Jewels

I’ve been playing with my images lately and liking the altered versions more than the “as shot” originals. I shot these plums last Sept for Connecticut Magazine and they’re beautiful as is in all their purple majesty but I’m loving the toned versions too.

Here is the original and a couple other versions.

The best part of summer is eating outside, sitting on my deck with a nice glass of wine with a friend or family or by myself, corn on the grill, a stack of magazines or just meditating on my trees… I dream of this all winter and although we’ve had a brutally hot summer I’ve enjoyed many evenings sitting in my outside dining room, a gift from someone who enjoys the outdoors and a nice glass of wine as much as I do.

I bought my first Hasselblad 25 years ago and my third about 5 years ago when I added the digital back. They’ve served me well and are a marvel of engineering and design but it’s time to move on, I have a new love now, yes Canon, it’s you. So I sold them all for a tiny fraction of what I paid but I suddenly feel freer and lighter. I’m free of cords and external hard drives hanging off me, free from the ever present tripod and now have the lovely autofocus working for me. It was a huge decision to give up medium format and my beloved square but now that it’s done I’m excited about creating new lighter pictures, and working within a rectangle. So thank you Hasselblad, I will not forget you!

Somehow you see things in a photo that you don’t with your eyes. My breezeway is looking very blue here, although the dogs like it in this heat. I went to the Ben Moore store looking for a tan/gray/weathered cedar color and was talked into this blue by the “decorator”, Mistake! I’ll repaint in the fall when it’s cooler.

My new Canon makes it so much easier to document daily life, this is my son playing his bass

Met my “distant cousin” Julie Bidwell and her family yesterday in West Hartford. Turns out we’ve both known about each other for years, having the same name and me being a photographer and Julie being an anchor on Fox News in NY (Julie Banderas on TV) we both show up on google on a regular basis. I contacted her on Facebook last week and we met at Cosi this afternoon, Julie with her Mom Fabiola, husband Andy & newborn daughter Addison. I was a reluctant convert to FB but without it we would likely never have met. We had a great time talking for a couple hours and discovered that we are related and both included in the Bidwell genealogy Book. It’s great to connect with “new” family members!

continuing daily pics shot with my snap shot camera

This was part of a story on Jamestown, RI I shot for Yankee Magazine. Love the warm, end of summer light and the iconic Dels truck. I submitted it to the Teacher/Student show at the West Hartford Art League where I’ve been teaching photography workshops for a few years now. The show is at the Clubhouse Gallery and up until the end of June.

after the storm

The most interesting looking people come to art openings.. these were at the Ellen Carey show at West Hartford Art League that opened last night…shot with my Canon G11… the first is art dealer and collector Marion Harris..

and here is a video I shot of Ellen Carey talking about her show

WHAL_TheBlackSwansOfEllenCarey

Shoveling is imminent for most of the Northeast today….my usually busy street is quiet…the phone hasn’t rung, no work emails… a good day to be cozy inside with a fire, a cup of tea and a stack of magazines..

I thought January was going to squeak by without any snow… it was not to be, although we got less than 2 inches.. so very little shoveling…but it’s cold and windy!… this shot was taken with my little Canon G11 standing in my garage. No, I don’t live out in the country…If I tilt up…power lines, tilt down…the street, pan right…telephone pole… pan left…another pole..