"Super" Full Moon

I went hunting for a full moon tonight - the first of its kind in a while - and I ended up with the moon and a church spire and an emergency runway light at Tampa International Airport to add a different twist. This is the closest the moon has been to earth in 18 years. The rare occurance is called a "Super" moon. As such the moon appears 14% larger and 30% brighter than other full moons. Since the moon is photographed often - a MATURE SUBJECT is what we call such popular targets - it was up to me to find something different and hopefully interesting to place in front of it to make the shots standout.

Double Dip

The setting sun gives the Tampa Bay Rays' Manny Ramirez a larger than life shadow as he prepared for a game against the Yankees in Tampa. Ramirez is in his first season with the Rays after a rocky 2010 season with the Dodgers and White Sox. Meanwhile in downtown Tampa the UCLA Bruins scored a two point win over Michigan State in a second round NCAA tournament game at the St Pete Times Forum. UCLA's Reeves Nelson (L) attempts a shot over a Spartan defender on the same floor where the Bruins will play the University of Florida Saturday for the right to advance in the tournament.

Rare Sights

A gull with the moon on its head and a man walking his cat. That's a combo you won't find very often. The bird-moon shot was simply a case of me lining up the duo at just the right spot and the plus was the gull calling out to its buddies at the moment I pressed the shutter button. As for the man and the cat ... he and his wife who are visiting Florida from West Virginia decided to walk their cats near the break water across from a fishing pier. They said they started harnessing the leash to the cats when they were kittens and that the animals are comfortable being walked with it on.

Overhead Art

I'm a big fan of restaurant lighting fixtures and this photo is the latest in an series on the topic. While having a birthday dinner with friends at Tampa's Kona Grill, I had to get a shot of the giant yellow parasol-like lights that seem to float throughout the space.

Backyard Wildlife

I'd like to say I traveled to the Florida Everglades to get this shot of a snowy egret who is relaxing by the water. But, in fact, I made this picture in the heart of Tampa at a pond behind the supermarket where I was shopping. What elevates this picture about the norm is that I walked around until I found an element to give the photo a unique quality. That wavey black line in the water is actually the reflection of a telephone pole that was bent out of shape by movement of the surface of the water.

A Day At The Races

If you're looking for action and colorful scenes it's hard to beat taking photographs at the race track. Here is a series of pictures I made at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Florida. Finding great vantage points from which to get shots is fairly easy at a smaller track like TBD. On this day many upsets occurred resulting in close finishes. The #4 horse in the second photo was able to nose out the horse on the rail. Wyomia beat Devilish Lady to pay $15.20 to its backers. I was not one of them. The jockey in the last picture - wearing braces - looks like he's about 15 years old. The horse in picture three seems to know how to pose for a portrait.

Where's The Fire?

Here is another entry in my intermittent series on fire hydrants. This one is found on the campus of the University of Tampa in downtown Florida. Had it just been painted all yellow I probably would have passed it up. But the blue cap attracted me to it. However it still needed something to make it stand out. So I got lower and was able to see a frame of flowers and trees that helped elevate the image beyond the ordinary.

All In A Row

This is the result of a good guess on my part - I had just one shot - and great work by the umpire (Dan Iassogna) and the Yankess' third base coach (Rob Thompson #59) who are both in perfect position to do their respective jobs. Thompson is properly directing the base runner, Curtis Granderson, to slide into the base since Granderson's back was to where the throw was coming from (right field.) The ump, Iassogna, is right over the shoulder of the Phillies' Placido Polanco who was late with his tag on Granderson who shows - by the way - perfect sliding form. So many guys are diving head first (including at home plate as well!) that the art of the proper foot first slide is becoming a lost skill at the Major League level.

A Bug, Two Birds, A Flower And A Smoker

If you take your time and walk around with a camera, you'll discover a lot of things. That's what I did on a breezy day in Tampa, Florida and I came up with a nice variety of images. The guy below was taking a smoking break while holding up the colorful south wall of the Tampa Museum of Art. The other pictures are a dragonfly at a pond on the University of Tampa campus, a flower from that same pond and a couple of gulls taking in the sights.

Tight Fit

This Carnival cruise ship is heading out to sea by traversing Tampa Bay in Florida and sailing under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. From this photo it looks like the ship is barely able to fit under the span. And you're right. Check out the video from the top deck as the vessel cruises the underside of the bridge.

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.