Portfolio

"Yellowstone NP 5" Wyoming

I am excited to add a page to this blog, which you can find at the top of the right hand column, under the heading "More".  There you will see a link to this homepage, or one that takes you to my "New West" portfolio.  Please write comments, suggestions, or share your favorites.  This is a semi-permanent addition to the blog, and will only change to be updated.  There are currently 26 images that I am very proud to share on that page.  Enjoy.

Making new friends

We should always be asking ourselves, "how do we get better"?  I am crossing a threshold where it is becoming more and more important to approach my subject, and get to know them.  My new friends, Lola and Co., would not have appreciated if I had stolen a snapshot of them.  My experience talking with them was valuable and also fulfilling to have established a connection.  Maybe I would have gotten one good shot, but I am certainly glad to make their acquaintance instead, and maybe become friends in the future.

Certainly the result is something more that I was able to take away not only in the photograph, but an experience that was shared with my subjects.  I sat up in my office, thinking about them for most of the day as I typed, googled, e-mailed, and ate lunch...

A study of Old Faithful

Millions of people flock to Yellowstone every year, and one of the many main attractions of the park is the 90 minute wait for Old Faithful's regular eruptions. In the past three summers, I have been stationed literally right where the picture above was taken, teaching photo workshops throughout the day.

Here you can see the National Park Service webcam of Old Faithful.

This idea was sparked by images I have seen (in person at the Michener Museum in Pennsylvania) of Ansel Adams views of Old Faithful. I hope the inspiration shows through, and that I was able to create a more modern approach to the subject.

Colored pig flesh

Decided I wanted to think about these in color more than I wanted to see them in black and white. Lisa saw them before the conversion to black and white, and wanted to see the skin tones of the pigs to show through. Might be realizing I'm not much of a black and white photographer.

Open Wide

The first couple weeks of being back have been a transition, as I said. Step out the door, and I am hit with the familiar, but powerful smells of the neighborhood. It was almost choking down under the Manhattan Bridge. During the winter, the transition of living here into the spring and then beginning of summer, I had time to acclimate to the sounds and smells on the streets. Thrown back into it, I am struggling to keep my balance.



I may move in the coming months, but what will I do when my favorite subject is no longer also the place that I live? Living the transition, I will lightly weather back to the usual smells of the New York City streets. I miss walking out the door to a "normal" set of smells and sights, less garbage maybe. What is the overall price we pay to live here, clustered, stacked on one another? I love New York.

Return of the pig delivery service

If you look back to posts prior to leaving for the west, I have a post called Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, in which you see the "whole pig delivery service" who park over on Catherine Street near where I live in Chinatown. They are back, and I have seen them twice now in the two weeks I have been home. 9:30 AM seems to be a good time to be waiting with camera in hand. This morning I saw them again, and it was the first morning that I did not take my magic picture box with me to work. I cannot stress the importance of always being ready for the shot, since today could have been my day. Some time soon, if I have not already captured it, I will get an exceptional photograph out of these guys, who are an exceptional subject.


Thus I leave the next step to chance and to repetition. I can be out in the field as often as possible, knowing my environments as best I can, and hopefully the pigmen will be back soon...