Happy New Year!

This is the annual ceremonial gathering under the harbor tree on the last day of 2014.  Or not.  I have photographed this tree so many times, under so many different weather conditions, but I don't think I have ever seen it with more than one person near it.  On this day, I happened to see four people all in a row.  They actually moved around quite a bit, they seemed to be tourists looking at the harbor and at the tree.  I waited until they were all separated from each other before shooting.

Rusted Stuff

I took my usual walk to the power plant to see what has changed in my absence.  After doing some photographs there, I kept walking and then cut through some woods to a vacant piece of property that used to contain a tank farm for fuel oil. I was curious what was there now.  I found some broken concrete, and then this rusted  sea wall.  It is made from steel sheathing that is driven into the floor of the harbor with a pile driver.  This wall has been there for a long long time, since it is almost completely rusted out.  I spent some time trying to find the best pattern of holes before taking this picture.

Jet Blue

It was late in the afternoon after flying more than half way to New York.  The sun had set perhaps half an hour before, and of course it set at a very rapid rate, since we were flying away from the sunset at nearly 500 miles an hour.  Everything out the window was deep blue, and then I noticed that the JetBlue aircraft have blue lights in the cabin.  I looked at the window and realized that everything was blue.  So I took a shot out the window, showing the very end of the wing, and the vertical winglet that sticks up at an angle from the wing.  

Watching California Recede in the Distance...

We had a great time during our Christmas stay in California.  We had been there over a week, and eventually it was time to head home.  And that is difficult too because we love being with everyone.  Twice a year to visit doesn't seem like enough time.  So it is a bittersweet moment to board the plane, and then look out the window and watch California recede into the distance.

Tolerance

On one of our days, we went to the Museum of Tolerance. It is a multimedia museum designed to examine racism and prejudice around the world with a strong focus on the history of the Holocaust. It also features a tolerance section that discusses issues of prejudice in everyday life.  It is a very powerful experience to spend time here.  This is a photograph of the sculpture "Holocausto" by Mexican sculptor, José Sacal, and from this level a circular ramp rises up to the next level, and all along the walls of the ramp are portraits of Holocaust survivors who are residents of Los Angeles. One of the survivors gave a lecture in person about her experience and her story was riveting.  We all agreed that was the most powerful experience of the day.

The Magical Mystery Plant

Both Liz and Amy have several of these plants around their houses.  This one is planted at Liz' house, and Amy has several in pots on her porch.  I was immediately taken by the beauty of the plant - it is just stunning - and asked what kind of plant it was.  No one knows, other than it some kind of succulent.  Some of the ones Amy has are reddish brown in the center.  I am guessing that someone who looks at the blog might possible know what plant this is.

Yes, There is a Santa Claus...

Yes there is a Santa Claus, and I know this because I found her on the beach in Venice, California!  We were walking on the boardwalk, and Liz looked off in the distance and said "Is that someone wearing a Santa hat?"  So I headed off across the beach on a slow run to see.  And it was!  I went up and asked if I could take a photo of her from behind, and she said that was fine.  Obviously she was here relaxing as the sun was going down, so she would be fully rested for her long night ahead.  Do not ask me about the International Date Line.  I like my version of the story better!

Merry Christmas to One and All

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas!  This seems to be the most appropriate photograph for my Christmas post, because it is the baby Jesus in the manger, and the reason for Christmas in the first place.  I am thinking that any other information about this photograph is not really that important at this time.  Enjoy your family and enjoy your friends on this most important day of the year.

The Crescent Moon

I drove to the beach late in the afternoon, but arrived just after the sun had set!  Arghhhhhhhhh.  That was stupid to not have planned better, and I figured that I had missed everything.  But it was amazing to stand on the beach and look out at the Pacific ocean, and have a flat horizon for as far as the eye could see.  It gave me this sublime feeling of being able to see to the end of the earth.  I stood for an hour, just watching the changing afterglow in the sky.  The colors were so pure and so brilliant.  I wasn't the only one watching. There were people behind me seated on the beach, and this group in front of me that was taking photographs of themselves and the sunset.  What made it all magical was the very thin crescent moon above it all.

Fog, In Los Angeles!

