The Wedding Cake House

The Wedding Cake house located in Kennebunk, Maine is by far the most photographed house in all of Maine.

It was built for his wife, Jane, by George W Bourne, a ship builder, using only hand tools in 1852. The work was completed shortly before his death.

According to legend, the carving was done during the lonely hours aboard ship by a recently married sea captain who had had to leave his bride before he even had time to eat his wedding cake.

At one time, the barn, connected to the house by a shed, caught on fire. The barn and shed were torn down by fire fighters in order to save the house. The barn and shed were reconstructed by Bourne, who had been to Europe and admired the Cathedral of Milan. The barn and shed were built in that fashion. The Federal styled house was soon to be Gothic style. He then added unifying designs to the house to marry the both styles together.

Unfortunately, over time, the trees have grown to obscure the house. To see more detail, click on the photos.

Blue Hour Safety Harbor

Monday night as usual, I went to my Monday Night Meetup with my friends. Since it's been so hot lately, we've been going to the restaurant and eating first, then going back down to the Marina to shoot.

We waited through the sunset for the blue hour. That's when I got this shot. I processed it 3 ways; the first way was using my normal post processing, then I tried the Orton Effect, which is a technique I used to use a couple of years ago. I didn't like that effect at all. I liked my normal processing, except the shadows were blocked under the docks and I wanted to bring them out.

So, I turned to HDR, which stands for High Dynamic Range processing. Our eyes can see an infinite amount of levels of light, while cameras can only see about 5 levels. What that means is that there's always a give and take situation. Either you expose for the highlights, which results in shadows that are pitch black with no detail, or you expose for the shadows and the highlights are pure white with no detail. It's up to the photographer to decide what's more important in his/her shot. With HDR, a photographer can have it all.

After viewing all three processes, I chose the HDR version to be the best. Anyway, at least that's my opinion. With art, it's all in what the viewer likes. It's subjective to interpretation based on one's personal preferences. There is no right or wrong.

Flowers and Gardens

While in Maine, one of the things that attracted me to a lot of the places we visiting were the gardens and flowers that were in bloom. Some were unusual and I've never seen them before.

These are called Swamp Candles. I originally thought they were some type of Azalea because of their shape and the way they were in clusters. After much investigation on the internet, I found out they are Swamp Candles. They are also known as Bog Loosestrife. They were in the garden at Webhannet Falls in Wells.

The next one is a rare variety of Peony. I love the bright red color with the creamy white centers. I knew it was some kind of Peony, but didn't realize that this variety is rare. They are just as sweet smelling as any other Peony, which was my first hint that they were Peonies. These were in the gardens at St Anthony's Franciscan Monastery in Kennebunk.

Finally, I spotted these Foxgloves. These I was able to identify without the help of the internet. They're fairly common, but I've never seen them in Florida gardens. Maybe they just don't take to the heat very well. These were also in the little garden at Webhannet Falls in Wells.

Most everywhere we went we found flowers and gardens. It just adds so much to the beauty of this area. This also pleased my daughter-in-law. She loves to garden and loves beautiful flowers. She was in her glory.

The Norseman Resort

Looking across the Ogunquit River, I could see The Norseman Resort, on Ogunquit Beach. The Norseman is the only resort on this beach.

The Norseman, though, is not what attracted me to this scene. It was the incredible color of the water. I remember saying to my daughter-in-law, "I only hope that I can capture that color". The various shades of blue, green and purple just staring at me begging to be captured with my camera.

I put my camera to my eye and shot the scene. Immediately after, I checked the histogram to be sure the exposure was right on the money. It looked good, so all I could do was hope I got it right. I wouldn't know until I got back to the hotel to check it out on my computer.

I checked the display on my computer later that night and it was perfect! I was pleased as punch to see those beautiful colors. If you want to see them for yourself, just click on the photo and make it bigger. Some of the definition and color is always lost during the jpg conversion, then a little more is lost when uploading to this site; but it still looks great! I just may try to paint this one day.

Incoming Storm

I'm figuring you're all sick of my Maine photos, so I'll stick this one in to show that I'm still out there photographing at home.

On Monday evening, while out with my friends in Safety Harbor, a storm started to roll in over the pier at the Safety Harbor Marina. We were all hoping for some lightning photos, but no luck.

The storm never really hit. All we got were a few sprinkles. It sure looked a lot meaner than that when it was coming.

