The Palms in Palms Springs

If you grew up in the Fifties like we did, PS will feel familiar, like endless summer. The tall trees are everywhere, swaying in the Santa Anna breezes. Combined with the "mid-century" architecture, they make Palm Springs what it is. We walked the "Design District" yesterday, one bright orange or saturated green retro building after another sparkling against the deep blue sky. Marilyn slept here, really, and rock and roll is still in style. Fun, fun, fun, in the hot, hot California sun!

The way it is in Palm Springs, California

Made it to our destination safely, and without incident. We are now into the fourth day of the California trip. Beautiful (warm) weather, but the occasionally strong Santa Anna Winds make  it difficult to keep my plastic wine glass from blowing away. Great food, and lots of photo ops.

last leg of the trip, Phoenix to PSP.

The Delivery Man

John Henneberry goes about his Tuesday route quietly and without fanfare. He has been distributing Meals On Wheels to the elderly and shut-ins for Southern Rhode Island Volunteers since 1989. He has been at it for 25 years now. This unassuming man, a World War II veteran, feels that he has been lucky. He tells me “Life’s been good to me. Volunteering is a way to give a little back.”  Sometimes John is the only human a recipients sees for days, even weeks.  A smile of gratitude when he hands someone a meal is all the reward he needs to keep on going. This was the way it was on Tuesday when I hitched a ride with Mr. Henneberry. Click to enlarge thumbnails.

"Do I Have A Volunteer?"

"Volunteers don't just do the work, they make it work."
-Carol Pettit

One can find volunteers, both young and old, making things work at the Jonnycake Center, Peace Dale, Rhode Island. Whether it's groceries in the Food Pantry, or clothing in the store, there is someone there making it happen. Click on thumbnails to enlarge.

Matt helps stock shelves and waits on customers on a Saturday morning at the Food Pantry.

Matt helps stock shelves and waits on customers on a Saturday morning at the Food Pantry.

Red Tailed Hawk was the way it was today...

  • The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chicken... or your little dog. this one was eating a fish head on the ice on Indian Lake today.

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The RI Food Bank Delivers

Luckily, I arrived just as the Rhode Island Food Bank truck was delivering to the Food Pantry. Below, David and volunteers Linda and Derek receive the goods and restock the shelves. Scroll down to view the store. Click to enlarge.

Nancy, Pat and Karen sort the never ending stream of clothing and household goods that are donated by folks in the community. Selected items are sold in the store, others are sent off to the Salvation Army. Dee keeps things going in the retail store, always with a smile on her face. It is volunteers like these women who help keep Jonny Cake going. Here is a place to purchase almost anything, from sneakers to jeans to teapots to dinning chairs, all at very affordable prices. Click to enlarge.


Making a difference in Peace Dale, R.I.

Jonnycake Center, Peace Dale, R.I.  

Volunteers are making a difference

Everywhere I look, eyes wide open, I find good people doing good works. Unheralded, they do unglamorous things like collect clothing, distribute food, deliver meals to shut ins, give elderly folk a lift to the doctor, answer fire alarms, man suicide hot lines, and on and on. They do important things. And do them willingly, tirelessly, for little or no pay, usually the latter. They are part of an invisible web of much needed assistance to those who are in need. They are the silent safety net.

On my first day of this new photo project, I met one such man whose name is David Olguin. He runs the food pantry at the Jonnycake Center, in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, and he runs it with a passion. He is making a difference, a big one. He and his army of volunteers distribute good nourishing food to folks who cannot always afford it. Some days he works with high school volunteers, teaching them about nutrition… and life. Sometimes he delivers it to low income kids in day care programs. He buys, inspects, picks up, organizes and works to make a difference. David, I salute you and the many men and women down at the pantry.

Below photos of Christian and Sandy work the Saturday flea market while David and two volunteers from the local high school distribute food at the Jonny Cake Center and Food Pantry. Click to enlarge.

The Quad In The Fog

We happened to be at URI early Friday evening as a heavy fog rolled in. Although all I had was my iPhone for a camera, I couldn't resist capturing the scene on the Quad. Ghostly figures came and went out of the mists as they hurried by. A man with a dog on a lease appeared, then receded into the quiet. Lovers passed on a dark sidewalk and I thought of Paris. Leafless trees stood stark against the sky. The snow erased any horizon as the landscape melted away. The URI campus had become a place of mystery.

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Barbies In A Basket, the way it was today

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We were looking for some unusual dishes for a special project today. Off we went to the Johnny Cake Center, Peace Dale, Rhode Island. (I love that name.) They have all manner of cast off stuff, from furniture to dishes to knick knacks to clothing and shoes. Who knows, we might find just what we are looking for. And damn if we didn't at least find some subjects for my iPhone; six (naked) Barbies in a basket, a Love Seat, even Bride Of Chuckie, all just waiting to be photographed.

