A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

Foto Friday

Foto Friday: June brings heat

The summer months of the 366 have been a little slow… but this was one of my favorites from June — a person running through the Hamden Covered Bridge.

Ahhh, June. When the summer officially starts and when photography should be a breeze.

Right?

Not so much.

This summer has been hot and humid. Mix that in with softball, caching, the job hunt and many other things and my camera hasn’t been out as much as normal. I plodded through the month with 366 shots, but at times it wasn’t so easy.

That has kind of continued in July and I’m extremely far behind from posting all my imaged from July (the 14th is the last day I’ve processed/posted! Yikes! I need to get going!)

But, it’s the summer nonetheless.

I got some fun shots this month as I mixed things up with sports, events and everyday things.

As for the 366, it’s been tough! Though I thought it would be much easier than when I did it in 2010, it’s been harder. With taking the photos, processing them and posting them. I’m behind on a lot of photo things. I need to get rolling and get them on my Flickr!

Anyway, here’s my top five (plus one) from June (in order of date posted):

Wiffle ball (June 2).

Disc golf clinic (June 3)

Fog settling in (June 5)

First to find (June 11)

Coming clean (June 20)

Sliding home (June 28)

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! 

Foto Friday: May sunshine

One of my favorite shots from May.

Isn’t there an old saying that refers to May showers?

As if!

With doing a blogging challenge throughout the month of June and then the HooHaa Holga Challenge early this month, I haven’t had the chance to report on my May portion of my 2012 366 Project. Therefore, I want to do that here.

I have to say this challenge has been hard. I’ve kept plugging away with it, but I don’t have the same zest I had when I started this year or when I did it in 2010.

To try and get myself going, I basically take photos all week and then when Sunday or so comes around, I go through the images, process and upload that week’s worth of images. That gives me more of a feel of the project and makes it so I’m not as worried about things. I just snap images.

My May photos had quite a bit of variety. There were a few “oh, crap, I need a photo!” images to many that I planned out. Take, for example, the top image on this post. I had this one in mind when I went to this track meet, but it took me many snaps to get one I liked!

As with last month, I couldn’t come up with just five images to post here on the bottom of the post, so I’m going with my top six. None of them are in any particular order.

Chair meets face (May 4)

Roller derby (May 11)

Mother’s Day golf (May 13)

Water drops (May 21)

Legendary paddler (May 28)

Cheese and crackers (May 31)

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! 

Holga Challenge – Your Town: Delhi, NY

This gazebo, located on Delhi’s Courthouse Square, is a somewhat iconic place for our village. The square is where many area happenings go on, including the annual Fair on the Square, which runs each Friday in Julys.

Note: This is the sixth and final in a series of stories that are being done by participants of the HooHaa Holga Challenge. The series ran Sunday through today. See links for the rest at the bottom of this post.

This has been quite a challenge – especially in a photography way.

The others in this challenge, it seemed, had bigger areas to explore, discover and shoot. That’s one of the reasons I made this challenge within a 15-mile radius of your home area.

When this first started, I went back and forth with Mike about his “town,” which is Waco, Texas. His “town,” you see, is a city. With the space and population he has (including a major college), there were many possibilities for him.

See Jeff, who brought us to Seattle.

We also had close-ups of places like Geneva, Switzerland and what life was like in Kuwait and England.

And then there’s me, with Delhi (pronounced Del-hy, not Del-ee, like the city in India), a small town in upstate New York.

Though the business that owns this car wash has changed over the years, I remember it best when it was owned by a local car dealership. I had a lot of work done on cars there and bought a few cars there as well. Back in the day, there used to be three dealerships in town. Now there’s one. It’s much like everything else in this area when it comes to business – it’s hard to stay above water.

Nestled in the Catskill Mountains, Delhi is a wonderful little town. It’s an outdoorsman’s paradise in some places. We have a lot of history here and during the summer, it’s quite the peaceful place.

During the other months, our population swells up with an additional 2,000 or so people when the students of the local two-year state school come back for the year.

Despite all of these outdoorsy things, it’s still sometimes hard to get creative with photography. For someone who is a city dweller, I’m sure this would be a great place. The chances to shoot nature and see something different other than a concrete jungle would likely be welcomed.

For me, the city is where I’d like to be. Maybe not a place the size of a New York City, but somewhere slightly smaller, such as Albany, our state capital.

A lot of people say their places are small – as Mike. He thought Waco was small. But when I say Delhi is small, I mean small.

