Photo of the Week ~ Hudson on ice

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Last weekend, Nancy and I took the Amtrak up to Rhinecliff, New York. The train hugs the Hudson river the whole way, and people dash onto the train to get the “river side” view. With ice floating on the river, the view was even more dramatic. I braved the cold to capture the Hudson on ice. The image was taken at the Rhinecliff dock facing Kingston with an exposure time of 8 minutes.

The return of the Photo of the Week

Posted on by

Inspired by dear friends Stacy and Andy’s 2010 resolution to take an inspirational Photo of the day, I’m reinstating my photo of the week blog. Hopefully this will inspire us all to carry our camera, shoot and share more! The inaugural photo of the week was taken in New Orleans at the Sazerac club. We were all imbibing in some wonderful beverages when I noticed servers coming in and out of a surreally lit kitchen. I grabbed my camera and stood near the entranceway hoping not to get hit by the opening door and captured this.

Looking for more inspiration and access to one of the coolest locations to capture images of Lost Americana?
Joe and Troy have a few spots open to their Pearsonville Junkyard Workshops in March and April. I took this workshop last year and had an amazing time, plus I significantly built up my night photography portfolio. You have 3 full moon nights of access to amazing old cars from the 1930’s-70’s, within the backdrop of the Mojave Desert mountains. My light painting techniques became much more refined as Joe and Troy shared their knowledge and took a lot of the guesswork out of using flashes and flashlights in night photography. Check out my previous blog and images from last year.
For more information and to see Troy and Joe’s amazing images check out the Pearsonville Junkyard Night Photography/Light Painting Workshops.

Once in a blue moon…

Posted on by — 2 Comments

We close out this first decade of the new millenium with a fitting adieu, a Blue Moon on New Year’s Eve. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. It happens every 2 1/2 years. But even rarer is a Blue New Years Eve, which happens approximately every 19 years. Enjoy this one, because the next one won’t happen until 2028!

I’ll be celebrating in New Orleans, where the above image was taken on a recent trip.

Looking back on 2009, I realized it was a very prolific year for me. My Fine Art of the Long Exposure lecture became a staple presentation at the B&H Event Space. 60+ people would attend these bimonthly talks on how to create long exposures during the day and night.
I’ll actually be kicking off 2010 with this program at the Brooklyn Camera Club on January 8th and the B&H Event Space on the 12th.

I was also very proud to have my first NYC solo show, Time Exposed, tour John Allan’s Tribeca and Saks’ clubs. I just updated and added 10 more images to the show and moved it to their flagship club in Midtown Manhattan. I’m working on the details of an opening in February so stay tuned!

There are a few spots left for my Night Photography Workshop in Pittsburgh on January 30th-31st. I’m excited to explore the Three River Bridges and North Park area with the students. We’ll look at how to overcome the challenges of night cityscapes, shooting in contrasty scenarios and mixed lighting situations. The second night will be an exploration in longer exposures and star trails as we shoot in Pittsburgh old North Park which combines some great architectural park buildings with the diversity of the park itself.

Finally this was the year Gabriel turned digital. I thought I was going to be the last one standing, but I purchased the Nikon d700 back in July and haven’t shot a roll of film since. Not to say I won’t, I just wanted to fully immerse myself in the digital capture world. I don’t want to turn this into a film vs digital debate, it should always be about the image. I still see the use of Medium and Large Format film cameras to create images unique images. The slowing down and not seeing instant results can be a liberating experience instead of the rapid capture of digital.

So tonight, have fun cavorting under the blue moon, and I wish you a very successful and creative 2010!

Happy Holidays from New Hampshire

Posted on by — 1 Comment

I’m home for the holidays, rural New Hampshire, lots of snow and below freezing temperatures. Yup, old man winter loves it up here!
The other day I was driving down one of those country roads when through the trees I spotted these snow covered bales of hay. I didn’t have time to stop, plus I knew I wanted to take the shot at night. So the next day just before twilight I trudged through the foot of snow to set up this image. The surreal surprise was on me when I saw the “face” on the bale of snow, which I definitely couldn’t see from the road. The exposure is 8 minutes long, facing the west for the longer star trails and last gasp of the twilight.

As we are nearing the end of the year, I’ve already started thinking about photography resolutions for 2010, with one of them to not let these type of pictures pass me by.

When you see something, snap something.