Metropolis gone by…

 

When I was a child, I often played pretend. An only child until the age of 11, I spent a fair amount of time simply wandering in my own imagination. Perhaps this forged the basis of a life of creativity, who knows? But one thing is certain–I still tap into this side of my brain with regular frequency. The image above was born out of this type of exercise, when I was in New York several months ago. I’d certainly seen the iconic Chrysler Building for many years, and marveled at its unique brand of metropolitan architecture, its needle tip piercing the sky. But until recently, I’d never actually stepped inside. When I did, I was instantly transported back to an earlier era. It was almost magical, really. I literally could hear the click of heels, elevator bells, and the bustle of what must have felt like the center of urbane modernity, back in its heyday. While the exterior of this building has captured much acclaim, the attention to detail on the interior is astounding by today’s standards. The beautiful marble, glass, and iron work that were the hallmark of the Art Deco period are still gracefully intact some 80-plus years later.

Given the maelstrom of sound and movement just a few feet outside on Lexington Avenue, a block away from New York’s Grand Central Station, it was amazingly quiet during the few moments I spent standing in the Chrysler’s cavernous lobby, framing different distinct images with my camera. I enjoyed just experiencing “the moment”–watching business people come and go, the elevators dinging and opening as they have for so many decades, and the quiet work of the window washer, maintaining the dignity of an architectural monument clearly deserving as much. These images tell a story for me; I hope they do for you as well…

 

 

 

The Grand view….

 

Followers of this blog know I am often drawn to nature and its environs–often inspired by the singular unique beauty of a leaf, a sky, a horizon. But for me, photography offers a canvas as vast as I can experience it. On a recent trip to New York City, I was fortunate enough to carve away an hour of time from my busy work demands and just lose myself in the miasma that is the central district, near Grand Central station. What a visual treat. Since my free time was relatively short, I made my choices simple: One camera, one lens, one 50mm focal length, which freed me to think of nothing outside of framing and composition. The result was anything but constrained… I felt like a true artist, no mission except to dive in and sample the urban, human landscape that is New York City. These two images capture the essence of Grand Central Station–one of the truly great architectural spaces in the city. It’s mesmerizing in there… considering the thousands–probably millions–of human stories that have passed through its great halls, each person in a harried rush to get from place to place. I could have sat there for hours, but I enjoyed the brief time I had there, and now have this moment in time to revisit it. I hope you enjoy it, as well…

Why I do, what I do…

 

Photography offers me a constant journey of discovery. It offers infinite ways to transcend the limitations of our everyday experiences into something wondrous, meaningful, and even soulful. For me, that’s as important as air to breath, and it’s what draws me back, behind the lens, time after time. Hope you enjoy…

Life as Art….

 

One of my favorite themes as a photographer is to try to create images that capture the artistic essence in the natural world. Art, as they say, truly is in the eye of the beholder, so  what resonates with me is completely subjective. Like any artist, I accept that premise and, while it’s a pleasure when I can strike a  chord with those who view or follow my work, it is not acceptance that drives me. Photography for me is an inner passion, an outward expression of thoughts, feelings, and emotions as I find them reflected in a subject or composition.  High minded? Perhaps. Is this image a picture of a cactus, or does it represent a beautiful symmetry of purpose, each geometric row of needles aligned in a perfect tactical position to defiantly defend this succulent life form against harm? The answer is, it is both, it’s more, and it’s whatever you see in it, as well. This is why I love  photography; this is what moves me to create. Hope you enjoy…

Frozen in time…

To me, here’s what’s really profound about photography: the ability for a mere mortal to capture a moment and freeze it in time. On its face, this might seem rather self-evident, but truly, when you think about it, you are capturing an image in a completely unique manner–once the shutter opens and closes, it will never again to be seen in precisely the same way, by the photographer or anyone else.  The frozen drops above are a perfect metaphor for this idea–the leaf and water molecules are frozen in time literally, and figuratively. No human being will ever again see exactly what I saw that morning,  but using my camera as a visual vessel, I have trapped the artistic moment forever. Pretty cool, if you ask me. Hope you enjoy…

How less can be more…

 

