Broken Cork Photography

Sister's cat.

2012-03-06T19:21:00.001-05:00

The crumbs of my young mind.

2012-02-19T12:21:00.000-05:00

I was going through some old stuff of mine and found this doodle. It's dated 1982 which means I was in the Coast Guard stationed on the Island of Nantucket. We stood long 'watches' and I remember sketching to break the boredom.
I'm not sure whats going on here. It looks like I started out with still life and then lapsed into fantasy, ending with a naked lady riding a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
This is how a disturbing number of my daydreams end. :-)

Randomonium

2012-02-06T18:53:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a while so here is a gallimaufry of recent photos.

My beautiful and dangerous wife prepares a shrimp dish for various occasions which I always find camera worthy. I first posted a picture of it on this blog back in 2005. She hooks the little crustaceans on the rim a of this giant wine glass and puts lettuce and cocktail sauce in the middle. We had a super bowl party and she assembled one. *Yay Giants!*

We have grown to love the falling waters hike along the Hudson. There is always lots to see.

The perseverance of a tree busting through a rock on the river bank.

I did some photoshop work for my cousin in law Mike. If your wondering why Leonid Brezhnev is getting hooked in the ear by an angler read Mike's blog post here.

And finally I caught a shot of this feral Shih-Tzu recently while on assignment in Tibet. I was able to snap this shot and get back to the safety of my Land Rover before it's vise-like grip severed my jugular and I bled out.

Running wild. .

2011-12-30T11:33:00.000-05:00

I was feeling a bit melancholy so I grabbed my camera and took a walk in the woods. I cleared my head of convention and discipline and became primeval with my lens.

Vines

The Skys were egging me on. .

The green in an otherwise grey woods stood out.

The vines were freaking me out. (IR Filter)

Spool (HDR)

The cover of another. . book!

2011-12-24T11:44:00.000-05:00

My prolific and talented Cousin Carolyn has written another excellent book. It's a cozy mystery about the murder of a teacher. Although Carolyn had dismissed my offer to proof-read it as "probably counterproductive" she has allowed me to do the cover art.

I urge you to check out her books. This one and many of her others are available on Amazon:

No Substitute For Murder

When we first collaborated on this I suggested a black board and Carolyn pointed out that they haven't used "black" boards in years. Ok, a white board then. Then I thought "a white board ought to be easy to photograph." Not so much. White gives you no refuge to hide your mistakes. Another "lesson-learned" was that food coloring doesn't wash off that well. I used my own hand for the blood stain and I walked around with a pink hand for a few days. When people asked, and I tried to explain, my words sounded so much like a lie that even I didn't believe it.

Me - Very hard at work.

I love doing this.

Weekend Whimsies

2011-12-11T15:20:00.001-05:00

I was going to call the post "dicking around on a Sunday". I felt like playing with water again.

I thought this shot looked better on its side.

" Surveillance "

My neighbors house through my peephole

More water drops.

Drip.

I used a thickening agent "guar gum" in the water to slow the drops. I think I needed warmer water to fully dissolve the powder. But, I like the particle effect.

Full Moon I took last night. 12/10/11.

Times Square

2011-12-09T09:34:00.001-05:00

Had to go to NYC for work. I was on a tight schedule but I smuggled my camera and made some photos on the way back to the train.

I'm a sucker for a city scape.

Train ride home. . .I think I'll call it "The Text".

Falling Waters Preserve Hike

2011-11-19T18:38:00.001-05:00

A friend at work told me about a good hike that was pretty much in my backyard. So my wife and I slapped the leash on the dog and took a walk. It was kind of late in the season for the fall color wow factor but it was a great little hike anyway.

Random Weekend

2011-11-13T18:36:00.001-05:00

Bad hair day for my dog

2011-11-03T19:14:00.000-04:00

I try to resist waving around the the bazillion photos I take of my dog. Sometimes it's because she's doing something so cute that I want to capture it and other times she's the only one who will sit for me and my annoying hobby, but she finds herself in front of my lens a lot.

Today it was because I got a new lens for my camera and I wanted to try it out. It's a Nikkor 50mm 1.8D prime lens and it seems like it will work well for portraits. Thank you Chanel for posing.

Walking the Dog

2011-10-22T15:45:00.003-04:00

Some random walking the dog shots

'FALL!! *Jazz Hands*'

'The Rule of Thirds'

'These Chains'

My 2011 Autumnal Photo with an IR twist

2011-10-21T15:12:00.003-04:00

Playing with the colors of fall with an infrared filter.

Without IR

I'm Published! Wahooo!

2011-10-01T11:49:00.001-04:00

My talented cousin Carolyn J. Rose is an author of many great books. A while ago she approached me about doing the cover art of one of her new books. I jumped at the chance figuring it would be challenging, educational and most of all fun. It was all three.
The book takes place in the 60's and is about the journey of a young broken hearted woman who is dealing with the loss of her sweetheart a Marine M.I.A. in Vietnam. Without giving a spoiler I'll just say it's a great read.

I enjoyed the whole creative process. Concepts were conceived, tried, discarded or metamorphosed into the final image.
The kindle version is out now and the book is going to print.

The mountains (and cliff) are the Catskills which was taken on a hike last year up Huckleberry Ridge which I posted about here. The rose was stolen from my neighbor Stephanie's garden (thanks for not pressing charges Stef.) and the dog tags were my fathers from WWII.
This was a blast and I look forward to doing more!
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Cape May (our yearly excursion) 2011

2011-09-18T11:45:00.000-04:00

Click on photos for larger images.

My beautiful (and dangerous) wife and I took our yearly trip to Cape May. Cape May is comfort food for us. It's an old pair of shoes that fit just right. This is our 11th year going down to the Jersey Shore.

I wanted to start out with this shot because I love it. THIS WAS the actual color of the sky. We took a late afternoon walk on the beach and this storm skirted by offshore. I was chatting with a crazy beach man who was building Aztec temples in the sand and even he said in all his years he has never seen a sky like that.

