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Melissa OShaughnessy's Home

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August 16, 2009 Another quick jaunt down to the harbor in Cos Cob for my photo of the day. The early evening light was lovely--despite the heat and humidity--and this simple boat reflection caught my eye. This was an easy and quick shot, which was just what I needed today. I've been struggling to keep up my enthusiasm for this project, so this little scene felt like a small karmic gift.
November 14, 2009 Visited the O'Shaughnessy Winery in the Napa Valley today (c'mon, we had to). We've been fans of their delicious wines for years, and not just because of the name--we even served their wine at my son's wedding last month. The winery is beautiful, and their cave is carved into the hillside, in the shape of an O. Cool place.
June 17, 2009 I continue my march through my "safety shots," returning to places and things I have photographed before but never posted as my photo of the day. And since I love windows and peeling paint, this shuttered window at the Greenwich Historical Society fit the bill perfectly.
April 8, 2009 I've got a new toy (an infrared converted camera) and am still trying to figure out how to use it and how to process the files in Photoshop. This was my first go, and while the conditions were less than ideal--our trees haven't put out their leaves yet--I can tell I'm going to have fun with this one!
August 17, 2009 Down to the harbor again this afternoon on my way home; I'm just loving how quick and easy this spot has become for my photo of the day. Thanks to everyone for their kind words about my photo yesterday...I've been really busy and have not had a lot of time to keep up with the dailes or post many comments, but will try to catch up soon. We are off to Lake Como, Italy tomorrow, one of our favorite spots on the planet. We have been taking our kids there on and off for 10 years, so when my husband suggested a quick trip I got my bag packed lickety split. (Yay, a new place to photograph! I'll try to refrain from shots of boats in the harbor, however.)
October 27, 2009 The weather turned wet and dreary here today, but the woods are a visual delight nonetheless; the blanket of golden leaves enchanted me--despite the rain--as I dutifully walked the dogs....
October 13, 2009 It was a windy fall day and on the way to pick my daughter up from school I noticed that colorful maple leaves were sticking to the chain link fence around the local tennis court. This happens but a few days a year, and I've noticed (and photographed) it before.
March 11, 2009 Birds at the feeder early this morning. What can I say? Thank God for Photoshop...it was a pretty flat image without the added texture. But I do love the two little finches vying for a perch.
June 22, 2009 Gale force winds and rain or not, I headed out with my camera today determined to get some sort of shot that said "Nantucket." Brandt Point Lighthouse seemed like the ticket, and the only benefit of the howling wind and rain was that the beach was basically deserted. There was one intrepid couple who asked me to snap a quick photo of them in front of the lighthouse; they had a tiny little camera and the wind was blowing so hard that my first shot of them wound up being at a 45 degree angle--and here I thought I knew how to hold a camera steady! I am often a target for tourists wanting a photo of "the two of us;" I guess they figure anyone carrying a camera and lens as big as mine must be able to take a simple tourist shot. Too bad for today's couple...although I did take a second shot (ask my kids, no one, not even strangers, get off with just one shot from me). Just hope that one was in focus.
July 11, 2009 The beach fences at Dionis Beach here on Nantucket are decorated with hundreds of old whelk shells; I'm not sure why, but the effect is charming. I photographed this fence late this afternoon and processed the photo in Color Efex to give it a dreamy feel.
June 10, 2009 I have been busy and photographically uninspired since returning from Prague, and the weather has cooperated with my mood. (It was so dark and gloomy when I shot this I had to set the camera to ISO 2000 and f/3.2!) I did bring my camera on my morning walk, however, figuring that if nothing else, I could always take a picture of the dog. Unlike William Wegman's weimaraners, however, Riley is not always willing to "pose," but his ears are very expressive and I have photographed the back of his head--and his ears in varying levels of alertness--on more than one occasion. At the moment I snapped this, Riley had spotted some familiar dogs just up the path, and would have bolted had I not had him on the leash.
June 8, 2009 Went for a walk at the beach with my Lensbaby today; I shot a lot but this little guy was my favorite. There is just something so charming about ladybugs....
September 22, 2009 The dahlias in the garden are fading quickly, so I thought I'd better post a photo of one of them before every blooming thing has faded and fall is fully upon us.
