Where The Fun Begins

I was in Savannah over the weekend and took a few moments to take some "fun" shots(not that they all aren't fun to take...) I find it relaxing to take some time off, walk the streets and see what's there. When you open yourself up to experiencing all that a town has to offer you'll be amazed at all the angles and design qualities there are.


I think we spend way too much time looking straight ahead and not enough time looking up and down - that's where the fun begins.

In the Details

Taking advantage of what you have in front of you is, I think, one of the true pleasures in life, and one that I hold dear to my heart.

I have a friend who flies planes, not for a living - just for fun. She invited me to fly with her and take some photos. This was a great opportunity to explore something that I know little about. My goal was to get into the essence of the design of a plane - the curves, angles and details. We usually view planes from a distance and therefore see the whole instead of the its parts. Here is what I saw.




For more images visit my web site under "new work" (here).

Exploring: asking lots of questions, getting answers and being inspired. That's what life is all about...

Before and After

BEFORE

Above is a recent image that I shot in Vermont. I normally don't put a lot of Photoshop techniques into an image. I might add some blurring, use levels or curves and add a vignette, but here I decided to push it a little to see what I could come up with. I like pushing the envelope when shooting but rarely on the processing end. I like the result - see the "after" image below.
This is a mixture of changing the contrast, adjusting the saturation, adding a B&W layer and changing the mode of certain layers.
This might not work for every image, but it certainly added some "pop" to this one.

Let me know what you think!

AFTER

Vermont Tourism

Spent a week in Vermont shooting people in the environment - specifically at Quechee Gorge. It rained almost every day which created some pressure to get the shots I wanted. One nice thing about an overcast sky is the great quality of light when shooting in the woods.

The project was to capture real people enjoying the beauty of Vermont. It's titled "You Could Be Here"

Here is a selection images. You can see more on my web site under "New Work" (here)

Irony

Move to New York and have spent more time out of the city than in. That's irony.
Now I'm in Vermont. Everything is on hold due to the rain. But all is good. I had a chance to stroll and take some macro shots of water droplets and other nature details.
There's always something to take photos of if you are willing to stop and look around.

A Break From NYC

Last week I was on location in Charleston, SC. I've never been there so I took some time to walk around and see the sites. What a change from NYC - quiet, no people, easy parking, yards and most surprisingly hard to find a cup of coffee at 8am (at least from what I saw). It was nice, however, to wander around without a particular goal. Just taking photos of what caught my eye. Beautiful architecture, manicured lawns, ornate iron fences and very old churches (for American standards anyway...)



As I drove to Charleston I passed many marshlands. I couldn't resist stopping a few times to take photos. The storms were amazing and the morning fog simply beautiful.

Note To Self...

When on a roof, bring your cell phone…

There were a few miracles moving up to NY. Got out of DC 1.5 hours earlier than expected, traffic was fairly light, unloading was a breeze and finally parking a 15 foot van on a Saturday in SoHo was surprisingly easy. Something had to give. It just had to...


On Sunday Kate and I decided to go for a walk. It was a beautiful day – sun shone brightly, 85 degrees, with a light breeze. Kate wanted to show me the roof top. Walking up the stairs I thought this will be a great place to sit and read, brush the dogs and get away from the hustle and bustle of the streets below. We opened the door to a bright, white tarred roof – so bright in fact we could barely keep our eyes open. First mistake – not bringing sunglasses. We roamed around, admiring the view, talking about where we wanted to go for a walk. Ten minutes later we decided to head downstairs. We went to open the door, locked. Kate looked at me, “What the hell are we gong to do? I don’t have my cell phone.” Now I NEVER carry my cell phone when on walks – it’s my time and I like getting away from technology (I’m re-thinking that strategy). But this time, for some reason, I had it with me. Talk about a look of complete and utter amazement from Kate. Now we had to and remember the phone numbers of our neighbors’ and hopefully find them home, on a Memorial Day weekend. We left two messages and the third was the charm. It took him ten minutes to get to us, by we were off the roof, a little blinded and very hot.


We’re not quite sure what we would have done if I didn’t have my cell phone with me.
Scream for help most likely. And in NYC that doesn’t get you very far.

So what did I do - Naturally I took some photos.

