Lost Aussie on the loose

Where Donkeys Abound .....

A quick catch-up and share of a few of the pictures I took today as we visited a local souk just outside of Essaouira - and yes, if you guessed where I am to be Morocco, you would have been right.

A fantastic trip to date with a different point of view each day for shooting pictures and when I get back home and can edit them properly on my big Mac, I will be sharing lots more... but for now, here are a few ....

Donkeys, donkeys, donkeys, as beasts of burden, as tender, evidence of richness, as hardware haulers, as grocery carts and even masquerading as sheep transport!

 

Where in the World is ....

Any guesses? And it might not necessarily be where you think!

And as you may have guessed, I have been busy travelling and taking pictures - too busy to blog, sorry!

Will catch up with you when and where I can, but the internet is a bit blotchy and my days are filled with photo taking and not much time to edit.....

oxoxox

A Little Walk On The Beach

 

... at the end of the day filled with house chores, nothing more refreshing or cathartic than a walk on the beach.....

Out and About, NYC

We had a grand day in the City, meeting up with our friends Christine and Andreas from Germany.  Christine has been a long time art friend (and student) of mine for years and it's lovely to catch up when we can, even though our meetings are few and far between.

Today the four of us walked the High Line in NYC and checked out LOTS of galleries between W14th and W26th Streets and chatted much inbetween.  The hightlight was the Roy Nachum exhibition at Joseph Nahmad Contemporary, 450 W 14th St.  Well worth a visit if you have the opportunity.

We topped the day off with a tasty Italian meal at La Carbonara - which never fails to please.

My Day In Pictures

Capped off by a lovely sunset at Centerport Beach, LI, NY..... followed by a delicious Indian Dinner.

And tomorrow I am off into the City again, this time to visit with some friends from Germany.  We'll walk on the High Line and then grab a bite to eat and give Christina's English a run for it's money!

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend!

Gallavanting in NYC

Tripping into the City today for a "Mother's Choice" day out which included a trip to Anthropologie for a few new duds, a visit to B&H to scope out camera bags and capped of by a delicious dinner at David Burke Fishtail.  Rather a bang up Mother's Day by all accounts.

And in case you thought I'd forgottten to take my camera ..... Here are a few of todays pix ...

Union Square and the protesters still engaged over there, Madame Chrysler in her nocturnal glory and a little Louis Vuitton display that lit the night up so brilliantly!

I hope all the other Mums out there had an equally enjoyable day!

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

Today I took a leap of faith and bundled a whole lot of courage into my camera bag and headed off to my first ever "NUDE" model shoot.  To say that I was vested with a whole lot of trepidation would be rather an understatement and I am glad to report, my fears were for naught.

The "shoot" was very professional, the model most lovely and compliant and since I've  spent many years peeking at naked bodies in various forms in my prior professional life, that part of it was not an issue.

We had two hours to take pictures, and I think I shot well over 800 raw images during that time.  Obviously lots of them will go in the trash folder, but I'm surprised at how many are worth keeping.

Shooting with studio lights. posing and learning how the group worked, it was all very interesing.  Sadly for PG rating reasons I can't really share too many of the pics I took with you on the blog.  Rest assured they are very much in the "fine art" realm and do wonderful justice to the female form!!

 

Amazing what a little prompting and a leap of faith can do!

New York City at Night

I set off this afternoon to join a group of NYC photographers for a night shoot of the Brooklyn Bridge and there-abouts.

We got to town a little early and grabbed a bite to eat before heading down to Chambers and Center to meet-up with everyone.  I took a bag full of lenses as well as my tripod but mostly worked with my new 70-300mm and the 24-105mm.  Changing lenses in the dark amidst the blustery wind on the Brooklyn Bridge is no mean feat so I rather contented myself with just using the wide angle.

There's definitely an art to taking photos in the dark.  Not just extending your exposure but a good many shots had way too much movement in them and I was not using my remote, so even pressing the camera trigger bumps things around too much.  Plus the Brooklyn Bridge moves and vibrates with all the traffic running underneath it, and you don't really think about that.
It's also not easy to be patient and picky while you are trying to keep up with a moving group.

None the less, it was a great night.  We met-up at 7:30pm and it was nearly 12:30 am by the time we got home.

I'd like to shoot the same scenes again, by myself and with a bit more thought and less (group) pressure, but on the whole it was fun and I've at least 20 good night shots to keep and a great many more that I took earlier in the day which I am pretty pleased with. 

I'll leave you with a few of my faves, including the Chrysler Building captured in the afternoon ....
(And no, I did not use ANY plug-in's to process the images.  Just a little tweak in Camera Raw and a few nudges in Photohsop)!!

Tulips on Amsterdam

Photograph -  Streetside flowers on Amsterdam Ave, NYC.
Marie Otero  © 2012

I had a fun day out in NYC yesterday visiting with a Artist friend on the Upper Westside who wants to do some collaborative work for an exhibition she is planning.
The concept and i-phoneography is in her head, but she's persuaded me to take care of the Post-Processing of her images in Photoshop and to profile and print the large format ones.
I'm pretty excited as we are rather on the same wave-legth - which is a good thing and I can quite see where she wants to get with her work which will ultimately be displayed in large and small format using paper and Encaustics. 
Stay tuned on that score!

I then cruised down to Battery Park and ensconced myself (cat free) in the uber smooth Ritz Carlton (courtesty of sleep-over priviledges thanks to DH's business meeting).  Soaked up the view of Miz Liberty before joining the "boys" for a few glasses of wine and fast paced conversation on topics ranging from business to politics and back to politics - whereupon I prudently ate more peanuts and just listened!
Since I can't vote, dontcha know.... (although I seem to pay an awful lot of taxes.....)...

 

Out and About on Long Island

An Oh so pretty day that beckoned with sunshine aplenty and called for some exploring.  So we drove to Orient at the far end of Long Island's North Fork.  Walked on the beach, sipped some beer and generally just enjoyed Greenport before the influx of the overbearing and obnoxious Summer visitors arrive.

Just as well we got out when we could as it's pouring with rain right now.  Not that I mind.  I've been holding off planting my summer garden because it's been so dry, so perhaps a trip to the nursery is in store for tomorrow!  Wet ground and all!

I hope you are having fun in your weekend too!