July 21, 2009 Day two of my photography workshop and happily I'm feeling much better about being here. The first day was long, frustrating and somehow dispiriting (my assignment was to come up with an image that would be part of a MOMA retrospective of my work--c'mon) and I was consumed with self doubt and--well--fury about the assignment I had to tackle. Plus I didn't know how or where to find anything to photograph. A baptism by fire, to say the least. But today I settled in a bit, got my bearings and spent the bulk of the day photographing this beautiful and interesting place. This afternoon the entire class headed out to a wacky place called Elmer's Barn, an enormous antique/junk shop that was a feast for the eyes and a liability lawyer's dream. Every nook and cranny was crammed with STUFF; this row of junk drawers caught my eye. How could I resist this lone red drawer? (Plus, my maiden name is Walker, and nearly every drawer is branded with a "W." Perfect.)
March 9, 2009 My daughter Kathryn is home for spring break and I've been dying to do some portraits of my children for this photo-a-day undertaking (they're at the age where they're not exactly jumping in front of my camera). After five minutes of begging she agreed to ten minutes of shooting. I quickly set up a makeshift black background, sat her near a north-facing window and pointed a $9.99 clip-on desk light at her with a paper towel taped over the front (fancy!). Post-processing in Silver Efex Pro.
September 12, 2009 Back to my local greenhouse for another window photo--I love how this place is getting more and more overgrown as we enter the dog days of summer. I may have to revisit this little scene when the leaves turn red....
April 18, 2009 Our apple tree burst into bloom today (and I mean BURST--it was nothing but buds yesterday and today it is a riot of flowers). I must have taken 50 photos of it, but none of them seemed to capture the tree's splendor or satisfy me for my photo of the day. So I snipped off a few blooms and put them in a vase, photographed them with one of my old white shawls as a back drop and added a texture overlay in Photoshop.
September 26, 2009 Sometimes this photo of the day project seems like such a ridiculous commitment...I have yet to cheat once, but there are days I am literally scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas. To wit: today's offering is the inside of our washing machine.
August 20, 2009 It was blisteringly hot here today, so all my outdoor photos looked as wilted as the photographer who took them. So I grabbed my fish-eye lens and hopped on the hotel elevator, thinking that the wonderful striped fabric lining could make for an interesting photo. One thing we love about this place is how little it changes over the years, and I have always just loved these little elevators. The Italians have such style.
November 4, 2009 Less than a week ago the landscape was a riot of fall color and now the trees are nearly bare. I've learned that one of the true joys of this Daily Photo project is the attentiveness I have for my surroundings, but when I realize how fleeting time and beauty are, it can also make me a little melancholy.
March 21, 2009 Today is my daughter Lael's 14th Birthday--so there was no way she was getting out of a quick portrait sitting for my photo of the day. We are still in Arizona and the light was too strong outside for a good portrait, so I wrapped her in our hotel room curtains, used a wide aperture and full on flash--usually a no-no for me. She is becoming such a beautiful young lady and she makes me proud in so many ways. Happy Birthday darling!
June 24, 2009 A small miracle; the sun came out today! (Anyone living here in the northeast knows how exciting this is--this has been the second wettest June on record, and we had rain 18 of the first 21 days of the month.) I spent almost the entire day outside enjoying the sun and Nantucket--Jim and I walked the dog for and hour and a half; we all walked to and around Nantucket Town, then I rode my bike out to the western end of the island to cap off the day. I not only earned my dinner, but had a nice selection of possible photos for my photo of the day. Bliss. I had some wonderful photos of Nantucket harbor, but it was this serene photo taken with my small camera on my bike ride that captured the day. What a lovely place this is.
July 10, 2009 I've ridden my bike out to the eastern end of Nantucket several times hoping to get a great shot of the Sankaty Lighthouse--each and every time the light was wrong or every photo I took just looked like a tourist shot. Today the skies were clear and I risked poison ivy and bug bites by crawling into the tall grass to put something (anything!) in the foreground. I like this shot primarily because it doesn't look like every other shot I've seen of this lovely lighthouse. Plus now I no longer have to pack my SLR on my back when I do this wonderful 20-mile bike ride. Tomorrow I might skip the bike ride and walk into town and eat ice cream.
June 28, 2009 I came across this lone barn on my walk this morning in my new favorite-place-to-walk-the-dog, the 780-acre Sanford Farm nature preserve just up the road from our rental house on Nantucket. It was very grey and overcast (we're starting to viscerally understand why Nantucket is known as "The Grey Lady"), but I thought this barn was reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth's paintings of New England. I figured the barn needed some sort of foreground subject, however, and the dog was the only subject on hand. I actually got him to pay attention to me by uttering his favorite question: "Do you want to go for a walk?" Of course, he does not possess the cognitive sophistication to understand that he was, in fact, ON a walk, but the question always gets him to perk up his ears and tilt his head at a rakish angle. I added a gold graduated filter to liven up an otherwise completely uninteresting sky. I hope Andrew Wyeth would understand.

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