Tag: photography

a bit shrivelled, but otherwise sound

shrivelled-rosehip

A month into daily blogging, and I’m feeling a bit shrivelled. Certainly, not all my posts have been fresh and plum this month. However, I did write a few things with some intention, and had fun posting some sets of photos. So all in all, I’m glad I did this again.

I’m amused that there was only one exception to my daily posting success: The 2nd day. I did put something up for that day the next morning, so my grand total of posts for the month is still 30.

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What I haven’t managed to do this month is spend time reading books. Since I finished grad school, I have really gotten back to reading again for enjoyment, and this is something that thas made me happy. But it would seem that the time I use for blogging takes up the time I might otherwise be reading a book. So, perhaps tomorrow I will pick up a book after I get into bed, instead of scrambling to figure out what to post here.

I also generally need to get back to spending more time on my research. I have some deadlines coming up over the next few months.

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However, I really hope I can keep blogging semi-regularly. I need to figure out a way to commit to blogging, without it necessarily being a daily effort. The “when I feel like it” approach seems to result in many ideas, but not bearing fruit. And I like it when my blog bears fruit (even if that fruit is a bit shrivelled).

How about you? Do you have a blog, and if so, how do you decide how often to post?

 

more concrete abstractions

These are a few photos of some abstract compositions that caught my eye.

cracks

crack

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cracks

cracks

I was surprised to see that all 5 of these photos were taken in 2013, but on several different days, over 4 different months. And probably at different locations. Was my world more full of cracks in 2013? Or was it just a time when I had heightened awareness of things crumbling around me? (Because now feels like such a time.)

abstract composition

Tonight I am working on composing an abstract to submit to a conference, so I don’t have time for a lot of words here. Instead, I submit to you these abstract compositions selected from my photo library.

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funky acorns of Central Park

Yes, this post is really about acorns. In particular, some acorns that looked a bit funny to me, compared to those that my local oak trees drop. For one thing the acorns are really long. While they are probably of a similar thickness to those acorns I see locally, or maybe even a bit skinnier, they are quite a bit longer. Some of them even about twice as long as I expect an acorn to be.

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Long acorns.

Second, they have these crazy-looking hairy tops. They remind me of see anemones and rambutans. Or shaggy wigs.

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The caps from these acorns look like crazy hair. Or sea anemones. Or rambutans.

These acorns (and  presumably the trees they fell from) were near the reservoir in Central Park. I’m sure there is a way to identify them, but I’m not going to do so tonight. However, if any tree-lovers are out there who know the answer, let me know!

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I liked the way these acorns lined themselves up along the sticks or vines on the ground.
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This is just a stray leaf that caught my eye. I don’t know whether it is related to the acorns, but I believe it to be some sort of oak leaf.

Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving, and since I’m going a little nuts getting ready, I figured I’d post a bit about some nutty-looking nuts.

multilayered, multicolored

I do love the way paint looks when it’s past its prime. Well, I don’t love it that way on my own house, but out in the rest of world, I find the patterns and texture of weathered paint to be very appealing. Especially when such weathering reveals multiple layers of paint of different colors. The effect can range from map, to marbelizing, to abstract composition. Here are a few examples that have caught my eye, in my travels, and around my town.

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This was a railing at Canobie Lake Park, an amusement park in New Hampshire. Many of the rides and attractions have been around for decades, and display a colorful history of paint color trends. I saw this on our visit to the park this August. This looked to me like a map.
pink-blue-green-red-white-rail
This was likewise a railing at Canobie Lake Park. This particular railing was at the mirror maze, and caught my eye in 2014. I was sad that the mirror maze was no longer at the park this year.
red-black-green-fence
This was a fence in or around Dublin, as seen on my 2014 trip.
red-green-white-bridge
This more subtle set of paint layers graced a pedestrian bridge in Central Park. It caught my eye this past Saturday.
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This colorful and curvy composition can be seen on the back of a turtle-shaped climbing structure at our local zoo. I took this photo in 2013. I’m sort of curious to see the turtle again, and see if it has a (boring) layer of fresh paint.
yellow-purple-wheel
This yellow wheel was in a town near Dublin. It appears to have once been purple, and possibly green before that.  

This is far from the first time I’ve posted photos of peeling paint, but I think only one of the above (the pink railing) was included in another set. (Admittedly, though, it’s become harder for me to keep track of what I’ve posted here.)

I recall Central Park in Fall

It’s really not all that remarkable that I can remember Fall in Central Park, since it was just yesterday that I was there. However, Cental Park is pretty remarkable in the fall. Even late as it was in the foliage season, there was some striking color to be seen.

