The Mason-Dixon Trail System

I’m now a card-carrying member of the Mason-Dixon Trail system.
The Mason-Dixon trail is 193 miles long and connects the Appalachian Trail to the Brandywine Trail.  It starts at Whiskey Springs, Cumberland County, PA, and follows the west bank of the Susquehanna to Havre de Grace, MD. Across the Susquehanna it continues through Elk Neck State [...]

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Radio Radio

I’m a radio junkie.  I learned the habit from my parents, who always had a radio on in the house or car, and my older brothers who had transistors stuck to their heads as they listened to the big hits of the 60s.  By the time I had my own radio, Top 40 was on FM, but I graduated to [...]

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How You Use It

 
If you haven’t tired of the film vs. digital debate, I’m in awe of your forbearance.
As long as we have artists, new mediums will replace old mediums because of technological advances, safety reasons, costs, material availability and whims.   The old mediums don’t die; they simply fall out of mainstream favor.  But they remain revered by some, occasionally to the detriment of [...]

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Waterfalls

I’m on a waterfall kick.  Since doing some research on the health benefits of negative ions, and visiting the falls at nearby Ringing Rocks Park last week, I’m off to find more.
This weekend I’m heading to Taughannock Falls State Park in Ulysses, New York.  It boasts a waterfall with a 215 foot drop, slightly higher [...]

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Favorite Shooting Locations

One of my favorite places to take photos is Turkey Point at Elk Neck State Park in Maryland.  Check out its location you’ll begin to see why. 
The tip of the park has a photogenic series of trails that run along a 100-200 foot bluff above the Chesapeake Bay and the Elk River.  There are no guard rails [...]

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Wild Animal Peeve

For Pete’s sake, they’re called Canada Geese, not Canadian Geese.  Branta canadensis.  Birds don’t have a nationality!

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Rural Classified, Part II

 
I feel a mixture of amusement, horror and curiosity everytime I read the local Penny Power classified ads newspaper that serves Bucks County and the Lehigh Valley.  A sampling from this week’s edition: 
♦ PETS R KIDS TOO!  Has quality puppies, kittens, fish, small animals.  Feeders.  All animals guaranteed.  New!  Clearance bin.  New inventory arriving weekly.  Stop [...]

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International Center of Photography

There’s a review by Holland Cotter in today’s New York Times about a new show at the International Center of Photography called “Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art.”
Holland’s fascinating and glowing review has prompted me to see the show which runs from January 18 – May 4, 2008.  (I’m fortunate to live in [...]

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Fast and Cheap: 50mm Lenses

I recently recommended an inexpensive but excellent lens to Becky over at Moontree Arts:  the Canon 50mm f/1.4.  Becky’s just getting into the art of photography and it’s a superb starter lens.  But after talking with her, I realized I haven’t used my own 50mm lens since I bought the Canon 85mm f/1.2L (mmm, mmm good) in July 2006! So I put [...]

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Thank you, dogs!

I love this story in Monday’s Morning Call newspaper.  Thanks to whomever notified the paper and thanks to the editor for running it. How often to you read news stories that offer hope for humanity?
Thanks to Donna Balascak for saving the neighbor’s animals, and thanks to Donna’s dogs for noticing there was a fire in [...]

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Making Movies on Location

I’m going to write a screenplay using Scrivener software.  It’s going to take a few years to write, but that’s ok — it would take a decade with MS Word!
Let me know if you use Scrivener, or have an opinion on how it works.

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Saving the Candy Bar Ranch

 
M & M Mars was born in a Tacoma, Washington kitchen in 1911 when candy salesman Frank Mars set his sights on making the best candy bar on the market.  He and wife Ethel made and sold chocolate buttercreams out of their house for nine years.  Locally very successful, they moved their business to a Minneapolis candy factory and by 1930, Mars, Inc. was grossing $800,000 [...]

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Rural Classified

Can you determine a newspaper’s demographics by looking through the classified ads under “Articles for Sale”?  Here are some random things I found in today’s Morning Call, a newspaper that’s delivered to my house everyday:
♦ Console Radio / 8-Track Player, $95
♦ Couch (1970 Style), $20
♦ Exercise Machine, Push/Pull Type, $50
♦ Gossip Bench, $45
♦ Kids Pool Table, $50
♦ Shotgun, Like New, [...]

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Nicole Atkins

I was so taken with Nicole Atkins‘ performance on the David Letterman show last November that I unabashedly revealed my age by immediately purchasing a physical copy of her latest CD, Neptune City.
You can watch the video here.  Nicole’s band, The Sea, provided impressive backup with cello, violins, grand piano and jingle bells, et al, but Nicole’s voice was like the Southern [...]

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Frank Deford

Frank Deford is an author, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated and a commentator on NPR.   Even though I don’t care about pro or college sports, I regularly listen to his sports-centered pieces on NPR’s Morning Edtion. Deford’s distinguished tones are invigorating and he gives an ethereal message about humanity even when he’s talking about doped-up football players.  [...]

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Inspirational Photography

I find it inspirational to study paintings and films.   I’m informed by the use of style, symbolism, craft, skill, history and light.  Ironically, I’m not often inspired by still photography.  It’s sometimes challenging to find enlightening work outside of the masters of photography, old and new. 
But as I found out this morning, a trip through The New York Times Photo Store is a real feast. You [...]

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Some Days

I woke up refreshed and full of purpose.  I had memorized my to-do list, and knew the most efficient order.  My desk was organized and I was ready for business.
I got my son off to school and went for a four mile walk.   I was nearly home when one of the neighbors, a farmer, stopped to talk [...]

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Veryln Klinkenborg

The first thing I look for in each new edition of the New York Times is an editorial piece by Verlyn Klinkenborg.  
Verlyn’s ongoing editorial column The Rural Life is always the best thing to read in the whole paper (which is saying something because every edition of the NY Times is a work of art). I’ve been reading [...]

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Meaningful Spending

I read an excellent article by Kathy Kristof in the Morning Call newspaper yesterday called “Resolve to Spend Your Money on Things that are Truly Meaningful.”  Here’s what stood out to me:
♦ Close your eyes for two minutes and think about what makes you happy.  What gives you energy and fulfillment? Are you in a room [...]

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Lee Friedlander

Images and text ©2008 Kathleen Connally. All rights reserved.

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Resolutions

Image and text copyright 2008 Kathleen Connally. All rights reserved. Do not use without written permission.

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Ready, Shoot, Aim

 
Last weekend I learned that some folks in Durham Township are “scared to death” of my photoblog and my photography.  My first thought was:   Is my work that bad?  My second thought was: That might be a bit naive.
There’s a misperception that my lovely photos of Durham are going to bring busloads of house-hunters and [...]

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Greetings from Durham Township, Pennsylvania

Happy New Year and welcome!
I’ve maintained a photoblog at www.durhamtownship.com for the last five years.  I’ve loved every minute of it and now I’m starting a second blog to polish my writing skills.
I’ll write about my work and my life, my influences and inspirations, and offer opinions about art, film, photography, literature, music, politics, American life and whatever seems worth [...]

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