38:365 Light 4.29.10

Through the trees.

It doesn't work without the light and shadows - see here if you don't believe me. There are times, mostly when photographing people, that you don't want direct sunlight. Then, there are times like this, where it makes the picture interesting.

37:365 Light 4.28.10

Smoke on the water.

I'm not crazy about the photo itself, but the reflections the pool was making on the wall were really cool. It looked like some crazy oscilloscope projected on the wall. I'll try to shoot something other than water tomorrow, but it turns out water does really cool things with light.

36:365 Light 4.28.10

1000 Points of Light.

Yes, I realize that it is redundant to make "light" my theme for the week. Photography, by definition is "drawing with light" and light (or absence of it) is what a photograph captures. So to narrow it down a little, I will be focusing on light as the main subject of my photo. Thanks for understanding.

35:365 Spring 4.26.10

Infrared.

No, not really - It's just been processed to look that way. I used to like experimenting with infrared film. It makes leaves look white, blue skies look dark and skin glows. Go out to your local camera store (if one exists that sells film), buy a roll, stick it in your film camera (make sure you load it in the dark), put a dark red filter on your lens and point it at living things. Or, just play around in photoshop/lightroom until you get a look you like.

34:365 Spring 4.25.10

Sometimes I take things literally...

33:365 Spring 4.24.10

April Showers

32:365 Spring 4.23.10

Purple(ish).

This is the best time of year to view my abode. We have these two trees in front that bloom bright purple (possibly dogwood a red bud?) at the same time all of our tulips are in full bloom. If you are in the neighborhood come check it out.

31:365 Spring 4.22.10

Germination.

We have made a small vegetable and herb garden for the past few years, but this year we decided to start with seeds. So far, all of our seeds have germinated. I think these are tomato plants. I'm sure photos of the final product will appear later in the summer. Happy Earth Day! and yes, I realize yesterday was earth day, but you are looking at the photo that was taken on earth day so continue the celebration.

30:365 Spring 4.21.10

What the duck?

The momma duck made her nest and laid her eggs just outside my in-law's back door. Then, she adopted an orphaned golf ball. Sadly, she has abandoned her nest - leaving her eggs and ball behind. But as my sister says, "that's nature..."

29:365 Spring 4.20.10

Tulips.

In my front yard.

28:365 Hazel & Buster 4.19.10

Code Pink.

Hazel's tongue is a little too big for her mouth. When she gets sleepy it sticks out a little bit. I like to judge the level of sleepiness by how much tongue is sticking out. We call this "code pink."

27:365 Hazel & Buster 4.18.10

Blue.

Buster has this toy. We call him "Blue." He's a blue dog squeaky toy. Buster has been carrying him around like a baby since he was a puppy. I think we actually got it for Hazel as a "big sister gift" when we brought home Buster. He quickly claimed it, along with many other toys of Hazels. For some reason, Blue has become his pacifier. He will hold him in his mouth and fall asleep. If he's feeling nervous he curls up with him and calms down. Most nights they spoon. In a way, he's our third dog - who squeaks when chewed on. Just don't try to take him from Buster.

26:365 Hazel & Buster 4.17.10

We're not begging...

25:365 Hazel & Buster 4.16.10

"Bubba"

24:365 Hazel & Buster 4.16.10

Pensive pup.

23:365 Hazel & Buster 4.14.10

Bath time.

Buster took his bath first. You can see enough fur to coat a hamster floating in the water. Gross.

22:365 Hazel & Buster 4.13.10

Channeling Muybridge.

Buster, running circles around the garage. He does this many, many times a day. It's how he stays so thin!

21:365 Black & White 4.12.10

Jake.

Some days I get creative, interesting photos, some days I get Jake. Jake is one of the high school kids I work with as a youth group advisor. Jake is a funny kid. He was the first to volunteer to let me take his photo when I asked a few of the kids. He quickly turned on the "blue steel" and was giving me all sorts of interesting poses (and subsequently making the girls that tagged along laugh out loud, or LOL for you younger folks...). To give you an idea of the kind of kid Jake is, shortly after our photo shoot, he was doing spontaneous trust falls. He would stand in front of or next to someone and, without warning, start falling into them and say "trust fall!" Needless to say, he wasn't always caught. I actually photographed Jake's Bar Mitzvah a few years ago and a few of his photos are still in my portfolio.

On a technical note, I feel the black and white worked really well in this photo. In color, there is too much going on. The window light was blueish and the color from inside was the greenish, yellow from fluorescent lights. There were some things outside the window that were distracting in color and all of this made the photo very busy. Making it black and white simplifies things, keeps your focus on Jake's eyes, as creepy as they may be... you should see the ones that didn't make the cut...

20:365 Black & White 4.11.10

eyelashes.

She's very into Elmo.

365:19 Black & White 4.10.10

Bar Mitzvah Bad Ass.

