Architectural Abstracts

If you have an interest in architecture or photography or abstract art or just like looking at cool pictures check out this link from the Popular Photography site.

http://www.popphoto.com/gallery/powerful-towers

The photographer, utilizing a wide angle lens and focusing on architectural details has created a series of very striking images. The subject matter is enhanced even further by being in black and white. This is the kind of stuff that helps to motivate me to get out and take pictures.

A Decisive Moment in Ireland

It is a wee bit late for St. Patrick's Day, but for an Irishman every day is St.Patrick's Day, so I offer up this photo taken during my Ireland trip of 2009. While our fellow travelers spent their time wandering around yet another souvenir shop, my wife and I stepped outside to take in the morning air as well as the local scenery. One thing I do not understand is wasting precious vacation time in a foreign land looking at gee gaws.

Suddenly, while wandering about near the roads edge, a horse drawn carriage wheeled past us at high speed. The carriage was followed by the fellow you see in the photo, who was moving faster yet. If you look closely this expert horseman is controlling three horses - riding one while holding the reins of the other two in each of his hands. An amazing sight! And the rest of our group missed it because they were inside rummaging about for souvenirs.

Rat Rods

I didn't fully appreciate the concept of rat rods until I wandered through the dozens of vehicles on display at Autorama's lower level, low brow exhibit. I had read articles and watched TV shows about the rat rod movement but it took seeing a group of these rusty relics in person for the light bulb to go on. The cars that fit the rat rod bill are backyard garage creations brought to life by guys in tee shirts and jeans, not some high priced custom shop.

I recently added a piece to my Imagekind gallery that I feel captures the rat rod spirit. http://www.imagekind.com/Ford-F-Rat-art?IMID=1c525fa9-0823-406a-acfa-3cba941dc779
A detail shot of the hood from a decades old Ford F100 pick up truck. The rust, pockmarks and patina are good visual indicators of a true rat rod.

Georgia O'Keeffe

It seems as if winter is finally winding down with hints of spring in the air - melting snow, chirping birds and the sun came out from behind the clouds for a few hours on Saturday morning. To encourage the warmer weather I am posting an image of a day lily taken in my wife's garden last summer. I refer to this as my Georgia O'Keeffe tribute as she often painted flowers in close up, creating an image that was more abstract than realistic. Even though she was a painter, when I hear her name O'Keeffe makes me think of photography since she was married to Alfred Stieglitz.

Stieglitz operated An American Place gallery in New York where he mounted photo exhibits and also acted as an agent for many great photographers of the day. Stieglitz was in the fore front of promoting photography as art at a time when many did not consider it a legitimate art form. Today most people accept photography as art - now the debate is whether digital imaging is a legitimate form of photography - seems we can always find something to argue about.

For more on Stieglitz http://www.masters-of-photography.com/S/stieglitz/stieglitz.html

Reflection Of A Sunset

One evening this past winter as I pulled into the driveway of my home I noticed a beautiful sunset scene - - reflected in the glass of my front door. Even though our natural inclination is to look through a window there may be times when you can see much more looking at the window. You never know when you will see more than first meets the eye.

Camera Lens Guide

Found a very informative article at the Popular Photography site on camera lenses -

10 Things You Should Know About Lenses | Photography - PopPhoto.com Offers Camera Reviews and
Exclusive Photo Tips

The description of the various lenses, how they work and where to best use each one is straightforward and easy to understand. I appreciate the inclusion of photos showing examples where each lens type was used. For more visually oriented people, pictures always mean more than endless facts and figures. If you are thinking of adding a lens to your bag, this article may be helpful in the decision as to which lens will work best for you.

A stroll around Autorama

There are an awful lot of light fixtures in the ceiling of the Cobo exhibit hall. The reason I know this is because most of them seemed to be reflected in the cars I was trying to photograph at the Autorama this past weekend. Those obnoxious light reflections are all over the shiny sheet metal which doesn't make for the best looking car images. Dodging crowds of people streaming by the cars made things difficult as well as I tried squeaking out a shot or two. However the lower level of the hall, set up for the low-brow crowd saved the day. No shiny surfaces were in evidence on the rat rods in the Cobo basement. Coated in primer or worn original paint, or in some cases no paint at all just bare sheet metal, the low-budget, low-brow rat rods hearken back to a simpler time of hot rodding when a lot of enthusiasm and a bit of automotive know-how could put you into your own personalized one of a kind ride.