• People/Portraits,  Self-portraits

    January 21, 2011
    Contemplative Mood

    On a cold and snowy day last week I played with some self-portraits using soft window light, then played around in Lightroom and made spaghetti with hot Italian sausage. A productive day? And, yesterday I finished a trip just as it started snowing, yes more of the white stuff, and watched it continued throughout the night leaving 4-6 inches in it’s wake. Along with that the snow came cold temperature, 9 degrees this morning. I didn’t want to get out of bed but there is a ton of stuff to get done before moving.

    I dropped off my old car for a tuneup and to get 2 new tires put on before I leave on the 31st. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and 2 days of travel will find me home. While they worked on the car, I walked over to one of my favorite coffee shops in Uptown Westerville where Ashley, one of my favorite baristas, made me a hot chocolate to warm me up. I have had a lot on my mind the past few days. Making lists, making plans, making phone calls, having address changes, getting papers done for my badges at the Denver airport, parking permits, etc.

    Hope everyone has a good weekend! Here’s my self-portrait in black and white. If you really want to see a far more interesting subject in black and white, check out Mark Grafs post here. Be sure to enlarge the image and check out those eyes. It rocks!

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  • Cityscapes/Urban,  lifestyles

    No Hangover

    January 19, 2011
    Play a Game?

    Now that I don’t drink, I very seldom patronize bars thus eliminating hangovers and memory loss. However, after a nice BBQ dinner with my crew we walked next door to a bar to quench the thirst for those desiring one of those brews. The place was empty except for one lone patron sitting alone at the bar. After pulling together a couple of the half dozen empty tables and chairs, we chose a few songs on the jukebox and pitchers of beer were ordered. On one side of the bar was a side room with wood paneled walls surrounding a well used pool table. The photographers eye within me was immediately drawn to the light filling this room. The light was from one wall which was all windows. On the opposite wall hung a rack holding an assortment of cue sticks of varying weight and length. My mind was off and running as I grabbed cues sticks and balls. With camera in hand I walked around the table taking all the “shots” I wanted. And, without a hangover.

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  • landscape,  snow

    Simplicity

    January 17, 2011
    Simplicity

    As I have practiced it, photography produces pleasure by simplicity, I see something special and show it to the camera. A picture is produced. The moment is held until someone sees it. Then it is theirs. Photography, alone of the arts, seems perfected to serve the desire humans have for a moment — this very moment — to stay. – Sam Abell, Stay This Moment : The Photographs of Sam Abell by Sam Abell

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  • landscape,  quotes,  snow

    Shadows Cast

    January 15, 2011
    Cold Shadows

    A photographer must be prepared to catch and hold on to those elements which give distinction to the subject or lend it atmosphere. They are often momentary, chance-sent things: a gleam of light on water, a trail of smoke from a passing train, a cat crossing a threshold, the shadows cast by a setting sun. Sometimes they are a matter of luck; the photographer could not expect or hope for them. Sometimes they are a matter of patience, waiting for an effect to be repeated that he has seen and lost or for one that he anticipates. Leaving out of question the deliberately posed or arranged photograph, it is usually some incidental detail that heightens the effect of a picture – stressing a pattern, deepening the sense of atmosphere. But the photographer must be able to recognize instantly such effects.

    Bill Brandt – “Camera in London”, The Focal Press, London 1948, p. 16

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