Spring was ready to reveal itself on the 187-acre Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Noyack, New York. During our two-hour photo hike sponsored by the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach, patrons walked among the wild birds and beachfront, a peninsula in part surrounded by Noyack and Little Peconic bays. Managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the refuge is a part of the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
A visit to living history in a Greenport, NY barn reveals that “blacksmithing is still alive and well,” according to Tom Barry, Village Blacksmith. “There is no threat to blacksmithing,” he said.
On weekends in the historic maritime whaling port you can find Barry “smithing” over a hot anthracite coal fire in the Front Street barn where he works on weekends. That barn, from East Marion, was moved to the site of the original blacksmith barn in view of Greenport’s marina.
Barry often hears visitors making an inaccurate claim that his is a lost art.
“We don’t exist in this form,” he says–referring to the living museum from which he works–“where you walk around the village and might see two or three blacksmith shops working all day. Now, we’re just farriers who drive to the barns who shoe the horses; toolmakers who work out of buildings in their backyards, and professional blacksmiths who have hybrid shops doing forging and welding, all doing beautiful architectural work. These businesses are all over.” –Miranda Gatewood
Outdoor Photo Trek, first of three treks, March 17, 2021, sponsored by East End Arts, Riverhead, NY and led by instructor Miranda Gatewood. Images from three hours of personalized attention touring stunning Eastern Long Island locations for landscape and still life photography. Thanks to Patricia and Elizabeth for signing up and for their strong support of photography programs. Sign up for the next two at eastendarts.org
The PhotoPlace Gallery of Middlebury, Vermont offers monthly, juried photographic exhibitions to photographers worldwide, each with a new topic and internationally recognized juror. The present show, “Life in the Time of Covid-19” is at once provocative, timely and timeless.
The eerie solitude, a forced hibernation in the time of Spring’s natural awakening, bears down upon us. These conditions created a darkness and gravity to my present work, seen here.
Through the month of November 2019, the Madelle Hegeler Semerjian Gallery will host a solo exhibit of my work entitled Dreamscapes. It chronicles photography’s ability to sanctify the natural environment and explores the photographer’s intimacy with the subject.
The exhibition represents more than decade of work done in New Hampshire, Long Island and Upstate New York.
The gallery is located at the Rogers Memorial Library, 91 Coopers Farm Road, Southampton, NY. An opening reception will be held on November 1 from 5-6:30 pm.
This week’s trek visits the grounds of the Horton Point Light, a simple but noble structure that watches over the Long Island Sound from Southold, Long Island. Weekends within the season offer tours and a climb to the top if you choose, but on a weekday at this time of year, we will have the opportunity to venture without the crowds and experience this place ensconced by the mystique of its history. Outdoor Photo Treks with Miranda Gatewood is sponsored by EastEndArts.org
September 7th’s Photo Safari–thanks to the North Shore Public Library in Shoreham–toured Peconic’s Catapano Dairy Farm, famous for goats, their milk and all manner of goat milk products, as well as 8 Hands Farm, a working farm in Cutchogue. Those eight hands belong to mom, dad, sis and 15-year-old Max, who showed us around. Lastly, we climbed to the top of Horton Point Lighthouse in Southold and got a green-fresnel-lens-view of the Long Island Sound.
It’s a maze only in name; not the kind of maze that will challenge your escape. This Mattituck, Long Island seasonal feature is the first stop for a new group of Fall Outdoor Photo Trekkers, a 4-part photography workshop that I conduct through East End Arts, Riverhead, NY. Learn more at East End Arts.
And, if you did forget how to get back to your car amid a sea of golden sunny faces all pointing the way, it’s because you were so enamored with the view, as were all who frolicked with you. Don’t worry; there are plenty of bags of North Fork Potato Chips for sale if you fear being marooned.
Join Miranda Gatewood on an Outdoor Photo Safari Photo Shoot sponsored by the North Shore Pubic Library on Friday, Aug. 23 from 10 am to 1 pm. Free. Essential photo instruction with personalized attention. Bring your camera, provide your own transportation. We will meet at the surprise location in the images above (the library will give you location and directions once you register at 631-929-4488). Non-cardholders are welcome. Registration a must.
MIRANDA GATEWOOD 