Archive for the 'Photography' Category

09
Feb

Pantz Across America, part 1

I had previously written that I was moving out of Philadelphia and traveling across the US to ultimately end up in California for a couple of months.  Well, I left last Thursday before the east coast got hammered with that huge snowstorm.  I knew it was coming and Thursday was my window of opportunity to leave so I took it.  As I was leaving York County, Pennsylvania, I passed graffiti that read “It can get better”.  Perhaps it was a sentimental goodbye from Pennsylvania to start my new work/travel life.

I drove as far as I could until I hit rain in the Charlotte, North Carolina area.  I think I was on the road for about 11 hours.  I was exhausted and ready to find a hotel.  I chose a hotel that was part of the Wyndham chain hotels, thinking that it would be good.  I did an inspection of the room before agreeing that I would take it and everything looked good.  But then I pulled down the sheets and there were hairs and a mysterious brown stain.  (Not to mention that there really were mirrors on the wall).  I probably should have taken photos, but I was so disgusted and tired.  I ended up finding another hotel a couple of exits further that was much better except that it smelled like fragrance plug-ins.  It’s come to my knowledge in the last year that I’ve become super sensitive to smells and I hate fragrance plug-ins.

I woke the next morning and drove to Atlanta, Georgia in pouring rain.  As I was leaving North Carolina, I stopped at a random exit to get gas.  There were two weird abandoned buildings amongst the fireworks stops that seem to be overwhelming in the southern states.  Every exit that I stopped at in the south seems to have some kind of interesting abandoned place.

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I knew a few photographers from istockphoto and an old friend from California who live in Atlanta.  We went out for dinner and it was great to see them.  I stayed at my friend’s house in East Atlanta, which was quite eclectic and filled with many craftsman homes from the 1920s.  I probably would have liked the area, but I was eager to get off of the east coast and away from crappy weather so I left Atlanta the next day.

I drove through Alabama.  In my opinion, Alabama is possibly one of the strangest places in the country.  And if you know me, I LOVE strange.  The Salton Sea in California is one of the weirdest places I have ever been to.  Alabama is like the Salton Sea except that it’s a WHOLE STATE.  A whole state of weird amazing subjects.  I was so tired when I left Atlanta, but I became all giddy as I drove through the back roads of Atlanta on my way to the coast.  I passed some awesome places.  I’m kind of kicking myself for not stopping to photograph some of them (such as the abandoned “Hurricane Drive-in”).  But the reality of it was that I was a bit more scared about being shot in the back woods of Alabama than in Northeast Philly.

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I ended up in the Mobile, Alabama area for the night where I had a huge southern BBQ sampler dinner complete with cole slaw, baked beans, and sweet tea.  At 4am, my stomach was not so happy with me.

I drove along the Gulf Coast to New Orleans on Sunday.  Again, amazing things in Alabama.

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So yes, I arrived in New Orleans on the day of the Superbowl.  I wasn’t even planning to go to New Orleans, let alone be there during the Superbowl.  I am in New Orleans now.  I have family that live here whom I haven’t seen for a while.  I went to my first-ever Superbowl party last night.  We had a fun time and since the Saints won, the city went crazy.  And being that Mardi Gras is a week away, it’s party week in New Orleans!

04
Jan

flora…again

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03
Jan

flora

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28
Nov

shaken and stirred in the darkness. part 1.

A chilly night in Philadelphia.

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22
Oct

Phillies become the 2009 National League Champs!

At least 1,000 people filled the Piazza in Northern Liberties to watch the Phillies clench the 2009 National League title on the huge Jumbotron TV.  We grabbed our lawn chairs and headed out to celebrate the excitement of watching the game there.  I left at the 7th inning to head into the city.  I walked around on Broad Street, hearing the screams of excitement resonating throughout the streets as people watched at the nearby bars.  Philly cops were wearing riot helmets, mounted police officers waited on their horses, lamp posts were greased on Broad Street, and some newspaper boxes were removed.  When the Phillies won, people filled the streets…celebrating every way they knew how.  Of course, it was nothing like last year when the Phillies won the World Series, but people were happy and that’s what this city needs.  Now the Phillies are off to the 2009 World Series!  Go Phillies!!

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15
Oct

My free image of the week!

arthurshades.jpgA big huge thanks to istockphoto for making one of my images the Free Image of the Week on the front page of the site!  And many thanks to my awesome model, Arthur, for making this image happen!

If you have an istockphoto account, download it while it’s hot!  After all, it’s free!  There will be another free image available every Sunday on istockphoto.

And if you don’t already have an account on istock, send me an email and I can hook you up with a referral and some free credits to use as well! Enjoy!

02
Oct

Cadillac Mountain

There’s a gorgeous view from the top of Cadillac Mountain, but it was quite foggy at the top when I visited earlier this week.  Nevertheless, the fog provided some amazing photo ops.  I love fog.  It always makes everything look so colorful and mysterious.

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30
Sep

seashore autumn tales

My trip to Maine is turning out to be exactly what I needed.  Honestly, I am not looking forward to going back to Philly.  I am enjoying this nice quiet life for a change.  Maybe it just means that I’m getting old.  Oh well.

A couple of months ago, I had reconnected with a friend who I had met 20 years ago.  We were pen pals for quite a while (he lived in Montana and I in Pennsylvania) until we graduated high school.  So we hadn’t spoken to each other for at least 16 years and hadn’t seen each other in 20.  Well, as it so happens, he now lives in Boston and had a few days leave from work that happen to coincide with my time in Maine so he drove up here to hang out with me.  We had a blast!  Hiking, kayaking, laughing, conversation, drinks, good food, etc etc.  It was easily one of the best times I’ve had all year.  But he left this morning and I’m a bit bummed out about it.  But nevertheless, I am very happy to have reconnected with my old friend.

One of the hikes that we did lead to some cool tidal pools.  We found these little larvae like creatures in one of the pools that were no bigger than a few millimeters.  They were in small clumps and a weird blue-gray color.  You couldn’t really see the detail of them with the naked eye, but a macro lens makes all the difference in the world.  This is exactly why I love macro photography so much!  This photo was only cropped; no manipulation has been done.  I didn’t know what these little guys were, but someone has ID’d them as an insect called seashore springtails (Anurida maritima)…adults, not juvenile.  The are found throughout the world on rocky shores and tidal marshes and feed on dead marine animals, particularly mollusks and crustaceans.  The retreat into the protection of rocky crevices or under weeds an hour before high tide, but spend most of their time floating on the water and scavenging nearby rocks for food.

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27
Sep

Bass Harbor Head Light

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25
Sep

Eagle Lake

I took a little hike around part of Eagle Lake on Wednesday.  I got quite distracted along the way taking photos of the many little critters and awesome plants and other details.  It was also my first hand at trying to do HD video with the 5DmkII.  All that I can say is that I am in love with video!!  I’ve shot about 50 videos so far, but I’d say that most of them are crap because I’m still learning.  It’s incredibly different than shooting still photos…but incredibly different in a good way.  And macro video!….Such an amazing thing to capture the behaviors of tiny organisms on video!!  Hopefully I can figure out how to post them on here at some point to share.  Anyway, for now, here are some shots from the Eagle Lake hike.

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