 

The Gathering Storm

I shot this first picture on Saturday as a storm gathered on the horizon over First Beach, in Newport. I believe there is a gathering storm on the horizon in photography too, and it is the cellphone camera. I took all of these with my new 5S iPhone "mobile device." I am constantly amazed with the quality of the images I have been getting with this camera . See for yourself.  Please click on these thumbnails to see them enlarged. The camera is great right out of the box. The video is wonderful, too. The pano software is truly amazing, and can be used in a number of ways to achieve different effects. In the first two pictures I used the pano in the "conventional" way, sweeping it around from way off to the left all the way to the right. Doing so introduces a fish eye effect that can be quite dramatic. This works either left to right, or right to left, or even vertically. Moving the camera in an arc or jiggling your phone during the exposure produces surprises. Another way to use "pano" is on moving objects. Sweeping with or against the subject direction will yield unusual and interesting distortions. 

And yet another result is achieved by quickly turning the pano on and off while moving the camera, as I did with this red abstract on the sidewalk.

Of course it is the spontaneity of the cell phone that is really what this is all about. It is so very easy to get into the act of "seeing" with this little device, not have to think about f/stops and shutter speeds. I am free to see!

There's no doubt in my mind that the ubiquitous cell phone will become the camera of choice for most casual photographers and many serious visual artists.  As I have half-jokingly said to friends,  "Eventually, all those expensive digital SLRs we own, and all those fancy lenses we paid so many dollars for, will just gather dust in the closet." Maybe not this year, or the next, but it will come to be. This is my prediction.

Inspiration 2014

The New Year Dance

I woke up uninspired but so wanted to be  (for the first photographs of the year). Nothing seemed to get me going. I went for a walk but nothing caught my eye. All day blank. I desperately needed to "stand in front of something interesting" but my eyes and heart were blind.  No vision.  And as the day wore on it just seemed to be the way it was going to be on January 1st, 2014.

Into the evening and still "visionless" until I switched the channel to a Viennese concert and ballet performance. The music were so beautiful,  the dancers so graceful, an inspiration. How could I resist trying a few exposures. These at about ¼ second exposures looked nice. I kept shooting and when I brought them into Lightroom I was actually pleased. Ballet, the way it feels to me.

A short slide show here.

The Birthday Brothers

Both of my grandsons celebrate their birthdays in December so we decided to do the shoot at the studio this year, combining the usual birthday portrait of each little guy with the Christmas card photo of both.  The boys showed up sporting cool little neckties, with shirts untucked, and baggy jeans, "in style." The session was very loose, as you can tell. They posed at first, and later ran, played, and opened birthday gifts. Lots of fun was had by all. I was lucky to get the "hug." It lasted only a moment and was gone, but it captures their relationship and personalities perfectly.  The final photograph was finished in black and white. Click on any image to enlarge.

 

For the technically minded,  I like to keep it simple, especially for kids. All of these were either shot with flash or window light. I used two soft box flash units, one on the white background sweep and the other feathered camera right. There is a large white wall camera left that softens the shadows. the exposure was f/ 9 at 1/125 of a second. The exposure for the bright window lighted image of the two boys was f/13 at 1/80 of a second, a risky shutter speed for these two moving targets. Camera was Canon 6D for all.

Foggy day trees in Narragansett, R.I.

There was a dreary fog over South County yesterday so Kathy and I took a ride. These trees were photographed at the Point Judith Gold Course in Narragansett, Rhode Island, the way it was yesterday. I added a texture screen and a border. Click to enlarge.

Foggy day trees in Narragansett.

iPhones are magic

I've wanted one for a long time, and I am constantly amazed at the possibilities. already there are numerous shots I would have never taken had it not been for the camera in my pocket... like this one, taken at our photo group meeting the other night. Michael handed out glasses so we could see his amazing 3-D creations in all their glory. Although not the classic one of people in the movie theater circa 1950, it does feel just as retro. the way it was...

3-d Silver Circle

3-d Silver Circle

Holiday shopping

I haven't been crazy about Xmas since I was 9 years old. Always a challenge, more so at Garden City the other day as they are putting a new road and curbing at just the busiest time of year. Construction everywhere but I still managed to find something nice for my beloved. This is the way it was... Ho ho.

Shopping center landscape.

Shopping center landscape.

Iphonography

Three Trees, 2013

We finally ditched our flip phones and made the pilgrimage to the Apple store. The technology is truly remarkable. Here's my very first photo.