Geek Speak: I was playing around with HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. HDR requires that you take multiple photos with varying degrees of exposure (bracketed shooting) . You then use the areas that best suit the tonal background. It's not a new process. Ansel Adams dicked around with it in the darkroom years ago. It's now gaining popularity because it's so dynamic. I was giving it a try with the above post photo.

Beach shot.

Beach,bird shot. . . .birdshot?

The beach debris seems to be screaming "don't leave me!" to the outgoing tide. .. .

In a macabre moment I took this - I call it "Dead Horseshoe Crab" .

We always walk around Cape May after dinner. Since we went late this year the crowd is sparse.

This is the Cape May Congress Hall. It's where the important Cape May legislature is conducted. The price of beach tags and saltwater toffee output decisions are discussed within these hallowed halls.
Geek Speak: Playing with high ISO for night shots.

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We spent a little time by the pool. The weather was beautiful and hot. I tried the popular photo project of shooting a series of your immediate surroundings.
Do you see how I put a positive spin on my laziness there?

_________________________________________________________________________________
THE ZOO

Every time we travel here we pass the the Cape May Zoo sign on the Garden State and say "we should check out the zoo sometime". This time we made good on our arbitrary comments.

My bird photos came out the best. The problem with zoo photography is the layer of cages they have around the more interesting animals, it plays havoc with your lens.
I would jeopardize my safety for a better photo shot of the snow leopard, and I'm sure these ladies with the baby strollers would agree. . .are you with me ladies!?. . .. . .ladies?

The Albino Alligator (which would be a great name for a trendy bar).

Geek Speak: I found using an IR filter worked great for the zebras. When you think about it they're pretty monochromatic in their color scheme.

I was going for the heart shape formed by two goose necks (awwww). But this couple was just not feeling it that morning. The girl goose was probably irked and the guy goose was probably oblivious.
Hey, I've been married 19 years. I know these things.

And the hotrod of the bird world. .. the Toucan.
The Zoo was actually beautiful. They did a great job and it was free. I'm glad we went.
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And you thought I was kidding about the crazy man building Aztec Temples on the beach.

Irene Sky

2011-09-01T18:49:00.001-04:00

This was the sky outside my house Sunday night after Irene.

If you see the underside of tree leafs it means rain. In this instance that was correct.

This was an ominous “turd cloud” That showed up after Irene.

Rainy Sunday Meanderings

2011-08-14T14:35:00.002-04:00

The chores are done and now it’s a rainy Sunday. I decided to play in my workshop. I have read that photography is a study in light and the more years I play with a camera the more that rings true. I had some vague images of light bulbs, lenses and reflections swimming in the shallow end of my brain but, I really didn’t have a clear objective as I began. I sallied forth .

I’ve had a thing for light bulbs lately. I played with one on a past rainy Sunday project so I slipped it into this project as well. It’s tricky to get a light bulb to light when it isn’t screwed into a socket but I have had enough electrical training to pull off that stunt without any serious fire damage to my house. I put the camera in there for a couple of reasons, one is I’ve always loved the look of a camera. To me they’re works of art. Now with the technology shifting to digital the old 35mm film SLR’s are getting that funky ‘steampunk’ look to them. The second reason for the camera is the lens was doing some wild things with the reflection of my ring flash.. ..and the glass of wine. .well a glass of red wine has the curves of a woman and the color of a rose.

I really couldn’t get enough of those reflections. This is the lens of an old Kodak Retina that I have.

A little light bulb infusion.

MACRO-mania.
I dusted off the macro lens and played around a little.

I love the macro lens. . .I gotta find an ugly insect. These beads were tiny.

LONDON VISIT

2011-07-27T12:27:00.002-04:00

London was a beautiful city that I would certainly visit again. The people were just fantastic. They were friendly, funny and accommodating.

This was our hotel foyer. The Grosvenor. Great place, located walking distance from Buckingham palace. We were told that sometimes the Queen stops by and if she’s into her cups she will bang out some Jerry Lee Lewis on the ivories. They say her “Great Balls Of Fire” is spot on.

The hotel was right around the corner of Victoria Station. I love these London taxis. I wanted to take one home. They remind me of the French deux chevaux that my French friends were trying to talk me into buying and ship home. But that’s a different story.

Buckingham Palace: I have a similar coat of arm on my gate. Well, not so much my gate as my mailbox, and not really a coat of arms but sticky letters that spell ‘Rose’.

I wanted to venture inside and get a closer look but this guy said that it wasn’t a good idea.

These Palace guards were a trip. During my brief military career I remember standing at attention. I remember that IT IS NOT FUN. These guys do it for a living.

It is probably my age speaking but some of these guys looked young. I swear this is the same kid who bagged my groceries at the market last week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he could run me through with that bayonet without much problem. .just sayin.

Here is Buckingham Palace. It kind of looks like a library out front but I’m sure it’s cozy inside.

The Changing of the guard: Around 11 o'clock the crowds thicken and the fanfare starts. At my job we call this ‘shift change’ and instead of carrying Royal Gurkha rifles the workers march in with large Dunkin Donuts cups.

At one point my view of the ceremony was obscured by the crowds. When this happens I turn my camera on the spectators.

I guess it’s the voyeur in me.

The ceremony continued. This guy was bringing over the keys to the mini-bar to the incoming guards.

The local press was there, checking their blackberries between takes.

In London you have to do a double-decker (hop on, hop off) bus tour. This guys comedy needed a bit of a dust-off. Also, you see the London skies have appeared.

Big Ben, River Thames.

London is a very modern as well as a historical city. I loved the architecture. Also ‘Mind Your Head’ is sound advice.

The London Eye is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe (443 ft.) Which incidentally was the same length as the line waiting to get on.

We took a river tour on the Thames which was a great way to see the skyline and the many bridges. . .and bridge workers.

