Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Sunday eve's double portrait

I took today's image on Sunday after having dinner with friends...
Dan and Sarah showed us their Aspen... The light in the restaurant was beautiful and I asked if I could take their picture... This frame is my favorite... It happened when they stopped paying attention to me... I love how it shows their relationship as newlyweds!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Stars, lots of stars...

Relaxing in and around Aspen was fun this weekend... Photographer Dan Bayer and his lovely wife Sarah took us up to Independence Pass to star gaze... And he was super generous regarding tips on how to capture them as well... I don't think I have seen quite as many stars before... It was cold but a fabulous experience! Thank you!



It was of course pitch black up there, but I used my new LED light on a stand to light up some of the details like this sign here... On super minimal setting of course...



Weather station at Independence Pass.



Glow of a town on the right side and in the middle a car coming up the road...



Restrooms. Profane, I know, but I just loved the symmetry and had to capture this.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Summery Aspen and me!

Today's post is about my stay in Aspen. Not too much to write... Figuring out what precisely moves me about this place... And of course trying to avoid creating images that are too touristy or "pretty"... And that's not easy as I don't really know the place yet and it is really beautiful here!



On top of Aspen Montain.



Just outside Aspen Airport last Sunday... My plane was the last one coming in that afternoon... Tornado warning in Denver...



Clouds around Aspen.



More clouds around Aspen.



Same!



Writer Assaf Gavron with snow and trees.



Taking the last gondola down...



Final image so far... But there are a few days left here...

Monday, June 13, 2011

Fur ball attack!

On my recent trip to 242 St - Van Cortland Park station I was approached by a younger guy while I was taking pictures of the station... "Do you want to take a really good picture??", he asked... Usually I'm quite skeptical of these kind of offers... I - of course - know what makes a good image, don't I? But one of the things that I learned doing this series is to be more open and fluid enough to check out what presents itself, since things cannot really be planned here...
It turned out that he was a park ranger who was taking a 6 week old squirrel to the animal rescue station... Apparently it had been abandoned by its parents or at least been found and presumed to be abandoned by park visitors... He showed me this cute fur ball and I have to admit: It made a good shot after all! ;)



The ranger told me that this young one would need about six more weeks in care before being able to fend for itself....



Love how it's just rolled into a furry ball... Feet hiding part of the face...

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Beyond the sun and the moon

I hadn't fully thought through that today was going to be super hot... I was just so happy to be well enough to continue with the subway series... I decided to make my way to the other end of the 3 train: New Lots station... Although I have to report there aren't going to be images from that station... As with most outdoor stations there wasn't much that I wanted to capture... But at least I was there! ;)



I shot this actually on my way back... (I have a tough time figuring out how to structure my posts here... My instincts tell me to go in the sequence I shot the images, but that usually doesn't give me the best flow...) This is at Crown Heights - Utica Ave station... I couldn't quite figure out what was happening as there were numerous images of the moon and the sun in that station... It is part of the piece "Good Morning and Good Night, 2004" by Hugo Consuegra. So this sun is greeting the travelers on the way to the trains... Manhattan bound platforms have suns as well...



I guess the artist took the normal work day of commuters in Brooklyn as inspiration...
Rise early with the sun to travel to Manhattan and return to Brooklyn as the day closes...



I like how the shape of the sun is repeated in the flowers...



Just before exiting the station... Moon is sleepy!



Aliens! And moon concerned!



The cow that jumped over the moon... Almost!



Lovely to see this old style grate preserved in this renovation... I actually have to say that I really like the job the MTA did on this station! I like the playful art and the vivid yellow!



Signal at that station...



Rockaway Ave station... I like the building shapes lined up next to the tracks...



Borough Hall station... Lovely how the tile is fitted right into the curved wall... Wow!



Outside same station... Nothing is hinting at the beauty of the station decals below...



Hoped to find more of those lovely (or strange) tiles when I got off my train, but at least got this shot...



Only a few feet from the shot above... That always throws me off... I can never figure out how this is determined: "OK, we'll just tile to right there and leave the other stuff for the rest of that station??" Really?



I actually got off the train when I saw this... Don't know if this happens often at this station (14 St station, 1, 2, 3 line) but it was the first time for me to see this: Sunlight coming through the air shafts... I always had sunlight and underground stations separated into different worlds in my mind... Mmmh...



More sunlight!



The end! Detail of sunlight in underground station...