Florida weather in the summertime is unpredictable. One never knows when a storm will come up. It hits fast, hard and most times the rain is horizontal. It usually only lasts for a about 1/2 hour, then the sun comes out and dries everything up within another 1/2 hour. Most of the time there is heavy lightning and lots of thunder. This storm had no lightning and no thunder, which is unusual this time of year. Tampa Bay is known as the lightning capital of the world.

JD Williams' Restorations and Museum

This is the main house on the grounds where JD Williams, auctioneer and collector, is in the process of restoring his great-grandfather's home and office. Mr Williams spent 20 years trying to buy this home back from the people who bought it from his great-grandfather's estate and turned it into a restaurant. He now is the owner and is diligently working to restore the main house as well as several other houses on the grounds. He plans on making it a museum. The Museum is closed, but Mr Williams will open it and give a personal tour for a $10 donation. Inside, you will see every possible kind of musical playing device from the last 100 years or so as well as remnants from the old restaurant including the original kitchen and dishes. The restaurant facility in the museum is opened for rent for special parties and weddings, but all the food is catered. The original dishes and silver are used to serve the food.

His great-grandfather was an Optometrist. His office and exam room are still in the museum. They are the first thing seen as soon as the door is opened. All his tools and machines including the glass and old eye-glasses are still there.

The Socony Gasoline station, Cummings Railroad Depot, Wells Fargo and Western Union building, and several other buildings, including log cabins and even a caboose are all awaiting restoration.

Mr. Williams has taken on a huge project, but if he can wait 20 years to buy back his great-grandfather's house, I am convinced he has the patience and stamina needed to complete this project. In the meantime, visitors can enjoy the fruits of Wiliams' labor for pennies.

Dinghy on the Rocks

This little dinghy just sat here all alone on these rocks with nothing else in sight. It just goes to show how trusting people are in northern New England.

The chain that's holding it isn't strong enough to keep someone from stealing it, yet it just sits there. In the big cities, it wouldn't last an hour, let alone for however long it's been there.

Cities have become unsafe to live in. I can remember as a kid my parents never locked the door, never locked the car, and we lived in a project. In those days, a project was a great place to grow up. There were always other kids to play with, activities planned for after school, weekends and school vacations at the community center. There was always something to do. In the summer it was play ball, roller skate and play outside; in the winter it was ice skating, sledding, snowball fights. What a different world we live in today.

We feared and respected our teachers, the police and our parents. Our mothers stayed at home and made us tole the line. If we got in trouble with our teacher, we not only got whacked by the teacher, our parents whacked us on top of it. Today, mothers are forced to work to make ends meet, and there are no activities for kids after school planned. We yell back at our teachers, our parents and have no respect for authority. When did all this happen? No wonder we're a mess!

Last of the Monastery

These are the last of the St Anthony's Franciscan Monastery photos. I hope I haven't bored you all to death with these. As you can imagine, I was quite taken up with this beautiful place.

The image of St Francis of Assisi shows the whole fountain. It is located at the beginning of the walking trail, which winds around through the woods adjacent to the Kennebunk River.


The next image is of the Shrine to St Anthony just inside the entrance of the Monastery. This was also created by the same artist that won several gold medals at the 1964 World's Fair. In case you haven't been following, his name is, Professor Vytautas Jonynas.

And finally, we have a long view of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, which shows the prayer benches. I have posted closeup views in my previous post. This shrine was constructed in Lithuanian architectural style by Jonas Mulokas, winner of the First Prize if the American Architects Associated.

I hope you have enjoyed my journey on the grounds of the St Anthony's Franciscan Monastery. If you ever get up to the Kennebunk area of Maine, this is a must see.

St Anthony's Franciscan Monestary

I hope all this stuff from St Anthony's Franciscan Monestary isn't boring you all. I'm nearly done with my visit here. Tomorrow, I'll be posting the last of it.

The first image of the stairs is just inside the building where the Chapel and Confessionals are. There was a sign pointing to the offices; but nothing was mentioned about where these stairs were leading. I'm assuming that they are probably the stairs to the Monks' quarters.

When we were coming out of the walking trail, we spotted this side entrance. We had no idea what was in store for us to see, but we went up the stairs anyway and followed it around the building. We saw some of the most beautiful gardens and well-landscaped grounds with very unusual flowers.

