I took a few photos of Hospital Hill in Northampton last week. I used my 50mm for these shots. Some of them were manipulated and some were not.

• I didn’t mean for the first photo to come out the way it did. I’d had my camera’s White Balance setting on Incandescent (I think) and this is what happened. Pretty cool, eh? My favorite part is the look of the half-open window on the top row. To me it looks like an old photo you find in a history book.
• The second photo’s cyan was punched up a little to bring out the contrast of the sky and the roof.
• Neither of the smaller photos was manipulated, except I did some cropping to the one on the left.
• The 50mm is a beautiful thing.

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Just this week a new producer started working here. One of her hobbies happens to be photography. Before she started I emailed her about doing some photo safaris on our lunch breaks from time-to-time. She is much more experienced than I am, so I am somewhat shy about showing her my work. Plus, she is a Canon girl who enjoys making fun of my Nikon! But, whatever, it’s just a hobby and I can only get better with practice. We’ve already gone on our first adventure — the MassLive parking lot. Her jawdropping photos are here and a few of my less-than-awe-inspiring photos are below (and after the jump). I really want to learn her little Photoshop tricks. Maybe if I’m nice to her she’ll show me.

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We’ve been taking to walks on Ashley Reservoir (three times in the past week-and-a-half). I’d never been there until this month, which is an unbelievable factoid. Other factoids:

1. Matt and I have devised a rock-kicking game. The object of the rock-kicking game is to kick a rock down the path as we go along. Whoever kicks the rock into the water loses.

2. The one thing I hate about Ashley Reservoir right now is the bug-swarming problem.

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Tony Pierce linked to this great photo essay featuring soldiers’ graffiti in bathrooms in Kuwait in Afghanistan.

I posted my photos from the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day parade. Here they are. I haven’t had a chance to process the photos from the Bob McGrath show, but look for those soon. If you know me on facebook, you can also check the parade photos there.

This weekend we have a couple of fun things going on. First up is a show at Smith College with Bob McGrath and one of my favorite kids in the whole world - Maddy.  Despite the fact that her mother is pumped about the idea of her daughter getting to perform in a show with Bob from Sesame Street, Maddy was not quite so psyched as of a couple of weeks ago. Her mom thinks it’s because she has to dress up in a not-so-flattering duck suit (if I am remembering this correctly). And Maddy confided in me that she hopes none of her schoolmates will be in the audience. I’m sure the opportunity to be on such a big stage in front of a big audience will turn her around. She’s quite the showperson.

Sunday is the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Holyoke - arguably the city’s biggest day of the year. The weather is supposed to be real nice and it’ll be a great photo subject. Plus, we’ll have Pat’s dog with us. How nice to be a dog owner for a day!

Matt, Amy and I checked out the New York International Auto Show over the weekend. It was a lot of fun and I suspect that Matt will have more to say about it in his blog soon. For now, check out my photo gallery.

My favorite car was the Jaguar XK (not pictured in this entry, but it is here in the gallery). At 75,000, it’s a real bargain! I also enjoyed the Smart Car and the Mini, but the Jaguar stole my heart. The photo in this entry is of the Maybach, which is apparently the car that rappers drive, or something.

This weekend Matt and I head to the auto show in New York. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in cars, but Matt is a bonafide fanatic. It’ll be fun to see him in such an environment. And with Amy and me there, you know there will be lots of photos.

I’m excited to see what the 2009 Honda Fit looks like. Just this week I had a dream that I was in a Prius. It was really nice in my dream, but didn’t have a lot of leg room. I can’t wait to sit in a new one and stretch out my legs.

Uploaded using facebook photos plugin. Check out my facebook photo galleries here (imported using the fotobook plugin). I am into the facebook plugins, because I already use facebook to upload my photos and I like the idea of having an integrated social network where I can share photos, but also communicate with my friends in other ways. I think this is why I’ve resisted flickr and other photo sharing sites.

And to think we all used to use a phone to organize our social lives.