• Candid Portraits,  lifestyles,  People/Portraits

    The King and Queen

    January 22, 2011
    The King and Queen

    The temperature this morning in Columbus was -1 degrees and 5:20 am and it is only suppose to reach 20 degrees today. That’s way too cold for this old guy who would much prefer a mocha latte next to a warm fire or maybe a tropical beach. Todays image of the King and Queen, is from a few years ago at a renaissance festival in Larkspur, Colorado. If you’ve never been to one of these events, your missing some  wonderful photo opportunities. You will find smiling faces, people of all sizes and shapes and color, jesters, food, games, entertainment, gift shops, music. What amazed me the most was all the costumes. They were vibrant with colors and works of art themselves. Then when you wrap the costume around a vibrant smiling person we have a great photo. And, let me tell you, it was warmer than today!

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  • Candid Portraits,  People/Portraits

    Melissa

    December 30, 2010
    Melissa

    Look at those eyes! I met the lovely Melissa and her daughter, Riley, for coffee yesterday. Riley is visiting for he holidays so  I needed to see her. I met this mother and daughter team a couple of years ago just after I moved out here. We’ve done hikes and dinners and taken a few photos together. I’ve posted image of Melissa before, like this one and this one. Later on we headed for lunch and proceeded to gorge ourselves with Chinese food, it was Riley’s choice so her fault. It’s always good for a single old man to have two beautiful young ladies sitting at the same table with him. 🙂

    Update on my mother: Surgery went well, routine as the doctors called it. She will spend a couple days in ICU and may go home before the weekend is over. Now comes the slow process of healing. We hope she has the energy and strength to work through a smooth recovery.

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  • Candid Portraits,  coffee shops,  Documentary/Street,  People/Portraits

    The Photographer

    November 2, 2010
    The Photographer

    We landed in Burlington yesterday around noon and were greeted with cloudy skies, temperatures in the mid 30’s and a mix of rain and snow. Not the sort of day to plan a picnic. But heck I’m in Burlington, Vermont and the downtown area of known as Church Street has a fascination with me. As I had not eaten all day I ventured down there with camera in hand looking for a photo or two and a sandwich. I’m glad to say I found both. After a couple of hours of walking the streets, pressing the shutter button a few times and window shopping, I stopped in at a coffee shop. I ordered a hot apple cider as it seemed like the perfect drink for the season and the cold day. Sitting at the table next to me were two young girls. I noticed the one girl raise up a camera and take a photo of the other girl. But wait, something was different.

    The sound I heard when she took the photo was different. What I heard was the shutter and then I heard her wind the camera and cock it for the next shot; it must be film I hear. Turning to look I noticed she was shooting a Canon AE-1. Being the nosey individual I am, I poked my nose in the middle of their conversation and asked a few questions about the camera. I discovered they were high school students and one of them was taking a photography class. The camera belonged to the school and her assignment for the week was to shoot black and white images of family and friends. She enjoys photography and by all indications will for many years to come. Anyway, I asked if I could take a photo of her taking a photo of me. she agreed so here is “The Photographer.”

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  • Candid Portraits,  People/Portraits

    The Mohawk

    September 13, 2010

    The Mohawk

    All along Church Street in Burlington, Vermont, you will be street performers, some of them pretty good. As we watched this street performer my eyes kept connecting with the young man and his mohawk haircut. So, I focused on the young man with the mohawk haircut but tried to keep some focus on the street performer. And, if you look close enough you’ll see that he has a full dark colored beard.

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  • Candid Portraits,  Documentary/Street

    It’s what I felt

    August 12, 2010

    Somewhere in thoughts

    A couple of years ago I purchased a new 70-300mm lens and took to the streets to see how it worked. I wanted to make sure my investment was going to make me a better photographer. 🙂 I’d headed to the old part of town where they have an area setup as a square. It was around 10:30 in the morning when I noticed this young man sitting dejectedly. All of his body language seemed forlorn, telling me life was not going well. I kept my distance and shot this at 300mm. Just after I took this image a young lady joined him. I’d peeked into their lives for a moment and now needed to move on.

    Anyway, the mood of this scene is why I raised my camera to my eye. His emotions and struggle are what I felt. I’m not sure how much attention I paid to the composition of this scene, it was taken too long ago. But, as I study the image, I think my focus was on his body language. There is a sadness in his face. The first time I posted this image I did it in black and white.  Since posting this image I’ve learned more about the  power of Lightroom and how to express more about what I felt when I took the image. So,I revisited this image and place more of the focus on him and tried to eliminate as much distraction as possible. I also added the sepia feel to go along with the mood I felt when taking this image. Again, I ask for feedback on what you think of this version.

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