Postcards Pics Just For Shits And Giggles

This morning, I was surfing the web looking for ideas to title this blog post, when I ended up in Instagram to this invitation:

"Hello, I am looking to make quick money online. I am selling tons of xxx photos which are waiting to be viewed for your pleasure. If you are interested, message me for more information and the prices xxx."

I am not a prude, and I'm not ashamed to admit it, but that's just not my cup of tea so I exited the website pronto. But I digress.

A while back, a friend suggested to create my own personalized photo postcards from my prints. It makes sense to print some of my images, a lot of my pictures are just sitting on Flickr, waiting to be viewed (for your pleasure). Unless I send a link to my friends, they'll never see them.

Behind The Scenes Photography

It's getting warmer in Philadelphia, but we're getting drenched every weekend. So there is no motivation to ride my motorcycle, at least not yet.

Last night I visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Afterwards, I decided to walk a few blocks and try to shoot one of the locations I always have a hard time photographing, the Philadelphia Boathouse Row. Even if my life depended on it, I can't get a decent photograph of this place.

It didn't help that the cloudy overcast makes the sky look dull and gray. But hey, I've got nothing to lose so I might as well take a couple of pictures. Who knows, I might just get lucky.

It seemed as if it was going to rain again, so I hurried setting up my camera underneath the Fairmount Water Works gazebo used for wedding ceremonies.

I was so put off by the lousy weather, that only took 5 or 6 pictures of Boathouse Row, including a couple of behind the scene images. The timing couldn't be more perfect. By the time I packed my camera gear, it started to drizzle and the SEPTA bus arrived.

Another photo shoot, another lousy Boathouse Row picture.

Ricardo Rosello Continua Rogandole Al Presidente Trump

Hace dos meses, nuestro ilustre gobernador despues que se canso de besarle el trasero al racista xenofobico presidente Trump y amenazarlo con darle un puño en la boca, lo acuso de tratar a nuestro pueblo como ciudadanos de segunda clase.

El dia de ayer, nuestro flamante gobernador se desperto con deseos de continuar arrodillado ante su amo y le dijo a la prensa de nuestro pais que lo unico que le pedia a Trump era “empatia” hacia nuestro pueblo.

Como dije hace unos meses atras, este arrodillado continua suplicandole a Trump que “es momento de darle trato igual a Puerto Rico”.

Han pasado mas de 120 años de explotacion hacia nuestra isla, y todavia este vende patria no entiende que los Estados Unidos jamas va tratar a Puerto Rico como nuestro pueblo se merece.

Eso de estar exigiendo reuniones con el presidente y haciendo mas plebiscitos para rogar por la estadidad es una perdida de tiempo. El racista y xenofobico presidente de Estados Unidos lo que ha  hecho es ignorar e insultar por todo este tiempo a nuestro pueblo.

Mientras tanto, nuestro sumiso pueblo con mente de colonizado, el dia de las elecciones continuara dandole el voto a los rojos y a los azules, los dos partidos principales de Puerto Rico que han llevado a la quiebra a nuestra querida isla.

Foto Cortesia de Daryl Cagle.

A Man's Got To Know His Limitations

Do you remember the line from Clint Eastwood's 1973 movie Magnum Force, "a man's got to know his limitations"? A blog I just read, reminded me about my growing physical limitations. People say that being healthy is a process; with my current limitations I have to remember to pace myself.

Living with rheumatoid arthritis I have come to somewhat accept my physical limitations. I'm 63, and yet I don't feel like a senior citizen. In my mind, I’m definitely still a child inside. The reality is that my body is the one that's giving away.

Last night during a random search, I found a 1995 Kawasaki KX-500 on Craigslist not far from me, and for the right price. Most good deals are usually too far. This is a great project to keep me busy in the garage. The problem is that this type of vintage dirt bike does not come with a electric starter, it has to be kick started. Team Green still relies on boot power to get its big motocross bikes running.

