Phantoms

Since last fall when I traveled to Spain and France, I have been working on a new series called Phantoms. This week instead of photographing, I have been framing ten of the images to be exhibited at Art Sites, 651 W. Main Street in Riverhead from July 2 - August 7th--with an artist's reception on July 9th from 5 - 7pm, open to the public. I hope those of you within driving distance can come see!

This particular image, Skateboarder, was taken at a very slow shutter speed in Paris beside the Fontaine Saint-Michel in the Latin Quarter as I watched a boy skate around it. Other phantoms in the show were photographed in Barcelona, Miami Beach and Manhattan.

Mystified

What would you say if I told you that this rose used to be pink? I'm sure you'd say that I must seeing things. Well yes, I do have a vivid imagination but there's no mistake; pink roses, bubble-gum pink to be exact, bloomed on this bush for years.

When I first noticed the change a few weeks ago, I was mystified, thought it was some kind of sign. Perhaps it signaled my daughter's upcoming 21st birthday, that she was turning into a woman. Her middle name happens to be, yes, Rose. Or maybe, it was a sign of my own maturity, the richness of my life as my family and my work keeps growing. Whatever the case, I was pleased since I disliked that particular shade of pink.

Then, I decided to research the subject and found out that indeed, white roses can turn pink and pink roses can turn red due to something called "grafting." Apparently, this rosebush was originally red until it was grafted to be pink. And sometimes, after a period of time the process can reverse. Mystical, don't you think?

Natural

There's nothing like natural light.

On Saturday at my grandson's birthday party, my job was to take care of his new baby brother. Amidst all the ruckus--rock music blaring from gigantic speakers and 20 four year-olds dancing around us--I laid him down on a leather chair near a window to let him stretch out and noticed the beautiful light falling on his face.

Since I was trying to take some photos too (my usual job), I grabbed my camera and attempted to capture him without a flash. Fortunately, Blake is a very mellow fellow so far and stayed still for the 1/10 second exposure required.

It was also lucky that these two balls happened to be right there on the chair coordinating with his outfit and mimicking his cherubic face.

Mesmerized

Wind, it's not easy to capture by its very nature.

Yesterday on a sunny afternoon, I noticed a field of grasses swaying in the wind on the side of the road. I can't count the number of times I've been mesmerized by this glorious sight, but have shied away from attempting to photograph it. The sheer motion, it's vastness and all the slender pieces seemed like too much to cram into a still frame.

Setting my shutter at 1/320 second, I tried to isolate a single frond at first. While those images were lovely, they didn't reflect my impression nor my experience. So I zoomed out and maintained a shallow depth of field to exaggerate the motion. Then I let it rip...