THE KENNEDY COMPOUND IN HYANNIS PORT

THE HYANNIS PORT KENNEDY COMPOUND

HYPER COLOUR SUNSET ON NORTHWEST ARM

It won't require much of your time to discover the bountiful beautiful sunsets on the Northwest Arm, the waterway which separates Spryfield, Armdale, and Halifax. Beginning at or near Point Pleasant Park, the Northwest Arm is, to a degree, a part of Halifax Harbour. Only, rather than continuing in towards the Bedford Basin, the Northwest Arm stops at the Armdale Rotary Roundabout. Obviously direction helps with any sunset - shooting east just ain't a good method - but the Arm is ideally set up for sunset photography: long stretches of smooth water, stunning homes, slight geography changes along the shore, and plenty of places from which to photograph. Locals would know right off the bat that this picture wasn't taken recently; our skies just don't form these clouds or these colours in October. Late August is the timing answer.

KIDS ON ROOF IN SOURIS, PEI

At the height of the summer of 2009, the best weather arrived for a Prince Edward Island vacation for SC and TC. In SC's hometown of Souris, PEI, the heat of the noonday sun made the only fitting outdoor activity swimming at local beaches like Bothwell, Red Point, and Basinhead. However, after the supper hour, the children of Souris found an entrancing activity looking out over the area where the Îles-de-la-Madeleine ferry docks in Souris. In fact, these little "tourist bureaus" are all over PEI after Pat Binns' budget cuts meant some tourist outreach work was to be done by the communities in picnic huts. But I digress. These boys (and girl) were practicing their gymnastics in a sight that was all too obvious for a beautiful silhouette by SC. And power lines? There's something good about power lines in this photo: a genuine quality that makes the photo definitively Alfresco; something with urbanic rurality.

DINGLE SUNSET

The Northwest Arm is a jut of water which separates Armdale and Halifax proper from the Purcell's Cove Road area. Situated perfectly for sunset photography from either Point Pleasant Park or waterfront homes near Dalhousie University or the Waegwoltic Club or from the Dingle, the Northwest Arm is definitely a section of the Halifax Regional Municipality worth checking out. But wait a second, this sunset picture is from the bottom of South Street looking toward the Dingle. That would be.... south. Well, some sunsets are overpowering - and this night was indeed just that. Editing, however, never hurts the cause.

THREE LLAMAS

Over a week spent on Prince Edward Island involved just one drive on the road through Kinkora, Newton, and Shamrock. On a steep downward left-hand sweeper, SC's father decided to make a quick u-turn for pictures of a field full of llamas. Included were a handful of timid llama babies (cria) and a large pack of adults who weren't at all afraid of the photographer. Llamas were reintroduced to North America later in the 20th century and there are now over 100,000 on this continent. Llama and alpaca farms are common on Prince Edward Island. The three llamas seen in this picture stand near the crown of a hill about 10 kilometres from the Northumberland Strait.

SUNSET ON THE NORTHWEST ARM

Arriving at our photography scene, the tide was in so far at the bottom of South Street on the Northwest Arm in the south end of Halifax that ulterior scenarios had to be developed. Creeping onto a rocky hedge in a very wealthy person's backyard, SC grabbed this sunset of the Armdale area through a small fence and tree-lined ridge. Take note of the chains travelling from the dock to the water - it's amazing what shows up silhouetted and what is sharp and detailed.

NORTHWEST ARM SUNSET

A strikingly easy silhouette pose popped up right in front of SC's eyes before arranging the camera, pressing the timer button, and heading for a pose. What's this? The art is the artist? Had the picture not turned out so well, this would have simply been the requested photo for our families. Instead, the ball of sun that appeared just minutes before it fell out of sight and the green-hill-turned-black in the foreground all managed to turn the artists into art, indeed.

VOTE FOR TGCG AT HYPERCUBE.CA

Nissan's beautifully modern Cube is an automobile of a different kind. So simple and clean; there's an obvious connection with AlfrescoPhoto. Differentiation - above all else - is essential both with the Nissan Cube and SC and TC, your favourite photographers. The picture you see here comes straight from the little blue cube's life; a life you can follow at www.wherebluecube.blogspot.com. Yet to be seen on TGCG's Hypercube canvas, this foretaste shows the little blue cube in a place where the real Nissan Cube could and should be. Carmichael Street, very near the Grand Parade and the Halifax Metro Centre, looks straight up at one of Halifax's most distinguishing structures, the old Town Clock. Photographed late in the afternoon from the middle of the street, the little blue cube makes one wish badly for the real deal. Register to vote for AlfrescoPhoto's male force here and find TGCG's Hypercube canvas here.

SUNSET OVER DOWNTOWN HALIFAX ROOFTOPS AND CITADEL HILL

Looking at Citadel Hill from the roof of a parking garage doesn't sound romantic, but with a sunset that turns clouds this colour, any location is romantic. The rooftops of hotels and office buildings and historic buildings, with their HVAC systems and peeling paint, look pitiful in the light of a sunset over Citadel Hill. Not that this sunset needed pitiful architecture to heighten its greatness.

KEJIMKUJIK SUNSET

Like the photo of a Kejimkujik sunset with two swimmers talking near the shore, this alarming sunset was seen from Jeremy's Bay inside the national park. What's better, the colour of the sky or its reflection upon the warm August waters? Setting the stage for what was to come, this sunset was only the predecessor to a night sky of such clarity that more stars appeared overhead than the Alfresco Photo Duo had ever seen.

KEJIMKUJIK NATIONAL PARK TWO SWIMMERS

Over the span of two days in August of 2008, SC & family witnessed a spectacular sunset and the clearest starry night any of them could recall seeing. Just as darkness was about to fall, SC silhouetted her brother and TC against a sunset at Jeremys Bay.

TIMBERLEA 24 HRS AFTER STORM

After returning TC's sister-in-law and nephew to their home in the Halifax suburb of Timberlea, the sky was still showing the ferocity of a storm that brought thirty centimetres to the region as clouds fought the sun for dominance behind the trees that give Timberlea its name.