Tell me a story: June 2014

Tell me a Story is made up of a group of photographers who blog on one day in the month that has meaning for them.  Today my blog is on my little buddy Jack.  I love this guy. He is a photographers dream.  He plays to the camera and I have had such fun with him.  Today we were at his buddies birthday party.  I was photographing the party but when I saw Jack there I also saw my blog topic. 

Birthday parties are fun and you get all sorts of things to eat and drink.  But today was more fun because they got to have a pool party.  Pool toys, a slide and your buddies to hang out with, what more could one ask for.  

Like any other child at a birthday party, you don't know too many other kids and your best buddy is the center of attention and you have to decide whether you want to go in, hang with mom, go on the slide or just stand around until you make a decision.  

Jack has clearly had swimming lessons, and he is very comfortable in the water. In fact he swims like a fish.  

The highlight was the slide.  It was a short climb up but as you got to the top you were sprayed with water.  That did not seem to deter the kids.  They were up and down the slide. In fact not only were the kids up and down the slide, but the parents and the grandparent as well.  

Getting sprayed in the face was not so much fun.  But Jack was determined to try every way of going down.  On his butt, on his stomach, feet first, face first. He was having a blast.  

Water splashes are always fun, and I kept Jack going up and down until I got the one I was happy with.  

What I love about Jack is that he takes one look at the camera pointing at him and he smiles and it is the most gorgeous smile ever.  

He is so comfortable going under water and just having fun.  That is what comes from playing with an older brother.  Jack and James generally have a fun time together.

I asked Jack to jump in and make a splash.  He was hesitant.  His mom had told him that he is not to jump in the shallow end.  I am so glad he listened and waited for permission to jump in. 

Like most birthday parties, there was a them and the theme for this one was Monsters Inc, and I could not end my photo's without Jack doing his best monster face.  

"Carp diem.  Sieze the day, boys,

Make your lives extraordinary

~ John Keating

Sieze the day Jack.  Make something extraordinary of your life.  You are such a great little guy and I look forward to seeing what you do with the life you have been given.

Don't forget to follow the link and take a look at what Melinda Sauvageau has posted for her blog this month.

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page. 

30 Minutes in the Life: June 2014

30 Minutes in the Life is a group of women who post a blog on what 30 minutes looks like in their life.

In the life of a photographer, whose art is created in tiny fractions of a second, thirty minutes is a sustained thought.  Thirty, minutes, the length of a child's ballet class, a quick sauce's simmer; a commute, is long enough to witness change and short enough to be over before you know it.  We offer you here our monthly results of thirty minutes of watching and waiting and recording, of rendering permanent those fractions of a second that slip past in the time it takes to watch a television show.  
                                      
                                      Thirty minutes in the life ~ Sara Kelly

Here is my 30 minutes in the Life for the month of June.  I have not taken much in the  line of "people photo's"  If you go through my blogs most of my photos are of nature.  However, I would love to try something other than nature, and so one of my work colleagues volunteered to be my model.  Jeanne is a stunning young lady, with a beautiful personality, which is reflected in these photo's.  

We started out with a plan, but as the saying goes "the best laid schemes of mice and men". Our plan was an early dinner, and a photo shoot in the twilight hours of the day.  So much for that. 3pm rolled around and the heavens opened and all hell broke loose.  Jeanne was a real trooper.  I volunteered to cancel.  She said she had no plans.  So we decided to do dinner, and wait the weather out. During dinner the rain stopped but the skies were not pretty.  We decided to "make hay while there was a gap in the clouds".  So off to the beach we went. The first photo was just a test of the light but I did like the blown out effect.  Some of the photo's were of me trying to master the 50mm 1.8 prime lens (first time use).  I easily slipped back into the comfort zone of my 55mm - 250mm lens.  

I learned a few things from this experience.  You cannot control the weather. The lighting on the day was challenging.  Posing certainly takes practice.  Watch out for the crazy white light behind your models head.  And finally, there is more to the 50mm 1.8 prime lens than I knew.  I have since done a crash course and am going to spend a fair bit of time practicing with it, especially in low light.  

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies,

And all that's best of dark and bright,

Meet her aspect and her eyes.

~ George Gordon Byron

I am very grateful for Jeanne's willingness to put herself out there for me and hopefully you will get to see more of this beautiful young lady.  

