Welcome to Vermont!

On the way to the Stellafane Convention today, Stan and I stopped at the Vermont Welcome Center.  They are re-doing all the paving around the facility.  These granite posts are new and there is something wonderful seeing these pieces of stone cut like this and used to prevent cars from entering this area. And then to have the flowers in their pots right next to the stone pieces makes a wonderful contrast, since flowers are colorful and soft.

 

Guess Who Got a New Camera

You guessed correctly!  Stan bought a new camera and lens, and brought it to the Arbus exhibit to use it.  If you can see the small red dot on the front of it, you will know that it is a Leica.  But a digital Leica, not a film Leica.  We both used Leicas in our work for years and then put those film cameras aside when Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras arrived on the scene - in our case both Nikon and Canon cameras.  I still own my first Leica film camera, an M2, and I also have a beautiful M6 still.  They still work perfectly.  This camera that Stan has is solid and still has that Leica "feel", a feeling that you get with no other camera!

 

The Exhibit

I think I have some interesting photographs from the Diane Arbus exhibit "Constellation."  These are people reading text on the wall that is the timeline of her life.  Love all these different silhouettes!

This is the opening view of the exhibit.  You may see a familiar figure somewhere in this photo.

As I walked along the edge of the exhibit, going from the front to the back, I noticed a photographer with a camera around his neck.  Then I thought "He looks like me."  THEN I realized that it WAS me!  The entire rear of the exhibit is a floor to ceiling mirror that makes the exhibit look twice as large as it actually is.  And, of course, reflects the image of you as you look at it.

When I turned the corner again, there was the proof that there was, indeed, a mirror along the whole back wall.

There have been thousands of words written about the work of Diane Arbus and what she chooses as her subjects and I can't begin to describe all the portraits that were there.  Suffice it to say, she chose, in her work, to photograph many people that we would never see in our lives. So many of these portraits were stunning, and unusual and some strange.

Some were printed very dark for aesthetic reasons and I had difficulty understanding that, at times.

I cannot begin to describe the wide range of subjects in her portraits.  Also there were about 450 photographic prints on display, and many of the photographs I have never been published or displayed before.  Honestly, it was a powerful show and exhausting and thought provoking.

 

Kindness

Kathy sent me this short text the other day, which she received from a client.  I don't know when it came about, but a number of years ago I came to the realization that the MOST important thing I could as I went through my day, every day, was to be kind to everyone I met.  More important than doing my work well.  And since then I have tried to follow that rule each day.  So when I saw this, I thought that I should post it because it gave some reasons why we should behave in this way.  I never thought of these details but the minute I read them they made absolute sense.  So I pass this along to all of you, knowing that so many of you are kind as well, perhaps without thinking why, and here is the answer.  If you click on this image you will be able to read it much easier.

 

The Park Avenue Armory

This is the Park Avenue Armory, also known as the 7th Regiment Armory.  It was completed in 1880 for the U.S. Army National Guard.  What a stunning building!  How have I never been here before?  That's crazy that I didn't know about this building.  This building takes up an entire city block. In 2000, the state awarded the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy the responsibility of overhauling the building, restoring the dilapidated interior spaces, and transforming it into an arts venue. 

In the 21st century, the armory is largely used as an event, exhibit, and performance space, and this is where the Diane Arbus exhibit was held.  You are NOT going to believe the inside!

I was stunned at the sight of this hall that you see after you enter the front door and look to the right.  i just was not expecting this!  There are a number of rooms in the front of the building, some by Louis Comfort Tiffany and Sanford White and others.

This is a view of the entrance hall after you walk about 75 feet and turn and look back at the front door.  Would you ever have believed that this was what the interior of the building would look like?

At my back is the entrance to the exhibition space.  That space is called the Wade Thompson Drill Hall and it is 200 feet wide and 300 feet deep and the curved ceiling is 100 feet high!  That's where the exhibit was but only a small part of the hall was used for the exhibit. and so the ceiling was not lit and it was difficult to see the ceiling.  Here is a wide-angle photograph of the exhibit.  Astounding, right?  I will talk more about this tomorrow.  There is a trick done here by the designers that is not obvious.  Please click on this photgraph to see it much larger.

