All posts filed under: Photography

It Exploded

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Sometimes, the sky looks like it’s on fire. Of course, it’s not. It’s just autumn light bouncing off the clouds in wonderful ways. It’s one of those things that you just have to be there to see. Which brings me to this. Recently, there have been a whole bunch of bloggers writing about breaking the log jam we call photographer’s block. You can also call it writer’s block. Writer’s have different issues to work through. So. I’ll concentrate on photographer’s block. The tools for breaking it are fairly simple. If you can’t think of something to photograph, put your camera on your shoulder, go outside and take a walk. Photograph whatever you see. It may not be your “photo-thing,” but carry on.  Even if you don’t develop your images, you’ll learn something about yourself. I have a number of friends who think that if they don’t travel, they can’t make a picture. That’s just silly. After all, that’s what Storyteller is about. For me, it’s a place to experiment and practice. I do that so …

A Summer’s Evening

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Another one. Another picture that makes you smile. A version of yesterday’s post made from a different perspective. And still. That weird light refraction followed me. I have no idea what it was. I think it was some strange bit of light bouncing around the water droplets in the air. Usually, that reflects something in the red spectrum, making the raw frame a little gray and muddy. Not this time. Perspective. That’s a good word. Let’s talk about that. A friend shared a post on Facebook. It was about #metoo. It was well written from the point of an expert in what I’ll call systems of belief. She was waiting for a plane with another expert. A man. A guy sitting across from them asked why they were there. They told him. He proceeded to go off on a tangent mansplaining his point of view rather than asking her for viewpoint. Her colleague proceeded to take this guy down. He did it gently and mentioned that he lost a great opportunity to learn from an …

Far Away

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I looked up. I saw it. I have no idea what caused that bright streak in the middle of the cloudy picture. I’ve seen a lot of amazing things in the sky. Some have names. Some don’t. But, that streak? I can’t tell you. I can guess. I made the picture in the late afternoon sky after a violent but short rain storm passed through. It’s like that the sunlight was bouncing around water droplets in the sky. It could be seen with the naked eye which is why I took the picture. Sometime these sorts of things reveal themselves in development or post production. Not this time. It was there in the sky. Oh sure. I did a lot of post production, but that’s because I wanted to make the picture how my mind’s eye saw it the overall scene. I wanted you to see what I saw. I think it’s pretty. But, it could be God’s finger pointing down at us. It could be that he or she or whatever you believe is …

A Little Bit of Soul

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About nature. In some regions of the country and world, winter lasts for just a few days. Even when the weather turns cold, it is mild compared to places located further north. With mild weather we get — drumroll please — a second growing season. When I first moved here I was amazed. I’d never heard of such a thing. Anybody who grew up here, or was from here, knew. They taught me. I learned. These days I can recognize the signs. New leaves appear on plants that were once done with the summer heat. It helps that there is a lot of rain this time of year. The lingering heat combined with rain and humidity make outdoors a natural greenhouse. Anyway, the spring and summer crops — such as they are — have been planted. The picture. I saw it. I worked sort of hard to frame it with the sun backlighting the leaves. When I got into the studio I decided to take it to the limit. I backtracked. The limit was too …

Smile

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Just smile. Sometimes that’s all you can do. That’s why I published these two pictures of a little guy, who is starting out young, making his way down the stairs at the Good Fellas second line, last Sunday. This is probably his first second line. His confidence will build as he prepares year after year. This is probably the last of my pictures from the event. No worries. There is another one on Sunday. The big one. The Young Men Olympians. This one will be about a million divisions long and will take at least four hours to complete. It’ll probably sideline us with some kind of heat related ailment. Oh well. We do it for the stories we can tell. Smile. It’s good for us. For me, I lost two photographers this week who were mentors to me in my early days. My work is influenced by them, even now. My thinking is influenced by them. That’s why I figured out where to stand so I could photograph both divisions of this second line. …

Then This Happened…

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It’s exactly what you think happened… if you look at the entire sequence. He looked at me. I looked at him. We nodded to each other. Up he went. Right over me. Imagine that. All of this to brass band music since they were passing by right at that moment. The pictures. I suppose that if there’s a take away, it’s that sometimes photography takes a little bit of courage even when you think that it doesn’t. It’s one of those things about making a picture in which you are apart of that comes into play. Just don’t fall on your camera or your smart phone while you are trying to snap a shot. Heh. See what I did there?

