Figure 1 – Granites on the beach, Madison, CT. (c) DE Wolf 2016.

As I am writing this blog I look over my shoulder to my right and see the outdoor temperature on my patio, 86 deg. F. That crosses this New Englander’s comfort zone, which lies somewhere between 76 and 80 deg. F. For me this is hot!

Beyond personal disconfort, I have to say that it is certainly time, people, to take in your Christmas decorations. June is no time to have lit-up Santa’s on your roofs or holiday wreaths on your doors. It smacks perhaps of the slothful.

Now I have to say that I know of at least one reader and co-Masschusettsian who is rejoicing, probably by her pool. And that is the very point. When it gets this hot and humid our thoughts naturally gravitate towards the water. My thought are at the beach and by the ocean. It is a Herman Melville put it in his Moby Dick “There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.” To quel my yearning, I am going to post today this image that I took a while back of granites on a beach in Madison, CT.

I am always torn when photographing stone. Should I do it in color or in black and white? For these particular granites I was struck by the wonderful pink coloration. Granite is an intrusive igneous rock, which means that it cools slowly deep beneath the Earth. This slow cooling gives the mineral crystals time to grow – hence beautiful texture and mineralization.

Canon T2i with Lens    EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 70 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE MOde, 1/800th sec at f/13.0 with no exposure compensation