The image of the building that includes the stairs in the foreground is the side entrance to the main building. I have also included a shot of the rear entrance, which is equally as stunning as the side. At one time this was a private residence owned by William A. Rogers, Esq. He was a Buffalo industrialist. He had the building built in 1900 by Green and Wicks, a Buffalo firm.

The estate was sold in 1937 to William N Campbell. who owned other homes in Brookline, MA, Bal Harbor, ME and Miami Beach, FL. In 1947, Campbell sold the estate to the Franciscans.

The last image is of the Chapel, which was designed by Professor Vytautas Jonynas, the same artist who created the World's Fair piece that sits at the entrance to the estate.

Monuments and Statues

As promised in an earlier post, these are some of the statues, monuments and prayer stations on the grounds of St Anthony's Franciscan Monastery.

The first statue is of Blessed Kateri (Catherine) Tekawitha, who is not yet a saint according to the Catholic Church. She is a child of nature and known to the Church as the Patroness of Ecology. It is only fitting that a statue honoring her would be on the walking trail.

The next statue and fountain is of St Francis of Assisi, is the founder of the order of Monks, Franciscans. St Francis is the Patron Saint of animals and the environment. His statue is just at the beginning of the walking trail.

The next photo is a prayer station. It is one of many along the walking trail. This one honors St Vincent de Paul, who was dedicated to serving the poor. There are many St Vincent de Paul Society Chapters in large cities who provide aid to the poor in his honor.


And finally, the last monument is a Crucifix honoring the Lithuanians who lost their lives fighting for freedom.

More to follow in a future post.

Sculpture at St Anthony's Franciscan Monestary

This sculpture by Professor Vytautas Jonynas, of the Militant, Suffering and Triumphant church, was displayed at the Vatican Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair. It is now displayed on the grounds of St Anthony's Monastery in Kennebunk, Maine.

There were so many great works of art on the grounds of this Monastery, many by the same artist, Professor Vytautas Jonynas, that it almost seemed a tribute to the artist.

The Monastery itself was once owned by William A Rogers, Esq, a Buffalo industrialist. He bought the grounds in 1900 from John Mitchell, a professor of the Christian religion. Rogers commissioned Green and Wicks, a Buffalo firm to build a house in Tudor style. The estate was sold in 1937 to William N Campbell, who then sold it to the Lithuanian Franciscan Monks, who used it for the Monastery.

In later years, the Monks added a Shrine to St Anthony, a Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, a Chapel of the Stations of the Cross, the main St Anthony's Chapel and several little shrines along the trails. More photos will follow this post.

I'm not a very religious person, but I will tell you that my walk around these grounds and on the trails had some kind of peaceful, calming effect. It's as if my whole body knew that these grounds were sacred.

The Landings - Kennebunkport Shipyard

During our travels in Kennebunkport, we came upon the St Anthony's Monestary. While there, we decided to take a walk on one of the trails on the grounds.

During the walk, we saw many little shrines and some bigger ones that I have yet to post. This shot of "The Landings" the old Kennebunkport Shipyard was an unexpected surprise. Right out there in the middle of the woods, we came to a clearing and I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted this view of the Kennebunk River looking over to The Landings.

I was so blessed to have such great weather with beautiful clouds all the time we were in Maine. What a wonderful vacation. I'm thrilled that my son and daughter-in-law included me on their vacation, which was my daughter-in-law's present to my son. He is also blessed to have found her. She's a wonderful girl and I couldn't have picked a better person for him to spend his life with if I had picked her myself.

Salt Marshes

I shot this from a moving car, while we were on the way to Beddeford Pool, where my son used to live. The clouds were so right, the blue sky reflecting on the ground and the perfectly placed rocks made this look at least to me like a beautiful painting. One day, I will paint this one.

It was just too beautiful not to share with all of you.

Webhannet Falls

These are the Webhannet Falls in Wells, Maine.

Webhannet Falls is on the site of the first settlement of Wells, Maine, It honors Edmund Littlefield, who erected his saw and grist mill at this site in 1640-1641, thus being the first settler of Wells. This little park and the falls are just off Rt 1.

You might notice that the water is sort of coffee colored. I believe that's because of the iron content in the area. It's too bad that tree has fallen obscuring part of the falls. I tried and tried at different angles to find a better spot but unfortunately this is the only possible angle to shoot this.

This little "park" is so small, all of it would fit in my backyard. Officially though, it's a dedicated park, so who am I to question it?