As with many rural areas, Delhi – and our county in general – has quite a few old cemeteries. Many of them aren’t active anymore, but they are a source for history, local and afar. I’ve come across many cemeteries with graves of people who have fought in the Revolutionary War. There is a lot to be learned in these old cemeteries and it’s nice that most of these places are still kept up decently well.

In the 2010 Census, the village of Delhi had a population of 3,087. If you go a little bigger and make it the town of Delhi, we’re now up to a whopping 5,117.

Let’s put this into a bit more perspective.

Delaware County, which is where Delhi is located, had a total of 47,890 people, according to the 2010 Census. The county isn’t small, either, as it’s a total area of 1,468 square miles. Of that land mass, only 22 square miles are water!

We’re surrounded by rolling hills and mountains. Trees are abundant. If the Census counted cows, our population would drastically rise.

It’s a great place to be and a nice area to raise kids. The crime rate isn’t high (crimes do happen, though) and, for the most part, one can feel safe being outside at most hours of the day.

In Delhi, there isn’t much to do.

I had to leave this photo in for two reasons. First, it is one of the photos that got hurt when the back popped off my Holga. Second, it shows something this area is really known for – it’s fishing spots. Whether it is small ponds or our branch of the Delaware River, there are some great spots to fish. And with there being a lot of DEC land, there are more opportunities for other outdoors adventures.

If you’re under the age of 21, you can scratch off the local bars for hangouts, too, so it becomes even less exciting. Despite being the county seat, Delhi doesn’t have any movie theaters, malls or shopping areas.

There’s an outdoors basketball court and a few parks. There are also some softball and baseball fields; soccer fields and some nature trails.

Heck, we don’t even have a village pool anymore, though they are trying to raise funds to put one in again.

Oneonta, which is in Otsego County, is the nearest “city.” It’s not even that big with a population just shy of 14,000. There are movie theaters there and some other activities people can get involved in, but it’s a 20- to 25-minute ride.

As I said, that makes challenges like this quite difficult as you need to open up and see things slightly different.

The village became incorporated in 1821 and has been featured in some pop culture places.

One thing about this area and the mountains is that it produces a lot of excellent spring water. In some places, hoses run off the mountain and people can stop and get cold, crisp water from the source. It’s a wonderful treasure and one I try and take advantage of any chance I get.

The Courthouse Square gazebo was even featured in the Saturday Evening Post on July 7, 1951. It was the cover for that magazine for that edition.

Delhi was also the setting for the award-winning children’s book, My Side of the Mountain.

The village has a size of 3.2 square miles, none covered by water, outside of the West Branch of the Delaware River, which runs through and opens up the chance to canoe, kayak or tube down the river.

Delhi isn’t perfect by any means. Many people who graduate high school here leave for better opportunities. Much of the village is off the tax rolls, be it for government buildings, non-profit places or whatever else. It’s also a village with an older population.

Being the county seat means Delhi is home to the county office buildings, courthouse and jail. The DMV is also located in town.

Just outside the village of Delhi and in the town, there is this rock wall. It’s the Greek Wall of sorts as the walls are painted by the fraternities and sororities from the local college.

Recent years have shown a gradual push toward some better things, such as a few restaurants, a better nightlife and local events that draw the village residents together. Still, there’s not much to keep the younger generation here as jobs aren’t as plentiful and getting decent-paying employment isn’t easy to do.

That leads to houses sometimes being sold to people who turn them into student housing and now college students sometimes mix in with everyday residents and that doesn’t always end well. Town-gown relations are up-and-down, depending on the day.

Some kids are respectful and quiet after a night of partying, while others are loud and destructive. I witnessed one year (and called police right away) a couple of kids walking up the street and kicking cars, breaking mirrors and whatever else – seemingly just to be destructive.

Politics are not the greatest here, either, as can be expected in a small place such as this. The good ole boys network is still prevalent with some things and not with others. But many times it is definitely who you know. I imagine many small towns and villages are like this, but when you live in an area, you notice it much more.

Ahhh, a picnic with nature. This is something that you can do around here as there are many picnic tables in local parks. On a summer evening, you can grab some food and go sit in a park, watch the world go by and have your dinner. Delhi’s small park system has grown in recent years and there are several where one can go explore, walk and enjoy being outdoors.