Therein lies the problem, for the past three weeks I've been experiencing inflammation and pain on my right ankle, and have to use ankle support. Do you think I am going to try to consider kickstarting a KX-500? As much as I would love to own this bike, I'll have to pass.

So the search continues.

The pictures included in this post were taken 6 years ago at Kawasaki Race of Champions in Raceway Park Motocross, Englishtown, New Jersey. 

HDR Photography : The Frankenstein Way

This over saturated image above is what happens when a person is bored to death and goes the Frankenstein way using HDR. What can I say, once in a while it's fun to experiment, it doesn't hurt to try different things.

I was reading Trey Ratcliff's blog the first time I heard the term HDR. Can't remember how I landed in his blog. Immediately fell in love with the technique; when done correctly, the images come to life with dramatic contrast, incredible detail and vivid color. At the time I don't think I even had my first DLSR yet.

As someone with natural artistic talent, I was fascinated with the vibrant colors and making my images pop the way I wanted. To me is all about getting better color rendition in my photography.

Even though HDR photography has a lot of critics, I don't think is any different than processing and manipulating images in the darkroom. The difference, to me, is that now we don't have to deal with exposure to fumes and toxic chemicals. And is not messy.

There are lots of Frankenstein images out there. People take multiple exposures to create an HDR blend, then Frankenstein them together with over saturation and contrasting, just like I did with the above picture.

If there's one thing I've learned since I first began using HDR, is that adding this technique to certain images has given me more options. In my opinion, my photography is improving, and that is always a good thing.

Behind The Scenes Photography

Just to quench my photography thirst, yesterday evening after having diner at my favorite joint, I took the train to downtown Philadelphia to take a couple of pictures.

Philadelphia has been photographed ad nauseam, in fact I am running out of places to shoot in the city. It was still early, so I wandered around aimlessly and finally decided to visit Lenfest Plaza, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

If you are not familiar with this location, it is famous for a naval plane sculpture called "Grumman Greenhouse" that it's displayed in Lenfest Plaza. It was donated by Philadelphia artist Jordan Griska.

A while back I tried photographing this plane sculpture next to my motorcycle using a light painting technique. Maybe it was the wrong composition, bad lighting or I was rushing to finish it, but I wasn't happy with the final result. Click on this link to see the plane sculpture next to my bike.

Lately, I've been doing something different. This is an idea that occurred to me after finding this picture that I took 4 years ago.

I figured why not include myself in the photograph? It gives the viewer a different perspective and composition of the entire picture. In my opinion, adding a person to your images can also give a sense of scale and add interest to your photography. Now I can go back and recreate some of my older favorite images by putting a personal spin using this idea.

Do you include yourself in your photography?

Click on this link to see a bigger version of the image above....

Behind The Shot : Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 1

My first digital camera was a Nikon D100, designed for professionals and advanced enthusiasts. It was my first serious camera. Despite being a camera made in 2002, it's a well built camera and still takes beautiful photos.

The testing ground for my first DSLR images was one of the most iconic New York City locations, Brooklyn Bridge Park. Despite anticipated crowds over the 4th of July long weekend, the location wasn't very crowded when I arrived. It was a bright, beautiful, sunny day.

Something quite interesting took place, the first arrivals was a group of people older than me. Among them was a group of what could be considered grandmothers. It's funny because sometimes I forget that at my young age of 63, and having white hair, identifies me as a senior citizen. Our patronizing euphemism for the dreaded words “old man". At my age, young people call me "Pop", but I digress.

They were prepared with digital cameras and tripods of various brands; they even brought their own food. While we waited for the sun to go down in the horizon, they shared their food among themselves. It felt like being at a picnic.

Tried to engage them in conversation to find out what motivated them to get involved in photography, unfortunately no one from the group spoke English.

I hope that when I reach their age, I am able to continue learning, improving, and above all, still enjoying the art of photography.

The pictures below were taken that day. Click on this link to see a bigger version.....