Shot at Justin's bar mitzvah party last night. He, like many bar mitzvah boys, would flash a fake smile my way whenever I had the camera near him. While I was able to get some portraits with more natural smiles, I liked this serious, bad-ass look. His friends in the background played the part of his "posse". It was actually shot with my new fish-eye lens, but some of the "distortion" was cropped out.

At 13, many boys (and girls) are on the precipice of childhood and quasi-adulthood. I always challenge myself to capture this duality that kids this age often feel. Portraits are often the most telling because it requires the bar mitzvah to be a little uncomfortable, looking at the camera. I do my best to ease their nerves and take lots of photos, but you can't avoid the few telling portraits of this age. When I do get the rare, bar or bat mitzvah that is comfortable in front of the camera it's usually because they are either quite mature, or immature for their age.

In my spare time, I work with 7th and 8th graders as a religious school teacher and I am always amazed at the vast disparity between the kids of this age. There are some who are still very child-like, playing make-believe and making immature jokes (ok, so they all make immature jokes...) and then there are those who are very mature for their age, interested in members of the opposite sex, pop culture, and "being cool". For me, it's an amazing age to capture, if they let you in. Luckily for me, I've gotten pretty good access. Maybe one day I'll put together a gallery of all those awkward moments and glances I've captured at bar and bat mitzvahs.

365:18 Black & White 4.9.10

see, shell.

I found this conch shell on the "private island" that Sarah and I spent an afternoon enjoying on our honeymoon in Turks and Caicos almost 5 years ago. I don't know if we broke any customs regulations by bringing it back with us so don't tell anyone...

365:17 Black & White 4.8.10

Night light.

What you don't see is me standing outside shivering because it shouldn't be 30 degrees in April and I shouldn't have been wearing such a light weight coat. brrrrr.

365:16 black & white 4.7.10

***UPDATE*** Dorothy passed away at approximately 10:30AM on April 10th. She will be missed. To fulfill her final request, a burial at sea was preformed.


Lone fish.

We had 3. Now we're down to 1. It's not looking good for this one either, it's developed a "hitler mustache" on its upper lip and I don't think that's ever a good thing. It makes me wonder about what happened to the other two... we've named "her" Dorothy after Elmo's goldfish.

me likey

found here
along with other cool stuff.

365:15 Black & White 4.7.10

It's not all black and white.

I was driving down Southfield road, not far from where I grew up. It was one of those times where the light just draws you in. It had been stormy earlier and then, about an hour before sunset, the sun came out. You know what I'm talking about... The warm glow of the sun hitting all the buildings and making them pop against a darker than normal sky. I love when that happens. I was caught by the light reflecting off these new condos which were newly painted in bright colors. I pulled into the drive-thru Starbucks that was at the entrance to the complex. I walked around this new complex, Spring Haven Villas, for a few minutes and snapped a few shots from different angles. I found the reflection pond that mirrored the buildings and the sky. Then it hit me. I've been here before. I grew up around the corner from here. I went to elementary school with many kids who lived in this neighborhood, but not THIS neighborhood. Where this beautiful reflection pond and new, brightly colored, condos now stand, once stood a large trailer park.

The old trailer park, ironically named Southfield Downs, literally backed up to my subdivision (although seperated by a tall fence). It was the home to hundreds of families. Growing up, I could hear the ice cream truck drive through there and was disappointed to find out that it didn't come down my street. When I was older, I would ride my bike through the trailer park to pop wheelies on the speed bumps.

Honestly, it was a bit of an eyesore, but it was where many of my elementary school friends called home. I don't know what went down when they decided to demolish the trailer park and put in the new condos. It's possible that the trailer park had been vacated by the residents, but if not, then many people could have lost their homes or were forced to move.

I don't know what the right answer is. I wouldn't have stopped to take this photo had it still been a trailer park, but I remember all the people who grew up there. I can only hope that the ice cream truck makes a trip into this new complex and torments the children who live in my old house, just over the fence.

It's not always black and white.

365:14 Matzoh 4.5.10

For the birds.

Matilda helps with our yearly tradition of putting the left over matzoh in the bird feeder. For some reason, it always takes a few months for the birds to eat it. I guess they like it as much as I do!

365:13 Matzoh 4.4.10

Needlepoint.

I used to watch my mom needlepoint when I was little. I guess it rubbed off...

365:12 Matzoh 4.3.10

The Bread of Affliction

365:11 Matzoh 4.2.10

holy

365:10 Matzoh 4.1.10

Fried Matzoh. Matilda's first time. Needless to say, she loved it and ate most of mine.

For those unfamiliar with the saving grace of this holiday, known as fried matzoh or matzoh brie, it is essentially crushed matzoh, mixed in the same batter you would make for french toast (eggs, cinnamon, vanilla), topped with cinnamon/sugar and syrup. Just be sure to rinse the crushed matzoh first or you will end up with a little too much crunchiness. Great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Give it a try and let me know what you think.