This was the Millennium footbridge also known as the Wobbly bridge because when it opened it had an ‘uncomfortable’ wobble to it caused by the stride of the pedestrians. They closed it for two years and fixed the problem but the moniker stuck.

HMS Belfast. Permanently docked in the Thames. The guns are pointed towards Parliament as an incentive for quick legislation. Sadly, not a bad idea for the U.S. . . Is there a spot open on the Potomac?

London has a great skyline.

Art shot

I got some bad mushrooms in a salad. . .saw this. …it soon passed.

I love these taxies.

Again, ‘Mind Your Head’. . . . great advice for us all.

British humor. You have to love it.

and . . another taxi. . .last one.

There was great art.

The sushi was fantastic. . .If I ever have a jazz band I will call it “London Sushi.”

I think because of the damp climate the patio plants prosper.

This is the Tower of London built by William the Conqueror in 1078. To the right across the Thames river is London City Hall. I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition between new and old.
I am currently building a catapult . .Just let the neighbors throw their leaves in my yard this year.

Because I loved the city hall building so much I had to have some Photoshop fun..

If your ever in London on a Saturday you should go to the Portobello Road market. Outstanding. Thankfully, our waitress told us about it Friday night and we took the bus there Saturday morning.

They had street bands

Some were quite good.

Antiques

This guy reminded me of the creepy preacher dude in ‘Poltergeist II’ but he was a good drummer.

The dog was chilling.

Singing

In my mind there was a ‘Pink Floyd The Wall’ thing going on here.

I guess there was some band called ‘The Beatles’ that gained some notoriety. I’ll have to Google that.

There were hats for all occasions .

And food of all kinds. This guy was making paella. I remember when I lived in France there were big arguments about the correct way to make paella.

We did not try any (we had just had breakfast) but it smelled wonderful.

jalapeño

Finally – before we left we felt like looking at clothes we couldn’t afford so we went to Harrods of London. Incredible. Expensive. Opulent.

Unknown Flowers

2011-07-04T16:11:00.001-04:00

I went to my mothers for a visit. She lives way up in the country and her gardens were exploding with wild color.

I like this shot. The backdrop is the house which is a dark brown and shadowed by the eave. The flowers were in the sun. It was a natural set up.

I realize if I’m going to photograph flowers I should take a course or at least buy a book. My mother was rattling off the names as I snapped shots but I rarely listened to her when I was growing up, why would I listen to her now?

This is a photograph of a blue thing.

Some mirror image fun with tree vines.

This is a photograph of a red flower.

Some more orange flowers with the natural set up.

I would like to thank my assistant Chanel. Her can-do attitude and attention to detail drove this project to a successful closure.

My wife plays piano

2011-06-26T14:43:00.001-04:00

This is something that makes me envious. I don’t play piano nor am I adept at anything else associated with making music. I do have iTunes figured out. Yay me. My wife plays beautifully. If I hear a song, classical or contemporary that I like I will send away for the sheet music just to hear my wife play it.

And here’s another lazy weekend shot. . . .

Fruit

2011-06-20T18:44:00.001-04:00

We had a picnic outing at work and the fruit salad was refreshing.

Rainy Sunday Project

2011-06-12T16:16:00.001-04:00

I’ve been itching to do another Photoshop project. I took a photo of my wife's twisted bamboo plant (lucky bamboo) and another of our bathroom mirror light bulb. Then I played. Fun.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T19:43:00.001-04:00

Trolley-day Rooooooad.

2011-05-21T19:41:00.003-04:00

My place of employment offers opportunities to volunteer for a civic projects. I perused the list of projects this go-around and saw that the Trolley museum in Kingston N.Y. needed some clean up work done. So I mentally did a pro/con list in my head.

~~I wouldn’t have to drive to friggin Poughkeepsie for a day.~~ It would be nice to do something for my home-hood K-town.
It would be nice to work outside in the air for a day ~~instead of going crossed eyed staring at code on a computer screen.~~
~~Free lunch.~~ Enjoy the camaraderie of my peers.
~~Get home early~~. Feel the satisfaction of a job well done.

Of course I brought my camera and fooled around a bit.

Tongs

This is Russ. I’ve worked around him for 15 years. I believe he has a PHD in “wise-ass.” He cracks me up on a regular basis but if we were interviewed publically we would both claim that we despise each other.

Some cars needed a lot of work.

They took us for a trolley ride out to Kingston Point.

Moon Bee

2011-05-13T12:36:00.001-04:00

Another shot of the Moon.

Ok, I’ll fess up. This is a composite. The Bee was taken by me a couple of days ago while I was testing out my new reclining deck chair that I got for my birthday (thanks sis-in-law!) I had my camera and I was looking for something to photograph without moving my butt from aforementioned chair. This fat bee came meandering by still drunk with winters sleep. Snap.

The Moon I shot tonight 5/12/2011.

Flower in the sun.

2011-05-06T16:29:00.001-04:00

Just because it was a nice day.

Bateaux

2011-04-30T15:14:00.003-04:00

We had been in France for 6 months and we were due for our first trip back home. On a Sunday morning before our trip my wife and I took a walk along the coast by our village. We lived in Villeneuve Les Maguelone which was on the Mediterranean sea.

I remember I took these photos before our trip home because I didn’t have time to really go through them and subsequently forgot about them when I got back.

There were always pink flamingos on these inland ponds.

As one might guess, the seafood was extraordinary in these coastal villages.

Geek Speak: These were taken with trusty old Nikon D70S.

Stratton Vermont

2011-04-10T16:13:00.003-04:00

My beautiful wife and I took a long weekend and drove up to Stratton Vermont for a needed escape. Skiing was almost done due to the mountain snow yielding to the seasonal change but we had never been there before so we scouted the area for future trips.

This was the last weekend for skiing. They were shutting down on Sunday.