Rocky Shoreline in Ogunquit, Maine

While in Maine, I want to show you all that I didn't only take photos of the lighthouses even though they're one of my favorite subjects.

The shoreline in Maine is very rocky. It's strange that even though this is the same ocean, and the same coast how it changes as so radically as you get further and further south. Here in Florida, we have no rock and our water is more of an emerald green.

All my life I've lived on the coast. I've lived in Maine, Connecticut, New York and Florida. The coasts and water color varies so much. What a wonderful continent we live on. I never get tired of living by the sea and can only wonder how people who have lived their whole lives inland who have never seen the sea don't know what they're missing. This is soooo beautiful. There's nothing like the smell of sea air.

Marginal Way Lighthouse

This is one of the smallest lighthouses you'll ever find. It's called the Marginal Way Lighthouse and it sits on the Marginal Way Trail in Ogunquit, Maine.

It is not operational and if you noticed the slot on the door, it's there for donations to keep the lighthouse and the trail maintained. This trail is so easy to walk it's often called "the walk for old ladies". It is also the most walked trail in all of Maine because of its scenic beauty along the coast.

The path is just a little bit over a mile long, and there are many benches to rest along the way. It starts at Ogunquit Beach and goes all the way to Perkins Cove, which is another picturesque place to visit.

The Nubble Light

One of the first stops in Maine, even before we checked into the hotel, we went to see the Nubble Light. The Nubble Light is in Cape Neddick near the entrance to the York River. The nearest town is York, Maine. We got there fairly early in the morning, so the clouds didn't have a chance to build.

The Nubble Light was built in 1879, but not automated until 1987. It sits on top of the shoals and there is a little bucket that runs on a wire to get groceries for the keeper. Sometimes, during low tide, one can walk across the channel to get to the mainland. The grounds are not open to the public.

This photo was shot from Sohier Park, which was donated by William Davies Sohier. One interesting fact is that the house was built in such a way that each point on the house points to North, South, East and West.

Petunia

While in CT, I stayed at my son and daughter-in-law's house. I just love it there. Their yard is like a park. Donna loves flowers and her home and yard show it.

This is only one of the many varieties of Petunias she has planted. I love the delicate petals and the soft color of this variety.

Donna is smart enough to plan her gardens to get the most of every one of them. She plants early Spring bloomers, Summer bloomers and Fall bloomers so she can enjoy them through the 3 seasons. During the Winter, she has fine art flower paintings in every room. It makes for a cheery atmosphere. No wonder I like it there so much.

Phillip

During my vacation in CT, I had the pleasure of attending one of my brother, Phillip's, Karate classes at his Dojo.

Phillip has been studying Karate as long as I've been a photographer, since the late '70's. He's a Black Belt and in this class he's teaching some of his students. In this shot, he's explaining a new Kata they'll be working on. His Dojo is not air-conditioned, and it was really hot; very hot for this time of year in CT.

I stayed for this class, then Phillip's advanced class which was taught by his long-time instructor, Tom. They were working on they're own Kata with the Bow (I'm not sure how it is spelled). They were getting ready for a demonstration for the next day.

The last time I photographed Phillip in one of his Karate classes or demonstrations was in the '80's.

New Pine Cones Macro

You've all probably wondered where I've been in the last few weeks. I've been traveling a lot, visiting my kids and grandkids. Last week, I went to Connecticut to celebrate my son's 50th birthday.

My son didn't want to have a birthday party, but he wanted to get all the siblings together and have a huge reunion. My sisters and brothers, Joe's wife, Donna's, sister and brothers, and Joe's sisters and brother were all invited. It was a great party, and it was awesome to have all my siblings in one place at the same time. My youngest brother was born after I was married, so unless there was a funeral, we were never together. All my siblings still live in Connecticut, where we grew up except for me. My daughter-in-law took a photo of the five of us. It's the first time we've ever had a photo of all of us taken. My brother didn't really want to take the photo, but I insisted stating that at our ages, (40's, 50's & 60's) anything could happen. He finally relented and I'm thrilled to have this photo.

While I was walking around in Joe and Donna's yard, which is more like a botanical gardens, with all their little garden areas and it's perfect grooming, I came across this low branch on a pine tree where the little pine cones are just starting to grow. I couldn't resist a macro shot of it. Being so short (5'0"), I rarely get to see something like this.