Lenny Kravitz in Concert

Lenny Kravitz and his longtime guitarist, Craig Ross, put on a show at New York's Radio City Music Hall. It's a homecoming for Kravitz who was born in Brooklyn. This is his first U.S. tour in five years.

From my fifth row seat, I was able to shoot a variety of photos since the lighting was always changing.

Lenny Kravitz made it easy for all of us who were shooting pictures (seemingly every one in attendance!) as he made many broad gestures like this one throughout his two hour performance. It wasn't that long ago that each and every ticket proclaimed: NO CAMERAS ALLOWED.

It was fun to try to take advantage of the multi-media aspects of the concert when Kravitz took certain positions on the stage.

This is one of the risky shots I tried as shooting into that bright light made the auto-focus on my camera go nuts and fight to find a lock-in point. This is one of those pictures that I'll keep trying to make until I get it right!

Me And Our Shadow

With my camera in the seat-back holder, I looked out the window on approach to JFK and I saw a circular rainbow-like image on the clouds. By the time I was ready to shoot, the image - much to my surprise - changed for the better. The shadow OF THE JET appeared inside the rings. I've flown many a mile in my life and I've never seen this type of pattern on clouds. I have photographed a similar image upon landing. But never have the conditions been right for a cloud reflection - at least, with me gazing out of a window with a camera a few inches away from my hands. ALWAYS have your camera ready for the one-of-a-kind shot.

Coffee With A Flash

Here are two versions of the same picture. I was recently urged by my college photography teacher to try more black and white. So, in addition to my typical color shot, the black and white picture does - to me- add a new angle to my work. More B&W in the future from me!

I shot five frames of me pouring cream into my cup of coffee. In fact, I was warned by a friend that I might end up with too much cream if I didn't stop taking pictures. But it was worth it when I lucked into a detailed shot of the cream-stream breaking up into three separate balls of liquid as it neared the surface of the coffee.

Up In The Sky

Big time kite flying was on display in Florida over the weekend at the 15th annual Treasure Island Kite Festival & Competition. Kites of all sizes (including one rumored $5,000 model - the big dog below) were in the sky easily on a very windy day at the beach.

Yes ... this huge dog kite costs $5,000 and as you might have guessed, it was one of the more popular kites at the fest. It might be a better fit at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade because of its size. BTW, that yellow kite is a sting ray.

Since blue is my favorite color, I picked this kite as my "best in show" simply because of its sky-matching hue.

Treasure Island is close to St Petersburg, Florida where I used to live for seven years while I was with the Rays baseball team. Here is a look at the vast variety of kites at the fest.

The strong wind actually made the wrangling the smaller kites a tough job. So it was amazing to watch the kite dancing competition that's staged to the accompaniment of popular music tracks and is judged as one would judge a gymnastics or ice skating competition.

I wanted to make it seem as if a tiny kite was coming out of this guy's camera lens. I just got the right angle and shot quickly.

Passing Time With A Blonde

In this case - blonde coffee. That's what Starbucks is pushing these days. I passed a Starbucks stand in the Tampa, Florida airport and I wanted to see how the latest, milder blend was being displayed. I don't drink Starbucks coffee, but I was still interested in the hype. I do own stock in the company so perhaps this new choice for devotees will put some extra jingle in my pocket.

Not sure if the name - BLONDE - and the type of coffee - WILLOW BLEND - will attract the biker crowd. Plus, it's decaf. Not the kind of coffee that suggests it's great for all-night study sessions.

I flew to Tampa of an airline I don't normally use. Thus, no TV to help kill time. So here are my magazine choices for the two and a half-hour flight from New York. I didn't get much reading in because my overhead light kept flickering on and off. Very frustrating. But sleep was a good second choice.

Apple's Newest Store ... Location.