After checking out the skiing we drove into Manchester for the outlet shopping.

All the shopping started to make me feel emasculated so I waited outside the stores while my beautiful wife browsed.

“Emasculated” by D.Rose

I passed the time playing with my camera. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.

I will leave you with a self portrait to appease my ego.

Hanging With My Buds

2011-04-03T15:47:00.002-04:00

Spring is here but you have to look close, damn close. I took a closer look at the tree in my front yard and I was impressed by its fecundity. It kind of had a 'Little Shop of Horrors' thing going on.

Feed Me!

After my botanical outing I was walking through my garage and I noticed the sheetrock by my garden hose had become water marked over the years so I indulged my whimsy.

I find as I get older I tend to photograph things I should be fixing.

Macro Lens First Try

2011-03-27T17:37:00.000-04:00

I just got a new Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG Macro lens for my camera. Macro photography is something that has always interested me so I finally broke down and got a macro lens. What a blast.The first thing I learned is when you make the small world huge you make your small mistakes huge.

This is a my steak on the grill. Sweet and meaty.

This is a project I was playing with. I printed out an old map. I cut a slide hole in it with a razor blade and placed the map on a lit surface (light box.) I then placed an old photo-slide over the hole so the slide was illuminated. Just a rough draft idea but it was fun.

Last one of the Moon. . Really.

2011-02-19T09:35:00.001-05:00

During my 9:15pm business meeting with my dog the Moon was bright and with no clouds. I gave it another shot.

Full Moon 9:30pm Feb 18th 2011

Geek Speak:

The Moon again.

2011-02-17T14:57:00.000-05:00

At approximately 9:15 last night my dog Chanel communicated with my Wife via canine telepathy that bladder evacuation was forthcoming and a proactive plan should be put in place. My Wife then communicated with me via verbal command that walking the dog was both prudent and mandatory at that juncture. I then took the dog for a walk. I could question the equity of that process but the countless occurrences of it has weaken my resolve.

The Moon was beautiful. It was almost full with some high flying *Cirrostratus clouds scudding across the sky.

*31 years since high school and Earth Science class has finally paid off.Yay! Thank you Mr. Cary.

I went back in and grabbed my photo gear and gave it a try.

Once I got the camera steady and set I took a series of photos, so I strung them together and uploaded them to Youtube. You-know, to prove that I'm a geek.

Buddy

2011-01-30T19:41:00.000-05:00

This is my mothers dog 'Buddy'. My mother swears he has wolf in his lineage. He does howl a lot and there was that time he stalked and took down a FedEx Driver.

Just kidding about the FedEx Driver. He's actually an incredibly good natured dog who loves everyone.

Hoarfrost

2011-01-29T14:46:00.001-05:00

There was hoarfrost covering my deck this morning. . . .and there was bastard-ice on my windshield.

The winter wears on.

It has been a cold and snowy winter so far and we haven't even hit February yet .

I don't mind the North. Winters make you appreciate summers.

I'm in the 'appreciating summer' phase right now as a matter of fact.

To warm myself up here's a Panorama I did sitting on the Cape May beach with my wife.. .last summer

CLICK PHOTO FOR LARGER VIEW

Cleaning out the camera

2011-01-16T16:26:00.000-05:00

No Stories or themes - Just processing some images that had the poor misfortune of showing up in front of my camera lens.

The Dragon Inn

2011-01-09T16:35:00.000-05:00

There is a large empty building in my town that used to be a Chinese Restaurant call The Dragon Inn. It's has been parked in the real estate listings while the structure falls into disrepair for many years. I am by no means a real estate expert, but this building has a great location, an outstanding view and a Je ne sais quoi charm that seems to be a cut above all other local offerings. Yet, it sits empty.

Click Photo to enlarge

I have many great memories of the Dragon Inn while growing up in this area. They had a walnut chicken dish that I still look for on menus of other Chinese Restaurants. When we had something to celebrate we would head to the Dragon Inn for Volcano's. Volcano's were large rum drinks in a multicolored ceramic bowls shaped like a volcano. It would come with two straws but a right of passage was to fly solo.

It's sad to drive by and see it empty and cold year after year. It needs a rebirth .

Historically it was built as the mansion of a 19th-century industrialist named William R. Sheffield who owned the local paper mill.

Tech Notes: HDR project

What I did instead of shoveling snow.

2011-01-07T14:57:00.002-05:00

I’m still not inspired by this winter enough to aim my lens at the snow, but I was getting the urge to hear the harmonious duet of the camera shutter and the reflex mirror. I decided to photograph water.

Photographing water droplets has been done thousands of times but never by me. I’ve always wanted to try it. So with a minor amount of research and all the tap water I needed I set out for my workshop on a mission. It was harder than I thought it would be, but a lot of fun.

Tech Notes:

Used a 20mm extender ring for my lens to make it ‘macro’.

Depth of field was hard to control.

This is my evil lair:

Mannequins

2011-01-03T14:56:00.000-05:00

Man, I hate mannequins almost as much as I hate clowns. These two sat outside a store in Woodstock, Vermont. WTF? I understand the goal to advertise children's clothing but I had to control my breathing after I glanced at this.
Anyway, I played with a B&W / color mixture.

Squint, you might like it.

2010-12-31T09:11:00.001-05:00

I've been having fun digging through old pictures and giving them a new look. Then maybe playing with them a bit. Hang with me. . .it's probably just a phase.

CLICK PHOTO FOR LARGER VIEW

Shrimp before a holiday party. Boiled and waiting.

Palm Tree: taken in South Beach Florida a couple of years ago.

Don't tease the bees please. This was taken with my new 300mm Zooooom lens last summer.

Derelict crane

2010-12-29T13:13:00.001-05:00

I've just haven't been inspired by the snow enough to take pictures of it yet. This is a photograph of an old crane I took in the Rondout Creek this last summer while I was on a boat ride. I was playing with some Photoshop filters on it and liked the effect.

CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE.

Sun Leaf

2010-12-11T19:00:00.001-05:00

Memories of Villeneuve Les Maguelone

2010-12-04T19:23:00.000-05:00

Old shot of our village in Southern France.

The running of the bulls.

Tugboat

2010-12-04T10:02:00.001-05:00

Believe it or not I spent some time on tugboats going up and down the Delaware river. Tugboats are like Jeeps of the sea. They are strong, slow and ugly while surrounded by other vessels that are sleek, fast and beautiful.
This was taken down at the Strand in Kingston, New York.

The Changing of the Title.

2010-11-28T10:55:00.002-05:00

I’ve had this Photo Blog since 2005. At first I had a little stage fright at the thought of lighting up my own pixel on the information super highway. After awhile I realized This blog was just a hi-tech version of magnets and a refrigerator door. I’m not very consistent with my posts but it’s still fun to keep a photographic journal. When my wife and I went on our 2 year assignment to France I started the photo blog Eye See France in addition to this blog. The idea was to have one blog for Photography and the other for the Europe experience and it worked well. After we got home I combined the two blogs.
Aside from Photography I enjoy working with Photoshop. So I started messing with the title art a few years back and now I change it when get an Idea or get tired of the old one, or both. Which is now. So let me update the archives.

Eye See France Title Art.

The first BC title Art.

The second BC Title Art.

Current BC Title Art.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T14:43:00.001-05:00

We went to my Mother-In-Laws for turkey day. Excellent food, people and memories. While the culinary geniuses spun their craft I busied myself with my camera.

Since the chefs all threatened me with various implements of cutlery I gave them the creative space they requested and concentrated on the inanimate beauty.

Photography note: Milestones, I shot in aperture priority mode using ambient light. I also shot in RAW (Nikon-NEF) for the first time. I like it. I had to do a lot of thinking rather than mindless shooting but I was pleased with the results.

Negatives can be a positive experience

2010-11-13T20:29:00.002-05:00

I've mentioned before that I have a pile of old negatives that I got from my father. Occasionally I go through them and hold them up to the light. If something looks interesting I will feed it into my scanner and see what I get. After going through many blurry shots of trees and dogs (this must be where I got it from because I also take way too many photos of my dog.) I came across this shot. My father used to talk about a pet crow when he was young so I assume this would be that crow. I just liked the overall shot. Enjoy the glimpse into the past.
Circa early 1940's I would imagine.

You find the strangest things in the forest

2010-10-24T15:55:00.000-04:00

Some Photoshop Tomfoolery for a rainy Sunday.

More freakin Fall pictures

2010-10-21T19:27:00.001-04:00

I Looked out my kitchen window after a brief shower and I noticed a rainbow. It was right at dusk when the colors were intense.

I grabbed my camera and took this shot. To me, it looked like the rainbow lashed down from a troubled sky and ignited the tree with fall colors.

The colors are very beautiful this year and I can’t help myself.

and a gratuitous shot of my dog Chanel.

I love Fall

2010-10-17T10:53:00.001-04:00

I was walking the dog yesterday which was a cloudy, windy day. This puddle inspired me. Both photos are of the same puddle but different angles produced different colors and perspectives. I used the F.A.R.T. technique I just read about on Ken Rockwell’s website.

A Fall Hike up Huckleberry Ridge In the Catskills (Long Title)

2010-10-04T16:29:00.005-04:00

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE

We took a fall hike. It’s not peak color yet but the day was beautiful so we sallied forth.

Huckleberry Ridge has the kind of lookout (vista) that knots your stomach and locks your knees when you near the edge for a peek.

It puts you in the unusual position of looking down at birds.

The leaves were in various degrees of fall colors. ..waiting to pop.

Cape May. . .Again?

2010-09-26T19:06:00.002-04:00

We went to Cape May again to say ‘bub-bye’ to the Summer. It was hot and beautiful. We had trouble getting a room because there were 36 weddings , an Irish Festival and a Hot Rod car show all happening down there this weekend. It was a perfect storm for alcohol consumption.

I love the beach at dusk. Most of the amateur beach patrons have left to rinse the sand off the kiddies before cocktail hour. What’s left are the angry poets and philosophers posing unanswered questions to the surf or mentally unstable water dwellers that don’t possess a healthy fear of riptides.

Everybody has to figure out how the beach best fits into what makes them the happiest.
There were fireworks on the beach at night right by our motel. . .In our honor. . Ok, maybe not, but there were fireworks .

The palm trees you see are not indigenous to New Jersey. In fact they’re not even real palm trees. They’re made of aluminum. I presented the case to my wife how nice it would be to have a couple aluminum palm trees in our yard. I stressed how it would put to shame other neighbors with the plastic pink flamingos. She was having none of it. She lacks vision sometimes.

I was enjoying trying to capture the pyrotechnics with my camera so I will leave you with one more.

Chinese Chestnuts

2010-09-06T16:37:00.002-04:00

My Mother has Chinese Chestnut trees around her house.

They are a good looking trees that yields a tasty nut. Yuletide songs have been written about the nuts from this tree. When cooked in the abdominal void of a dead turkey this nut comes alive with Normanrockwellian splendor. Venders sell them roasted from their carts in Manhattan, the aroma is a delightful diversion from the usual miasma of urine and dashed dreams. We’re talking a tasty nut here!
There are a couple of drawbacks to having them around your house.
One being the husk of the nut is protected by thousands of hideous spikes that will violate the soles of an unsuspecting barefooted child and cause him to cry out like Miriah Carey.
.
The other con of the Chestnut tree is when the tree is blooming it emits an ‘odor’ that can be interpreted many ways. A common consensus would be "quitting time on the porn set."

Eyes of the neighbor child.

2010-08-17T20:17:00.001-04:00

I was out watering the garden and through the screen the neighbor child watches.

