Romance isn't just for teenagers...

Romance isn't just for teenagers...

Image by Ed Yourdon
I love scenes like this, perhaps because I don't see them as often as I'd like to. Obviously, you can see teenagers and young adults holding hands, hugging, or smooching one another in public places ... but you don't often see a couple like this, who have probably spent 50 years or more with each other -- and who apparently still walk down the street holding hands...

This was taken on Broadway, near 89th Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Note: this photo was published a couple days after I took it, in a Feb 14, 2009 blog entitled "How to Keep Romance Alive." It was subsequently published in an Oct 22, 2009 German blog titled "Alterszeit."

Moving into 2010, it was published in a "Big Day Plunge" (wedding) blog post titled "Take a walk together." And it was published in a Jan 16, 2010 blog titled "Wishes for Sweeping Romance." It was also published in an undated (Feb 2010) "Regroupement des Aidantes et Aidants Naturel(le)s de Montréal" blog posting titled "Crédits photos." And it was published in a Feb 24, 2010 blog titled "Top 5 Ways To Make A Relationship Last—The Hard Ones!" It was also published in an Apr 26, 2010 blog as an illustration of a poem titled It's So Much More." And it was published in a May 31, 2010 blog titled "Joyful Blessings Days: Intergenerational Gratitude Experiences." It was also published in a June 1, 2010 blog titled "The Death of a Romantic," and a Jun 6, 2010 Dating Tips blog titled "Cool 'Romance' Images." And it was published in a Jun 24, 2010 Online Dating Finder blog, with the same title as the caption I used on this Flickr page. It was also published in a rather strange Jul 7, 2010 Dating Tips blog titled "What say One Piece 'Romance'?" It was also published in an undated (Sep 2010) blog titled "Natural Remedies for Arthritis." And it was published in an undated (Oct 2010) blog titled "Arthritis Remedies and Natural Treatments to Reduce Pain and Inflammation." It was also published in a Dec 16, 2010 blog titled "Having A Hand To Hold While Traveling," and it was republished on Jan 1, 2011 with the same title.

In 2011, the photo was published in a Jan 2, 2011 MSN Dating News blog, with the same title as the caption that I had written on this Flickr page. It was also published in a Jan 6, 2011 blog titled "Crédits photos." And it was published in an undated (early Jan 2011) blog titled "Natural Remedies for Arthritis." It was also published in Feb 14, 2011 blog titled simply "Romance." And it was published in a Feb 16, 2011 blog titled "Online Dating Sites Most Popular Among Baby Boomers." It was also published in a Jul 15, 2011 blog titled "Over fifty Dating – Baby Boomers Finding Love – It’s Easier Than You Assume!" And it was published in an Aug 20, 2011 blog titled "Ten Pieces of Inspiration #33" It was also published in a Sep 8, 2011 blog titled "Guidelines For The Management Of Side Effects In Older Myeloma Patients – Part 3: Revlimid-Related Side Effects." And it was published in a Sep 28, 2011 blog titled "Q&a: First Date After Meeting Online?" It was also published in a Nov 4, 2011 Schöne Online Dating Photos blog, with the same caption and detailed notes that I had written on this Flickr page. And it appears as part of the title/banner in a blog titled Caring for Aging Parents. It was also published in a Dec 19, 2011 blog titled "One Step Closer to Beating Old Age."

Moving into 2012, the photo was published in an undated (early Feb 2012) MagForWomen blog titled "8 Valentines Gifts for Parents." It was also published in a Feb 19, 2012 "Find True Love blog, with the same caption and detailed notes that I had written on this Flickr page. And it was published in a Mar 1, 2012 blog titled "How Americans Are Planning for Their Biggest Financial Challenge - Living Too Long." It was also published in an Apr 17, 2012 blog titled "Love Is Good for Your Heart." And it was published in a May 18, 2012 blog titled "Kemik Erimesi Diye Bir Hastalık Yoktur." It was also published in a Jul 9, 2012 blog titled "Planning for Old Age: You Need to Do More Than Save Money." And it was published in a Jul 20, 2012 blog titled" Writing Poetry Online," as well as a Jul 31, 2012 blog titled "Top 10 best U.S. cities to grow old in." It was also published in an Aug 3, 2012 blog titled "Jon and Leslie Brain Buster Trivia Answer 8/3." And it was published in a Sep 24, 2012 Atlantic blog titled "Does Who You See on the Street Determine How Long You'll Live?" It was also published in an undated (late Oct 2012) blog titled "The Question You Should Avoid Asking On A First Date," as well as an Oct 29, 2012 blog titled "Retirement, vagabonding style." And it was published in a Dec 2, 2012 blog titled "Can somebody PLEASE help me find out what this song is?"

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This is the continuation of a photo-project that I began in the summer of 2008: a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

As I indicated when I started this project in 2008, I don't like to intrude on people's privacy, so I normally use a telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they're still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what's right in front of me.

I've also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting -- literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I've learned to keep the camera switched on (which contradicts my traditional urge to conserve battery power), and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture ... after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it's pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject.

Thus far, I've generally avoided photographing bums, drunks, crazies, and homeless people. There are a few of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don't want to be photographed, and I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of them. I'm still looking for opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. We'll see how it goes ...

The only other thing I've noticed, thus far, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, far more people who are not so interesting. They're probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I've photographed ... but there was just nothing memorable about them.

I'm just here to make people smile. Don't make it hard for me, okay?

Image by Ed Yourdon
Note: this photo was published as an illustration in an undated (Mar 2010) Squidoo blog titled "Funky Welly Boots." In addition, it was published as an illustration in an undated (Apr 2010) Squidoo blog titled "Fishing Clothing," apparently because of the tag that I added for "Welly boots," which the woman is wearing. Somehow, I don't think she has any interest in fishing ... but you never know...

