Rockland is a coastal city, full of fine retaurants and beautiful art galleries. While walking along the waterfront and down the Main Street, I was inspired by the colorful, textural and graphic shapes of the buildings, skylines and details of industrial commerce. I worked on a portfolio of images of many small and large details that were abstract and artistic. The clear, haze-free, blue sky of early morning provided a lot of punch and colorful contrast to my images. Because of the bright, sunlight , I was able to handhold the camera for all of these images and to control the aperture for selective focus. There were several design elements that came together for me this day and they made it a very enjoyable and successful shoot of Rockland Street Art. I really enjoyed my coffee and a raisin-pecan roll from Atlantic Bakery, too! So, head out to the waterfront or your forgotten Main Street and look for dramatic details in your urban environment.

The trick of this photograph is creating the antipasto in the first place. This was a family effort with prosciutto, sardines, anchovies, artichokes and every other delicious vegetable and hors d'ouevre that could be part of the salad. The antipasto was a holiday serving before escarole soup and ravioli. This meal was all inspired by my mom's cooking which was an ethnic, Italian delight. Garlic sauteing in its aromatic splendor; golden olive oil splashed on lettuce and tomatoes; red peppers contrasting with verdant romaine; mushrooms and radishes competing for space with hard boiled eggs and tuna. A culinary and visual delight. I hope that you enjoy the picture and will create one of these magic entrees soon.

It's time to be outdoors and looking for the special image along the coast. I found this lone sailboat on its mooring at the mouth of Pemaquid Harbor. It was a calm morning, with just barely a ripple in the surface of the water, making the reflection of the boat a little more interesting. I shot the original of this scene with a Canon 1Ds and then did post processing in Lightroom, Photoshop and Color Efex. It's always amazing the difference that I find in a place so often visited. The challenge is to never become complacent with a familiar place but always search for new details, angles, times of day, viewpoints, shutter speeds, apertures and a fresh imagination.