No Horses. No History. Just Happiness Courtesy Of The Blue Sky Above.

March 9, 2017 / Ally Bean / 55 Comments

When it’s a glorious day outside and it comes to finding something to photograph, I’m nothing if not persistent.

• PLAN A: HORSES I drove to the horse vet wanting to photograph the horses that are usually standing around in his fields. However, when I got there not one horse was anywhere to be seen, so I kept driving.

• PLAN B: HISTORY I drove to a tiny 200-year-old village that, when photographed while standing on its bridge over the river, would make for an interesting photo. However, when I got there the river was high, the sidewalks were muddy, and the wind was gusting. Standing on the bridge didn’t seem safe to me, so I decided to go someplace else.

• PLAN C: HAPPINESS Dreamed up on the fly, I decided to drive to the canoe rental place and walk the bike path that runs by the canoe rental place, using the opportunity to photograph the blue sky above and whatever might be underneath it. As the following four photos show, this plan worked.

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A Mid-Winter Walk In The Nature Preserve

February 9, 2017July 1, 2025 / Ally Bean / 55 Comments

On Saturday the sun was finally shining, so Zen-Den and I went to the Nature Preserve for a walk. We enjoyed the opportunity to be outside in the fresh air on a brisk winter afternoon when there was no snow around. Here are a few photos I took along the way.

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path

We decided to take the flat, relatively mud-free trail. It was less than a mile, and interesting to wander along. Having never been on it before, we were pleasantly surprised by what we saw.

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rowena

Near the beginning of the trail we noticed this little cutie pie squirrel munching on a seed. I immediately named her Rowena.

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bench

A little farther along the trail we saw this bench that had an inscribed plaque on it. The plaque said: “Relax, Don’t Worry, Have Fun.”

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pond

We walked beside this partially frozen pond that was reflecting light into the darker forest just beyond it. The scene looked like something out of an animated Disney movie.

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cabin

Soon thereafter we walked across a field and came upon this relocated 200-year-old cabin. Much of the cabin’s wood is original.

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cabin-door

Entering the cabin through this door, we discovered a table and two benches + a fireplace. Nothing else in there. Very rustic.

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pond-2

Then, near the end of the trail we walked beside this small pond surrounded by tall grasses under the blue winter sky, making for a picture perfect photo at the end of our walk.

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An Experiment: Photographing The Woods With My iPhone

November 4, 2016August 28, 2018 / Ally Bean / 72 Comments

I need something new + creative to do in my life so I’ve thought about maybe joining Instagram.

In order to get an idea of what it’d be like to be an Instagramer, I wandered down our backyard stone steps to the terrace-level…

walked across some crunchy leaves…

then sat down on a chair where I started taking photos of the autumnal beauty around me with my iPhone.

Looking at the blah results of my experiment I wonder if I’d ever be happy using a phone to photograph my life. I do well capturing my life using my camera, but if I was on Instagram I’d be using my iPhone. I dunno. Maybe yes, maybe no.

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QOTD:

Are you on Instagram? What do you like about it? What do you photograph? How often do you go there?

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Unwanted: A Photo Study Of Stuff, With Commentary

October 6, 2016October 6, 2016 / Ally Bean / 51 Comments

• OUT FOR A STROLL AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD, I saw this little chest of drawers sitting out by the curb, waiting for trash pick-up. I immediately thought of Downton Abbey’s Mr. Carson’s observation: “If you are tired of style, you are tired of life.”

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• WALKING THROUGH OUR LITTLE DOWNTOWN, I saw this sign on the window of a dilapidated building that I hope to heaven is torn down soon. It’s the kind of private property that appears to be one sneeze away from collapse, and as such, is dangerous to walk by.

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• ORGANIZING THE JUNK DRAWER, in search of coins, I found this long-expired casino voucher for a whopping 15¢. Never let it be said that I am not a frugal optimist, albeit a disorganized one, who believed that she’d get back to the casino to redeem this voucher.

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• SORTING THROUGH THE BASEMENT, I found these moving boxes that I saved from our last move 17 years ago. Interestingly enough, I have no idea where they came from. We are not the Sparks family, but apparently years ago we got their stoneware, plus bowls and glasses.