountain of photographs to sort through, but most of those have taken a back burner to my day job and to a few paid gigs that I still need to finish my post processing on.  For family & friends looking for them, you’ll have to wait a few more days!

While I was down there, I had the pleasure of taking some photographs of my cousin, Anna.  She’s getting ready for her Bat Mitzvah in January and her parents requested some portraits for a slideshow.  We had a great time walking around a beach town taking some great photos:

Just before vacation, I spent a morning with my sister and her fiance, taking some engagement photos.  They’re getting married in just about a month!  How time flies…

And when I returned home, my sister in law was playing hockey so we went to watch.  Of course, I couldn’t leave my camera behind so I took a stab at hockey photography.  It’s different than many sports and is a challenge to shoot!  Part of the problem is that I don’t know the sport as well as I could so it’s hard to predict where the good shot will be. (That could be compounded by the fact that this is a pickup league and sometimes plays just don’t develop.)  I had a great time, however, and it looks like I’ll be at another game on Sunday.

Lastly, I had heard about a contest that Scott Kelby was running so I dug this photo out of my archives and submitted it.  The winner gets to shoot an NCAA football game with Scott and Mike Olivella!

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The New York Times published an article by Sonia Zjawinski stating that you should download, print and frame photos from Flickr.

And if you’re wondering about copyright issues (after all, these aren’t my photos), the photos are being used by me for my own, private, noncommercial use. I’m not selling these things and not charging admission to my apartment, so I think I’m in the clear.

Uhh… I post my photos on Flickr.  I post them in a format that can not be printed at a useful size to prevent just this type of activity.  My photos are copyrighted; it’s illegal to print them without my permission unless you’re doing so under the fair-use doctrine (generally criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.) It’s pretty clear that Ms. Zjawinski’s use does not fall under fair use. I can’t believe the New York Times editors & lawyers let this run; it’s irresponsible.

Please – if you’re on Flickr and you see a photo you would like to print, check out the copyright status on it.  If it’s All Rights Reserved – contact the photographer about obtaining a print.  If it’s Creative Commons, double-check which Creative Commons license they’re using to make sure you are allowed to print it.

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I’ve been enjoying walks with Tawny & Rosie around the neighborhood. We recently found a junkyard of sorts with lots of interesting things in it.

I’ve been enjoying chains at this location and also in Mamaroneck when Howie and I walked around the harbor.  Not sure what it is about chains, but I’ve found them really interesting lately.

Junkyard Chains

Mamaroneck Chains

Mamaroneck Chains 2

That’s not to say I haven’t been shooting some things I’ve been known for…

Tulips

With some variations

Wannabe Tulip

So I guess shooting in your back yard can be difficult, but it can force you to look at new things and places.  My approach has been to travel light on these walks.  I’ll typically take my 20d with one lens (often my 50 1.8 or 85 1.8, but sometimes my 10-20 or 17-40) and maybe a flash.  I actually prefer to take these walks with one of the primes and nothing else because it forces me to learn & adapt to the limitations of that one lens.  The wider apertures don’t hurt as the sun is going down, either.

That’s it for now. One more photo from tonight’s walk…

Blue Junkyard Chair

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Burlington, Vermont’s Roller Derby Team, the Green Mountain Derby Dames, asked me to take some photos of their last bout of the season. For those that aren’t familiar, Roller Derby is a game played by two teams of 20 with multiple strings, much like hockey.  Points are scored when the jammer skates laps around opposing team members.

The GMDD had been drawing 500 fans per bout in past months, but for this most recent bout they played in the large room at the Champlain Valley Exposition and sold about 1300 1600 tickets.  The fans get quite into it and it draws from all crowds across many social groups in the Burlington area.

The game involves real hits, spills, bruises and sometimes serious injuries.

For those that haven’t watched Roller Derby, check to see if you have a local team.  If you’re in Burlington, keep an eye out for the next GMDD bout.  They’re a lot of fun!  Bring some ear plugs, though. The music and cheering can get quite loud.

You can see more photos on my facebook page or check out the Green Mountain Derby Dames facebook page.

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