The Shadow Knows

Matt Downs of the Astros (L) and Eduardo Nunez of the Yankees need only to look at the shadow cast by umpire Mark Wegner to know the outcome of an attempted pick-off throw to first base. Wegner is signaling "safe!" This was a lucky shot that I didn't notice until several hours after the game. It pays sometimes to shoot first and ask questions later. You never know what you might get.

Year Three Begins

This is the start of year three of this photo blog. And I've returned my old neighborhood in St Petersburg, Florida. But this place wasn't there when I moved in 2005. It's the new Salvador Dali Museum. I always like to include people in my pictures of this nature to provide scale to the image and to give some insight into how the surrounding space is used by the public.

Here is a sunset shot of downtown St Petersburg. It's not a big town and this skyline is relatively new. But the big brown pelicans have been around the many years.

The Pier in St Petersburg has always been a favorite subject for me. But this is a different angle from the grounds of the community airport. It took a while for a bird to fly through the frame however I just had to wait a few minutes until the picture became what I wanted.

Baseball's Back

It's the first baseball photo of the new season and there's a lot going on - by baseball standards that is - as the first baseman of the Phillies, Robb Quinlan, thinks he's tagged out the Yankees' Greg Golson only to be told by the umpire that the pitcher made an illegal move and the runner is awarded second base. The more important news is it was near 80 degrees in Tampa, Florida and baseball is back until late October.

Two Cats - One Head

Sometimes you can come up with a different kind of photograph by shooting blindly at a moving target. In this case, the cat on the left, Tutt, was frolicking with, Ziggy, the other cat in the picture. I was trying to keep up with them ... to no avail. So I just kept clicking the shutter in their general direction with the hope of getting something. The result is this odd looking picture. Ziggy's body looks like it's attached to Tutt's head. I assure you that's not the case. Thanks to Penny for allowing me to feature two of her "little darlings."

L.A. At Its Best

Thanks to the use the zoom lens on my Panasonic camera (model DMC-FZ35 check - out the video) I was able to make the San Gabriel mountains far behind downtown Los Angeles appear a lot closer. Zooms compress distance and can mislead the viewer into thinking objects are closer together than they really are. But for my purposes, that's the image I wanted to create. It's so rare to see the mountains behind downtown in the first place given L.A.'s history of smoggy days. So I zoomed in real tight to play up the relationship between the glass and steel of the buildings and the natural beauty of the mountains.

It's Art. Any Objections?

I visited my most recent former college - Los Angeles Valley College - in time for the opening of an on-campus art exhibit by several members of the school's faculty. Professor Annie Buckley (L) is getting another close look at her creation called FORTUNE COAT. She glued several hundred fortune cookie messages to a coat. Front and back.

Here's a closer look at some of the fortune messages. Buckley said she thought about using staples to affix the strips of paper to the coat, but she said plain old Elmer's Glue was best for the job after all.

Movie Making In Brooklyn

Many TV shows and movies are filmed in Brooklyn, New York. But this is the first time since I moved to my present location last June that I've seen a crew set up its lights for a production. This is right across the street from my upstairs window and the lights we see here are to illuminate background shots for the main camera and lights that were across the street. I rendered this in black and white because the scene reminded me of those hundreds of film noir movies set in New York from the 40's, 50's and 60's.

Here's what it looks like on the ground and from behind the lights with real - not actors - people and cars going about their business while the filming went on up the street to the left. Those big windows in front of the lights are color correction filters - a light orange - to help balance the light so the camera records mostly white light from the various elements here: street lights, car headlights and exterior lights on buildings.

Scrumptious

On a cold Brooklyn night, this dessert was a perfect antidote to the chilly conditions outside. It's a hot bread pudding concoction with a side of vanilla ice cream on a bed of cinnamon and caramel. It was served up at the Chocolate Room on Court Street.

What Do You See?

At first look, it's ice on a tree limb. But after messing with the tint, I turned it into a small frozen aligator.

U.T. Times Three

If you're a member of the University of Texas Longhorn marching band you have to often wear this outfit when performing. This blog entry again looks at creative editing and I wanted to feature the Texas hats and the contrast of the traditional Longhorn colors and one band member in particular.

Here's the wide group shot - all hats and no cattle - to borrow and old Texas phrase.








But the second photo narrows down the picture to the elements I'm interested in. The hats and the young man on the right who stands out in the sea of burnt orange and white. The fact I can see his entire face and he's looking off-camera adds to the composition.

The third shot zeros in on him. There's no doubt what school he attends thanks to the TEXAS script to his right and the partial S in front of him. Their instruments are down on the ground next to them as they cheered on the Longhorn football team at a bowl game in San Diego.

