BH Neely's Photography

Xmas Sky, Hanover, USA

The sky on xmas day in Hanover, PA was pretty incredible.

Preparations, Hanover, USA

My mother-in-law likes to be well-prepared for the invasion of xmas guests. We were legion, and in little more than a week, she got her counter back.

Look! A Shadow! Greece (Don't know where)

Looking up at an awning on yet another gorgeous day.

Market Basket, Athens, Greece

Coming home from the market in late August.

Cotton, Athens, Greece

Need watermelons, onions, potatoes or cotton? This was early to mid October.

Happy Winter Solstice Celebration (whether you call it Festivus or Solstice or Christmas or Hannukah or Kwanzaa or A Day Trapped With My Crazy Family).

Planter Dog, Athens, Greece

Sitting at a cafe, enjoying a cappuccino after a trip to the meat market, we were joined by this dog who decided the planter was a great place for a late morning nap.

Homeless Kitten, Athens, Greece

Near our apartment there's an abandoned lot that's home to a fairly large troop of homeless cats. One evening as we were saying hi to them, this little guy decided to aggressively get his scent all over my shoe.

Lemons, Studio, Athens, Greece

Again with the Swiss Army Knife. But this was for 5 seconds, and I only lit it from the one side. This was a fun shoot.

Lemons, Studio, Athens, Greece

Isn't it amazing what you can do with a single LED on a Swiss Army Knife and 10 seconds?

Hand-carved Steps, Meteora, Greece

Remember a month or two ago when I talked about monks carving steps into the cliffs at Meteora? This is what I was talking about. These steps aren't much wider than your foot, and certainly not as wide as your hiking boot, running shoe or Birks. And the old sandals are essentially flip-flops of fairly smooth leather. It made me wonder how many of the monks died for their beliefs without even confronting heathens and pagans and Muslims.

Shadow, Monemvasia, Greece

It's been waaaaaaay too long since I posted a shadow picture. Though this is technically a light picture, since it's a window behind me reflecting onto the wall.

Public Spring, Makrynitsa, Greece

Shooting digitally makes me very, very, very trigger happy sometimes. On the trip to Meteora and Makrynitsa, with a stop at Delphi, I shot 441 pictures. It was a two-day trip. Three years ago, we went to Italy for 3 weeks, and I shot 480 pictures - 40 rolls of film. What's the point? Sometimes it takes that many to find what I'm looking for. This one was the 40th picture I shot of the public spring in Makrynitsa's town square. There are a couple others I like for specific views of it - just the mossy center, just the reflection, just the spouts of water - and there are several shot from different directions, but this one gives the best overall look at everything.

Do you see the little copper pot hanging by a chain on the right side of the spout tower? That's the common drinking vessel. The cool, fresh water is worth sharing your lips with everyone else. Or you can just dip your hand in the water. But where's the fun in that?

Grassy pathway, Makrynitsa, Greece

Yeah, sometimes I can't help myself, and I take the most obvious pictures.

Pathway, Meteora, Greece

At first blush, you might think this wearing away of millenia of lichen growth was caused in just the past hundred years or so by tourists. But it's the path the monks follow to get to their hilltop bell tower, two, three times a day.

Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Solar System, Milky Way

Beauty like this makes it easy to see why the ancients ascribed special powers to the heavens, and why modern people want so badly for there to be a god. So beautiful, it almost (but not quite) has to mean something.

Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy

The moon, Venus and Jupiter were in a nifty alignment on Dec. 1. I heard in passing that they won't all be aligned this closely for another 50 years or so. Do you see how shaky the picture is? Even with a tripod, the vibration from the traffic below and my finger on the shutter button (with the mirror locked up) were too much. There's nothing quite as slow, clunky and vibration-prone as a 500 mm f/8 mirror lens. But when I can get a shot like this, I don't  mind. There's a less-jittery shot coming in a couple days, but I like this one for the view of the dark side of the moon (which makes me want to sing).

Peloponneses, Greece

Somewhere on the way to Monemvasia from Nafplio, we drove through some mountains that made me very happy. I love driving around corners like this.