Marching, Marching, Marching…

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Brass bands. You know me. There is something special about them. The minute that I hear them,  my poor hip and back feel better. I move easier. I move freer. I move faster. I dance with them. I am more flexible. I am convinced my pictures are better than usual. I’ll get to the pictures a little further down, below the tuba picture. A musician friend of mine who lives in the Pacific Northwest once described brass band music as being chaotic. I suppose. What do you expect? The musicians first heard the music on the streets. It’s very likely that they learned to play their instruments in high school. Different high schools for each of them. And, they rarely rehearse. The members come together on the street right before the second line begins. If they don’t have enough members on the scene, musicians from other bands show up to fill in the gaps.  Cell phones are working overtime. Yeah. They all know the same songs because the music is among New Orleans standards. But, …

Coming Out

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Gold and Brown. Those are the Good Fellas colors for the 2018 – 2019 second line season. You could see them coming. Joyful colors. Fall colors. They came down the long ramp at the Eiffel Society. You could see them there. They came down the stairs. You could see them there. They hit the streets. You could you see them there. Like Mardi Gras Indians, and the Baby Dolls they wear suits. Not costumes. Costumes are what “civilians” wear for Halloween. And Mardi Gras. That matters. Guys like me can wear shorts, light t-shirts, running shoes. These guys can’t. They won’t. Their suits are heavy. Their collars are heavy. Their feathers are heavy. Heavy equals hot. At least this time of year. Even in cooler months, their sweat drips down their faces. I’ve said it before. These guys are my heroes. I can’t do what they do. They’d laugh if I told them that. For them it’s just part of their deal. Their honor. Their pride. Their dedication to their neighborhood. Read below for picture …

184 Degrees

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Good Fellas Second Line. The children go first. Then the adults. It’s a two division second line. Thankfully. Even though the second line walked forever, it was on the smallish side. A good thing, because as a friend of mine wrote about another outdoor event in the city, it was 184 degrees out. Not really, but by start time the air temperature was 98 degrees. My car’s sensor which reads ground temperatures said it was 102 degrees. Not too hot. If it’s in the middle of summer. But, it’s not. It’s fall. In three days that calendar says it’s fall. I read a group on Facebook that is all about fall and pumpkin spice everything. They say it’s fall. Sure it is. The light is getting low. The shadows are getting long. But, it’s 184 degrees outside, or 98 degrees. Whichever you prefer. The picture. Normally, I’d get on the long bridge runs outside of the Eiffel Tower to the street. Yes, yes. We have a small one in New Orleans. But, I always feel …

Seeing Green Differently

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Another Sunday. Another experiment leading to something a little more artistic than documentary. It appears that I’m confused. I’m not. We’ll get to that in a few lines. I’m pretty convinced that Mother Nature is angry with us. I think that normally she seeks stasis, but not these days. In the U.S. we were hit by a major hurricane. In Asia we were hit by a super typhoon. At the same time. In two different oceans. My beloved Hong Kong has taken a beating. Buildings were swaying. Streets were flooded. Over 500 flights were cancelled from one of the world’s busiest airline hubs. People were bailing water out of their balconies trying to prevent floods at — oh, let’s say — the 18th floor. What does all this tell you? What should it tell you? I could do a litany of weather-related events this year. But, you already know them. I think it’s time to get started. Really get started. Banning plastic straws isn’t enough.You already know the rest. Act on it. If our leaders …