NYC Artist Makes It Big

Talk about making it big!

I was walking to the Lexington Avenue subway station on E. 23rd Street when I looked up and saw this giant work-in-progress. There were actually four men working on this - two each on two platforms.

I had my Tamron "super-zoom" 18-270mm lens on my camera. I racked it to full-out telephoto and started to watch the painters. The 270mm position was just enough to show a small but detailed figure against a large section of the painting.

From a superb workshop I took with Karen Schulman, I knew that in an image like this, gesture is important to keep the photo from looking too static. "Gesture," in that context, could mean a lean of the body, an arm or leg extended, in other words, just about anything that departs from "just standing there."

For this situation, I figured that "gesture" would be in the form of reaching out with the paintbrush. It took about 20 minutes, but sure enough, I got a few shots of two of the guys in a good lean-and-stretch. This one is the one I liked best, as he's putting his whole body into it.

In case you're curious, the... er... I don't know what to call the painting-on-the-side-of-a-building... is for a remake of the 1981 film, Arthur.

Brooklyn Tower

Here's the Brooklyn-side (eastern) tower of the Brooklyn Bridge. looking up through the spider web of cables and stays designed and built over 100 years ago.

Woman on Steps

This is part of the monumental facade of the main NYC post office, zip code 10001.

On the entablature resting atop the Corinthian colonnade is the famous inscription, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Pirate Patina

A gold-painted "pirate?" crosses the street in front of Faneuil Hall in Boston after a long, hot day's work.

These street performers paint themselves (and their costumes) and stand completely still - living statues. In NYC, you'll see a lot of Statues of Liberty, for example. In Boston, they tend to be colonial-era and 19th century.

Myself, I find them a bit creepy, but to each his own.

Otakon 2010

It's that time of year again in Baltimore, when waves of young people arrive at the Convention Center in amazing costumes for Otakon

I brought my Big Gun camera with me today so that I could try for some interesting shots during lunch. Here's my best one - a lucky grab shot that seems as if it were perfectly composed!

This one is almost straight out of the camera with just a tiny bit of fill light in Picassa. It looks pretty good in B&W as well, but I'll wait til I get home and use Channel Mixer in Photoshop to do it right.

Me I'm Just A Lucky Guy...

Our daughter Leah, son Ben, and soon-to-be-daughter-in-law Megan (aka "Number 3") with our niece Olivia.

Beatles fans will recognize the title as a line from the middle eight of Things We Said Today.

Taken with bounce flash in Mom's dining room against an off-white wall.

Thinking It Over

On of my more cerebral older cousins at Atlanta Zoo.

Chillin'

Last October, I took Mom down to Atlanta to visit my Cousins Brian and Lisa and their new baby Max. They live close to the Atlanta zoo, always worth a visit.

While at the zoo, I snapped this photo of one of my other young cousins, chillin' in a hammock.

Backlit Backyard Leaves

Last Thursday after work, I went out of my way to go shooting in a fancy-schmantzy neighborhood of Baltimore. When I came home and got out of my car, I happened to notice some beautiful backlighting on some on these hostas at the side of our house.

After all was said and done, this was the only good photo of the day. I wouldn't say at all that the special trip to that fancy neighborhood was a waste, but it's funny how I found the best image right in my backyard.

Deck Chair

Hey! Wanna see my vacation slides!

Was that a cringe I just felt?

Don't worry, you'll only have to see one or two a day, while Sandy and I are on vacation in Sedona.

Here's a scene on the deck of our cottage at Sedona Pines - a very nice resort!

Doorway Shadow

Taken during an early-morning stroll up Pinkney Street in Annapolis. Pinkney is an old, narrow lane full of colorfully-painted houses. You can always count on something worthwhile to photograph on Pinkney.

Fleet Street Abstract

View From Row 13

What to do while waiting on the apron of the airport? Why, take photos out the window, of course.

This was on a flight back from Norfolk to Baltimore. At first, there didn't seem to be any "there", there, but after a while, I got to playing with the angles formed by the wing and nacelle, the luggage loader and the cart behind it.

By the way, we sat there for about two hours; the flight crew spotted a potential wing flap problem as we were almost ready to taxi to the runway. Southwest called in a mechanic, but the problem wasn't fixable on the spot, so we rolled back to the gate and deplaned. With a new part beign flown in, they were estimating that the plane would be fixed and depart in about three hours. We decided to punt and rented a car - it was a pleasant afternoon and an easy ride back.

Taft Memorial Shadows

DC Magic Bus

Union Station Café Chairs

I-95 Wildlife

An aggressive seagull gives me the stink-eye and a squawk to warn me to stay away from the bit of bagel that I dropped for him. Some gratitude.

To take a photo like this, you have to get down... literally get down, as in lie down on your stomach. To the delight of some and the puzzlement of others who were going in and out of the Cheasapeake House rest stop on I-95.

Blue Screen

My fabulous students from the Adult Hebrew class I teach generously gave me an Amazon gift certificate last month, and what I ordered with that gift arrived tonight - this nifty Dolica Tripod and Ball Head

So having this nice new tripod to play with, I thought I'd try it out with a self-portrait. The ball head made precise positioning of my Canon XSi DSLR much easier than with my cheapinski "Best Buy Special" tripod. I used a wireless remote control to trigger the camera for what turned out to be a six-second exposure. The resulting image didn't show any camera shake, so I'm happy (of course, there was no wind and no tractor-trailers passing by in my family room...)

It's a very nice tripod for the money - lightweight, of course, but the ball-head is very secure, the legs are individually adjustable for angle at the "hip," and the center column is reversable for down-low shooting... features not often seen at this price point.

Lunch!

Nomiki has the best food and nicest personality of any of the lunch wagons on the University of Maryland Baltimore campus. You'll find her every weekday at the corner of Lombard and Penn. Fortunately for me and my co-workers, less than a block from our office.

Great breakfast too... come hungry!

Queen Of Hearts

Happy Valentine's Day!