Fog!  In Los Angeles!  What?  We were at a museum today several miles inland from the ocean and it was blue sky and sunshine.  At the end of the day we were driving back toward Venice, and saw towering clouds which gradually obscured the sun as we got nearer to the beach.  By the time we got home, it was dense fog everywhere!  I was out photographing these trees, the larger one is in front of Amy & Gus' house.  A man was walking down the street toward me, and he kept looking behind, apparently wondering what I was photographing.  When he got closer, I said I was photographing the fog.  He said "Oh. I am from San Francisco and fog is not a big deal there!"  I explained that I had never seen fog in Los Angeles before.

Not Your Father's Christmas Music...

We love going to the Santa Monica Promenade during Christmas season.  A wonderful place to walk up and down the pedestrian walk, and people watch.  They have all kinds of street performers and musicians for entertainment.  This drummer is part of a three-man band that was performing, and they have a great sound - worth stopping and listening to.  I noticed these three young children who were watching and then it occurred to me that this was not Christmas music that was being performed.  In fact, almost all of the music was not holiday music at all, which might seem a bit strange.  But because so much of the time the holiday music seems to be about getting people to buy stuff, it almost seemed refreshing not to be hearing it.

Ukelele Ladies...

This being Christmastime, Sarah and Liz and Amy have been spending a lot of time working on new Christmas songs.  Some of the songs are three-part harmony, and they have been practicing them for a while now.  Tonight just Sarah and Liz were practicing some songs on their Ukeleles, and it was a lot of fun to hear them.  I haven't heard ukeleles in years.  Notice Liz' dog Wesley on the couch, checking out their performance.

In The Manner Of...

There is a stunning photographic exhibit at the Getty Center.  It is called "Josef Koudelka: Nationality Doubtful."  He has been a photographer since the late 1950's, shooting only black and white film.  He first covered the invasion of Prague by the Russians, then he did a photo essay on Gypsies, and later on panoramic photographs of the devastation of coal mining, and of the wall dividing Israel and Palestine.  The richness of his prints is just amazing, and I left wanting to see if I could recreate in a digital image, the sense of black and white film shot in a camera.  So this is one of the plazas at the Getty, and this image started out as a color photograph, and then I worked on it some, to get to this image.  It is not exactly the same, but it has some sense of what I felt in the exhibit.

The Squiggledy Line

OK, so I know there is no such word as "squiggledy."  But I like the sound of it.  It came to me at 33,000 feet when I looked down on this meandering river on our flight out to Los Angeles.  This is, I believe, the Big Sioux River, which makes up the border of Iowa and South Dakota.  I love that I can find so many beautiful abstractions when flying at the flight levels, which is why I always choose the window seat.  Although I hate to have to disturb people when I want to get up and stretch on a long flight.  These days, six hours is a long flight!

Airplane Parts

Today we flew from JFK to Los Angeles.  When we were at the gate in New York, I looked out the window and saw this scene, once I zoomed in with my camera.  There are some interesting things going on in this photograph.  At the top left, we see an Airbus 320 tail, then in the middle of the photo, an Airbus 321 winglet, and to the right, an Airbus 320 winglet.  The winglets are mounted on the tips of the wings to make the wings more efficient.  Basically, they prevent the air rushing over the top of the wing, from taking a shortcut and sliding off the tip of the wing, instead of flowing over the full chord.  The 320 winglet is an older version, and the new 321 winglets are the newer version - much larger, and much more efficient.

The Ladies in the Window

I was on the way to the grocery store in the next town over, and I caught a flash of a white statue in the window of an antique store.  I was in a hurry, so didn't stop.  I came back later in the day.  The original statue that I had seen was not promising looking, but a window away were these two statues, and they came together nicely in a composition for me.  It was nice that I caught something in the first trip past, and that it turned into a reasonable photograph.

Getting Down to Bare Metal

So they are in the next to last stage of finishing off this building.  Once they get the last of the brick off, then they will start cutting the structural steel which has been holding everything up.  So here is my big fear - we are headed to California for Christmas, and I am afraid that they will make great strides in the demolition, and I will miss documenting an important part of the process.  Man, how many people do you know would even CARE about tearing down a building?  It is pretty interesting when you enlarge the photograph, to see all the details of this structure.

