Along came the rain.

I’m taking a brake from packing to post my last picture till Sunday or Monday. On the way to the bus stop with Evan I caught this oak leaf riding on the snow. It looked so isolated sitting on top of the three fresh inches of snow. When I stooped down to photograph it, I noticed parts of the leaf caught by the snow. It would be only a matter of time before it was all covered…
…As it turns out, today’s snow turned to rain. Lots of rain. There’s not much, if any, snow on the ground. The weatherman is calling for it to be very cold overnight and the ride to work should be slow. Figures I have to drive to the airport tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Thursday I’m leaving for Florida to help my parents move from a condo to a house. I really don’t like flying but it the quickest way to get there and back. I plan to travel light. I will bring one camera body and a lens. I haven’t made up my mind between the Canon 5d with the 24-105 or the 20d and the 17-40. The 20d has the build in flash that has come in handy in the past. Decisions, decisions.
I had a friend get his camera stolen from him at an airport, just one more thing to complicate the decision.
Today’s picture post is from Monday the 19th. I changed it to grayscale and pumped up the contrast. My black and white images never look as good on the blog as they do on my computer. I have to work on that.
So I may not post till I return on Sunday, the first of February, but at least I’ll have something different.

Calverton Barn View II

This is another view of the Calverton Barn that I photographed a week ago today. I did spend some time today looking for interesting things to make images of, but I wasn’t successful. This also is an HDR post processed image. I was happier with this one because I was able to save the sky.

Can't find my Muse

Well it’s been almost a week and I really haven’t shot anything new. This image will be a week old on Monday. And, I’m not crazy about it at all. Tomorrow I don’t have much to do, so maybe I’ll be able to spend a little time and get something new to post.

Calverton Barn

I woke up feeling really good today, and so far it’s been good. I processed another image from Monday using someone else’s Mac so I could see how it looked as an HDR image. I’m happy. This is a barn in Calverton not to far from the Magic Farm. Most of the buildings on the Magic Farm property have been torn down. I’m glad I found my way to trespass back in November to make the photos I did.
Progress. Making way for new homes or condo’s or an industrial park, anything but a farm. There’s not much money in farming small farms here on Long Island. Property and school taxes are so high farmers barely brake even. Many smaller farms are sold as land for development.
Recently, local government started purchasing the development rights to some of the larger farms. This way the farm can stay a working farm and the farmer get some money for keeping it open space.

Computers are a headache.

Today’s photo was made on Monday. I am happy to say that it is an HDR image. Post-processing took place on someone else’s machine. I probably lack enough RAM to process HDR images. We just can’t figure out the problem. I was able to merge images into HDR files, not anymore, now they just don’t open. Computers are a headache.

Back on the Beat

Between the fridge cold spell we had and my lack of creativity I didn’t make any personal photos for a few days.
On Monday, Martin Luther King Day, I had an awards breakfast to cover. The drive there was very difficult. Sunday night was had a light snow on top of a heavier snow on Saturday. Monday the early morning light was beautiful. There was no wind so the branches looked beautiful with a light cover of snow. All I could do was hope that it stayed that way till I was finished at the breakfast.
I was lucky and was able to make some images with HDR post-processing in mind. All did not go well with post-production last night and I could not get any of the images to open as HDR images. I’ll have to figure out what went wrong.
So I decided to post a photo of the musicians from the Martin Luther King awards breakfast. I was impressed with the percussionist and chose to make a few available light images of him. The lighting was low and the exposure was 1/13sec.@ f.4 at an iso of 800. I wanted to get the blur of his hands. I wish his face were clearer. Oh well.

Amityvillle Villlage

I found today’s image in the Village of Amityville, yes the home of the Amityville Horror. I think we drove past the actual house when I was 17 or 18 years old. I don’t think I could find it today without asking. I was there on a job to make a photograph for a web page banner.
This window belongs to the Amityville General Store, which is housed in a fairly old building. I included the window frame because the paint is peeling and it looked as old as some of the décor inside.

Red For Everyone

Today’s photo is the product of a long week and another busy day. Things are getting back to normal.
Making a photo every day for the blog is a great exercise for me. It forces me to look at different things and not just make photographs because it’s my living. It brings me back to when I first fell in love with photography.
I made this image on the way home yesterday. I loved the way the red light looked against the blue sky, so I pulled into a parking lot and made a couple of images. It just reminds me everyone needs to stop.

Saturday 1.10.09

It’s been a killer week. I’m sitting up in bed with a heat pack on my neck trying to catch up on visiting the blogs I frequent and getting a new posting for my own. I haven’t made any personal pictures for a while. I did have a chance on Thursday to take a walk thought the village of Babylon. I had my camera, but nothing caught my eye.
I was hired to make campaign photos for a special election and a village election, both started this week. I can’t remember the last time I worked six days in a row in a January. I’m not complaining, just counting my blessings and using heat on my sore neck.
Today’s way-over-due post is from January 3rd’s walk on the beach. I liked the figure eight s he snow fences made.
It’s snowing tonight so maybe I’ll be motivated to make something personal tomorrow.

All Worn out.

Two days in a row, back to back work. This doesn’t happen often, it doesn’t given me much time to myself. It’s almost six and I have about 45 minutes before my next gig, I’ll use this time to put together my next post. This is one of the wonderful benefits to a laptop. On occasion I’ve completed jobs in the car, even burnt the CD.
I’ve been thinking lately about how secure I am at what I do. Most of my work comes from one of two places. I’m having a “putting all my eggs in one basket” anxiety. I know it’s all driven by the state of the economy, but it still works me up. In a way, it good to worry a little, it keeps you on you toes.
Today’s picture is a self-portrait from the old Oldsmobile images I made on Sunday. I was fooling around with it and made it black & white. There’s a digital advantage, black & white and color both on the safe frame.

Sunny Sunday

Today is the last day before we’re back to some sort of routine. The workweek starts off very busy for me, unusual for January. The rest of the month looks light.
I want to build an entertainment cabinet. Every winter, during the slow season, I try to harness my creative energy and do something different. I started a mechanical drawing yesterday, but I think I need to change it.
It looks beautiful today, crisp blue shy and plenty of sunshine. Maybe I can get down to the ocean again for my walk.
Today’s image is a request from fellow blogger Lidiji for one of the Oldsmobile images. You should check out her black and white imagery @ silaartphoto.blogspot.com. Very talented.
I made this image from a low angle to eliminate the busy background and emphasize the long lines of the hood. I also liked the headlight, which I dodged a bit to make lighter.

Jan 3 2009

Took a walk along the ocean beach this morning and was greeted by a friendly chocolate lab. His owner was not as friendly. Isn’t that always the way. So be it. I wasn’t looking for conversation. I came across a lot of interesting subject matter. But mostly made photographs of the sown fence shadows and patterns. It was a very good walk
When I got home there was a 1930 something Oldsmobile parked around the corner. So I make some photos there. All in all it was a good day.

Fixed the sink..maybe.

For the longest time, our kitchen sink has leaked. It’s been an off and on problem. One that I’ve tackled a couple of times myself, and even called in a self proclaimed professional to tackle it. Maybe this time my repair will stick.
It was just way too cold and windy to venture out doors. Today’s post is from Tuesday, December 30th. I spent a few hours at the Vanderbilt Museum making some photos pro-bono. I found the dyed concrete work very intriguing.