A New Blog

Even though the look is similar, I am starting a whole new approach to this blog.
I have just moved to the Big Apple - land of stress, smog, traffic, people, people and more people - but I love it!
So this blog is going to be about my thoughts and impressions of this land of concrete.
Titled "Notes From NY", I'm going to try to discover - through words and photographs - what makes it tick.
So stay tuned!!

Discovering

A beautiful, warm day.
Sun shining and a glass of ice water in front of me.
This is why I love taking my camera with me everywhere.
You never know what you are going to discover.

Taking Stock

Taking stock in myself. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now. I have had images with JupiterImages, but since they were bought by Getty I took my images off their site. Call me crazy, but it was a matter of principle.

When things are slow I don’t like to sit and pout. I search for things to shoot. This is what I love about photography. It keeps me active, searching, thinking – it keeps me alive. Because of this I am now having resurgence in photographing for stock. Being able to capture a mood, an expression or a moment is what photography is all about, and that is what I want to show in my stock images.

Stay tuned for a new web site and a stock site featuring images from New York City.

Patience

Notes on a page have always been something that has eluded me. I remember when I was in seventh grade, my music teacher ask me to read some notes written on the board. I told her I couldn’t; I didn’t know how - I had never been taught. “Haven’t you taken music before?” “Yes” I said. “Everyone can read music!” she screamed.
After that I never had the patience to learn. But then again I was never given a reason to. This hasn’t stopped my love for listening to music. The variety of notes and they way a musician can intertwine them to make a song amazes me. I really wish I could play an instrument and be creative in that way. I wish I was taught the patience to learn.

Knowing is something that has to be taught and not expected. Patience is something that is learned – some are born with it, but most have to be taught.

Patience is what photography has taught me. I’ve had great teachers who instilled a sense of love and yearning for that perfect moment. Waiting for what Henri Cartier-Bresson called the “decisive moment” gives me a thrill that is hard to explain. It isn’t necessarily about capturing the moment – it’s about the search for that moment. I guess it would be something like what a musician experiences when he or she hits the notes just the way they had expected. Or trying something new and experiencing a tingling in the body that says you are on to something special.

This is what I love about photography. It gives me a reason to search and learn. It helps me feed the curiosity I have about everything around me. Notes on a sheet of paper are once again interesting. I still have no idea what they mean or say, but I now have the patience to learn.

Tunnel Vision

I was speaking with Kate the other day about the photo industry. We chatted about the economy and how photographers are dealing with the slow down. Now there are times when it is completely frustrating to talk about the photo business with someone who doesn’t know much about what we do. And other times it can be quite enlightening. Let me explain: I am the type of person who always looks towards the future - the glass is Always half full. I believe in what I do and think I am a good photographer who will someday make it (what ever that means…that’s a discussion for another post). Anyway, I have a vision of where I want to be and how I'm going to get there. The only problem is that I tend to get tunnel vision. And this is where Kate comes in. I rarely look from side to side to see what other options might be out there. I've learned that success is not a straight line. There are detours, road blocks, hazards and forks, all of which need to be thought about, discussed and sometimes taken. We need to see these as opportunities, not as hindrances. I've found that keeping my eyes looking straight only endangers where I am going.
Focusing on the future is a good thing – having tunnel vision while you do it is not. This is the enlightenment you can get from listening to others.

Keep It Moving

Sometimes change is a difficult thing to handle. I know of a few photographers who have decided not to embrace the fact that we have to change our way of thinking and their work will suffer because of it. During this economic downturn it is, now more than ever, essential to have a plan that can guide you and help you understand where you have been and where you are going. Why some don’t get this I couldn’t tell you.

I’m trying to take advantage of the downturn – shooting more, calling clients (both new and existing), setting my yearly promotional schedule, visiting New York City at least once per month and creating a realistic budget. Thinking positively is essential for my survival. Without it I feel I will just shrivel up and fad away. For me the glass is Always half full. Be proactive – Be positive – Look at the future and see how bright it is.
This is what APA/DC is trying to instill. Our latest Brown Bag events are geared towards the Business of Change where the focus will be on how to adapt and survive. This is one of the most essential skills photographers now need.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from Will Rogers:
“Even if you’re on the right track you’ll get run over if you just sit there”

Once we stop changing and adapting to our environment we cease to exist.
We have to “Keep it Moving” even in bad times.