Lost Aussie on the loose

Subway Painting

Since figuring out how to make my camera work in low light places I have started to garner quite a nice collection of images shot whilst riding the train in the New York Subway.  These candid shots always seem so authentic and in some ways, more than many other pictures I take, truly represent the people of New York.

This guy was snapped late last night, on the subway train back from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Dozing a little as the train rocked and rolled!
I've painted him using techniques that I will be teaching in Week 3 of my Paint, Sketch, Play online class.

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)!!

Eye Spy

I've had this little bird house for years now.  I think I bought it in Delaware at some point and regardless of which ever state it resides there is always some happy family that comes to visit it in the Spring, builds a nest and hatches some chicks.

This year is no exception and thanks to my new piece of glass and trusty tripod I was able to capture a few snaps of the latest guests.  Their fleeting movements make them a tricky capture but shutting the cats indoors and a little patience reaped some fine rewards.

 

I'll leave you with the latest of the "dead tulip" adventures.  Snapped just as I was about to put dinner on the table and glanced to the side of the dresser and saw "the light" .... that delightful golden hour stuff which pours into my kitchen from the west each afternoon ....

..dinner had to wait.

Playing With A New Toy

When the Fed-Ex man arrived at the door this morning I could not have been happier for he bore a modest brown box inside which I knew was a humdinger of a new lens for my Canon.

The second I'd shut the front door I was happy dancing all the way down the hall to grab my camera and snap that puppy on it's front!

I tossed up between choosing this lens and the 70-200 f2.8 but since I seldom shoot in really low light and often hunger to frame stuff in the distance, opted for this lens instead.

And what can I tell you but it's awesome!   Fabulous crisp and detailed images in the distance and yet perfect for "bee" portraits (and the like) without having to get too close.

To all intents and purposes this wonderful piece of glass will serve as a (very lovely) Mother's Day gift.  Most women want diamonds, roses, spa holidays .... me, I am happier with a new creative tool or toy, be it a damned fine pair of scissors, or a deliriously fabulous lens ......

I guess this year I got lucky :-))

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.....)...

 

More Light Painting

As promised here are a couple more pictures of my light painting experiments.

Bear in mind that these shot in a totally dark basement with no more light than a sweep of a torch!

A tulip dunked upside down in a vase of water....

I know it's not your average style of image and perhaps will not appeal to the photographic purist.  But they kind of float my boat ....
and I guess that is what counts most....
(yeah, I am getting bolshy in my old age!!)

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!

Light Painting

I've had a few ideas rumbling around in my head about picture taking of late.  Wanting to experiment more with my camera now that I am getting to be confident with at least HALF of the settings!

To that end I hopped down off into the basement this afternoon and set about my "Painting with Light" experiment.

I took a few test shots with the lights on and then once I was set up turned all the lights off, and aside from one or two near misses, stumbling around in the dark over the tripod, had fun with my camera and fiddling with the torch light.
Some of it's hit and miss as wafting a torch around is not exactly an accurate science so a lot of the shots just went in the garbage.  On the whole though I was please with my experiments.

I even managed a moderately successful play with words ....

I'll post a few more images I took tomorrow and might even cook up a "how I did it" for you.

A New Digital Painting

The first week of the new online class Paint, Sketch, Play is put to bed or should I say, Live! and along with that accomplishment comes a few minutes with which to "play"? in Photoshop.

The marriage of paint and pixels is always magical to me.  Neverending permutations and possibilities.  A bit like life I guess??!!

Long Beach, Long Island

The day was too pretty and too warm to stay home, so off to Long Beach we went.  Camera in hand (of course) and a few good snaps to be had.

The Boardwalk is LONG and we managed about 4 miles of it, there and back so I did not feel too bad about my glass of wine and a nibble on a scoop of Truffle and Parmesan French Fries!

This little fellow was just so darn cute he begged a picture, even though he barked like mad after the fact!!

And then there were the faces ... and Engine Four ....

Nothing like some sunshine and a few great pictures......