Sometimes as photographers, we are caught up in the pixel race… the charge to fill every available micro-pixel with information so our pictures have that WOW effect, as if maximizing pixel data somehow relates to photographic  quality. But creatively speaking… sometimes less is more. In this shot, taken at the Pacific Coast near Malibu, I took a break from shooting the gorgeous rocky blue coastline to turn and see the sun just peaking over the hillside before sunset. Ordinarily, shooting directly into the sun is a no-no…. with crazy lens flare and volatile metering making a quality exposure near impossible. However,  in previsualizing this shot, I realized it  had the makings of a nice silhouette. I snapped off a few frames, and later, with a bit of post processing, was rewarded with this final shot. Am bothered by the vast amount of negative space? Not really… in fact, all the black just help train the eye straight up to the top of the peak, where the bright rays shooting through the trees capture that fleeting penultimate moment, just before the sun disappears for the day. Hope you enjoy…

New year, new vision…

 

The new year is perennially cause for reflection as well as celebration, as many of us take stock of where we’ve been, our accomplishments, milestones,  joys and sorrows, and with indomitable spirit, try to look optimistically at the  potential for the year ahead. No matter what happens in my life, one constant is my love for my family, and my passion for photography. Those two things are my emotional anchors–one force completely selfless; the other, admittedly, entirely self-absorbed. Luckily my family understands my creative drive, fuels it, supports it, and helps me celebrate it when I create something I am proud of. It’s the perfect balance to my life.

This year I am committed to continue pushing myself technically and creatively, to challenge myself with new places, subjects, and tools, as I embrace my passion for communicating thought, feeling, and emotion through photography.  It’s a never-ending quest; one that poses infinite possibilities with a new door ready to walk through, every day. Welcome 2013, and Happy New Year!

Winter’s WOW factor…

 

Autumn seems to be all about color. Once those green tones of summer begin to evolve into shades of orange, red, rust, and yellow, photographers (me included) leap to our feet, run about madly and try to soak up the color like a sponge–often shooting hue, instead of true composition. You can’t help it, and I am as guilty as the rest. But then December kicks in, and those remaining leaves are dull brown, the skies often turn blustery or gray, and we are left wondering where it all went.

Luckily, the onset of winter brings another dazzling subject–those dusky winter skies. I am no meteorologist, but I assume the tilt of the earth’s axis as we enter the winter solstice gives the sun’s rays that searing ability to blaze through the clouds and offer some of the most gorgeous, breathtaking sunsets of the year. No matter what the scientific reason, I am literally gasping for breath every time a scene like the one above explodes on the landscape, making even an ordinary setting like my backyard look like a scene-stealing broadway star. Now, that’s WOW factor! Hope you enjoy…

Autumn art…

 

I live for autumn. The world is awash with the most beautiful color imaginable. Sometimes it truly just stops me dead in my tracks, and I have to pause and breathe it in. I realize it should be a melancholy time, when the vibrant life of summer fades, dries, crumples, and eventually blows away… but I think for  exactly that reason, I cherish autumn’s fleeting, vibrant beauty all the more. Lately, I’ve been blessed with a double dose of opportunity–fantastic autumn color plus an early morning dose of sugar frosting sprinkled over nature’s palette. Two mornings this week I bundled up, cold tripod in hand, and set out to discover new worlds laying right before my feet. Geometry, color, and texture was everywhere… nevermind numb fingers and toes… it was a photographer’s wonderland. Hope you enjoy…

Decisions, decisions…

 

Today is decision day for the United States, so I guess it seemed an apt metaphor for my post this morning. By the time we all go to bed tonight, we’ll have the outcome  to what seems the longest running campaign in history, and most people I talk to simply say they’ll be happy when it’s over, already! So, speaking of decisions, my image today is another one I captured on the Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk a couple of weeks ago, and I am actually very pleased with the end result, based upon a lot of decisions I made on how to develop it.

This was a situation where I definitely previsualized a dramatic black and white image from what I saw as strong graphic lines with this bird in silhouette.  As I moved the image in various phases of post processing, I got closer and closer to something that felt dramatic and striking. I could have gone with an absolute white/black graphic design, but instead, the deep silvery gray lent a moodiness to the work that just seemed “right.” All these post-processing decisions are part of what makes a photographer’s work unique and a statement of art–which is why, as a form of expression, it never gets old to me.  This image started out as  a simple bird on a ledge, but ended up as something much more. Hope you enjoy…