JOURNAL
Striving to experience new landscapes by traveling far and near; rediscovering them when writing about them, with new eyes.
Post Hurricane Matanzas Sunset
The same hurricane that devastated communities and shattered lives also intensified and recolored the sunset’s palette. Mother Nature is a supreme artist creating one masterpiece after another. She occasionally throws tantrums, rips the canvasses, discards the brushes, and storms away, huffing and puffing. When enraged, she furiously scowls at human hubris. Once her foul mood blows over, she restarts her oeuvre.
Of sunstars and reflections in the woods
The start of my first hike on this trail felt like inhabiting the famous scene of Akira Kurosawa's movie Rashomon, where the woodcutter walks through the woods. Instead of an axe on the shoulder – like Takashi Shimura (the woodcutter) – I walked carrying a sturdy tripod angled at 45 degrees over my left shoulder.
Oh, the things you will see in 1.5 miles walk in St Augustine.
Another blessed day!
Today is my image-making day.
I am off to great places at the crack of dawn.
I am out of a warm and comfortable bed. Eager, I am off and away!
I have pre-visualized images in my head.
I have eager feet in my Teva shoes.
I can walk north or south, east or west.
On my own, I know how to walk, talk, presumably listen, look, and see.
I look at the lion, steadfast, guarding the bridge, and that's not what I will photograph today.
I turned away and walked to the tower where guards control the drawbridge out yonder.
Of condensation on windows.
I see condensation, and it makes me smile. It is a transformation – gas to a liquid, and it also transforms – vapor into liquid. It is a change – from a gaseous state into liquid form. It changes the surfaces on which condensation resides and the surfaces on which it forms. The windowpane, the car’s windshield, the can of soda, glasses in spectacles, and the camera lens, among others, are all changed. It also changes the objects that we see through it. Condensation on the camera lens and fogged glasses imbue images we capture or see with a dreamy glow
St Augustine Marina at sunrise
St Augustine Municipal Marina offers 96 slips for vessels up to 200 feet and 100 moorings and has facilities for both sail and power boats. It is very photogenic, and I often go there to make photographs. You can see the St Augustine skyline and unique views of the Bridge of Lions. I used a Hasselblad 907X 50C anniversary kit with an XCD 3.5/30 for this series.
Vilano Beach Morning Walk
I took my new Hasselblad 907X 50c Anniversary Edition to the gorgeous Vilano beach for a spin. Here are a few images from this walk.
Empty Chairs in St Mark Square in Venice
Empty Chairs in St Mark Square: I was intrigued by vacant spaces – spaces that I certainly had not seen without hordes of people. The strongest presence in these images was what was absent from them.
TRIPTYCH and more at the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.
Bridge of Sighs in Venice evokes feelings of anguish and hopes of escape. I thought of these emotions in a tercet and communicated my interpretation via a triptych. This blog post discusses how I sketched my way to that.
St Augustine Morning
St Augustine Florida glowed in morning light. I started taking images of the Bridge of Lions before sunrise – during the blue hour – and then continued once the sun rose above the horizon.
Vilano Beach Long Exposures
Testing Lee SW150 Filter system on a 17mm Tilt Shift lens on Vilano Beach. I used a 10-Stop ND “Big-Stopper” to make long exposures.
The Rialto Bridge at Dawn.
In 1588-1591, Venetian architect Antonio da Ponte combined the form and function, the grace and dignity, with strength and permanence to rebuild the beautiful Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal.
Layering, dimensionality, and the composition in photography.
I invite you to consider three layers when composing your photographs: foreground, middle-ground, and background. What have you decided to include and equally importantly exclude in each? The choice of lens, exposure, composition, and aspect ratio all serve that vision.
The equation for Keeper rate: Time spent at a location is directly proportional to the quality of images.
The not so secret equation for the keeper images: The keeper rate is directly proportional to the time spent at the photographic location, or with the subject.
Lighthouse Park on a cloudy morning
Lighthouse Park in St Augustine has a fishing pier, picnic area, boat ramp, kayak and canoe launch, and public parking. Sea birds such as Great Egrets are commonly seen here. There is a shaded area for picnic. I used 24 mm Tilt Shift, 55 mm Zeiss Otus, and Canon 400 mm 2.8 II lens with a 1.4x teleconverter on a Canon EOS R5. I used a Sekonic spot meter for the exposure measurement.
Ancient Dunes Trail
Ancient Dunes Trail is a moderately easy loop trail and provides an excellent view of fine tree specimens.
Find your path: images & quotations
LX Factory Lisbon, Portugal
LX Factory in Lisbon Portugal. A weaving factory was established and blossomed because of industrialization; it fell to a factory fire in 1814; rose-again but with a new “English-style” fire-proof design in 1819; fell yet again as it went out of business in 1917; and stayed abandoned and forgotten, yet it rose again like phoenix from ashes into its current incarnation: the LX Factory in 2008/2012.
Inside the Castilo de San Marcos-Part 1
Walk in St. Augustine with a 28mm, and an 800 mm lens.