A large amount of space and plenty of potential customers ... here is where Apple has opened its latest store. It's the famous, iconic, tourist mecca that's also known as New York's Grand Central Station. I made this image about 8pm on a Saturday night, so there's not that much traffic on the floor, but the Apple Store (I know ... where's the picture? I didn't take one) was pretty busy nonetheless. Click on the pics for a larger view.

By the way (BTW) here's what the ceiling of Grand Central Station looks like. A few years ago - in 1996 - the sky ceiling cleansing was part of a two year renovation project that brought new life to one of New York's most important locations.

Random Shots From California

The surface of the downtown Los Angeles Disney Concert Hall reflects light in different ways depending on the time of day. After a brief, but intense rain shower, dark block-like moisture stains - remnants from the rain - remain until they dry.

Here's a wider loook at the stainless steel exterior of the Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. The Frank Gehry designed building opened in 2003 at a cost of $274 million dollars.

Salt and pepper shakers stand at attention - waiting to spring into action to help people enjoy their food even more.

I don't think this plate would be allowed in many places. But in California it's OK.

I should do a book of the photos I've taken while waiting for a light to change. I actually have found that as soon as I grab for my camera, the light seems to go in my favor much quicker. Try it when you're in a hurry.

Beauty and the Beast

My first shot is the "beauty" view of this fountain across from the downtown Los Angeles Music Center complex. Great colors - reminds me of frozen pop bars. But when you look at the photo below, you'll see I had to crop out a less-than-attractive parts of the image.

The fountain is located above the ugly "beast -like" parking garage and leaving that part of the image in the frame detracts from the scene created in one's mind when you look at any water display. Whatever that picture is in your head, I'm sure parking structures are not included.

This has nothing to do with the fountain matter but it could fit the "beauty' theme. These ladies were headed to a party in downtown Los Angeles with a 1920's motif. I guess even women had facial hair in those days. They were happy to pose for a portrait.

A Night In Bryant Park

On my way to Bryant Park to do some Christmas shopping, I stopped to photograph the front of the Main Library that borders the park on its eastern side. The iconic building - opened in 1911 - is a vast repository of learning and one of New York City's most visited landmarks. I wanted something a little different and totally lucked into this shot with the pedi-cab driver and his rig being in the shot. I had put the camera on its 10 second timer and just before the shutter tripped, this guy wheeled into the frame. It's better to be lucky than good! The street light on the left helps add balance to the picture.

The Christmas tree and ice-skating rink at Bryant Park - along with the many pop-up shops that open for the hoiliday season - are big attractions. That's the Main Library in the background.

The Bank of America tower overlooks Bryant Park to the northwest. I like the way the shape of the building reflects light in different ways depending on where one is standing and the time of day.

I'm Not Quite THIS Bad Off

Two Lessons here: Number one - of course - is always have your camera handy to grab these once-in-a-lifetime shots when they present themselves and Number two: Playing guitar is tiring ... for some. This guy was wiped out after - I'm guessing - a long day of busking (performing in public spaces for money) in and around New York City. I was drawn to this scene by the blue guitar and the not-so-apparent devotion of its owner to it. The thing is tied by some string to his body while he naps. And - what else is new? - the two guys on the right pretty much are ignoring everything except their tiny phone screens as life goes on around them in the subway.






These are MY fingers. I started playing guitar again about three months ago and the ragged condition of my fingertips is the result of hours of practice. If I play too long I can feel some discomfort in them. But for the most part it's a pain free by-product of a new desire to express myself in a musical way.

Brooklyn's Own

The Brooklyn Borough Hall Christmas tree was unveiled the other night in un-winter-like 61 degree conditions (actual winter-like snow is headed our way later this week.) Thanks to an evening rain, I took advantage of the nice reflective quality of the ground leading to the tree and its historic backdrop. Borough Hall was once the City Hall of Brooklyn when the borough was - in fact - a seperate city on its own many, many years ago.

A closer look reveals the details on the facade of Borough Hall - ribbons and wreaths adorning its face I'll go back to see what it looks like when there's snow on the ground in a few days.

