Category Archives: Photos-Lord of Leisure

The Maroon Bells (click on image to enlarge)

The Lord of Leisure¹ Photo Gallery

The Lord of Leisure writes:

This a different perspective on the often photographed Maroon Bells,² near Aspen, CO. I used a telephoto lens to compress the depth of field between the peaks and the trees in the foreground.

1. Lord of Leisure was previously known in these posts as Mr. Science. Both Lord of Leisure and Mr Science spend most of their time disguised as Neil Ellis, mild-mannered, retired teacher at a great suburban school system, who can identify a bird by its call, complete the New York Times Friday Crossword in ink, and snap a heck of a photo. [↩]
2. “The Maroon Bells is a mountain in the Elk Mountains that consists of two peaks, South Maroon Peak and North Maroon Peak, separated by about a third of a mile. South Maroon Peak, at 14,156 feet, is the 27th highest peak in Colorado; North Maroon Peak, at 14,014 feet, is the 50th highest. A National Park Service sign on the access trail refers to these mountains as “The Deadly Bells” and warns would-be climbers of “downsloping, loose, rotten and unstable” rock that “kills without warning”. Unlike other mountains in the Rockies that are composed of granite and limestone, the Bells are composed of metamorphic sedimentary mudstone that has hardened into rock over millions of years. Mudstone is weak and fractures readily, giving rise to dangerously loose rock along almost any route. The mudstone is responsible for the Bells’ distinctive maroon color. The Bells got their “deadly” name in 1965 when eight people died in five separate accidents.” Information excerpted from Brainy Encyclopedia [↩]

Artist's Bridge - North Bethel, Maine (click on graphic to enlarge)

The Lord of Leisure¹ Photo Gallery

The Lord of Leisure writes:
This covered bridge spanning the Sunday River is located about four miles northwest of North Bethel, Maine. As this excerpt from the Maine.gov web site indicates, we were not the first to discover its charms:

That a scene is heavily photographed and painted, of course, does not mean it is ideal, can’t-miss subject matter. On the other hand, that multitudes of others have photographed and painted this bridge does not negate or detract from its beauty.

1. Lord of Leisure was previously known in these posts as Mr. Science. Both Lord of Leisure and Mr Science spend most of their time disguised as Neil Ellis, mild-mannered, retired teacher at a great suburban school system, who can identify a bird by its call, complete the New York Times Friday Crossword in ink, and snap a heck of a photo. [↩]

Camden Harbor (click image to enlarge)

The Lord of Leisure¹ Photo Gallery

The Lord of Leisure writes:

This is a telephoto shot of Camden Harbor in Camden, Maine, one of the most picturesque of Maine’s coastal towns, taken from Mount Battie. The key to capturing this scene, at least to my eye, was exercising the patience to wait 2-3 hours for the afternoon sun to approach the horizon to take advantage of the mix of light and shadow.

The photo below is a panorama of the same scene.

Camden Harbor – Camden, Maine [Click on graphic for view of larger image]

This is the view that (as every English major and New England tourism director will inevitably point out  if I don’t)  inspired Edna St. Vincent Millay in 1917 to write Renascence, a poem that opens with a description, distinguished by its exquisite pairing of rhyme scheme and meter, of this easily recognizable scene:²

All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked the other way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I’d started from;

1. Lord of Leisure was previously known in these posts as Mr. Science. Both Lord of Leisure and Mr Science spend most of their time disguised as Neil Ellis, mild-mannered, retired teacher at a great suburban school system, who can identify a bird by its call, complete the New York Times Friday Crossword in ink, and snap a heck of a photo. [↩]
2. The complete poem is available at Bartleby.com [↩]

Stone Bridge At Garvan Woodland Gardens Near Hot Springs Arkansas

The Lord of Leisure¹ Photo Gallery

The Lord of Leisure writes:

These two pictures were taken at the University of Arkansas Garvan Woodland Gardens near Hot Springs, Arkansas. The 210 acre site, located on a peninsula on Lake Hamilton, was donated to the School Architecture by Verna Garvan and has been transformed into a formal botanical garden that is both renowned in academic circles and visually spectacular to visitors of all backgrounds.

In April, the stone bridge in the mottled afternoon light offered a fascinating and oddly provocative subject, and the azaleas’ almost luminescent colors were irresistible.

Garvan Woodland Gardens

1. Lord of Leisure was previously known in these posts as Mr. Science. Both Lord of Leisure and Mr Science spend most of their time disguised as Neil Ellis, mild-mannered, retired teacher at a great suburban school system, who can identify a bird by its call, complete the New York Times Friday Crossword in ink, and snap a heck of a photo. [↩]