Fondue

We had our astronomy club holiday dinner last night, and for a change of pace, instead of eating at a conventional restaurant, we ate at a fondue restaurant.  Fondue?  Are you serious?  Man, that is so 1960's!  Who remembers fondue?  We had two pots around here somewhere, but I think they got tossed 30 years ago!  So it was interesting, and it took a long time to eat.  We started with cheese fondue and bread, the original concept.  Then there was a bowl of delicious hot broth and we had vegetables cooked in that, and then we cooked chicken and shrimp and filet mignon and teriaki beef in the broth as well.  Then they brought the chocolate fondue, put some liquor on the top and lit it. We dipped strawberries in that.  Everyone including me photographed it, and I had my blog post!

The Kitty's Tail

The usual thing.  I see one of the kitties doing something, and then I need to try and get a photo without disturbing the kitty. This kitty is on the radiator in the dining room, and one of my cameras is in the living room.  That involves S-L-O-W-L-Y getting up from my chair and moving in slow motion.  Obviously I managed to get the photograph.  What I find so cute is that the kitty wrapped her tail around the curtain.  She stayed that way for a long time, and I haven't the faintest idea why she is doing that.  One more of life's mysteries...

I Should Get Outdoors More

This is a Sun Pillar.  I have taken late afternoon walks for two days in a row now.  I walk to the power plant and back which is a distance of 3.2 miles.  It takes me fifty-three minutes, if I don't stop to take pictures.  I ALWAYS stop to take pictures.  Like today.  I have realized in the last two days that I really should get outdoors more.  It is a rewarding experience to watch the sky before and after sunset.  Perhaps it's this season of the year that gives us such interesting clouds.  The Sun Pillar is a special treat that you won't see that often.  It is a column of light that typically occurs during sunrise or sunset.  This one is not that tall - I have seen them tall enough that they would rise out of the frame of this picture.  You will love how they are created.  They are formed when sunlight reflects off the surfaces of falling ice crystals associated with thin, high-level clouds. The ice crystals are hexagonal plate-like ice crystals that fall with a horizontal orientation, gently rocking from side to side as they fall, and reflecting the sunlight.  I LOVE knowing that!

The Flash of Recognition

Every once in a while I see something that stops me in my tracks, and I realize that I am looking at something that is extraordinary, a recognition that I am looking at something I have never seen before.  That was the case today.  First I noticed the mirror-smooth water and then the dark black rocks and then the smooth black curve of the sandbar.  Something in me responded to that and I realized that I had something very special to work with.  This photograph is the result.  For me, this is a very unusual landscape.

My Dunkin' Donuts Photo Studio

This is my friend Jessica.  She is a senior at Stonybrook, majoring in engineering and physics, with a minor in astronomy.  I guess it was about five years ago she and a friend came to the astronomy club and said they wanted to build a telescope and grind and polish a mirror as well.  I said I would mentor them, and we have been friends ever since. She is busy beyond imagining but from time to time we meet for coffee at a Dunkin' Donuts, and talk about astronomy and engineering and life.  I always have my small camera with me, and when she glanced down, and her hair fell forward, I quickly said "Don't move!"  I think this is a portrait unlike any I have ever taken.

The See-Through Power Plant

So now the power plant is a see-through building.  It is amazing how much daylight comes through now.  After the south wall came down, and then the north wall, you still couldn't see through the building because of all the piping and sheet metal work in this, the boiler section.  I have stood at both ends, and yet have been unable to see any of demolition work within the building.  It's just that one day there is a little more daylight coming through.

A Silver Sky

I took a walk by the water the other day, and the sky from horizon to horizon was stunning.  The bottoms of the stratus clouds were perfectly smooth everywhere and the color of silver.  It was remarkable and I took a lot of pictures in every direction because it was so beautiful.  I chose this as my favorite because I love the reflection of the darker cloud in the water.

The Red Haze

This is a photograph of Scudder's Pond, which was recently restored.  Most of the Phragmites were excavated and removed because they are considered an "invasive species."  And the pond was dredged, and replanted around the edges with native plants.  The pond has been looking pretty bare for the last six months.  But wildlife is starting to return, and these trees have changed color with the coming of Fall.  I love how subtle this scene is, with the leaves only adding a faint red haze to the scene.

