In Thanks

I neglect my telephoto lens. I do. I let it languish. I pass it up in favor of younger, better looking, 'sharper', more expensive lenses.

But there's a lot it can do for me that my other lenses can't. So here's a shout out to the longer lens. Thanks for blurring the background grasses to create that wash of color in the background. And for generally including less clutter in photos. And for sometimes saving me a few steps, or getting me closer than I otherwise could. I appreciate it. That's pretty cool the way you can do that.

Much obliged.

One Second

Pretty

She is, isn't she?

Reflection

I lived in Montreal for a few years. So seeing this bus sign in the Boston bus station made me feel a bit of nostalgia.

And then I saw the reflections and the light, and decided to take a shot. Partly for old times sake, partly to explore the mood of the bus terminal - the transience, the slightly clinical feeling, the people who keep themselves separate even as they travel together.

It's not a perfect shot, but there's something there.

She Has Her Feet on the Ground

Something about this shot I'm really enjoying at the moment. It's dangerous, liking your own work. You tend not to see the negative aspects of it. I'm feeling like what I'm doing right now is lacking movement. Hoping to incorporate a bit more of that in the days to come.

Hard because photography is inherently still, right?

Anyway, I wanted to give a shout out to two things here as well today:

David duChemin's recent blog post about simplicity. Well said.

And Rick Nunn's freaking AMAZING series, Fifty of Fifty. Here's his website he built for it, and here's the flickr set. He also has a blog post about it. Incredible, and very inspiring. Yes. I want to do something like this, and soon. Have to get me some lights soon, I think.

Out the Window, Part II

I think it's fitting that yesterday's photo was from my plane flight to New York and this is from my plane flight back to California. There's a comforting symmetry to that, somehow.

I looked out of the window and saw this amazing sky with the rainbow and I knew I had to capture it. I love the grayness of the sky and what the light does to the wing of the plane. Something perhaps about the circular polarizer I had on the lens at the time created the second rainbow of to the left in the image - I can't really explain that one. Anyway, two completely different images, but both shot out of the plane, and both with beautiful light.

Out the Window

Today and tomorrow's photos have something in common: I shot them both out of the plane window. Now historically, I have a very low percentage of keepers when it comes to shooting through the window of a plane. But fortunately, I either don't learn from my mistakes or the siren call of the photograph about to be made is too great, because that hasn't stopped me from continuing to bring out my hulking lump of a camera to fire off a few shots when something lovely is happening outside.

And this time, it worked out. Isn't it nice when that happens? I'm totally floored that I managed to get detail in the moon. I think that's the first time that's ever happened to me.

Here's hoping it won't be the last.

Pinnacle

Originally meant for mooring dirigibles (blimps) the pinnacle of the Empire State Building had to be scrapped for that purpose as the updraft created by the building itself caused the mooring process to be too fraught with danger.

So now it just looks cool.

Transparent

Walking on the Highline in Manhattan I just thought this was the coolest building. If anyone happens to know its name or function I'd be really happy to find out!

Edit: It's been identified, it's the IAC building.

No Standing Any Time

'Standing' means parking temporarily. Which to me doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

I took this on Wall Street using the Lensbaby Composer with the Fisheye optic. So far I'm not thrilled to death with the image quality, but I do love the fun quality of the shots. Especially any architectural shots.

Manhattan Bridge

After a four hour ride on the Chinatown bus from Boston to Manhattan, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the sight of this. And at 6 am, you can imagine that there wasn't much that could stop me in my tracks. It's pretty good-looking for a bridge, wouldn't you agree?

Along the Charles

I was lucky enough to make it to Boston for a day trip this past weekend. It was stunning, and I definitely have it on my list for a more prolonged visit in the future.

Dusk along the Charles river is not to be missed.

Looking Through

Looking Through, originally uploaded by quotidian photography.