So one picture can produce three or more distinct photos.

Don't Be Afraid To Crop Your Photos

This is a throw-back photo from my 2008 files when I was living in Los Angeles. Like many of the pictures on this blog, this was a quick, grab shot: see it - shoot it - and go eat.

But this finished product - after editing - is a great example of how an ordinary picture can be improved with the right crop. The relationship between the dog and his/her owner is much more apparent - and dramatic - in the cropped version (I like her gaze) as opposed to the original shot that shows how much I actually cut out.

I'm not sure what got the doggy's attention - maybe a cop was yelling for it to get from behind the wheel. And this is a story telling photo as well because it looks like the dog actually has its right paw on the steering wheel. But I wanted to play up the relationship between the animal and it doting owner who seems to be saying with her expression that, "You can do no wrong."

Making The Most Of What You Have

The title of this blog entry refers to trying to create something useful when conditions are against you. In this case I'm talking about the poor lighting inside New York's Madison Square Garden (it's poor for MY purposes - making pictures.) After having trouble getting decent pictures from the recent pro rodeo event there, I was hoping for better conditions for the 104th running of the Milrose Games. Sadly, no such luck. So - as with this shot - my panning skills (moving the camera at the same speed as the moving object) were called upon in order to get at least a portion of the picture in focus while much of the rest of the photo is blurry - due to lack of light.


The top picture is from the evening's very last event, the prestigious Wanamaker Mile. The second place finisher - Bernard Lagat (purple singlet) - was the favorite since he'd won the race 8 times, but he was topped by Deresse Mekonnen.

The middle photo features another second place finisher - pole vaulter Jenn Suhr. I shot about 50 pole vaulting shots and this one was the sharpest and one of the few where I can see her face. In sports photography, if you can't see the face of the competitor you've failed to convey the emotion of the effort. Her position is perfect: the arms are spread just right and her torso and legs are extended showing the strain of trying to vault over 15 feet.

The third picture shows the emotion I like to convey: triumph! Sara Hall is clearly pleased to be winning the women's 1500 meter run. Again, I moved my camera on a horizontal plane as she ran and I hoped my speed matched hers resulting in a clear photo for the most part. And while her left hand and left lower leg are blurry - her face, with that winning smile, is in perfect focus.

19 Inches Of New Snow!

The weather forecast said we'd get nine inches of new snow - we got 19 instead! These are some scenes taken from the living room window of my home here in Brooklyn. The snow started sooner than expected and lasted longer than expected.


It's been a record setting month of January for the New York City region never before has so much snow fallen in January around here and we're not even halfway through the Winter season which has seen 36 inches of snowfall so far.

Frozen Fountain

The low in New York City was 6 degrees - the lowest it's been in several years around here. And the Bryant Park fountain in mid-town became a frozen treat that attracted photographers and onlookers from all around town.







Here's a close up of the water that's been turned into a delicate curtain of ice formations. It reminded me of my summer of 2009 trip deep into the under ground caverns in Missouri where giant columns of water and mineral formations -100's of years old - hang from the ceilings.

I overheard one woman - who apparently is a longtime New York City resident - say that even she was impressed by the natural beauty of the frozen fountain. She said she's been e-mailing photos of the icy marvel to friends and family all day long.

Back In Florida

The new statue of the late New York Yankees' owner George M. Steinbrenner III was recently unveiled in Tampa, Florida. It stands in front of Steinbrenner Field as a memorial to the man who revived the Yankee franchise in the 1970's and - after moving his family and team headquarters to Tampa in the 1980's - helped many local charities with his donations - quite often made without anyone knowing where the money came from. I took this shot late in the day and the shadows on the staircase add a graphic dimension to the scene and nicely frame the bronze statue.

Meanwhile the duck pond next to the stadium offers a visual respite from the day to day pressures of watching baseball for a living.

Light Up

Ever wonder what it looks like when a cigar is lit? Here's a close-up view at the pretty colors and shapes. BTW - This blog does not condone smoking cigars ... or anything else for that matter.

Snow Dog

Actually this dog has nothing to do with our latest snow fall. He was waiting for his master in the dry cleaners while I was picking up my clothes.



I like the look - one eye doing the work of two - a calm, but steely glint in his eye. I think this is one of my best dog portraits.

The "Snow Bomb" Is Here

Our latest snowstorm here in New York - described as a "snow bomb" because of its size, arrived about 1am and is supposed to last thru the morning rush hour and be done by noon. 9 to 12 inches of snow are expected. This shot is from inside my warm apartment looking out across the street to the red door condo.

There weren't too many people on the streets since we had plenty of warning about the impending snow fall, so this guy is on his own.

