Peter Otis Photos

Guilford’s “Celebrate Generations Jubilee” – topped off with colorful blasts!

A clear and brisk day here in town made for a perfect setting as Guilford began its year-long 375th celebration,  From an aerial photo of about 1000 folks on the Green, to cultural and play-filled activities around the Green at the Community Center, the Library and the churches, to a big bonfire and impressive fireworks celebration… it was a fun-filled way to end 2013 and get ready for 2014.

The planning committee from our town created a perfectly scaled day similar to what is labeled as “First Night” in some locations.

You are invited to see 3 Picasa Albums I have produced, showing 3 phases of the day:

  1. Guilford 375th group photo on the Green
  2. 375th afternoon activities 
  3. 375th evening- bonfire and fireworks

  A couple sample shots for you to see…

Guilford 375- Group photo on the Green

 

Guilford 375- Fireworks over Christ Episcopal Church

 

Thanks for letting me share this with you.

Happy New Year!

Peter

 

Guilford, CT’s 375th celebration begins tomorrow

Greetings to each of you,

It’s time for me to begin sharing periodic updates about my photo activities in addition to what can be found at the more static Peter Otis Photos website.

And how about beginning 2014 with this new blog AND a big celebration? Our town of Guilford, CT kicks off its 375th celebration (yes, incorporated in 1639) with a big New Year’s Eve party on what is probably the most lovely town green in all of New England.

For this special Guilford year our family hung our collection of Guilford ornaments — many that were created using designs by now deceased artist Rufus Bishop. What is equally cool is that they are hanging on a chandelier we bought about 20 years ago here in Guilford at the Old Guilford Forge shop.

Tuesday should be an exciting day for capturing images of the planned events!

Peter

IMG_5866

Guilford ornaments

Gallery: Places

Southern New England & NYC Gallery

Northern New England & NY Gallery

California Gallery

AZ/ NM/ NV/ UT Gallery

Middle Atlantic incl. DC/ MD/ VA/ WV/ PA Gallery

A comment about my places shots:

“The travel shots I’ve seen I’ve enjoyed.    Maybe you choose the kind of places that we would choose, but the places look like we’d want to go there. ”

-Click on any image to view images larger in a scroll-able slideshow and availability for sale.

Southern New England & NYC Gallery

After living most of our lives in Northern New England, our home is now CT and the majority of our time is spent in Southern New England.  NYC is a place to visit.

Human-made and natural structures beckon to me to capture them in their best light.

Images in this gallery are all special places: along County Road, Guilford in foliage and maple sap seasons; a glacial erratic along the shore of Lost Lake, Guilford, CT; almost 3 years of demolition, excavation and construction plus some recent images of Yale’s Platinum LEED Kroon Hall that houses the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT;  interior windows of Trinity Episcopal Church, Branford, CT; Green Animals Topiary Gardens, Portsmouth, RI; winter along the Lieutenant River at the Florence Griswold Museum, Lyme, CT; and winter on the East River Preserve, Guilford, CT; a sunrise and a sunset at Point Judith Light,  and vistas of the Great Salt Pond, Narragansett, RI; a summery front porch in Guilford, CT; the Guilford, CT First Congregational Church and Parsonage; late afternoon along the West River from Olmsted Outlook, Guilford, CT; and one of the exhibition tents at the Guilford (CT) Agricultural fair;

Northern New England & NY Gallery

Although we lived in the Northeast Kingdom of VT at one point, NH and ME are the states that draw us back to family and for restoration time.

Locations of current photos in this gallery: Monhegan Island, ME ( a special spot that is one of the most concentrated photographic attractions anywhere for me); Bethlehem, NH; North Haven, ME; and Crown Point, NY.

California Gallery

Orange County and “SoCal” is a different world.  But there is loveliness everywhere for me to try to capture.

Current photos in this gallery include: The Chart House Restaurant, Dana Point, CA; Balboa Park, San Diego, CA; Orange County’s Great Park, Irvine, CA; Florence Joyner Olympiad Park, Mission Viejo, CA; Tanaka Farms, Irvine, CA; and Joshua Tree National Monument, CA.

