Friday, April 25, 2008

A Strange Ring of Reality


As we end this week I wanted to share two quotes that I find kind of disturbing. The first was from the early 80's - a time when we didn't have a clue, or was not taught, about the effects we have on our environment. The second is just plain funny - although it has a strange ring of reality.

"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"
— Lee Iacocca,

"When President Chirac gave [President] Bush a souvenir statue of the Eiffel Tower... Bush said 'This is great! A little oil rig!' "
— Jay Leno

Thursday, April 24, 2008

What Have We Done

What have we done to our environment? Here are a few of my favorite photos along with two timely quotes.

"For 200 years we've been conquering nature. Now we're beating it to death."
— Tom McMillan

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not."
— Dr. Seuss


Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Mother Earth

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~Native American Proverb





I'm digging into my achives, showing you the beauty of planet Earth.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Earth Day

What a week!
Didn't have too much time to take a lot of personal photos except for this past weekend. Boy, you know it's spring when we get weather like this - sunny one day, rain the next. Welcome to Mother Earth and her version of Earth Day.
I love taking photos in all kinds of weather. But I have to be honest that rain is my favorite. The quality of light and the subtle colors really make the photograph.
Here are two examples - one taken of Saturday, the other on Sunday.


Sunday, April 13, 2008

Vision and Creativity

After posting an image per day for the last week I thought I would be more energized in taking photos. What I’ve discovered is that photography can’t be forced. It has to be something that just happens – at least for me. I like seeing things in a different light; in a fresh way, but it has to come naturally. Many of the photos from the past week have been from my archive. That’s not a bad thing, just something I didn’t expect. I wanted to take some new images, but the opportunity never seemed to present itself. Yes I did take my camera with me, but there was no real goal, no vision. I was looking at everything without really seeing anything. I felt forced to “produce” something.

Now I could have said, “I suck! I’ve lost all feeling for photography”. But this experience has helped me realize how I take photos and how my vision impacts my creativity. Vision should not get in the way of creativity. The two can, and should, go hand in hand. This is not something new for me, but it took a week’s worth of looking but not seeing to have it penetrate my conscience.



So, this past Saturday, I incorporated this new found realism into a photo shoot of two black labs owned my Karen Smith, a photo editor with The Discovery Channel. I had a vision of what I wanted, but didn’t let it get in the way of my creativity. If something didn’t look exactly the way I wanted, I adjusted my vision to compliment my creativity. I just let it happen.

Included here are some images from the shoot.



Friday, April 11, 2008

Morning Coffee

“It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. I bet this kind of thing does not happen to heroin addicts. I bet that when serious heroin addicts go to purchase their heroin, they do not tolerate waiting in line while some dilettante in front of them orders a hazelnut smack-a-cino with cinnamon sprinkles” -- Dave Barry

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Falmouth, England

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside" -- Mark Twain

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Soho, New York City

"It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story" -- Agatha Christie

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Manasas Battlefield Park

"You come to nature with all her theories, and she knocks them all flat" -- Renoir

Monday, April 7, 2008

Bryant Park, New York City

"There's no retirement for an artist,
it's your way of living so there's no end to it" -- Bono