Arthur Leipzig 1918 - 2014

Arthur Leipzig, a legendary photographer and revered teacher died here at his home in Sea Cliff on Friday.  I have always known of his work, but if you can believe this, I had never had a chance to meet him, until I had an assignment to photograph him at his home in 2004.  It does seem strange that since we both live in Sea Cliff our paths had never crossed before this day. He greeted me warmly, and he knew about my work as a photographer.  I was so glad to meet him and we spent a fair amount of the afternoon spending time talking shop.  He was very generous and gave me some calendars and other items with reproductions of some of his photographs.  I did try and make him smile, but he said he would rather not be photographed smiling.  After the photo ran, If I recall correctly, I got a call from his wife, and they really enjoyed the portrait and asked for a print.  The original photograph was in color, by the way, but it seems more appropriate to run it in black & white because much of Arthur's work was in B&W.

Stackless

They have finally taken down all the smokestacks from the last building left standing.  The building looks forlorn without them.  I will have to run a photograph of the whole site with all the buildings, and smokestacks and other structures, before demolition began.  You have probably forgotten, as have I, how much has disappeared from the site.

In the Blink of an Eye

I was on my way over to Starbucks to get coffee before driving over to the gas station to get an oil change. But you will say: "I thought you were boycotting Starbucks." I am.  Mostly.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw these beautifully painted shingles on a house that I pass a couple of times a day, and that I had never noticed.  I thought it was really nice that someone cared enough to do such a complicated paint job on the shingles.  Then I thought about how much work it would be to do this paint job myself.  I like to think I would take the time, however,  to go the extra distance and paint the shingles this way if our house had this architectural detail.  Please click on this to see it in more detail. 

Do-Over

I walked by the Hosta again today on the way to the car.  The colors were more brilliant because of the gentle rain falling, and so I grabbed my camera to try the shot again.  I think this is the kind of stronger graphic sense that I was looking for yesterday.  Sorry for boring you silly with my struggles to make a photograph that I am happy with of this garden detail. 

This May Not Be a Picture

This is either a very subtle photograph, or no photograph at all.  I was raking leaves in the driveway today, and noticed all the leaves surrounding this faded Hosta in the garden.  I spent quite a while trying to compose a photograph. I started with this photograph, which is the widest view, and then experimented by moving in tighter.  I was hoping to get something more "graphic" in terms of lines and composition, or shapes that would stand out and be more dramatic in some way.  Perhaps I need to think of this more as if it were a delicate tapestry.  I do love all the subtle, warm colors.

Astronomy in the Classroom

Today I went to a school and worked with a science teacher as part of Project Astro to teach some astronomy related material to two classes of fifth graders.  Great kids to work with - really curious and smart as a whip.  They had all kinds of really good questions.  I talked about how telescopes worked - those with lenses, and those with mirrors.  They got to handle lenses and mirrors, and to look through one of my telescopes at a photograph of Saturn taped to the wall down the hall.  Then they had to write about what they saw.  It was such a rewarding day to be around such bright and interested children.

Excuse Me, Your Plumbing is Showing...

They have removed both brick walls from the last power plant building still standing.  I have wondered for a long time now, what was inside the largest of all the buildings.  This is the building with the smokestacks on it.  So I found out from some of the workmen that this was the steam generating building - thus the smokestacks.  Then the steam was sent to the turbine hall where the electricity was generated.  It is kind of cool to see the size of the pipes in the plant and the complexity of it all.  This plant was built about one hundred years ago.  They knew how to do it right!

The Colors of Connecticut

Yikes!  I forgot to post my blog last night!  I was working on making the Christmas cards in the basement this afternoon, and for some reason it came to me: "Did I do a blog post last night?"  And I knew that I hadn't.  So here it is, better late than never.  It is a photograph that I took of my sister Karen's view of her back yard.  I was taken by the colors, and how different they are here on Long Island.  I think the main difference starts with the boulders covered with lichen.  And then it was rather late in the afternoon, so that's why the overall colors are from the "cool" part of the spectrum.  I love how my eye wanders from foreground to background and how there are so many subtle colors that can be found in the photograph.