Day Two Cape May

2010-08-04T19:56:00.005-04:00

You can’t go to Cape May without walking the Wildwood boardwalk. It’s a crap-tastic two miles of pure American indulgence. They put the scariest ride out front to whet your appetite. This sling shot ride which I call “the lawsuit waiting to happen” is at the beginning of the boardwalk.

As you walk beneath this monstrosity you can feel the fine mist of cream soda, corn dogs and cotton candy falling from the sky. Junior’s going to sleep good tonight.

And speaking of corn dogs, I don’t remember them coming out of my Mama’s Kitchen
.
Aside from my questionable attitude it was still a fun evening.

I thought it was just the positive energy of 7000 adults and children buzzed on cocktails and sugar (respectively, I hope) that made the night special, but then I remembered that it was a full moon.

And if you don’t remember anything else at all. . . . . . .
WATCH THE TRAM CAR PLEASE!!!!!

After hearing this every five minutes for three hours it burns into your soul . . for days.

Day One Cape May

2010-08-03T20:03:00.001-04:00

We arrive and take a great walk on the Beach at Cape may:

We haven’t been to Cape May in about 4 years and the place hadn’t changed at all. I like that. We don’t have enough consistency in this fast paced world. We ate at our old favorite restaurant . If your ever in Cape May here’s a shout-out to Oyster Bay. They have a rack of lamb stuffed with feta cheese that will leave you mirthful and chubby.

To walk it off we strolled around town.

And gawked at the tourist baubles . . .and ate soft ice cream.

Rosie

2010-07-11T17:07:00.001-04:00

My Brother in laws Shih Tzu. She has a blue eye. It’s a little creepy at first but she’s a sweet dog.

July Fourth

2010-07-05T15:34:00.001-04:00

A great July fourth it was:

Frogs.

Cigars:

And fireworks:

Things I know about Woodstock New York.

2010-05-22T16:02:00.001-04:00

We went into Woodstock New York today to walk around. It was overcast and grey – bad color to make pictures. I grew up in Woodstock. Now I feel like a tourist when I walk around, and I guess truth be told I am one. I live about 1/2 hour drive from this town but I rarely walk around here anymore, maybe once a year, maybe less. Today, I stood on the sidewalk and gazed around as my wife browsed through the shops of pewter, leather and tie-dye. I marveled at the new shops that replaced the other new shops I noticed last time. I saw this new cafe that opened in the center of town. I don’t know anything about their food, I didn’t even look at the menu. It looked trendy and nice and if it was dinnertime you could talk me into trying it. From where I was standing I can tell you a few things I do know about this place:

1. It’s name is Oriole 9 which is kind of a hip sounding name. Oriole 9 was the phone extension for Woodstock back in the sixties. When I was a pup my phone number was Oriole 9 – 6990. Which was shortened to OR9 – 6990 and later the phonetic prefix (OR9) was dropped altogether to 679.

2. This building was The News Shop. Which was, as it’s name implies a place to get newspapers, cups of coffee and balsawood airplane models that were powered by rubber bands. I used to come here as a kid with my father to pick up the Sunday paper and maybe one of those plane models if I was good.

3. I fear I am getting old.

___________________________________

But I was cheered by a timeless classic. Somewhere a mother is asking her child “Your sneakers are where??”

After Posting this I went to the Oriole 9 website and discovered a couple of things:

I went to school with the owner. I remember her and her family well. I wish them the best.
They don’t serve dinner, just lunch and breakfast.

Old Post Office Pavillion

2010-05-22T09:47:00.001-04:00

Last of the DC pictures – I was going through them again and I kept stopping at this shot. I realized it had a vanishing point perspective reminiscent of M.C. Escher . Escher is one of my favorite artists and comparing one of my photos to his work is a pure case of delusions of grandeur.

Rainbow

2010-05-13T20:16:00.001-04:00

I went outside to sort recyclables in my garage and I see this.. . ..ya gotta love this world.

The Trumpet Man

2010-05-08T16:10:00.001-04:00

We were right across from the infamous Fords Theater. The Trumpet Man was set up playing across the street.

THE WHITE HOUSE

2010-05-07T20:16:00.002-04:00

The White House – Top Domain, The big Hacienda, Casa de Blanco. We stopped by, unannounced because that’s how we roll.
The key was still hidden under the spackle bucket behind the porch swing. It’s been hidden there since 1975 when Jerry Ford locked himself out and was nearly shot by secret service while he was climbing in through the dog door. We figured we would buzz in and use the bathroom real quick, no harm, no foul.
Nice digs! Oval rooms give the appearance of space. I read that in Home and Garden.
I made a quick call to the hotel to see if they got the fire out and the maid un-stuck from the ice machine (long story.) Then we took a wrong turn on the way out and ended up in the press room.
Apparently, there are cc cameras in there because the guards showed up real quick. They must have known we were tourists because they hammed it up for us with the gun pointing and yelling.
We got to keep the tie-wrap handcuffs they eventually cut off of our wrists. That's a souvenir with a story!

LINCOLN MEMORIAL

2010-05-04T13:34:00.003-04:00

The Lincoln Memorial was a great experience. Lincoln holding court in a Greek Doric columned temple was humbling to approach. Of course, being such a famous memorial means it’s been photographed at every angle so as I entered I said to myself ‘Unique perspective.’ That’s easy to say. . .a little tougher to do. As you enter the memorial there is a 28 foot man seated in a captains chair dead center that draws your camera lens like a compass needle. So I took some shots to get it out my system. Then I strolled around to find what would surprise a first time visitor such as myself. I assumed that it wasn’t as spacious inside. After all, it looks pretty flat on the five dollar bill. I got off to the side and took some photos. The above photo is actually three shots that are stitched together for a panoramic side view. It’s space, lots of space.

The interior columns were interesting as was the glass tiled ceiling that loomed high above the chamber. What intrigued me the most (aside from the seated 28 foot President) were the murals running along the two side walls. Painted by Jules Guerin they are a colorful allegoric representation of Lincoln’s time.