Don't forget to follow the link and take a look at what image421 photography by Cindy Cavanagh / Sydney Lifestyle Photograher  has posted for her blog this month.

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page. 

Out on the Beach

St Augustine, Florida is on of my favorite places. We were up there September last year, but I realized that I have never shared these photos.  I met my blog commitment and then did nothing else with them. 

Quality down time, out of season, is my so good for my soul.  Early mornings, not so much. However, I did spend the week rising early and heading down to the beach to watch the sun rise.  Here are some images of an early 30 minutes on the beach (really really early for me).  

When I first started out with this the 30 Minutes in the Life group I posted a blog on another of our early mornings.  The sunset was out of this world (in my mind).  I rarely see something that spectacular and it drove me to rise each morning just to see what they new day brought.

This morning was different, and yet I loved the softness of the sunrise. 

There is nothing nicer than watching a brand new day happen.  Actually the only better thing I could guess at was spending the entire day on the beach. We did that a good part of each day.  

There is nothing nicer than

the sand in your toes,

the wind in your hair,

the sun on your face,

and the smell of coconut oil.

That is my kind of day at the beach.

~Sharleen N Stuart

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page

Project 10 Challenge: May 2014: Out of Place

Project 10 Challenge is a group of photographers that have a circle blog. Beyond that they invite photographers to link a personal blog to their page. The new blogs come out on the 10th of each month so mine needs to be in before then. 

The topic this month is "Out of Place".  I kept thinking what can I do - truthfully I was going to skip this month.  Where was I ever "out of place", and what did I do that may be perceived as "out of place?

On Wednesday evening I planned to meet a friend after work downtown West Palm Beach. Not sure what you all know about West Palm Beach but the picture below is my typical thoughts on West Palm Beach.  Big boats, big houses, big money, beautiful city.

Cruising on the intracoastal is a good way to spend your day, if you are not working, which I was doing.

My friend suggested we meet at our usual parking spot and meander up Clematis Street. Our plan was to do a photo walk, only her camera was not home in time for her to grab it and run - her husband had taken it out on an assignment.  

Clematis Street is the art deco side of West Palm Beach, busy restaurants, arty shops, hip people and me.  I look like a tourist wandering around with my camera.  And I just have to say, dinner with a good friend is always worth looking like a tourist.  

What may have seemed "out of place" to some, perhaps in the whole West Palm Beach scene, is what I stumbled across while meandering through the downtown streets. 

 Graffiti!!. 

Oh man, I love graffiti.  I wish I could see more of it.  I think that folk who paint huge wall art are incredibly talented, and I have to say that this wall art really spoke to me.  

I had a conversation with a colleague just a bit earlier in the day.  We have similar coloring and on the last two occasions we have been together we have both worn the same color clothing. We also both agreed that 75% of our wardrobe consists of black items.  So I happened to mention that I thought that perhaps this was my inner goth coming out of me.  

When I saw these images I think my inner goth, got up and did the happy dance.  

This first image I found in Fern Street, just off City Place in West Palm Beach.

The rest of the artwork was found on a wall of a building in the ever busy art deco area of Clematis Street in West Palm Beach.

This artwork blew me away.  In fact stopped me in my stride. It was kind of dark, moody, and intense, and it covered a full wall.  I loved everything about it. How to take the photo's was what I looked at.  I took the full wall but I did not like the effect that I was seeing in my camera. So I started to zero in on each face.  An eye here. A full face here.  Enjoy the changing faces.....

Cropping the photo below I felt much happier with the image results.  This is just a portion of what the wall looks like.  

The artist is Eduardo R. Menieta and he has been living in West Palm Beach for 20 years.  For more information on him you can take a look at his website. What I noticed reading his page is that this same wall has been painted on for the past 3 years and each year has been a different theme.

While many may look at this and think it is "Out of Place" in this particular city, I love that I see it all around.  I love that this kind of artwork is embraced, encourage.  Big and bold and out for everyone to see.  Someone who can paint this kind of work on such a huge canvas is a true artist and I for one look forward to what 2015 will bring.  

In fact I may have to go on his graffiti trail one day.  

"Art is an evolutionary act.  The shape of art and its role in society is constantly changing.  At no point is art static.  There are no rules"

~ Raymong Salvatore Harmon, BOMB: A Manifesto of Art Terrorism

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my facebook page or my Flickr Page