ART IMITATES PHOTOGRAPHY

Vero Beach, FL - June, 2006

Yes, occasionally I do take pictures of people. When my children were little by the time I adjusted the lens, f- stop and other settings on my camera, they'd moved on to more important things. I can't imagine how many photo opportunities passed me by while I was busy lining up the shot. Mountains, trees and oceans are very forgiving; they more or less stay where they are supposed to so a photographer can position himself and his camera. The animal kingdom will work with me on occasion- birds and butterflies seem to have more of an attention span and can hold a pose longer than your average two year old.

I didn't even notice that mother and daughter were positioned exactly the same as they gazed out over the ocean that summer evening. When we got the print back my wife brought it to my attention. We both liked the picture so much that we requested our painter friend Rebecca Darlington to paint a mural inspired by the shot. The mural takes up a wall in my daughter's bedroom.

Now everytime my daughter gets mad at her mother, she doesn't need to look any further than her bedroom wall to realize they aren't so different after all.

Never digital- always film (except in the case of the mural which was shot using a Kodak Easy Share)

It's a Wrap!

Manchester Centre, New Hampshire- Fall, 2000

It was a new place. I had been photographing New England in the fall for decades and had my favorite haunts (one example- an obscure hill Vermont where I stood for hours with a Japanese film crew waiting for the sunrise. When they send people all the way from Japan you know you've picked the right location!). We'd blown into Manchester Centre late the evening before in the rain so I didn't get the opportunity to scout the area and found myself working under extreme time constraints. We were there after all to visit my daughter at prep school not to spend the day wandering around like a camera happy tourist (or so I was told).

I love this shot. It is one of those once in a lifetime pictures. Try as I did in subsequent visits, I was never able to recapture the leaves wrapping around the steeple creating a natural frame for God's house.

Never digital - always film

Dare to be Different

Manchester, Vermont- fall 2005

My annual trip to Southern Vermont to photograph the foliage- It helped that my brother bought a house seven years before (actually by this time he was on his second house in the area but that is a story for another time) saving me the big $$$ on hotel accomodations.

Route 7A is always picturesque at this time of year. While it seemed that the foliage had come and gone (despite extensive research on the part of the photographer) there was one holdout. Surrounded by bare birch trees, this sugar maple stood proud in all his glory. It was late afternoon, the Indian summer sun was angled just so and once again yours truly was in the right place at the right time.

Never digital- always film.

Breakfast on the Beach

Vero Beach, FL - date unknown

Okay, I admit it! You've got me on this one. I've photographed in Vero for over fifteen years so now and then one will slip by without me remembering the date. I can't even look for contextual clues since the sandpipers have zero fashion sense and have been sporting the same look since the beginning of time.

In any case I wouldn't have considered this an ideal day for photography. There was considerable cloud cover so a sunrise shot was out of the question. No one was enjoying the beach that early in the morning except for these three who didn't give me a second glance as they persevered to find whatever it is sandpipers like for breakfast.

Never digital- always film

Garden of the Gods

Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 2005

Sometimes, you just can't go wrong.... We visited my brother in law during a heat wave in Colorado 104 degrees plus. Under normal (aka east coast conditions) the humidity would be so thick that I wouldn't even bother to take my camera out. God has blessed Colorado with low humidity (and no bugs, no screens required) so even on the hottest days each and every shot in this extemely picturesque setting comes out looking fantastic. The most difficult part was picking out my favorite.

Thank God for APS film. They still make it. I use it. I love the panoramic options APS affords me.

Never digital- always film (now you see why)

Basking in the sun

McKee Botanical Garden, Vero Beach, FL - April 2008

Sometimes I wonder (or actually my wife wonders) how much film I go through before I get my shot (aka "the shot or the perfect shot") I prefer not to think about such things. Here is an example of the price one pays in terms of film and time to "get the shot"

Last year I spent a day at McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach where we had recently purchased a townhouse (the week that the mortgage crisis started, but that is another story). I'd always wanted to photograph the gardens, which are quite extensive. When I got the prints back this was the only one that did anything for me. This photo was taken with my minolta telephoto lens at 200mm using Kodak APS color film. I also laid on my stomach and shot through a fence in case anyone is interested....

Never digital - always film