I made a photo of the two center subjects that were the Angel of Truth breaking the bonds of slavery and the Angel of Truth rejoining the North and the South.

Leaving the memorial was a stunning view of the Washington Mall. In retrospect I wished I thought of another panoramic shot but my lens* is pretty good with wide angles so I’ll settle for what I got.

*Lens = AF-S NIKKOR 18-200mm 1:35-5.6

Time to Motor.

2010-04-29T19:39:00.001-04:00

Photo taken on a walk w/Nikon D90.

My Wife and I going down to Washington DC this weekend for a get-away. I hope to make some photos.

Europe – I miss you.

2010-04-12T16:51:00.001-04:00

There are many times when I miss living in Southern France. On beautiful days like we had this weekend my wife and I would head into Montpellier to walk around all the little side streets.

Then I make the mistake of going into the ‘France photo-archives.’ I took thousands of pictures and only put a fraction of them on my French Blog . So it is fun to re-visit them.

This was taken on the Island of Capri – One of the most beautiful places I have ever had the fortune of visiting.

Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T18:03:00.001-04:00

It was a beautiful Easter Sunday. My wife and I went up to Bearsville to have dinner with my Mom, Sister and Brother in law. After too much of my sisters delicious lasagna we combated our vegetative state with a walk to Coopers lake. I was tinkering with my lens with the objective of capturing the tall pines, the lake and the Catskills in the background.

Tickling the Ivories

2010-04-03T16:40:00.001-04:00

Just Like Clockwork

2010-03-26T17:22:00.001-04:00

Easter Colors

2010-03-21T19:55:00.001-04:00

What is it?

Frosting from a cake?

Naahh, It’s disintegrated ballons. I was cleaning my garage and found some ballons in the corner that had deflated and eventually (years) started to decompose.

Nothing outstanding I know, but I used Photoshop CS4 to do a process called ‘Focus stacking.’ It’s where you compensate for the lack of DOF in macro shots by taking multiple photos and using the focused part of each shot for the outcome.

Very impressive process.

Lemon beans

2010-02-20T15:08:00.006-05:00

I was pondering a new macro project. . .
lemons, I wanted to do something with lemons.
I sliced a thin slice off a lemon and gave it a look.
It was pretty cool but needed something to bust up the
monotony. My wife came home with a bag of jelly beans
so I took an orange one and sliced it as well.
I parked it on top of my lemon slice and viola .

Cool Macro / Micro Photography Gadgets

2010-02-14T15:28:00.001-05:00

I’ve been interested in Macro Photography for a long time so I finally broke down and invested in some relatively cheap equipment .

1. Automatic extension Tube set, 13mm, 21mm and 31mm tubes to move my lens away from my camera sensor. This enables me to focus in close on objects.

2 . Focusing rail that enables me to focus and move my camera back and forth on a micro level.

I ran around my house looking an insect and couldn’t find any! This would normally be a proud declaration to make but today it’s a little disappointing.

I did pull a dead hydrangea flower from my tree and found a piece of coral I had laying around for some experimentation.

I love this stuff! This was my first attempt. I can’t wait to hack some food up or capture an unsuspecting bug to turn my lens on .

More to come.

Message in a bottle

2010-02-13T16:26:00.001-05:00

I was walking along the beach at night and came across me in a bottle. It was a little disturbing.

Avalon

2010-01-16T11:54:00.002-05:00

New Title

2010-01-09T14:29:00.004-05:00

I love playing with graphics. I couldn't resist playing with an Idea I had. I'm not totally satisfied but I wanted to see it on the blog so above is the prototype. Here's the old one for prosperity.

Blue eye, babys got blue eye

2010-01-02T13:43:00.003-05:00

Our new dog Chanel is a Shih Tzu. She has a touch of blue in the bottom corner of her left eye. My sister in law has a pup from the same litter and her Shih Tzu has a pure blue eye with pink skin around it.
It's just a genetic anomaly, but I think its distinguishing and gives Chanel an intriguing characteristic. .almost like a Bond villain or something.
Sapphire eye.

Ok 2009 your 86'ed, Please leave quietly.

2009-12-31T11:57:00.005-05:00

Happy 2010 Everyone.

Lets see what bubbles to the surface.

2009-12-20T11:43:00.005-05:00

A foray into water photography. A little water, some blue food coloring, and a canned air nozzle. It was fun, but I'm not done yet. More to come.

Plasma Blast

2009-12-14T12:14:00.010-05:00

I acquired an old Plasma Globe recently. Since it was fun to look at I decided it needed to be photographed. This was much more difficult then I thought it would be because I wanted a fast lens but if I flooded the area with light I would lose the effect. Here's what seemed to work:

A closer look at the data

2009-12-12T17:07:00.004-05:00

New Hobby - Taking a closer look.

2009-12-06T18:00:00.002-05:00

I've been playing with a new hobby. Macro Photography. It's new to me anyway. I've rigged a macro studio in my workshop and I've been goofing around a bit. It's fun and (for me anyway) it's a great way to learn about depth of field and the study of light and shadow. Maybe, in a controlled environment where I have the time to dick around with the f-stop and aperture setting and then witness the results I'll get an intuitive feel for the camera during fast shooting.
I can hope, can't I?

Our Trip to NYC

2009-11-08T13:38:00.003-05:00

New Dog - Chanel

2009-08-16T10:18:00.003-04:00

This is our new dog Chanel. She was reading the Arts and Leisure section of the paper and I said "Hey Chanel, give me a Farrah Fawcett swimsuit kind of pose." Being a true fan of improv photography she complied.
In a more somber moment we were discussing when graphics in marketing becomes a sales tool instead of art and I captured this moment . She has it all, brains and beauty - the camera loves her.