 

The Look

This is hysterical!  This was not the photograph I was going to show today.  I was going to show you photographs of the Park Avenue Armory where the photo exhibit was on display. But when starting to edit the photographs I shot, this one jumped out right away, so it is my post for today. I will talk about the armory tomorrow.  Photographs were hung on a metal framework and every now and then there was a plastic mirror instead of a framed photograph.  So I stopped to photograph myself, and was concentrating on where I was in the mirror when this woman walked past on the other side of the framework and by instinct I clicked the shutter but had no idea if I got the shot.  I did, and it is so funny, seeing the woman glancing at me.  I think she could see that I was not pointing the camera at her - I think she was just curious about what I was photographing.  Thanks for making my day!

 

Rush Hour

I had an amazing day today.  Went to the city to see a huge photographic exhibition by Diane Arbus, who died in 1971.  It was at the Park Avenue Armory which I have never been in.  So I am doing this backwards - this is rush hour on my ride home and man, was Jamaica station packed.  That's where I change trains - from electric to diesel to get back home.  I left the city on a 4:25 train and I couldn't believe the crowd.  Everything ran well and I was back in Sea Cliff by 5:30.  So I will be doing this backwards, and show you some photographs of the Armory, a historic building in Manhattan.  Then some photographs of the exhibition.

 

Same Tree, Different Direction

This is so funny.  Two days before I took this photograph, I took another one, of the same tree, but from a different direction.   I posted that one yesterday!  I worked on this photograph just now, and was getting ready to put it on the blog when I suddenly realized that it was the same tree, only from a different direction!  I have photographed this scene so many tines in so many seasons, but what struck me was that I have never seen so many people standing there before.  That's because it was sunday and the park was full of people enjoying the afternoon. And I love the dark gray clouds overhead.

 

Two People, Six Geese

You have seen this scene many times before.  It is a view from where we have our Dunkin' coffee and donuts when it is not too hot or cold to sit on the beach.  After I left the pool after taking photographs of Vivian swimming I walked about 50 feet and saw this scene.  I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing four geese walking from left to right into my photograph!  They are not evenly spaced, but close enough which is what makes this photograph work.  Quite a day of photography!

 

Edward Albee, My Favorite Photograph

When Edward Albee died in September of 2016 at age 88, I remembered that I had taken this photograph of him on the beach in Montauk, down below his home.  I quickly looked everywhere but had no luck because my files of 41 years of my work are not well organized.  I was going through some color transparencies more recently and found a color portrait of him with a background of trees that was taken after this assignment.  So I posted that portrait on the blog on March 27, 2025.  Then recently I found a print of THIS portrait, the one I had been looking for all these years!  I was thrilled beyond belief!  The portrait is all that I remember it to be, with him surrounded by the sea and the sky and grasses, leaning on a fence with the driftwood in the foreground!  I think this is a perfect portrait of him!  I did mention that he couldn't have been nicer both times that I photographed him, in spite of him looking like this for the portrait.  It is the face he wanted to present to the public and I let him do that.  Please click on this image because I posted it in a much larger size.

 

The Little Mermaid

When Amy and Vivian first got here, before going to Montauk, Kathy took them to the Tappan Beach pool, because it is only for residents and she had her ID.  When she came home she said "You are not going to believe how well Vivian swims!  She is unbelievable!"  So I went down with them the other day and I was astounded.  At her age, she swims completely underwater.  And she dove down and did a summersault underwater!  She is really comfortable in the water which is great both for her enjoyment and for safety.  She has been taking swimming lessons at home in California.

Here are all three of them enjoying the pool!  I am not a fan of pools with chlorine, so I stayed around the edges photographing which was really fun.

You can tell she is having fun!

The Masage Therapist

Amy awoke this morning with a crick in her neck from sleeping in a funny position.  So she lay down on the floor face down and Kathy massaged her neck and back.  Then Amy asked Vivian if she would put her elbow on the back of her neck, and then Amy was saying "Oh, that feels SO good..."  Vivian the masage therapist!

 

Ice Cream!

We all went down to the beach where Kathy and I go for Dunkin' on Tuesdays.  They have a swimming pool and Vivian and Amy have been there earlier this week with Kathy.  She said that I wouldn't believe what a great swimmer Vivian is, so I came along on this trip and brought my camera.  When I arrived in a separate car, I caught up with these two walking away after buying an ice cream cone for Vivian.  Can you tell that she is thrilled?  I did a sequence of photographs showing Amy getting the cone from the man in the truck and then I continued to follow them as they walked toward me.  This photo is the best, and I had no idea that I also captured the ice cream man watching them walk away!  Never noticed him while shooting.

