351 in 365
Re-presenting Massachusetts Through the Lens.
About Me
I remember my first camera. It was a rectangular, aqua, point-and-shoot device — Kodak, I think — that took 35 mm film. I had asked for it as a Christmas gift; I must have been 11 or 12. Compulsively, I documented every moment of any significance: birthday parties with friends, parades, every three minutes of the Red Sox game. Over the past four or five years, my focus has shifted from people to nature. In some ways, nature has more personality.There are countless spots in MA that are quintessential New England. And this area is so damn beautiful, why not capture as much as I can? Over the course of a year, I’m visiting all 351 municipalities in Massachusetts and sharing what I find.
Sounds like quite and adventure – will look forward to sneaking peeks as you go. (Thanks for visiting my blog)
Thanks, Karen! I appreciate that and look forward to reading more on your blog as well!
Thanks for visiting my blog
I look forward to tagging along yours!
Thanks, Mimo. I love your set-up with the slideshows — very nice work!
Love your idea! Let me know when you head for Spencer – my daughter and son-in-law are up there, and he’s lived there his whole life. There are some really great old buildings – and local characters – that would make a good post.
Clicking the follow button!
Thanks, Marie — fortunately, Spencer just barely fits into the “mid region” of Massachusetts that’s easier for me to get to, so I’ll keep you in mind as I plan that leg of my journey. I wanted to leave you a comment on your pie blog but something funny’s going on with my comments tonight — I can’t comment on other people’s blogs at the moment. I just wanted to say that I love your close-up shots and your amusing step-by-step. Looking forward to your next blog!
It’s there, Mel, but it wound up in my spam filter. I found it this morning. Probably has something to do with you having more than one link in your replies… Glad to have you along, and I’ll keep following you, too!
Oooh, thanks for telling me that! As far as I know, I only sign my comments with the one link from my blog here. However, I got more visitors than usual yesterday. So, when I got home from work, I was catching up with more of other people’s blogs than usual. So maybe I commented with my link enough times in a smaller time period that WP thought I was a spambot? I’ll clear out my cookies and see if that helps. If it doesn’t, I guess I’ll stop signing with the link. But I promise you that I’m no spambot! Looking forward to keeping up with your blog as well!
Hello from a fellow Massachusetts girl! I look forward to the post(s) about Chicopee (where I grew up) as well as Beverly (the place I’ve called home for the past 20 years).
I think your quest is a wonderful idea and as you’ve already suspected, will yield many unexpected feelings and connections! Good luck!
Thanks for the follow! And yes — there is beauty in the unexpected. Especially in nature. I loved your last blog, especially the snow-covered wreath.
Hi, I get here because you liked one of my posts. So I decided to check your blog too!
That’s a nice project you have, I’ll stay tuned. Greetings from Switzerland
Thanks, Ines. Best of luck, though I don’t think you’ll need it…I’ll be keeping an eye on your work as well.
An interesting sounding project. I lived in Massachusetts (Needham and Andover; I still have an aunt and uncle who have places in Weston and Mattapoisett) when I was a little kid, way back in the early 1970s, so it’ll be interesting to read–and view–your spin on Bay State municipalities.
(Thanks for visiting my blog earlier today, BTW.)
Kerry Mark Leibowitz
Thanks for stopping by, Kerry. I’ve lived in MA most of my life, save a 7-year gap for college, work after college and the occasional vacation. I really liked your last post — sometimes, it’s worth it to dig into the archives to see if we can make something old new again.
Great work, Blog and Imagery
Doug Worrall
Thank you for sharing
Thanks for the compliments, Doug!
Mel
Thanks for visiting my blog! Really like your idea…beautiful scenery.
Thank you so much…by the way, I love your header image — nice contrast of colors.
Fantastic imagery and a wonderful blog! Thank you so much for sharing your talent!
Thanks, Scott — I appreciate that!
That is a great idea to photograph all the 351 municipalities. Should bring you lots of adventure.
Thank you! So far, so good!
I shall look forward to following your success, Mel.
Terry
Thanks, Terry — love the title of your blog, by the way.
Thank you for visiting my blog recently, Melissa. I think visiting every town in Mass. is a great Idea! I can’t wait until you do the Monson/Amherst area. I’m in the Norcross family and Emily Dickinson’s mother was a Norcross, so we’re (distantly) related. Monson also had the terrible tornado last summer, which unfortunately destroyed part of the town. Here’s a link to Monson if you’d like to learn more about it. http://www.monsonhistoricalsociety.org/emilydickinson.htm
Thanks, Allen — I’m having fun with it! I do remember finding out that Emily Dickinson had lived in several Massachusetts towns while I was doing my preliminary research for this blog. Having been an English major in college, it’s great to hear from someone related to her! I hope that you and the rest of Monson are doing better now.
Thanks for the “Like” on my blog post today. I love photographing nature too, though it’s damn hard – I don’t know about you, but I have to take at least 50 photos to get one decent one! I’m not familiar with Massachusetts – only ever been to Boston, and driven there and back from Vermont in winter, which was very beautiful. Best of luck with your project.
Thanks, Fiona. I guess I can say the same about Seville — I travelled to Spain once, but was only in Sevilla for a day or two — and it was a beautiful place. I’ll be taking a look at your Andalucia Web site shortly!
And I agree whole-heartedly that it often takes at least 10x as many shots to get the one.
Hello, Mel – I saw that you stopped-by and liked a post of mine…thank you!
Also, I think your idea of visiting all of the municipalities in your state is wonderful…what a challenge…and you’re taking to it beautifully…thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Scott — such kind words. The photos on your last post really grabbed my attention. Can’t wait to see what else you come up with!
Hi, I just came over from Marie’s blog My Little Corner of Rhode Island, and loving your photos, great subjects and great blogging
Oh, I adore Marie’s blog. And thank you! I’m away in western Massachusetts with limited access to the Internet at the moment, but I promise to take a closer look at your blog when I return home — I like what I see so far!
Hi Mel. I nominated you for the “Kreativ Blogger Award.” Here’s a link to the entry on my blog: http://lightscapesphotography.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/kreativ-blogger-award/
The “terms” of receipt are included in that post. I know that some folks see this sort of thing as a nuisance rather than an honor and, while I don’t feel that way I can understand why others might, so if you’d prefer not to deal with it, as far as I’m concerned, simply disregard the whole thing.
Regards,
–Kerry
Thanks, Kerry. Truth be told, I have mixed feelings about these nominations. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy the recognition. On the other hand, the awards seem a little chain letter-y. But it can’t hurt to recognize our peers, and find out about some new blogs in the process. So I guess that tips the scales.
I’ll think on this, already have a few in mind…
I get your point; at first blush there does seem to be something of a pyramid scheme to the “rules” of these awards. But upon further review…there are apparently more than 20 million blogs on WordPress–and who knows how many blogs hosted by other services and means–worldwide, with the number increasing by the day. It does seem to me that most of the people who are recipients of these awards put some real thought as to whom they “pass the honor” along to and the result is that followers are exposed to a set of worthy blogs that they otherwise, in all likelihood, would never know existed.
So, all-in-all, I think the enterprise stands up to utilitarian scrutiny.
I agree…after some conversing with myself, I’ve come to the same conclusion. I actually like reading other people’s nominations because it has led me to some wonderful blogs.
Hello there, I’ve been following your blog and truly enjoying it! I’m nominating you for the 7×7 Link Award. http://becomingmadame.wordpress.com/appreciation/
A belated thank you for the nomination, my friend. My apologies; I’ve been on a break from my blog. I’ll be acknowledging this a little later this week. Thanks again!