Constant Motion

It's about that time again, time for me to post yet another image of my grandson, my most challenging yet irresistible subject. As I've said before, photographing children under the age of five is one of the most difficult assignments, especially little boys who are in constant motion. Trying to pose children---or people of any age---is usually an exercise in frustration and often results in forced images revealing little about the subject's personality.

For me, spontaneity is the way to go. I always try to remember to bring my camera on outings with him, especially when there's an activity or something there that I think will engage him.

So on a recent autumn afternoon when we went to the Riverhead Street Fair, I made sure to pack my camera. While there was junk food and carnival rides galore, it was a collection of vintage tractors that captivated him most. Once he jumped onto this 1949 John Deere, it took just a few frames to really capture him.

Infinity and Beyond

In support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, I'm posting this image taken on Saturday at Zuccotti Park near Wall Street. Of all the protesters, this one engaged me most. No sign of anger, no litany of words, just a simple symbol and an upraised arm.

Yes I know what some of you might be thinking. What exactly do they want? What do they expect to change? Well, it's that attitude, that complacency that's kept 99% of us down. And no, I didn't sleep in the park or even picket, but I was uplifted to see what looked like a lot of middle class people speaking up, finally taking a stand.

When I saw this fellow, I sunk to my heels and shot upwards; it was my way of enhancing his stature, amplifying his stand...

Errands

At this time of year, it's difficult to turn my lens away from the pumpkins blanketing the fields here on the East End. Here's a relatively small display that I couldn't help but photograph outside the Garden of Eve, an organic market in Riverhead where I just ordered a Thanksgiving Veggie Box that I will pick-up on the Tuesday before the big day.

While it cost more than I would normally spend, it's certified organic and takes care of a good deal of my holiday food shopping well in advance. Instead of planning all those recipes, my daughters and I are looking forward to the surprise ingredients the box will hold and the dishes we will come up with.

So this is a reminder to carry your camera with you at all times, even on all those errands.

Equivalent

Today at lunch time I took a bike ride along Dune Road where I saw the most magnificent clouds. But alas, I didn't have my camera with me. As I lamented its absence, I remembered a group of cloud images I had taken of October skies in 2009 that still lay buried in my "C" drive. I also recalled that Alfred Stieglitz, the father of art photography, turned away from portraits and landscapes and up toward the clouds to explore abstraction late in his career.

So tonight I found a short video on YouTube about that series called Equivalents. Here's my rendition taken at mid-day with my telephoto lens when a storm threatened over the bay near my house.