Of course I needed a close up!

 

A Wary Eye

This is a photograph of Grace, seen resting under one of the chairs around the dining room table.  I happened to walk by and notice that she was looking at me, so I grabbed a nearby camera and took a few photographs.  She is looking at me so suspiciously.  Why is that, I would like to know.  Well, when you are dealing with cats, there is no way to know what is going on in their heads.  It's just how cats are.

 

Vivian Swinging

Vivian is a natural born athelete!  She is really a great swimmer and she has been in some gymnastics classes that we have been able to see when visiting her in California.  Today Amy took her to a school playground in Sea Cliff and she was really amazing, climbing up and down the equipment.  But when she started hanging from the rings, and then swinging from ring to ring I was blown away. Look at her natural grace in this photograph!  She is a natural.  So she said "Let me see you do this Boppa (my nickname.")

So here I am swinging from ring to ring as Vivian follows me along the line of rings.  Yeah, sure I am.  OK, truth here, I am hanging from the rings while standing on the ground!  I was shocked to realize that I was not capable of holding myself up with my arms for more than a few seconds!  How sad is that... But it was amazing to see how capable Vivian is as an athelete.

 

Light Trespass II

A while back I did a post called "Light Tresspass" about the neighbor's bright lights illuminating their patio and swimming pool that are left on all night, and sometimes all day.  I think it is just carelessness.  I need to go knock on their door and ask if they would be careful and turn the lights off when they go to bed.  I just haven't gotten around do doing that.  Last night I was anoyed when I came into our bedroom in the dark and saw this.  This is looking out our bedroom window toward their lights and showing the light on our bedcovers.  I really like the kind of mysterious quality to this image.  Guess what it took to get this photograph?  Right, an ISO (film speed) of 204,800!  Yikes!  Keep in mind the film "film speeds" I used when working were 400 and 1600.  So this is magical, what my newest SONY digital camera can do when there is almost no light at all!

 

Shrink Wrapped!

I went out to a welding supply company in Melville today, to get a nitrogen tank refilled.  I passed by the west side of Republic airport on route 110 and as I looked across the field, I saw a very strange white shape that looked something like an airplane but...  So on the way back I drove up the east side of the airport and there was this shrink wrapped fuselage!  How strange is this?  I couldn't believe my eyes.  I recognized it as a Consolidated PBY Catalina which was used heavily during WW II as a patrol flying boat which could land anywhere, on land or water.  The question is, where are its wing and engines?  I think perhaps the wing and engines are being rebuilt and the fuselage is protected like this until it can be reunited with its wing. It is a huge aircraft - you can see that it dwarfs the small Piper Cherokee in the right foreground.  It's wingspan is half that of the early 747 aircraft.

This is a rear view of the fuselage.  See the big bump as you move toward the front of the fuselage from the tail?  That is a big plexiglas bubble that some crew members used while looking for crewmen of downed aircraft, floating in the ocean during search and rescue missions.

I also noticed this damaged Piper aircraft.  The wing on the left is obviously broken off because the landing gear on that side is sticking up and the wing on the right was also bent out near the tip.  I am guessing that in a strong storm the aircraft broke lose from it's tie downs and ended up upside down, damaging both wings.  I this may be a mini-boneyard at the airport because there was another small piper that was partially disassembled.  So painful to see damaged and neglected aircraft.

 

Waiting for Vivian

In preparation for Vivian's arrival, Kathy bought this set of three dolls online for her.  Then she got this idea that she wanted to make a stuffed easy chair for the dolls.  So she made the green chair out of corrugated cardboard and then covered it with some padding and then fabric.  She enjoyed making it so much she decided to make another.  This time she made the chair out of 1/8" plywood which she cut on her jigsaw and then covered that one with fabric.  When Vivian saw the dolls she was so excited and immediately began playing with them and had them sit in the chairs!  She was so excited! You cannot believe how amazing those easy chairs are that Kathy made!  She loves making things for Vivian.

