Color
I have said elsewhere and before that I am no Black and White photographer. Color! I think color. I see colors and patterns and contrasts filled with vibrancy. Pow! In your face color! No Ansel Adams waiting and exposing and patiently developing details in Zone VII. I have a completely different personality – all go, no waiting, do it now! Ha ha. I used to wait to develop slides for forever, as long as a year. That is a lot of time for a mistake to linger before you can see the error, let alone correct yourself. Ego! I was perfect. Ha ha. Not!! And, please don’t shoot me. Too many shots, not enough time for the stories.
Parenthetically, I will add, that when I shot the moose, someone in the lecture asked where? As in, he thought I had shot this moose with a gun. Ha ha. No! And I lived to tell the tale.
Once upon a time
Once upon a time Amelia, the dove, hatched a clutch of eggs in Jule”s window box. Several more generations of eggs followed and hatched. Imagine, it was 5 floor up in NYC, hardly the place to raise a family of doves. Several years later there was a reunion of the extended dove family on my 6th floor deck – one time only. It was poignant and priceless!
I have seen Gates, a one-time art installation in Central Park. I flew over the Verraznno Bridge during the NYC Marathon. I got to shoot at the US Open. I have been to Patriot Day in Boston. Why did the turkey(s) cross the road? Um, I don’t know either. Puffins??! Cute?! I got seasick three times unsuccessfully never seeing the birds, before I got this shot. The dragon – New Orleans – mardi gras, I was there to see the warehouse housing the trappings of the celebration. Walter Mitty had nothing on me.
Catgate
A la Watergate, similar but not the same. In this case, I needed to keep cats separated and apart. Long story short, the Maine coon cats are pummeling poor Peas. Maines can suddenly be aggressive. They stalk and pounce poor Peas. It’s ugly! Hence, the gate. They need to be separated to maintain peace and serenity for all (ESPECIALLY COLLEEN!!). There is a height extension at the top of the gate. … because Ray and Nutley could jump the gate and then over either way. They taught Spice and Feather the trick. Neat. Smart cats! Tillie? She is small like her sister Peas. She simply walks through the balusters. Great! And, !@#@$$ drat! I have placed barriers with offsets to the balusters. Now, let’s see. This is a work in progress. I recall a time when I thought I could thwart squirrels on my bird feeders. Oh well, now, we feed the squirrels and birds. Hey squirrels gotta eat too. Maybe Peas will get larger and better at defending herself?
Ten years
…about. It’s been about ten years that I have been blog posting. It’s a lot of pictures. Let’s say thousands. I have been blogging multiple pictures a day for a long time. There’s no parsimony in me. Ha! I have had a good ride! There have been tragic events. Tumultuous? … for sure. Tremendous, stupendous? … as well. I would not trade Colleen for the world. I could not begin to summarize what the last ten years have been. It slips by in flash leaving me bewildered that it was only in the past few years that things changed so much. The Red Sea? Carol was finally happy the fish are in the rear view mirror. Ginny? She’s glad to finally see emotion when I write about Colleen. Platitudes? Nah! This blog has been a free expression of what moved me on the day I took these pictures. Looking back….no, I’m not one to do that. I close with thanks to all who read and have read this blog.
2005
2005, February, Central Park, New York City, “Gates,” Jeanne Claude and Christos. Christos passed away recently. Jeanne Claude died in 2009 of a brain aneurysm, no less. Their signature art installation for me was “Gates.” My database and Lightroom catalog got me to the images in about five minutes. My memory got me to the only frames in which I caught the artists inspecting their work. My memory also recalls that I did not walk the park with Lisa. Strange. I persuaded Charlie to fly over Central Park in the helicopter. Alas, the (aerial) pictures were not memorable. Carol framed and hung a few of my “Gates” pics. I wonder if they are still hanging? No one else has tried such monumental works. Somewhere, I have a sample of the ‘Gates’ cloth. No, I will not find that anytime soon.
photobackstory 