This Family Photography Thing

You probably thought I was kidding about our family photography gene.  In this picture, my sister Karen was photographing Kathy and I, while behind her, my sister Betsey was using her iPhone to photograph my sister Joan, and her daughter Jennie, and son Jonathan, and his expectant wife, Lauren.  I kid you not, you would find it amazing to come to a family event and witness all of this!

Connor & Grady

We went to Connecticut and had Thanksgiving dinner with my sisters and some of their children.  Then we headed up to visit some of our cousins and their families.  So this is Connor, hanging out on the internet while Grady, the dog, contemplates me taking his picture.  Isn't he an amazing dog?  I love how cute he is, and how he is looking at me. He looks at me suspiciously.  With good reason.  Because I am a photographer, and should be regarded that way by everyone...   :-)

The Last of the Leaves

I forget how pretty the windows are on the garage doors.  Recently, at a zoning hearing the woman in charge, who had apparently visited our property, commented on the beauty of the windows.  I take these windows for granted, but I saw them anew after her comments.  So the other day, while backing down the driveway, I saw this scene, with the beautiful fall colors and stopped the car to take this photograph of the colors and of the windows.  

Live Action

As you all know, I have been watching this plant for months now.  It is extremely rare in spite of all the work going on, to actually see some significant sign of things coming apart.  Well, lucky me - I just happened to be at the plant when this slice of one of the smokestacks was lifted off by the crane.  I have watched as men with cutting torches worked on a piece of the stacks, but as long as I waited,  I never saw this part of the process.  So this was fun to be able to show some action, finally. The stack on the left is the last of the six that existed at the plant.

A Single Leaf

It rained last night, and it was windy.  This morning the car hood was covered with so many tiny leaves from the Japanese maple tree that it looked like a galaxy of stars.  I photographed that first, and then I noticed this single leaf which was wet, stuck to the garage door.  For some reason I like this photograph best, but I am not sure why.  It is more interesting in its design, I think.

The Scarf

So here's an interesting story.  I was at the International Center of Photography, looking at the Sabastiao Salgado exhibit "Genesis."  I happened to notice this well-dressed, distinguished looking gentleman, and I was taken by his scarf.  I did a quick snapshot so I would have a record of what the scarf looked like, and then I went over to talk to him about the exhibit, and I asked about his scarf.  I told him that I through it was really nice and I asked him if he remembered where he got it. He was very nice but said that he couldn't remember.  I thanked him, and we talked about how spectacular the exhibit was.  He mentioned that he did photography on vacation as an amateur, and that he and his wife had traveled the world.  When I got home, I started searching the web to see if I could find the scarf.  I didn't find it, BUT...   I was stunned to find out how much scarves can cost.  I found some Burberry scarves from four hundred to five hundred dollars!  WHAT?  It gets better - I found one at Nieman Marcus - a Brunello Cucinelli for $810. Are you serious? So then it occurred to me - I am guessing that the gentleman knew exactly where his scarf was from, but rather than embarrass me in some way, he saved an awkward conversation by "forgetting" the details.  Interesting, huh?

(mostly) True Things

We went to a really cool thing tonight.  It is called a "storytelling slam" and it consisted of about fifty people in a small studio, and four storytellers.  What happens is that one by one each stands at the front of the room, and tells a story.  The stories are all true, EXCEPT that three of the four stories have some small lies added to them, and one is the complete truth.  This ups the ante for the listeners, trying to decide while listening, who is lying and who it telling the truth.  And the end, there is a chance to question the story tellers, and then we vote on our choice for the truth teller.  All four stories were wonderful, but I didn't guess correctly.  Kathy did, however, and won a coffee mug!  It was an amazing evening!

The Red Tree

This is why I love Fall - it's my favorite season.  This red tree was glowing so much from the late afternoon sun, it looked as if it was lit by electricity!  Then I saw the American flag, and the white porch.  What more could I ask for in a photograph?

Pleading

Every day, less and less.  I go by the demolition site and look for different kinds of photographs.  I need to reming myself to look for wide shots, and medium shots, and close-ups.  It is so easy to forget to look and shoot at different scales.  And what I am really looking for, are photographs which have that "something else" going on in them.  Those that in addition to showing something interesting, have a strong feeling about them.  The "something else."  I think this photograph has a bit of that.  When I saw the building in this condition, the first thing I thought of was that the building had its arms raised.  Maybe pleading not to be demolished?  It's too late, of course.

