Comfortable

At the reception for the Westhampton Artists Studio Tour on Friday evening which took place at the Full Moon Arts Center in East Moriches, I spent some time photographing kids, couples, and families in a treehouse overlooking a huge tent--where the artwork of about 50 artists (including me) was on display.

Mission accomplished, I was anxious to join the party that was winding down below. Coming down the steps, I spotted this couple nestled in a hammock. The light on their hats, the tilt of their heads, their comfort with one another warmed my heart. Scurrying toward them from behind, I tried to get close without intruding. But when I arrived, I found it difficult to focus on their faces due to a lack of light and the high contrast in the background.

Fiddling with my camera, I motioned to them announcing my intention and ultimately opted to use my flash for some fill. Luckily, they remained comfortable and continued to enjoy themselves and each other.

Reading Room

As we enter the dog days of August, the lazy days, when all I want to do is sit under a tree and read a book, I thought it fitting to post this image taken in Manhattan. Having just emerged from the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I saw the Picasso show with a friend, we headed into Central Park with our cameras.

Around 5:30pm, the sun skimmed low producing long shadows and dramatic afternoon light. While these conditions appeal to the naked eye, the high contrast can be quite blinding and difficult to render through the lens. Therefore, it's important to come up with an average light reading between the darker and lighter spots. While it's best to have a hand-held meter, you can compensate by bracketing, which means shooting the same image three times: first according to your automatic reading, then over and underexpose by one stop on the manual setting. Some digital cameras offer a compensation button which makes this simple. Later you can decide which one is most pleasing to your eye.

Strong light also requires a strong composition. As I moved closer and closer to the subject, I realized that I could use the limbs of the tree to create structure. In effect, they separate the light from the dark green and frame the girl off to the left in her own reading room.

Double Duty

This month I'm conducting three workshops per week at various venues in the area. While I start each session with landscapes and progress to still life, students seems most interested in learning how to take better pictures of their loved ones.

My philosophy, however, is that one needs to learn about composition and light before trying to capture things that move. So as I began to plan the upcoming lesson on portraiture, it was apropos that my most active subject, my three-year-old grandson, arrived at my doorstep Saturday to spend the morning with me while my daughter went to work.

"Where's Copper?" he asked as my six-month old puppy bounded toward him. For the next few hours, they played like siblings indoors and out while I ran after them making sure that the dog wasn't too rough with the boy and visa versa and that Copper didn't eat Brody's toys.

When they finally relaxed, Copper hopped onto the window seat in my front room, his favorite spot, and Brody followed. Quickly I grabbed my Canon and set it on the portrait setting. No time to fiddle with the camera; just enough time to capture the moment.

Spotting

People watching, it's one of my favorite pastimes and one of the reasons I started taking photographs in the first place. So when I went down to the Quogue dock with my friend, Julie, on Friday evening where I heard a Reggae band was playing to kick off the holiday weekend, I made sure to bring my camera.

Working our way through the crowd with the sun glaring in our eyes, Julie pointed toward the dock on the periphery where we headed and took a seat. Perfect, I thought, as the sun sank behind my right shoulder casting a crystal light. Men wore shorts, women donned hats, boys and girls pushed scooters and rode bikes; it was Norman Rockwell, circa 2010.

I waited and watched...then out of my left eye, I spotted them, the perfect family, some with two legs, some with four. Quickly I changed lenses to my long zoom and set my f-stop to F11 to ensure there would be enough depth of field for the foursome yet throwing the two posts, that framed the image so nicely, a little out of focus.

"Do you think they have kids?" I said.

"Nah," Julie replied, "looks like they've invested in dogs."

Peconic River Day

Between the forks on the East End of Long Island where I have lived year-round for over twenty years, there's the town of Riverhead where the locals travel from all directions to do their daily business. Once a thriving downtown center, the village has struggled for decades to compete with the big chains that now crowd Route 58 nearby.
Behind Main Street, however, there's a lazy river that delights each time I pass through on my way to Home Depot, Target, or some such place.
So when I was invited to participate tomorrow in Peconic River Day at a gallery called Art Sites that yes, is on the way to Tanger Outlet Mall, I was thrilled.
A few weeks ago, I began by photographing people enjoying the boardwalk. Relaxing on benches, reading the paper or strolling by, I approached them slowly asking if they'd like to participate in this celebration of the river.
To my surprise, no one refused. Then I crossed the parking lot to discover some children frolicking intheir front yard facing the river. Under the care of their grandpas, I was a hesitant to ask if I could photograph the children.
Yet again, they were most willing to oblige. Since then, I visited the places I frequent when in town, a riverside bistro, the arts council, the bank, and the library--where my close friend, Elva, works---to capture the faces of those who live, work and play along the Peconic River.
Here's the result. To view, just click the forward arrow at your own pace.