Delhi is a massive part of my life and has been, even when I was away. And, with the latest happenings in my world, I’m realizing it will likely be part of my past soon enough. This area is tough to keep people, as I’ve noted. And I’ve tried and tried to stay here, but things aren’t working out and reality is, I’ll be heading elsewhere sometime.

No matter what, though, Delhi is always a part of me. I’m actually writing this on my laptop in one of the local parks – the Courthouse Square. It’s peaceful and a nice place to go and write and people watch. It’s times like this that I’ll miss when I move on. I have a feeling it would be hard for me to go to a park in a place like NYC and do what I am doing here, without being a bit worried anyway.

The photos I chose for this story aren’t necessarily the biggest or best things about Delhi or the area, but it’s some of the things I always relate with my home area. And it’s the things I’ll take with me when I move on.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your trip through Delhi!

Here are the rest of the photos from my challenge:

Delaware Academy. The local high school and home to the 2001 Class C state champion football team. I have to be honest – I hated my time at this school, for many reasons. But it doesn’t take away that it’s a major part of our town. It’s on a hill and it’s quite scenic from many different parts of the town. The clock tower is something many from this area – whether they stayed or left – will always remember. This shot is also a double-exposure as it has the image of a “welcome to Delhi” sign I had taken, too.

Fitch’s Covered Bridge (black and white) and Hamden Covered Bridge (color) are two historical structures in our area. The two are separated by about 10 miles. There’s another – the Downsville Covered Bridge – that’s about 22 miles from Delhi or so. These bridges are two of about 25 remaining historical covered bridges in New York State. As a big fan of covered bridges, I love being close to a couple as they are constantly a source of photographic inspiration.

Hamden Covered Bridge.

I’m not sure how it is in places where you live, but we have quite a few seasonal roads. Basically, they are roads that aren’t taken care of, say, from November to April. In reality, they aren’t kept up that well in the other months, either. They are rough dirt roads and places where you usually want to only go if you have a vehicle that is higher up off the ground and/or has four-wheel drive.

These blue and yellow signs dot the land all over our state, but there are many of them in Delaware County and in Delhi. These signs identify historical places, houses and lands or historical happenings. They are sources to help us connect to events or places that came before our time.

HooHaa Holga Challenge:

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Foto Friday: Hipstamatic can give wrestling a funky look

Using Hipstamatic at a recent wrestling show gave some really wild images.

A few weeks ago, a couple of us attended a professional wrestling event inBinghamton. The company – Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW) — we went to see is one we’ve seen many times and it’s great action.

This time, however, we decided to get front-row seats for the first time.

With that comes some good things and some bad things.

The good?

The sharpness isn’t always there, but Hipstamatic gives you some cool looks.

You are up close and personal with the action. Several times, wrestlers ended up on the floor near us and some brawling ensued. Brawling at a professional wrestling event – shocking, eh?

The bad?

Sometimes, you are too close. That comes more from the photography type of things for me. I don’t mind sitting back when I am taking photos because I can utilize my zoom lens. When too close, even my “walk-around” lens (a 17-40) is a little too short. But the zoom – a 70-200 is too long.

That makes it frustrating when trying to take photos.

Now, if I had something in between (maybe my 50, but I didn’t bring it with me), it might not be so bad.

I still got a few photos I liked out of that event, but one thing I decided to do was to utilize my iPhone a little. More specifically, I decided I’d see what Hipstamatic could do.

For those who don’t know, Hipstamatic is a really cool photo app. What it does it gives you many different “films” and “lenses” to be able to get different looks and textures. It’s basically the attempt at giving you some cool “old-school” looking images, as if they were taken with film.

I love this app. Especially because you can shake your iPhone and Hipstamatic will give you random pairings of the film and lenses (and, if you are using it, flashes).

Now, I realize that the app wasn’t going to capture action well. It’s not an app for that. But, I thought if the right amount of random combinations occurred, there would be some interesting results.

I wasn’t disappointed.

What is extremely cool about this is the different feel you get with each image. Each lens and film does something different. So, if you have the same film with three different lenses, you’ll get three different images – even if it’s the same exact setp.

The films vary, too. From black and white, to color, to old-school Kodak feel. All the lenses are interesting. They differ from blur to crisp to canvas looking. None are the same, which makes it quite fun.

With Hipstamatic, you get a certain amount of lenses and films free with the initial purchase of the app ($1.99). Then, you have the chance to buy other film/lens combos, usually at a cost of 99 cents each.

This image me think of the old days of wrestling and boxing!