My Sisters Photograph Me

So this a switch - I am on the other end of the camera.  I mean three cameras.  These are my three sisters - lucky me!  Let me tell you how wonderful they are.  They all live in Connecticut, and the other day they decided to drive down to Long Island to visit, and to go over to the Port Washington Public Library to see the portraits I was commissioned to do for an exhibit there.  And of course they are all Spencers, and that means they have the photography gene.  You may not want to come to any kind of Spencer family gathering - you will be seriously photographed there!  But we all have fun photographing each other, as you can see from their expressions.

The Lure of Black & White_7

This will be my last extended post of the black & white images. I need to get back to my regular blog posts of "A Picture Each Day." I call this one "Ansel Adams on the iPhone." I always bring my iPhone on my bike rides each day, in case I crash or something, and I also use it to take pictures if I find something interesting along my route. When my ride is over, I take a rest on a park bench on the edge of the harbor. That's where I saw these clouds and rocks at the water's edge. I saw this as a black and white image - I guess because of the cumulus clouds. It did remind me of an Ansel Adams photograph, so I used the Hipstamatic app to shoot it only in black & white.  Tomorrow I will be back to my color images.

The Lure of Black & White_6

I am coming to the end of my extended black & white postings.  I really do need to get back to my daily blog posts.  This is another photograph shot with a 4x5 camera.  It is the cemetery on the East Hampton green.  There are a lot of early gravestones there, and it is on the edge of a pond, and it is a very picturesque scene.  But I was taken by the fence and steps.  What?  Why are there stairs into a cemetery?  Do you have any idea why?  Think about it for a second.  I am guessing the answer is "cows."  I am guessing that they used to let cows graze on the green, and this is the only way for people to be able to enter the cemetery but not cows.  What do you think?

The Lure of Black & White_5

OK, so this photograph is a cliche. Everyone who has ever owned a 4x5 view camera, has set it up on a tripod and photographed moving water with a long exposure. If you shoot a waterfall at 1/125th of a second, it looks like water should look. If you use a long exposure, like 30 seconds or 60 seconds, the water looks like mist or fog. It is a lovely effect and quite beautiful. Maybe there are good cliches, and bad cliches. This is Bash Bish Falls, in southwest Massachusetts. You can do a google search and see other photographs of the falls. I actually like my misty water version of the photograph. I also like that the falls on the right resembles a human figure in some ways.

The Lure of Black & White_4

The Lure of Black & White_4   I headed off to Rochester Institute of Technology in 1960 after graduating from Milford High School. I thought I was going to learn studio and wedding photography and portraiture. Instead I had the great good fortune to study with Ralph Hattersley who introduced the concept of using photographs to communicate. And then there was Minor White, who continued to develop my sensitivity and sensibilities. Here is one of his quotes: “Be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence." Ralph Hattersley and Minor White changed my life forever and I will be eternally grateful. I still hear their voices when I pick up a camera. For my senior thesis, I did a year-long photo essay on Minor and his life as photographer, teacher, writer and editor of Aperture magazine. This is a photograph of him at breakfast at his home and one of my favorite photographs from the whole series.

The Lure of Black & White_3

This picture, after an ice storm, was done with my Hasselblad. Confession: I was out shooting "weather pictures" for the newspaper, but since I had only just purchased my Hassy, I brought it along with a tripod. We are talking about "one for me, and one for the company" again! I have no recollection of what I shot for the paper, but this image in permanently burned into my optic nerve.  It took the ice, this amazing tree, and a beautiful stone house here in Sea Cliff to make this image…

The Lure of Black & White - 2

So this is day two of my extended B&W Challenge. This photograph is another one from the series "The Architecture of Despair." This is building 93 at Kings Park Psychiatric Center. I shot this with a 4x5 View Camera. The value of this camera is that it can make corrections for perspective - in this case I am looking up at this really tall building, and yet it doesn't look like it is leaning backwards, because I have adjusted the camera to compensate. The purpose of this photograph is to show the incredible size of this building, and the number of rooms. It is just scary to look at. There were still patients in the building, although it was nearly empty. While I was photographing, I could hear screams from within the building, from some of the patients. Be sure and click on it to see a larger version of the photograph.