In search of a different angle, I climbed the steps of Borough Hall to shoot from behind the massive Roman columns. The building in the distance is the federal bankruptcy court that we all try to avoid.

If Three's A Crowd ... Four Must Be A Parade

Here is the best of the four ... yes, four boats that participated in the Third Annual New York City Lighted Boat Parade. The newspaper article I saw talking about this event suggested that up to 20 vessels would be in the water. Perhaps not everybody got the memo or text or tweet. The boats made their way around the East River between the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge (seen above). As usual, click on the picture for a large slide show of the images.



These boats - in terms of shooting decent pictures - are moving pretty fast. So I'm going for the abstract look. The blue lights help to define its basic shape.

Southern California Sights From The Car

You spend a lot of time in your car in southern California because places are so spread out. It takes plenty of minutes off the clock just to get to where you're going. So out comes the camera to pass the time during traffic jams and this first shot is of an evening at sunset from the Hollywood Freeway.

Cars are a necessary part of the culture out here. Some owners are serious about making a statement while making their way to a destination. This classic Pontiac was zipping along the 405 freeway and I was lucky to get a clear shot on an otherwise crowded roadway on a Saturday afternoon. This car is clean!

Driving on the Harbor Freeway heading east to take the I-5 off ramp (which is on the left), I noticed Cal Trans installed very bright lane markers to help drivers know where the I-5 lane is located.

While waiting for a street light to change, the light in the sky changed and the filtered sun provided the backdrop to the many hundreds of power poles in and around the Los Angeles area.

From and In the Air

On the ground in Burbank after flying from New York. Palm trees on the left, the sun and blue skies ... yep, California.

Maybe I like the color blue a little too much. Now, my food choices must feature something blue? Who's heard of "naturally blue potatoes?"

The airline graveyard in Tucson, Arizona where retired passenger planes go to sit and wait for a call to get back into action. Or at least provide some parts for other jets.

I'm not sure where this is. Either Utah or Arizona. Anyway, this part of the west looks different from the other Grand Canyon-like types of typography one can see from the air due to its circular appearance.

This looks like the land in and around the Grand Canyon. The angle of sun helps to give this photo - taken from my seat (21A) - some texture. I think this is somewhere over Utah.

The Best of the Week in Florida

I like variety when it comes to making pictures and it was a good week for that in Florida. This is one of my favorites from the past seven days. I took it in a restaurant while waiting for my food to arrive. This window scene looks like a painting, but it's the view of the side of a house next to where I was dining.

Rolling Stone Magazine's selection of Kaki King as one of their living "Guitar Gods" is right on the mark. She put on a great show in Clearwater, Florida on Wednesday. I'm in the front row of the balcony but thanks to the zoom lens on my little point and shoot camera, I was able to get in close. Check out the length of the nail on her right thumb. I'm pretty sure is a glue-on.

We arrived in the New York area early but thanks to lots of ground congestion, we circled near JFK airport for almost 45 minutes. This is the Atlantic Ocean coast line. The sea looks pretty churned up.

Just before I went downstairs from my 8th floor Tampa, Florida hotel room, I took a time-exposure of I-275. I wanted to get the streaks of lights from the cars while getting some of the golden light on Tampa Bay itself at the top of the frame.

If you continued on I-275 and wanted to head over to St Petersburg, Florida, the freeway leads onto the Howard Franklin Expressway that slices through Tampa Bay.

There was a wedding at the hotel and these ladies were leaving the reception. I caught one of them waving good-bye to the folks downstairs.

While shopping at Target to get some razor blades, I visited a pond in back of the near-by Whole Foods to check on the wildlife. I lucked out a caught this Heron zeroing in on dinner.

From that same pond-side parking lot, this Heron is preening its plumage as it gets ready for our photo shoot.

The week began with the AirFest at MacDill Air Force Base. The Air Force Thunderbirds precision flying team put on a great show.