Unfortunately, I don’t have all the combos as I started late with Hipstamatic and some of the ones available for a limited time are no longer able to be purchased. I have 21 films and 23 lenses available to me.

That’s a whole heap of available combinations.

By doing this, it also gave me a different creative outlet. I have done a lot of different things with my photography when it comes to professional wrestling. Yet it will, at times, get old. I find myself looking for the crazy things – chairs, tables, blood etc. I don’t want just the regular old shot.

So, the Hipstamatic feel gave me that chance.

Through this post, there are a few of the shots I took. Below is a handful more of my favorites. I probably took 75 or so shots total, if not a bit more. There were others I liked, but I didn’t just want to have this be a post full of nothing but images.

If you have an iPhone, I would highly encourage you to get this app. Beyond that, there are a bunch of excellent photos apps on the Droid as well. Even if you are as attached to your normal digital camera – as I am – it’s worth a try to put it aside once in a while and see how creative you can get with something else, such as with Hipstamatic.

In the end, you might get some items that make you drop your jaw or smile knowing how cool it worked out.

Here are a bunch more of my favorite shots from that night:

After going through the table!

Using the ref as a shield.

Squaring off

The lighting here makes it kind of cool.

One of my favorite shots from the night.

Arm lock.

Foreshadowing?

Atomic drop!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Foto Friday/30 Days of Writing: First place (15/30)

This post is written in conjunction with the 30 Days of Writing, a blog challenge devised by Nicky and Mike at “We Work For Cheese.” I’ll be participating throughout the month of June. If interested, you can see my post with the details of the challenge. 

Please note that some of these posts will be serious, some will be normal, and some will be an attempt at humor. This one is a little of everything! 

First place.

For those who compete, whether it be in sports or something else, first place is obviously the ultimate goal.

I’m a softball nut. I’ve been playing for nearly two decades and have run a team that entire time. I was still in high school when we started things, so needless to say, we weren’t the best.

Our first Oneonta championship -- 2010.

See, softball and baseball are two different worlds and it sometimes takes time to learn the difference. The swing, the ball and everything else.

We had some tough years early. Soon, however, we became a more powerful team. A contender each year. Our first title should have come in the mid-1990s, but we found a way to give it away each year.

Finally, we won the coveted Brookside championship in 2001. The Brookside title was our local league, one many of us had grown up around. The championship trophy was wood-based with a removable pewter bowl — much like the idea of the Stanley Cup.

That league, unfortunately, soon folded.

We moved to another area league and stayed strong. We made the final several times, but fell each time. We broke through in 2010 and won our first title there. We repeated in 2011.

First place is a great thing. That is for sure.

But the journey getting there and seeing what you can do is so much more of the game.

During my lifetime, I haven’t been on many winning teams. In little league, I won the first year I played and the last year I played. But our “little league” wasn’t a sanctioned league. It was basically pee-wee baseball. I still have those championship plaques though. (My father was one of the coaches on the first one — kind of funny as even he would have told you that he didn’t know much about baseball to coach it!)

In high school, I played soccer and baseball. Neither team was that good. Though the baseball team didn’t suck, we were just in a league full of awesome teams. Soccer was a new sport to our school when I played, so it was the learning experience.

Then there was softball.

Championships are often taken for granted. So when we have good teams, I like to try and do some photos with them throughout the year. Action shots, candids — whatever. The idea is that if we do win a championship, it’s nice to have some other shots from the season.

Though we strive to win, the reality is this game goes beyond wins and losses. We’re all friends who love to play and love to compete. And, in the end, we don’t get paid for it. We play it because we love to. And, on another note, it’s a good way to get out and get some exercise.

A couple of images from our 2010 championship season:

The big guy pitching.

Big swing.

End of an inning.

 

Ready to go!

To the victor go the spoils -- one of our player's wives made these for the team party. Yum!

In 2011, I didn’t take as many photos. It’s not always easy to worry about photos when you are playing and such. Even when I am playing as the designated hitter, I don’t always think to take the camera out (despite, often, me bringing it to the bench).

Our season this year has started off slow. We’re definitely getting a little older and it shows. The younger teams are starting to have their feel of things. Right now, we’re mid-pack.

Will we win the coveted third straight championship this year? Who knows. We have a lot of work to do if so. But, if we don’t, we’ll have a good run, either way. We usually play well come playoffs.

First place, after all, is the ultimate goal. Only time will tell if we keep up our run.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!