Making A Show For The Masses

Here's a sanitation truck with its plow bucket at the ready to scoop up any and all snow. But - there is no snow ... yet. Another huge storm (they keep telling us it's "huge" on the weather reports) is due to hit late Tuesday night. But this and other trucks were out and about EARLY as an apparent display of readiness after the abysmal response to the Christmas Weekend Blizzard that saw work and rescue vehicles, cop cars and city buses stuck and abandoned in the snow because many streets weren't plowed for days. One sanitation department higher-up lost his job, but many others in New York City's "front office" escaped with only of the wrath of the politicians and citizens as their punishment ... so far.

Thinking Of The Beach

Another big snow storm is headed to where I live here in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday. So to offset that impending doom, I'm taking a look back at a Santa Monica, California beach sunset from 2008. All these people were there as if waiting for some kind of intervention from a higher power. The guy on the far left seems to be pleading for something other than a simple sunset to occur. Nothing did.

Enjoying Your Job

The Los Angeles Clippers pro basketball club has a dance team and cheerleaders. But they also have a drum troupe to help entertain their fans during timeouts. As a former school boy drummer and a fan of anything that makes noise, I wanted to capture the essence of playing a percussion instrument. The guy in the middle is the star of the group because there's no doubt how much he loves drumming and competing against his band mates. I used software that mimics the results of what's called a tilt-shift lens to home in on the faces of the drummers while putting everything else into a soft focus.

(No) Bull Riding In New York

The new season of the professional bull riders (PBR) tour kicked off its 2011 schedule at New York's Madison Square Garden. It was my first rodeo since the mid-80's in Las Vegas where the circuit ends with the championship tournament in October (they take June and July off to rest.) Here, 2010 PBR World Champion Renato Nunes of Brazil, is barely hanging onto Congo during the first of three nights of competition.






A very good opening night crowd was in attendance and of course many fans donned their best cowboy hat. Vendors were actually selling cowboy hats along with soft drinks and beer. As the evening worn on it seemed as if the beer sales had taken the lead. It was very noisy - with the ring announcer/MC/carnival barker and lots of rock, rap and techno music blaring between bull rides. One minute it's AC/DC followed by New Order (from the 80's) and then New York's own Beastie Boys keeping the crown pumped up.

Outside the Garden - as with most performances of any kind featuring animals - protesters were displaying their opinion about what was going on inside the building.

Blue Trash

Coming home from seeing the very average movie TRON (as in yawn), I came upon some of the millions of tons of trash still on New York streets more than a week after a ton of snow fell on the city. The blue light from the overhang of an apartment building cast my favorite color on this small mound of garbage ( in New York, this is considered a 'small' mound) that's due to be picked up soon. They better hurry: more snow is predicted to hit the tri-state area on Friday.

In Search Of Color In New York City

Sometimes I'll hit the streets of NYC in search of a common theme. And color was what I was looking for in as many shapes and forms as I could find. The Empire State Building was adorned in holidays colors while a window with a water fall streaming down its glass created a series of muted colors.

The golden spire of the New York Life Insurance Building is always an eye-catcher and when's the last time you looked at a spool of tread up close?

Big Snow

Here's the view from my kitchen window looking down on Dean Street in Brooklyn, New York. It took me 17 hours of traveling time to get home from southern California. And this is what I found. Some 20 inches of snow fell over Christmas weekend - the 6th largest storm in NY history. The airports here were closed and us holiday travelers were hard pressed to find alternative ways to get home. Last year our biggest storm came in February. So this could be a preview of things to come.

Rain Is Good For Something

Wet weather in Los Angeles - six month's worth over an eight day period - has given the streets a nice sheen. Here is my favorite gas station - with its futuristic sweeping roof - being reflected on the street as traffic whizzes by.

Favorite Light Fixtures

What's better than forks, spoons and knives to make up of a light fixture in a diner? In this case, we have Kitchen 24 in Hollywood, California. So just in case your waiter fails to provide utensils, all you have to do is reach up and pry lose something to use to cut and eat your steak

Visiting St Patrick's Cathedral

The lighting of a prayer candle at New York's famed St Patrick's Cathedral is possible right of passage for this young boy. I wanted to photograph a child because of the way the fire light reflects off of young faces who are learning to think of others especially during the holiday season.

I set my small Panasonic point and shoot camera on its timer to get a nice steady shot of the interior of the church which is not lit very brightly. At 1/6 of a second at iso 800, I wanted to accent the color in the beautiful stained glass windows while bringing out the detail in the support columns and arches.

The vast interior of the church is in a neo-Gothic style and can accommodate 2200 people. The church was dedicated in May of 1879.