 

Fourth of July Flag

 

I meant to put up our flag for the Fourth of July in the morning after breakfast.  But we were busy with something and I kept forgetting to put it up.  Finally in the afternoon I went out and climbed up on the porch railing and hung the flag on the hooks I installed in the top of the opening.  After it was hung up, I started looking for ways to photograph it.  I started by shooting through the front door from the inside but shooting through the screen door dulled the flag's colors.  Later on I came up the front porch steps and the late afternoon sun was shining through the flag making the colors brilliant, as you can see here.  And this was my shot!

Fireworks!

We went across town to our friends the Gordons for the July 4th gathering that they have each year.  It is a group of long time friends, and for us people we only see once a year, but it is always wonderful to have a chance to meet again and catch up with each other.  After having something to eat - everyone brings a dish or a salad or dessert then we wait for the fireworks.  This year I thought some of the pyrotechnics, like the one on top in this photograph, were so different than things we have seen in previous years.  So, instead of doing a wide angle photograph and showing a lot of Long Island Sound, I decided to move in closer and show a more close up version of each of the individual fireworks.  Happy Fourth of July to everyone!

 

Artist at Work

Years ago Kathy bought a little decorative birdhouse at Michaels.  She painted it a bit and then it was just around hear.  A year ago when Vivian was here she wanted to paint it, and she did.  On this trip she asked if she could paint it again, and Kathy said yes.  So Vivian picked out the colors and painted the birdhouse and really enjoyed doing it. It was fun watching her at work because she was really concentrating on what she was doing.

So this is the finished birdhouse, and I have to tell you, I really love the color scheme.  It is just not what anyone would expect but there are some subtle color variations between all the blue and the purple!  Vivian is clearly an artist!

 

Amy's Birthday!

Yesterday was Amy's birthday!  So nice that she could celebrate it here in Sea Cliff with Vivian and both of us!  So here is the funny part. You know that Kathy loves to bake.  So she could have made Amy kind of cake in the world. But she knows better.  I think it is hysterical, but Amy's favorite cake is an Entenmann's yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  I had forgotten about that, but we bought the cake in a store and there you see it with the candles celebrtating Amy's age...  Three!  Kathy said that she only had three candles left in the box!  So the cake was really delicious.  The four of us ate almost all of it in one sitting! 

 

Sweet Dreams

Amy was downstairs having coffee and as I went by the bedroom where she and Vivian were sleeping I caught a quick glimpse of this!  So I grabbed the nearest camera upstairs which was my Canon 6D and used the 105mm lens to take 4 frames of Vivian sleeping.  So precious, made my heart melt.  After I took the photographs I did ask Amy if it would be OK to use this for the blog and she said it would be fine.

 

Here's a Story!

 Amy and Vivian are here!  Oh happy day!  The is the moment they were getting in the car at JFK when we picked them up.  It was a madhouse, with cars 4 lanes deep!  To add to the fun, I had to park while Amy installed the booster seat for Vivian and had to lock it down with the seatbelt.  But here's the best part...  They waited at baggage claim for their suitcase, and the booster chair which they brought with them.  The suitcase arrived, but not the chair.  So she went to the baggage claim office and the woman apologized that here seat was not on the flight, but would follow on another flight.  Amy said "But what do I do - my daughter can't ride in a car without her seat?"  "Oh, we will lend you a booster chair, and then have yours delivered to you tomorrow."  And Amy said, "and will they pick up this seat?"  "No," the woman said.  "You can keep this one."  And then she brought out a sealed cardboard box and gave it to Amy.  A brand new booster seat!  Wow!  I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I am so impressed with the airline, jetBlue for thinking of what to do in a situation when a seat does not arrive with the passengers.  Man, that is awesome customer service!  That's why jetBlue is "our" airline and the one we fly with whenever we can!

Bumble Bees in the Lavender

I was walking out to the car when I noticed that the lavender  in the garden by the driveway was buzzing with bees.  I was amazed at how many were in amongst the blossoms.  So I got my camera and close up lens and started photographing.  I was as close as 6 inches to the bees but they didn't seem to be bothered by my presence, which was good.  I didn't think I would be stung by them because I wasn't doing anything threatening.  Well, I WAS six inches away, but they were busy.  I shot 71 frames and they were moving so quickly that the majority of them were not in focus or the bee was flying away by the time I pressed the shutter release.  I discovered that these bees are "Two-spotted bumble bees."  And from Wikipedia "Bumble bees typically only sting when defending their nest or when captured.  Bumble bees are different from honeybees.  They do collect pollen, but they make very little honey from it.  And they live in much smaller colonies.

