Sanctuary

Sanctuary Sign, Angel Oak, John's Island, SC  © Doug Hickok


We end this yellow week with wild birds gathering on a sign. After the wild week we've had, it's nice to have the sanctuary of the weekend ahead of us... maybe we need a "Hickok Sanctuary" sign in front of our home.

Tubing

Rows of River Tubes, Whitewater River, near Harrison, Ohio  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)


Have you ever been tubing? When it is summer time, and the living is easy, and the fish are jumping, and the cotton is high, somewhere there is a quiet river for your tubing pleasure. Jump in a tube, guide it carefully into the river, and float on the cool, soothing waters, move lazily with the calming currents, as though you had not a worry in the world. It is the perfect way to cool off on a sunny summer day.

If you don't have a lazy river near you (or if it's still too darn cold) here are a few photography links to explore indoors.

Odd and quirky sums up these images from Poland.

See the amazing undersea work of Wayne Levin, especially his fish schools series.

Finally, we present the incredible minimalist images of Matthias Heiderich.

Memories of Summers

Castle Hill, Budapest, Hungary  © Doug Hickok
(Velvia slide film. Click on image for larger view.)


This week I have presented warm pictures for your enjoyment, mostly from summers past. This picture I remember well, because I made it in Budapest on one of the hottest days of that year. The hot sun heats up the warm colors on the facade of this historic house on Castle Hill... lots of yellow and orange, with a little splash of green and blue.

One day soon, summer will come again.

Glimpse

Carriage Horses, Old Town, Krakow, Poland  © Doug Hickok
(Velvia slide film)


While walking around the old city of Krakow one summer day, camera in hand, I decided to explore an open door that led to a long hallway. Finding a dead end there, I turned around toward the street, attracted by the sound of clip-clopping hooves. As I looked-up, I happened to glimpse a tandem of horses pulling a carriage. I made this quick image through the door just as the horse closest to me stepped forward.

A Tale of Knights Turning Tail

Yellow Picnic Table, Folly Beach, SC  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)



There was a time, long ago,
 when knights were brave and chivalrous.
 But the knights I tell a tale of were not.
 When trouble called, they were no where to be found.
 When damsels were distressed, they ran away.
 When jousting tournaments came to town,
they claimed a prior commitment.
 When lords called upon them for support in battle,
they hummed loudly and put their fingers in their ears.
 When a quest was required, they sent their squires.
 These my friends were The Knights of the Yellow Round Table.

Designer Trappings

Lobster Traps, Schoodic Peninsula, Maine  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)

March 12, 2012

Dear lobsters,

Do not be tempted by these lovely designer colors.

You may think that getting away from the mirky sea bottom and rising to the heights above the sea is progress... success.  You may have even heard of a process that will turn your shell from dreary and dull to a stunning shade of red and of bathing in fragrant  liquids.  DO NOT BE FOOLED!  Trust me... There's no place like home!

Sincerely,

Becky Hickok

Interior Designer

Hue & Eye Photography & Design

cc Dorothy and Toto too

A Tarn Yarn

Goldenrod Flowers, The Tarn, Acadia National Park, Maine  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)



At The Tarn we witnessed goldenrod swaying, 
two loons yodeling, 
three beavers drumming, 
four chipmunks chuckling, 
five trout clapping, 
and a moose dancing in a birch grove, 
all in a joyful greeting to the early morning light
 of an Acadian summer day.

A Time for Orange to End

Detail of a Kayak, Bohicket Marina, John's Island, SC  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)


To end our color theme week like clockwork, 
orange dominates the entire composition,
leaving no room for other colors.

We have had a red week, then an orange. 
With tomorrow we begin a new week,
and a new hue,
for your eye.

Linked

Post and Chain, near Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy  © Doug Hickok
(Velvia slide film. Click on image for larger view.)


Each moment in time is linked,
 in directions both past and present,
 like a chain.
Yet, where the links take us,
 is a mystery.

Except for today.
 Today, I offer links,
that contain no mysteries...
or do they?

Click this link to see Normandy in ghostly monochrome.

This link takes you to the impeccable Rodney Smith.

