Spent the day at the 30th Annual Somersworth International Children’s Festival yesterday.

Let me preface this post by saying that “event photography” is not exactly my forté. Especially at events like this one, the backgrounds are busy no matter which way you turn, there’s next to no control over lighting situations (it’s not like you can ask them to move their entire booth over here where there’s nice open shade …), and if you blinked you missed it. Nevertheless I think I got some interesting photographs.

Here they are setting up in the morning:

The people came and looked:

The Humane Society had a booth where the kids could visit with dogs that need adopting:

There were ‘train’ rides:

A parade with Chinese dragons:

and clowns:

and this guy:

The Cub Scouts were there with a Pinewood Derby track:

Wipeout!

There were booths with face painting:

Clowns doing balloon sculptures:

“Make your own Princess Crown” kits:

Here the kids (and their parents) could learn about Pakistan:

This little leopard is checking out spices from the rainforests of Belize:

At another table there were traditional toys from eastern Europe:

Over here they could see marvels made by modern technology:

This young lady was displaying her paintings (can you believe she’s an EIGHTH GRADER!?!?!? What talent!):

In the “It’s a Small World” department, these kids ran into their favorite teacher:

Among all the other interesting people was this little diva, who just HAD to stop and pose for the camera:

and of course there was music:

and magic … gotta love Audience Participation performers!

All in all it was a great day! I didn’t even get sunburned!

I look forward to seeing you at next year’s event!

This past weekend, it was my honor to participate in the first annual “Amy In Bloom” fundraiser auction, organized and held by Amy’s Treat, benefiting the patience of the Seacoast Cancer Center.

There was music,

food and wine,

lots of people,

and a few other locals.

An auction, of course, must have items,

and bidding

This one had a wonderful auctioneer with fun games like “Heads or Tails”

… congratulations to the winner! (She got a $100 gas card!)

Thanks a ton to all the donors and participants at this year’s auction. We raised a lot of money (I don’t have totals as of this writing) to help ease the burdens of cancer patients and their families, and we look forward to an even greater event next year!

I know I’ve been neglecting my blog posting lately … shame on me. With all the upheaval lately — the town condemning the apartment building I was living in, having to move to a temporary place on the beach, then having to search for and move into a new place, the death of my mother in January, and several trips back and forth to Salt Lake, and gearing up for the summer season — it just seems to have fallen through the cracks.

Now that things are settling down a bit again, I can catch up.

Here’s a selection of photos from recent sessions:

This young lady loves the movie Happy Feet

And her sister loves her

This fun bunch chose to have their session at one of my favorite places in Salt Lake, Sugarhouse Park

This young man is one of my favorite subjects ever … so energetic, expressive, dynamic, and full of life

(Mr. Beach Patrol Meanie, here are the pictures you were so eager to see!)

The north end of the beach gets farily rocky. When the tide goes out, seagulls gather to harvest the little critters that have gathered there.

There’s one particular rock formation just before the last smooth, sandy patch of beach that leads up to the rocky point at the far north end, that even at high tide juts up out of the water.

Over the millennia, the unrelenting, rhytmic action of the waves has carved it’s unmistakeable signature into the rocks, and myriad sea flora and fauna gather to find shelter there.

This alluvial fan in miniature was left by water escaping from behind a large rock at low tide.

Softer striations in the rock faces are more readily carved away by the sea water, leaving patterns both fascinating and beautiful.

Here, a Not-So-Grand Grand Canyon

played home to tiny crabs and snails.

They’re taking over the beach! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Flocking in droves

being sassy

kipping a nap

or begging for treats.

the beach gets more deserted. The kids are back in school, the parents go back to work, and the beach prepares for Autumn.

The few late-season stragglers leave their mark on the beach, in the form of sandcastles. Perhaps not as large and impressive as the professionally built ones, but spectacular in their own right.

A walk on the beach is always an interesting affair.

The unrelenting rhythms of the tide break on the rocks

washing out footprints

leaving flotsam and jetsam behind

leaving mesmerizing patterns of rippled sand behind

bringing death to sandcastles

and giving the little children something to frolick in.

After much waiting and wringing of hands and twiddling of thumbs … my new Leica VLux-1 is finally here! And what a perfect day to test it out!

Today was the annual Hampton Beach Children’s Festival Parade, led off by the fire department:

and followed by masses of kids and families in costume:

The band wagon supplies music:

The announcer introduces the new Miss Hampton Beach 2008:

followed by the winners of the costume/float contest. This one was the judges’ favorite (it being the 100th anniversary of the Hampton Beach Village District, and all!):

all the while, as will be the case with such events, some find it tremendously exciting, others become utterly bored:

This old saying of pilots held true for my trip back to New Hampshire, after a week of visiting family in Utah. Got there in plenty of time, sat around and waited for the11:45 departure time, then lo and behold, this shows up, complete with a grumpy desk attendant:

Reading material exhausted by a 2 hour delay, this fellow finds a place to kip a nap:

There still is, however, the occasional spectacular view from the airplane, once things get airborne.