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.

In The Field

September is just flying by! Each year I set my sights on savoring its splendor and it's gone, just like that...This month I've been besieged by a series of "fix-it" projects--updating my online gallery (almost done!), repairing hurricane damage to my chimney and roof, and reconstructing a few teeth--keeping me from getting outdoors with my camera.

So here's another autumn image taken some years back that's inspiring me to get out in the fields, so full here on the East End this time of year. Again, notice the square format and the diagonal lines of color that pull the eye into the image. By stepping a few feet to the right, I was able to make a very still subject come alive. Check-out the long island collection on my site, to see more examples.

Brush Fire

As summer comes to a close and we edge toward the first day of fall, I recall this image taken several years back in a nearby park. That autumn afternoon when I tromped around with my medium format camera (notice the square frame) in the late afternoon as the sun dipped down, the light skimmed through the trees illuminating this burnt orange brush.

And as I'm apt to do, I stopped down to a wide aperture, f4 or 5.6, to accentuate the foreground and throw the background into a blur.

With the drought continuing in Texas and the wildfires still burning out of control, this image seemed to signify the coming season when mother nature unfurls her unrelenting fury as well as her most exquisite beauty.

Hope

A few months ago at around 6pm on a June evening, I heard a crash in my backyard. The trunk of a tree had cracked and fallen just over the fence from my neighbor's property onto mine. No storm, no wind, no warning; a giant maple was strewn across my lawn just like that.

Fortunately it hadn't fallen on my house, my dog, or on anyone outside. But was it some kind of warning? Were the gods trying to tell me something? And now I had a major mess to deal with just as I had finished sprucing up my yard for the summer. Who was going to clean it up? How much was it going to cost?

The following weekend my grandson came to sleep over. When he ran out back to play, he screamed "Grammy what happened?"

As I explained, his eye grew wider and wider. "Can I climb up there?" he grinned with glee.

For a few moments I hesitated. What I had viewed as a catastrophe (albeit minor) and a major nuisance, this child perceived as wonderful. The next morning he jumped out of bed, slipped on his sneakers and ran outside in his pajamas to play.

On this hallowed day, this image gives me some hope for the future. No matter what befalls us, what we must face in this life, the human spirit does prevail.

Balance

This week I'm feeling quite grateful. Grateful for the bulb that burns on my desk while I work and read day or night; grateful for the flame that flickers to boil water for coffee or tea; grateful for the warm water that flows from my faucet to wash my hands and hair.

Yet, although Hurricane Irene spared us here on Long Island, I can't help but fret about the future, that nature's fury will continue to accelerate.

Yes, the water didn't rush up the one block from the bay to my house and flood my first floor as I feared it might for the first time since living near the coast for almost 20 years. And although I spent just one night away from home and lost power for just two days, I'm concerned about those affected in other areas, especially those devastated upstate and in Vermont.

Unless we heed nature's warnings and work tirelessly to find a better balance between consumption and conservation, we'll have to hope that we all can learn how to walk on water.

Hanging Out

As I cover my office equipment, pack up my photo albums and before I move my computer upstairs to higher ground before Hurricane Irene hits tomorrow, I thought about this collage completed last month and now hanging over the reference desk at the Westhampton Library until Sept 1st.

Called Hanging Out, its background is a composite of three images taken in Guatamala of a volcano. Yes, that's real lava that we were allowed to hike up to and even touch if we dared on a group trip taken there in 2008. And the characters floating on its crest are people I've come in contact with over the years.

Anticipating the course of the next two days, it seems that after we've bought flashlights, batteries, candles and peanut butter, there's not much more we can all do but hang out, hope for the best and see what happens...

Rain

After a week of the most glorious weather of the summer, it's a rainy Sunday when I have to admit I'm content to stay indoors, catch up on my reading, my blog, and perhaps do not much more than watch the rain fall.

Here's an image taken with my telephoto lens through my front window at f5.6 to emphasize the drops of water falling on the leaf. I could get much closer with a macro lens, but since I don't need to get super close (and don't own one), a telephoto is sufficient. Another reason this lens is a good choice is that the longer focal length further enhances the shallow depth of field.

Following a busy summer of framing and mounting work for several shows, it's nice to get back to making new images...