And the final link is Watanabe's Kabuki.

Buoys in the Hood

Orange Buoys in a Window, Bass Harbor, Maine  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view)


A row of orange buoys hangin' out in a lobster shack window in the neighborhood of Bass Harbor, Maine.

Strolling

Green Railing, Market Hall, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view)


Strolling scrolls of green ironwork adorn the steps leading to the entrance of Market Hall.

Seperation

Palmetto Tree and Shutter, Aiken-Rhett House, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


From this vertiginous point of view, a palmetto tree and its doppelganger shadow are cleaved in two by a roof's razor edge.

Safe Harbor

Shrimp Boats at Sunset, Shem Creek, Mount Pleasant, SC  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)


A row of shrimp boats anchor safely along Shem Creek, as the setting sun casts its reflection in a cabin window. As in yesterday's post, the dominant color today is blue, although a complementary spot of orange adds a defining accent.

A New Week Means...

Display at an Open Bar, Folly Beach, SC  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)


... a new color theme.
If you wish to speculate which color it is, I will gladly help by giving you a hint. In China and Japan, it is the color most associated with love and happiness.


May your week be filled with love and happiness.

Exception?

Stacked Canoes near Little Miami River, Harrison, Ohio  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)


This black canoe is the only one in a stack of red ones. It is the oddity, the rara avis... which begs the question... does the exception prove or disprove the rule? This is a question that dates back to the Roman orator Cicero, from a rhetorical defense of his client. For example, would it be truthful to say that all of Doug's posts this week have the color red, therefore, red is always in his posts? Or, is it ordinary for Doug's posts not to have red, and this week is the exception that proves it.

More likely this is all just idiomatic gobbledegook.

Metal Mouth

Old Red Truck, Danny's Classic Cars, Elko, South Carolina  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)


I had braces... both of my kids had braces... if only our "grills" looked this cool!

Keeping-up with a new tradition begun here at Doug's Photo Blog, I will end today's post with a photography link for your weekend enjoyment...


Great images are often a matter of being in the right place, at the right time and/or having a creative mind.

Out Looking...

Entry to the American Theatre, King Street, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)


The voice in his head told him, "You never know what you might see when you are out looking". So he kept his eyes open and alert... all four of them. Little did he suspect that, when walking past this old movie theater, he would suddenly be enchanted by this wonderful collection of shapes, lines and warm colors. Doug could not resist the urge to take a picture...
 so he did.
And, he did all of that (dramatic pause),
 without tripping or stumbling.

Well, that was a really exciting story.

Symbiosis

Rope and Shrimp Boat Hull, Shem Creek, Mt. Pleasant, SC  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view.)


The word for the day is symbiosis. It is a noun meaning "any interdependent or mutually beneficial relationship." The word dates from 1877 as a biological term, and refers to a mutually beneficial association of two different organisms.

In this photo I would like to think that the colors red and green are visually symbiotic, and the boat and rope are just as symbiotic.

In my experience, chocolate and coffee (especially chocolate covered espresso beans) going into my face, also exhibit traits of symbiosis... maybe... I hope the coffee and chocolate benefit...  somehow...

I Wandered...

Main Square, Old Town, Krakow, Poland  © Doug Hickok
(Velvia slide film. Click on image for larger view)


... lonely as a cloud,
That floats on high o'er Krakow square,
When all at once I saw a truck,
a beacon, of bright red paint;
Beside the umbrellas, beneath the trees,
flashing and gleaming in the summer heat.

And even though this poem doesn't rhyme,
I don't mind,
'cause I made a picture,
Worth more than words.

Misty Monday - Low Tide

Steps to East Quoddy Head Lighthouse, Campobello Island, New Brunswick  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view)


The only way to visit the lighthouse is at low tide (you can see how high the water reaches by noticing the marine vegetation, the rust on the stairs & railings, and dark stains on the rocks). On most days, here at the Bay of Fundy, tides will vary about 
30 to 40 feet from low mark to high. Wading or swimming are extremely dangerous due to swift currents and cold water temperatures. Woe to those who get stranded on the island when the tide rushes in. They will have to wait about 8 hours for the next chance to escape.