AZ/ NM/ NV/ UT Gallery

Our trip to this region in hot, hot June 2010 provided visual treats in many ways, one of the most significant is being immersed in reds and browns and blues and other colors that are so different to our day-to-day colors in New England. It was a feast! A few days in July 2011 in New Mexico, has made us even more eager to return to space West of the 100th Meridian.

Locations of current photos in this gallery: Hoover Dam, AZ; Marble Canyon, AZ; Sedona, AZ; Grand Canyon, AZ; Santa Fe, NM; Jemez State Monument Heritage Area, NM; Carson National Forest, NM; Las Trampas, NM; Taos, NM; Las Vegas, NV; Zion National Monument, UT.

Middle Atlantic incl. DC/ MD/ VA/ WV/ PA Gallery

Time spent in our nation’s capital and in the area where WV and MD meet has provided me an opportunity to capture images that also reflect the beauty of nature and structures, and in some cases, people interacting with their surroundings.

The pictures in this gallery were taken at The Washington National Monument, The Duke Ellington Memorial Bridge, Mama Ayesha’s Restaurant,  The National Building Museum and other sites in Washington, DC; and at Antietam National Battlefield, MD.

Gallery: Plants

The plants gallery (including one of Dale Chihuly’s lovely ceiling floral displays from The Bellagio) contains photos from the following places: Clinton, Old Lyme, New Haven and Guilford, CT; Las Vegas, NV; Sedona, AZ; Mission Viejo and Joshua Tree National Park, CA; Middletown and Portsmouth, RI; Santa Fe and Taos, NM; New York, NY.

-Click on any picture to view images larger in a scroll-able slideshow and to see about sales availability.

Comments about the plants and nature I have captured:

“Perspective— (You) find the “extra” beauty in nature—maybe something we all look at but you see and capture something more.  I remember the Bishop’s Orchard apple trees, early morning pictures—I could feel them in my fingers, imagine the aroma, the hue and the light you caught them in bumped up “pretty” to enchanting.”

“The most memorable is the bluebird snacking on the red berries—what a shot!  The bird and the berries are stunning alone, but together, bird mid-air, outstanding!”

 

Gallery: People

I love taking pictures of people- both impromptu and more formally.   Adults and kids of all ages tell wonderful stories… of the foods and places they love…. of the sports teams and activities their families value… of the work they do on a daily basis…  Pets and other animals also seem to fall nicely into this gallery!

This gallery contains photos taken in: Laguna Beach and Carlsbad, CA;  Las Vegas, NV; Guilford,  Branford, and New Haven CT; and Narragansett, RI.

-Click on any image to view images larger in a scroll-able slideshow and to see about sales availability.

Quotes and thoughts about my capturing people:
“People- Yale students, kids, families, church groups, meetings—you do a good job mixing up the shots – the young, the old, male/female, important to reflect a heterogeneous group and you do that. Some of what you caught in Trinity Church’s Holy Eucharist Book shots, showed the spirituality in ordinary people, very personal, moving actually”

Gallery: Plus Other Gems…

The “Other Gems” gallery is a collection of additional images I want to share with you.

The photos in this gallery were taken in:  Guilford, New Haven, Old Saybrook and Branford, CT; Irvine and San Diego, CA, Narragansett, RI.

-Click on any image to view images larger in a scroll-able slideshow and availability for sale.

Gallery: Praise

I’D LIKE TO SHARE SOME KUDOS WITH YOU:

General Observations:

