I took these last fall in Boston — my continued obsession with shutter speed. It wasn’t a busy afternoon, so there weren’t a lot of people walking by to get a group (which was my hope). The ducks in the back are in honor of the book “Make Way for Ducklings,” by beloved New England children’s author and illustrator, Robert McCloskey.
It was one of my favorite books growing up (I still call all pairs of Mallards Mr. and Mrs. Mallard) — but my absolute favorite McCloskey book is “One Morning in Maine.” It was one of the only books I had where a young girl is the protagonist. She goes hunting for clams, loses a tooth, and takes a boat trip to town with her little sister and father. As a child, I adored it — the pencil drawings, the characters, the story — part of my life-long obsession with seaside life.
When I started dating Paul, I was surprised to find a copy of it on his bookshelf and opened it to find that it had been autographed by Robert McCloskey. Signed just to Paul. An early sign our fantastic match.
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For more of my photohunt, go here.
For more information about photohunt and links to many more, go here.
Phyllis | 02-May-09 at 7:14 am | Permalink
Holly, Make Way for Ducklings and One Morning in Maine are two of my favorites, too, but I didn’t discover them until I became an elementary school teacher. Robert Mcloskey was a national treasure for sure. There’s an esxcellent video about him that I used with my classes. I’ll see if I can find it online.
Love,
Phyllis
gorgeous nelly | 02-May-09 at 7:28 am | Permalink
Very unique take for this week. I played this week too and it’s at http://prettyfabulous.blogspot.com/2009/05/photo-hunt-15-walking.html. happy weekend.
Amy K | 02-May-09 at 9:10 am | Permalink
My comment has nothing to do with this post. I just wanted to tell you how delightful it is to visit your blog and, moreover, how clear it is to me that you are destined for great things. It also makes me miss you. Do you realize it’s been something like 7 years since I saw you? And I have never met your kids. If you are ever in the DC area, please let me know! Yes, I have wanted to get to NOLA for ages…we’ll see if I can make that happen.
srp | 02-May-09 at 4:25 pm | Permalink
With it being the mating season.. we have seen new little goslings and ducklings around here. They are perfectly precious, just as depicted in the books. Love the motion of the people in the shots.
Mine is up here.
alejna | 02-May-09 at 6:50 pm | Permalink
I love those shots! Very, very cool. I also like to play a bit with slow shutter speed.
I should also investigate One Morning in Maine. We have Blueberries for Sal, which also has a female protagonist.
Oddly, I don’t think I have ever actually read Make Way for Ducklings.
Kelly | 02-May-09 at 10:25 pm | Permalink
I love the “ghost” effects of the slow shutter speed. A very interesting take on this week’s theme.
kitty | 03-May-09 at 11:25 pm | Permalink
Great shots. We have a place around here with bronze ducks just like those in the photo.
Tina | 05-May-09 at 3:44 pm | Permalink
Cute shots of the ducks. We had ducks in the neighborhood where I grew up, but none where I live now. I miss the ducks.