The photo was also published in an Aug 5, 2011 Nice fine boots photos blog, with the same caption and detailed notes that I had written on this Flickr page.

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This was taken on the northwest corner of Broadway & 92nd Street. The woman marched south on Broadway, turned the corner at 92nd Street, and then marched west on 92nd Street. I have no idea of who she was, where she was going, or what she was doing ... but if I had to guess, I'd say that she was on her way to entertain a bunch of kids at a birthday party. Or maybe she was on her way to move in with her boyfriend ... in New York, you just never know what's going on...

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This is the continuation of a photo-project that I began in the summer of 2008 (which you can see in this Flickr set), and continued throughout 2009 (as shown in this Flickr set): a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. These are the people in my neighborhood, aka "peeps in the 'hood."

As I indicated when I first started this project, I don't like to intrude on people's privacy, so I normally use a zoom telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they're still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what's right in front of me. Sometimes I find an empty bench on a busy street corner, and just sit quietly for an hour, watching people hustling past on the other side of the street; they're almost always so busy listening to their iPod, or talking on their cellphone, or daydreaming about something, that they never look up and see me aiming my camera in their direction.

I've also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting -- literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I've learned to keep the camera switched on, and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture ... after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it's pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject. Indeed, some of my most interesting photos have been so-called "hip shots," where I don't even bother to raise the camera up to my eye; I just keep the zoom lens set to the maximum wide-angle aperture, point in the general direction of the subject, and take several shots. As long as I can keep the shutter speed fairly high (which sometimes requires a fairly high ISO setting), I can usually get some fairly crisp shots -- even if the subject is walking in one direction, and I'm walking in the other direction, while I'm snapping the photos.

With only a few exceptions, I've generally avoided photographing bums, drunks, crazies, and homeless people. There are a few of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don't want to be photographed, and I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of them. There have been a few opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. This is one example, and here is another example.

The other thing I've noticed, while carrying on this project for the past three years, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, far more people who are not so interesting. They're probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I've photographed ... but there was just nothing memorable about them. They're all part of this big, crowded city; but for better or worse, there are an awful lot that you won't see in these Flickr sets of mine...

Mountain Life - Shrine - HONDA Takeshi 本田健

Image by Dominic's pics
Part of a Set / Slideshow documenting the art works on display at the touring exhibition "Postcards from Japan", subtitled "A message from Tohoku artists". The photographs were taken while the exhibition was hosted by the Embassy of Japan, London, UK.

Title: Mountain Life - Shrine
豊作を願わず常作を願う
Praying for an ordinary crop, not a bumper crop.
Artist: HONDA Takeshi 本田健 - living in Tono
Media: Inkjet print on paper

The exhibition has been curated and organised by Scottish and Japanese artists and sculptors Kate THOMSON and KATAGIRI Hironori. They are based both in Scotland and their Ukishima Sulpture Studio in Iwate prefecture, part of the Tohoku region. They were living and working in Iwate when the Great Earthquake and Tsunami struck the pacific coast on 11th March 2011.

Electricty, telephone and internet services (fixed and mobile) all stopped (or had to be prioritised for emergency relief purposes), and retail supplies of bottled drinking water and petrol (gasoline) quickly ran out.

Japan Post proved the most resilient communications service for people living in the affected areas. It was often the first service available for people to check on the welfare of friends and relatives. This is the inspiration behind the theme of the exhibition. All the works are A5 postcard sized - measuring 21 x14.8 cm (approximately 8.3 x 5.8 inches).

St Johns Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4BJ
6 - 29 August 2011

Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017
7 October 2011 - 27 November 2011

Embassy of Japan, 101/104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT
12 December 2011 - 31 January 2012

Ikon Gallery, 1 Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, Birmingham, B1 2HS
15 February 2012 - 22 April 2012

The exhibition is part of the Postcard project [www.postcardproject.org/], the catalogue is available for purchase online [scroll down to foot of page] with profits used to sustain the project.

The exhibition has been supported by the The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation.

Long exposures on a tripod enabled the use of a slow - low noise - sensor setting and small aperture settings to optimise the depth of field. The frames were glazed, and so the art works were photographed at an angle - to avoid reflections of the camera and tripod. A dark coat was also used to minimise visible reflections. The images were subsequently adjusted to appear rectilinear - using Photoshop's lens correction "Perspective" and "Barrel Distortion" functions, and also the "Distort" transformation. This is why the images of the frames have one point perspective, with an offset vanishing point. Some "Smart Sharpening" was also selectively used.

Film Scan: popping my B&W cherry

Image by rofltosh
and my developing my own film cherry.

in 2 days of online research and asking around at school, doing this myself turned from wishful thinking to glorious monochromatic reality. in developing this I held the film tank on one hand, iPod touch in the other as I read an online tutorial. I was afraid my timing would be off, I wouldn't have spooled the film properly (it's hard in utter and complete darkness), or *something* would have gone terribly wrong, but it didn't. every frame was flawlessly developed.

Arista.edu Ultra 400 film, D76 developer followed as per directions. Only thing is, this film isn't very sharp - it's marketed as "educational", and my school sells it for 2 bucks a roll (ISO 400 only)... I'd like to find something better very soon. As developing is completely free (I've a fully-equipped darkroom at my disposal), I don't at all mind spending a little more to get a finer-grained (and perhaps slower) film. Suggestions are very much encouraged.

I know this isn't a very good picture, but I only had time to scan a couple negatives before the lab closed. more to come tomorrow.

IMG_5361

Image by sygyzy
I took this picture. Come see it framed at Citrix Online!