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Various waterfowl in the pond by the Gapstow Bridge.
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A trio of Muscovy ducks preening on some rocks in front of the foliage.
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A single juggler preening on The Mall.
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Dark iron lamp post and iron dark tree trunks among the vibrant leaves.
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A graceful little Japanese maple.
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A very twisty tree.

And in case you don’t recognize the title I used for this post, it’s a line from the song Danke Schoen. (Where “schoen” rhymes with “rain.”) I remember this song primarily for having been in the movie Ferris Bueller’s day off.

dispatch from the greatest city in the world

We are travelling this weekend, something we haven’t been doing as much of lately. We’ve headed down to New York City to see a show.

We’re staying in a hotel somewhat near both the theater and Central Park, and as our room is on the 65th floor, and on a corner to boot, our views are pretty amazing.

Even though we arrived after 10 last night, we got up at the crack of dawn. You see, we have an avid birder in the family, and we have been talking about going birding in Central Park for a while. (I’ll probably write more about this later.) Early morning is one of the better times to see birds. And so it is that I have photos of the view at sunrise. (I usually avoid being awake at sunrise. Especially on weekends.)

sunrise-nj-view

I was looking at the map to see what is in the direction of these views, past the water. I was vaguely aware that New Jersey was to the west. In particular, it appears to be Weehawken.

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View towards Weehawken. Dawn.

In the other direction, we can see a bit of Central Park.

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This room must have had an amazing view of Central Park before those two new buildings sprang up.

We spent basically the whole day today in Central Park, birding. We got to see a number of interesting water birds (wood ducks, coots and shovelers, for example), as well as many of the bird types that frequent our neck of the woods (jays and cardinals). All my bird photos are on my camera, and it’s too much work to download them to my laptop for now. (These photos are a few from my phone.)

expressive-tree
A very expressive tree in Central Park

(For those friends of mine who live in the greater NY area, I’m sorry that I can’t see you this trip. It’s a rather short trip–less than 48 hours in town, sadly. And we have committed to birding for most of the trip. At least for the hours that are not spent in the theater for the show tomorrow.)

And now I need to get to bed, because we’ve got more birds to see bright and early. (The early worm catches the bird?)

When in doubt, post a trout

 

fish
A fish sculpture in Paris. 2007.

When it gets late, and it gets tired, I typically find I don’t have the energy to do actual writing. All too often, this is what motivates me to post photos. Not to say that I don’t often have photos that I want to share, but posting photos over text has been my default when I’m tired.

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The Majestic Cod of the Massachusetts State House, Boston. 2016.

And then I try to come up with a catchy title. But sometimes, a catchy title catches me. And makes me laugh a little inside. And makes me hunt down (or in this case, go fishing for) appropriate content to go with it. When in doubt, post a trout.

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A gleeful boy taking a grouchy fish for a joyride. As seen on a bridge in Paris. 2007.

And so it was that I remembered that I have quite a few fish photos. Even more specifically, I have a bunch of photos of fish statues and sculptures, taken over quite a long period of time, and in quite a few different locations. (I was sorry to not find any fish sculptures in my photos from Asia, so it looks like I have only 2 continents represented. Unless you want to consider this startlingly shiny gold fish furniture from my hotel in Shanghai.

 

fish, shark
A shark shack in small town near Dublin, Ireland. 2014.
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A surprised looking fish in Boston. Probably not a trout. 2016.

But I have a terrible confession to make: while I may have lots of photos of fish, I really don’t know whether there is a trout among them.

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A deranged looking fish in London. Almost certainly not a trout. 2005.
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A fish bone sculpture from the DeCordova Museum in Massachusetts. 2012

So, what say you? Can you find a trout among today’s catch?

superlative skies

I guess I may have my head in the clouds more than most, because I do find myself noticing the sky quite often, and even pointing it out to others. Take, for example, the rather spectacular, improbably pink sunset below, which I saw during my son’s soccer practice one evening.

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I was completely entranced by the shape and color, and took quite a few photos. When the soccer practice ended, the other parents and I walked toward the filed to collect our kids. I asked the nearest parent: “Did you see that sunset?” In turns out that she had not, even though she had been sitting only a few feet away from me.

The composition below is another one I saw during a soccer practice. What the photo doesn’t quite capture is the the colorful right edge of the cloud, which had both pink and green.

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And because I like to post things in sets of at least three, here is a non-sunset cloudscape from yesterday morning.

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