 

Baseball Kid

We went to a memorial service today at a funeral home for a friend of someone that Kathy knows.  When we arrived at the funeral home there was a large pergola over the entrance.  Underneath the outer edge of it was this small statue of a boy with a baseball hat and bat.  It is the cutest statue ever!  I took note of it and when the service was over I came back out and did a number of photos of the statue with my cellphone.  I just love this silhouette version.  I never bothered to ask when we were inside, why this statue was there.  But seeing it made me feel good. So I guess that's why the funeral home put it there.

 

Bill Moyers 1934 - 2025

Bill Moyers died yesterday.  I first met him in 1967 when he became the Publisher of Newsday.  I was coming out of the building and he was walking up to the front door.  Everyone knew he was coming of course.  I just thought I would say "Hi" as we passed each other.  Instead he stopped and put out his hand and said "Hi I'm Bill Moyers."  He was a gentleman and I was so touched by that, that he would introduce himself to me.  He left Newsday in 1970, just before the sale of the paper to the Los Angeles Times.  He continued to live in Garden City and I had occasion to photograph him for a story in Newsday some years later, after he started working at PBS. This is my portrait of him at the time and when he saw it published he asked if he could buy a number of prints to use as is official portrait, which Newsday arranged.  At some point I asked him if he would sign a print for me and he said ""Of course" and I sent this print to him.  When it came back to me after a while, it was stained with coffee down in the corner!  I had to laugh, because this is something I might have done!  He inscription on the print says: "To Ken - who has the eye of an artist and sees the best in a lot of us - from his friend Bill Moyers."  Along with it was this hand written note, below...  wow...

A Two Foot Flower Pot

Foold you!  When you read "two foot flowerpot" I bet you thought I meant twenty four inches!  We went to Stop n Shop for a couple of items and I could not believe my eyes when I sat these two foot flower ots on a rack at the entrance of the store!  That's an easy blog shot for sure!  I am astounded at how clever these pots are!  I mean, really, just brilliant.  You would be interested to know that we didn't buy one, of course!

 

OK, Enough of that New York City Stuff

Man, I really messed up today.  I parked my car at CVS and noticed these beautiful bright yellow flowers right in front of me.  They are Yarrow.  So I got my little Canon T7i out of the trunk where it rides with me everywhere.  I put a telephoto lens on it that went from 88mm to 400mm because I wanted to isolate the blossoms from the background.  So I kept the lens wide open. so the background would not be sharp.  This was the first shot I took. I did a lot of different versions, some with many flowers in the frame, but this shot was the most dramatic, and I am happy with it.  It looks like it was taken in someone's garden.  In fact, these flowers were in a 4 foot wide strip between a concrete sidewalk and a macadam parking lot!  I realized now that it would be so interesting if I had taken a wide angle photograph showing where these flowers really were.  The whole time I was photographing my object was to make it look like these flowers were growing in some endless garden.

 

New Architecture

This is a brand new building right across the street from the Javits Center.  I was struck by how different the outside walls were from anything else I have seen in the city.  It is striking because it is all black, and then the glass "curtain walls" are not smooth!  An overcast day was the perfect kind of lighting for this building because we can see all the details without the distraction of shadows.

Here is a close up of a group of rooms.  I  had to dig a bit to find out what this building is.  I Googled "black tower across from the Javits Center," strangely enough!  I discovered that it is the Hotel Meta, also known as the Tribute Portfolio Hotel. It's a 51 story hotel skyscraper.  The building features a unique, kinetic-looking design and is located at the corner of West 37th Street and Eleventh Avenue.  Aren't you glad I am out here hunting for new  developments in architecture in New York City?

 

Photo Shoot III

A group of us took a lunch break and decided to leave the venu to go to a nearby restaurant.  On the way back, right on the corner of the Javits Center we saw this - another photo shoot.  I am not sure what the photographers were featuring.  The guy in the orange baseball cap just to the right of center is holding a battery operated light and at the edge of the right frame is a silver reflector.  This model was one of the hardest working models at the show.  She was doing all kinds of moves with her roller skates on and getting into all kinds of contortions.  I can't believe that any kind of beautiful photograph resulted from these poses, but it wasn't her fault.  Crazy place to have a photoshoot, in Manhattan, huh?