Teaching Guitar, Proms and More

I have a full day today. I am teaching guitar at Musicology in watertown, then it's a birthday party in the afternoon for one of the Better Half's grand kids, then I am photographing two proms in Oswego County for the Syracuse Medfia group, aka The Post-Standard.
Last night I played a 2 hour guitar gig at the Oswego Marine Museum in Oswego, NY. The event was a reception for the museum board members. I played the event last year & they liked me well enough to have me this year. The guitar playing went really well and I got many compliments. I recently have worked up The Doors song Light My Fire as a guitar solo in the style of Jose Feleciano.  I meant to play that and FORGOT!

So I am off to take on the day.

Rudyard Kipling Quote and an orange chamelian?

Here is a great quote I stumbled upon by Rudyard Kipling:

“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition”    Rudyard Kipling

I spotted this critter in the woods in Tully NY while I was photographing Llamas and hikers for the Syracuse Media Group.   photo by Gary Walts

I was photographing a couple hiking through the wood with their Llamas when I came upon this orange chamelian. Or is it a lizard, or a newt? I really don't know what it is. This is the first time I ever saw one this color. All of the others in this part of the World have been brown to black in color. Usually I only see them when over turning rocks or logs. This gut was sitting just as you see him in the photo. He is very tiny, about 2 inches in length. I did not have a macro lens so what you see here is man extreme crop from the original. Imagine how spectacular it would have been if properly shot with a macro lens.

Today I took my mother to the bank and to the county office building to pay her property taxes. The tax bill was $2,235.00 and change. 

Then I had guitar lessons. 

Then I came home finished editing some wedding photos, burned them to a CD and printed the CD. 

Now I am going to bed.

Flat tire at night

It's 11:00pm and I am sitting on the shoulder of interstate RT 81 at Adams, NY with a flat tire on my 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan. Waiting for Triple A. The photo is my view from the drivers seat. Snapped it with iPhone V, artsied it up with instagram. Just passing my time.

Dandelion Photograph iPhone 5 Instagram

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I snapped this photograph of Dandelions in the front yard of my home in Chaumont, NY with an iPhone 5. I then used an instagram filter to crop and tone it. I love the iPhone and instagram.

Dandelions in my front yard. Taken with iPhone V and
modified with instagram. Photo by Gary Walts

I photographed 3 jobs today for the Post-Standard / Syracuse Media Group: A man, one Dan Gristwood of Pennellville who spent nine years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Then it was a man named Chol Majok. He was one of the Lost Boys from Sudan who ended up in Syracuse and now works for Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner.  Finally, I photographed some lacrosse players at Christian Brothers Academy as they painted their faces with eye black before a game.  Tomorrow I have a couple of guitar lessons, a violin lesson w/ JJ and then I must take care of some yard work at my Franklin St apartment house.

Young Violinist Violin Music

We did quite a bit of yard work yesterday.In the afternoon we visited my mother and met daughter S & JJ there. JJ's birthday was a few days ago, S's is today. So we took over a carrot cake and gave them their gifts. We got J a violin which he appeared to like greatly. I snapped a photo of him in front of the picture window, deliberately silhouetting him.  J is 13, S is 40. We had a nice time and watched The Great Race on tv at 8:00 after which I started editing the wedding photos from Saturday.

JJ tries out his violin at his great grandmother's house.  Phto by Gary Walts (of course!)

Today I have to photograph a social event at the Land Mark Theater in Syracuse, and then a Syracuse Chiefs baseball game.

Sports Photography: Syracuse Chiefs Baseball Photo

Syracuse Chiefs player slides safe into home plate.  photo by Gary Walts

I snapped this sports photo last Tuesday at a Syracuse Chiefs baseball game. I used a Nikon D7000 camera and a Nikon 70-200 f2.8 zoom lens. Last night I photographed a high school track event. Today I am off to photograph a wedding in Syracuse.

Photographed track at Chittenango high school tonight.

Samuel Adams Beer, Hofmann hot dogs, and the hospital

Samuel Adams Beer, Hofmann hot dogs, and the hospital.
Yesterday was quite pleasant here in Chaumont, NY. I got up particularly early and got in 3 hours of guitar practice. Then I spent most of the day outside doing yard work. I finished cutting off a large, dead limb from the Maple tree in  my back yard. After that I grilled some Hofman hot dogs and had a couple of Sam Adams beers.

Sam Adams beer and Hofmann hot dogs on the grill makes for a nice April day in the North Country.

The Better Half was not feeling well. About 3:00 she became concerned about her condition and looked up her symptoms on Google. They seemed to indicate heart attack. YIKES! But, we let is slide. We watched Survivor and all the while she was not feeling well, couldn't describe it. Finally at 9:30, I drove her to the hospital. After a lot of tests, x-rays nad a cat scan we got the verdict: Gall stones. They can be quite painful. We were relieved to learn that otherwise her heart, lungs, kidneys, all of that are in good, healthy condition. By the time it was all over we didn't get home until 3:00AM.

April in Chaumont, N.Y.

It is April here in Chaumnont, NY. After a two week road trip to key West, Florida, the weather here has been a tad depressing. It was 35 degrees this morning. 

View of my neighborhood and the oak tree in my front, side yard of my home in Chaumont, NY. Photo was snapped with an iPhone5 and tweaked with instagram.

Pictures of Thomas Jefferson's Home, Monticello

Today, April 13th, is Thomas Jefferson's birthday.  I took these pictures of his home, Monticello, located in Charlottesville, Virginia, two weeks ago. It was a beautiful April morning.  

This is a building in the gardens at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. 

Front viw of Thomas Jefferson's home. There wer a lot of tourists here so I had to use some Photoshop magic to get this view with no one in it. 

Back view of Monticello.

View of the kitchen which is located on the ground level in one of the wings.

The gardens at Monticello in April.

The beer cellar at Thomas Jefferson's home. I doubt that these barrels are original.

Statue of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.

The visitors center at Monticello.

Another view of the kitchen.

Winter Haven, Florida

Last night the Better Half and I got into Winter Haven, Florida, at my brother The golfer's home. I snapped this photo there about 10 minutes ago. This is our first stop on the journey home.

My Golfer Brother served me coffee this morning in cup from home.

Snap I took in my brother's bathroom.

At home I have a coffee mug that I bought in Florida some years ago. Today in Winter haven FL my brother served me coffee in this mug that he bought when he visited me in Chaumont, NY

The backyard of my brother The Golfer's home in Winter haven, FL

Instagram photos snapped in Key West