Dog Photo

2009-07-13T19:21:00.002-04:00

Hawk

2009-07-13T19:20:00.002-04:00

Old Negatives

2009-05-23T09:22:00.004-04:00

One of my late uncles got into photography years ago and now I have a pile of negatives from the 30's, 40's and 50's. This is a source of great enjoyment for me. It's like treasure hunting. When I have some free time I dig through them and render a few positive with my scanner. I crop them and sharpen them, but for the most part I leave them alone. This could be my father or his twin brother but I will never know for sure. It's just an anonymous moment in time.

. . .Is the jellyfish fresh?

2009-05-03T19:39:00.002-04:00

At our hotel in Miami there was a jellyfish tank in the restaurant. I took this from the outside of the restaurant looking in through the tank. I liked the effect.

South Beach Miami

2009-05-03T10:03:00.003-04:00

We went to South Beach Florida for a week of fun in the sun. It was great. Since it was a "get away to relax" trip I didn't take my Nikon DSLR and instead took my little Nikon S50. On the flight down I was chastising myself for being a lazy photographer. Then I thought that the art is in the composition, not the equipment. Suddenly I was a struggling artist instead of a lazy photographer. It's all in the packaging.

2009-04-23T18:39:00.003-04:00

Nîmes it seems, is deemed to be supreme

2008-06-17T11:02:00.000-04:00

My wife and I were invited to dinner with good friends. A nice couple from Nîmes. We arrived early and they showed us around their marvelous old town. Operative word 'old'. According to Wikipedia Nîmes had a presence of semi-nomadic cultivators in the period 4000 to 3500 BC. Somewhere around 28 BC Rome realized the semi-nomadic cultivators were not keeping up the place and they were always late with the rent so they were ousted. Rome took over and built some Roman bling. Those Romans , their bling is all over this country.This is the Nîmes Amphitheatre. Very impressive. Like the Colosseo In Rome.

This is the the Maison Carrée

This is the The Jardins de la Fontaine

This the center of town - notice the palm tree, stay with me on this.

This crocodile (it's made of bronze,very life like) is by the Palm tree. . . .

And this is the town coat of arms.

and, as all towns in the South of France there is always great things happening.

I think I figured out how to post a video.

2008-06-08T07:12:00.000-04:00

This is the brass band I mentioned in the previous post. Somewhere in the middle a little boy starts dancing and it's hilarious.

I'm still here, where have I been?

2008-06-08T06:57:00.000-04:00

We're still in France. After our trip to Italy we fell into work/life routine and I took a little hiatus from photography. I still love it and I will definitely continue doing it – but I took a little breather. As for

France, it is still beautiful and we’re enjoying ourselves but our time is dwindling. We only have a month and half left and then it will be back to the U.S of A. Are we anxious? Yes, we are. Two years is long time to live outside your country. But we are also sad to be leaving so many French friends. I think this experience has changed me and my way of thinking about the world. We went up to the center of Montpellier last Sunday and just sat at a sidewalk café and watched Europe meander by our little table. My wife had a coke and I had a beer. We might have waved an American flag over our head with that order. As always street musicians were everywhere and a brass band formed around the statue of the three graces. They were good. I will try to post a video.

My wife went to Bratislava, Slovakia.

2008-02-23T13:08:00.000-05:00

Another great French Lunch

2008-01-29T14:09:00.000-05:00

Les Gourmand.

I had another great French lunch with the good friends I work with.
I had :

Gâteau de foie gras aux éclats de pistaches, réduction de Carthagène et bouquet fraîcheur

Jarreton d’agneau braisé aux aromates, mijoté d’haricot coco à l’ancienne, ails confits

for wine we had :

Le chèvre frais du Pic St Loup

Um, cheese, fromage . . .sorry it wasn't on the menu. Goat cheese I think, very good.

Crème brûlée aux marrons, fleur de thym et brisures de marrons glacés

Venice - Welcome

2008-01-07T13:57:00.000-05:00

Venice Entrance

2008-01-06T09:23:00.000-05:00

One thing I noticed about Italy and it's different cities is that they are like an Italian family, all related, but with entirely different personalities. With that said Venice was like the crazy uncle that always had everyone laughing at the dinner table.

Venice - Gondola

2008-01-06T08:54:00.000-05:00

The Gondola is symbol of master Venetian craftsmanship. They are built to list to one side so when the gondolier stands to the other side the craft sits straight in the water. Aside from gondolas the city conducted most of it business through these waterways.
One interesting thing I saw was a "mason boat" (my own terminology.) It was a long boat with a cement mixer mounted in the middle. There was cement, sand and gravel on one side with a tender, and the masons worked on the other side. If work needed to be done on the front of a building they pulled up to it and went to work.

Venice - Piazza San Marco

2008-01-05T08:27:00.000-05:00

The Piazza San Marco is a beautiful square and the largest square in Venice. It's a must see if your in Venice, pigeons know this as well. It was like playing a game of bird-twister walking across the square. The architecture was incredible to see.

On the otherside of the Piazza was the Piazzetta that opened into the lagoon at the mouth of the Grand Canal. Two tall pillars stood at the waters edge and top of them were statues of Venice's two patron saints Marco and Todaro (see insets.) Between the two columns was the
site of executions. Our guide said all the people you see passing between the columns are tourists . Because of local superstitions no local Venetians will pass through them.
Did I walk between?. . .um, no. Why tempt fate?
As always, click picture for larger view

ITALY

2007-12-22T16:32:00.001-05:00

Venetian Glass Blowers

2007-12-22T12:20:00.000-05:00

Venice is world-renowned for their Blown glass craftsmanship. They had incredible examples of their talent. I was lucky enough to witness one of their artists in action. They seemed very weary of me and my camera and come to find out later they have had problems of people photographing technique and replicating the famous Venetian glass. There's only about 8 people in Venice that are skilled masters in this art.

Florence

2007-12-08T13:08:00.000-05:00

Florence

2007-12-08T13:05:00.000-05:00