“1st, one of your great assets is your discerning EYE — the sense and sensitivity to selection of subject, interpretation of subject stemming from your adroit sense of composition, and capturing of the nuances of light and light effects. Just phenomenal!
2nd, I always respond to the way you make any subject you select dramatic whether it be dramatic in the “dynamic moment” sense or the quiet drama of a seemingly inconsequential subject. You possess quite an extraordinary sense of place, and you bring them all to life!
3rd, I always marvel at your awareness of color and color in light. Regardless of how bold or muted, the harmonies and contrasts are always stunning.
4th, your broad range of subjects and themes is quite remarkable, although I must say I have a personal preference for your nature, architectural, and people sense.
Lastly, your ability to capture and convey mood, the emotional temperature of a scene, the “feeling” conveyed by a subject is a remarkable gift and skill.”
  1. “As F&ES celebrates the fifth anniversary of Kroon Hall, SAGE Magazine shares a wonderful photo essay by Peter Otis, former director of the Career Development Office, that captures the construction of the building — and the men and women who built it.” This Week at Yale F&ES, February 18, 2014,
  2. “Wow, are these photos ever BEAUTIFUL! So peaceful. What light! Mr. Jefferson would have felt duly complimented!” (Art History professor re: photos of the Yale Divinity School quad.)
  3.  “Soooooooooooo juicy and plump, just bursting with vitamins!!! My mouth is watering. Thanks for sharing these simple blessings that call us back to the preciousness and the richness of life — like good friends.” (re: mother and young son strawberry picking at Bishop’s Orchards)
  4. Re: Gozzi’s Thanksgiving turkeys – “these are incredible but they look like they should be Easter Turkeys!!!”
  5.  “Great news that your photographic eye and extraordinary ability to translate landscape composition, light effects, and weather conditions into evocative images is being recognized more widely. 
  6.  “Peter this is wonderful – about time you showed off your incredible talent!!!”
  7.  ” I like your choice of the view of Central Park featuring the complementary lines and silhouettes of the cherry branch and the wrought iron fence!”
  8.  Re: Gilbert Stuart birthplace in Saunderstown, Rhode Island –  “Thanks so much for sending me all this background on Americana and Impressionism. You really are helping me teach my Arts of the USA tour.”
  9.  “OK, Peter, keep rubbing it in with these beautiful photos that we can’t grow the diversity of hydrangeas that you folks south of us are able to enjoy. Just lush!” (re: oak leaf hydrangeas)
  10.  “Looking at almost any Peter Otis photograph makes it difficult to believe his life does not revolve around a camera.” Bob Pollock, The Shoreline Times, April 15, 2008
  11.  “The photographs of open space properties acquired over the years by the land trust are a blaze of color and serenity and beauty. His photographs have a quality that is especially remarkable because he is blind in one eye and therefore lacks depth and peripheral perception. He is also color blind. But the perceptiveness and vividness of his work makes those conditions irrelevant.” Bob Pollock, The Shoreline Times, April 15, 2008
  12.  From the same newspaper article:  “Peter does a spectacular job capturing the most beautiful places in Guilford,” said Guilford Conservation Land Trust Vice President Sarah Williams.  “He truly loves the places he shoots and it shows in all his photographs.”The land trust has 2,600 acres it has acquired for open space, Williams said, almost all of it purchased with donations from its 1,800 members.  “People all too often don’t get to see the wonderful property the land trust owns,” said GLCT Treasurer Red Erda. “Peter’s pictures give them a preview of why they should go walking in the woods.”

Gallery: Photos Shop

Welcome to my Peter Otis Photos’ Photos Shop!

FLOWER PICTURES (and many others) FOR SALE

Peter Otis Photos, LLC is readily available to take pictures for you

and to offer you images of favorite scenes that I have already captured!

Areas of focus: On- Site Professional Social Media Portraits – Families – Children – Engagements – Small and Large Meetings and Events – People at Work – People at Play – The Built and the Natural Worlds – Architecture – Real Estate – Landscapes – Seascapes.

More and more of my images are now available for sale through this Photos Shop using FotoMoto as the order processor.  More will be added.  If you would like to order any of the images that can now be processed through the Fotomoto.com system, select them and the request will come to me for fulfillment. Your order will be filled with copyright statements removed from the actual image.

Please contact me anytime (peter@peterotisphotos.com) with any questions.

Please also contact me with requests for special projects, events, and favorite iconic sites you would like me to photograph for you.

Peter

 

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    Contact Peter in Guilford, CT USA

    peter@peterotisphotos.com

    Contact Peter Otis Photos, LLC to undertake commissions and capture events, people and iconic sites and sights for you.

    Areas of Focus: On- Site Professional Social Media Portraits - Families - Children - Engagements - Small and Large Meetings and Events - People at Work - People at Play - The Built and the Natural Worlds - Architecture - Real Estate - Landscapes - Seascapes.

    Click on my images to determine if they are for sale through my Photos Shop .

    "What it is like to work with Peter –- easy, collaborative, delivers! I’m lucky and grateful."