JP BRANDANO: FLORIDA'S PHOTOGRAPHERS

OKAY WHERE WERE WE BEFORE WE WERE SO RUDELY INTERRUPTED....

2012-01-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

In my last post I had told you how well I was feeling after my two procedures. Well, I found out that recovering from an ablation and three blood clots is not as easy as I thought. My stamina, both physically and mentally, took a hit. The blood clots in my lungs made it harder to breathe and I was tired a lot. My creativity took a short vacation and didn't take me along. The great news is that around the holidays I started feeling much better and was ready to resume my life with the gusto I have always had. I am now feeling normal. Well, normal is subjective lol !!!!

I will soon be going in for another ablation as the first one did not take. This is not unusual but after the second one, there is a 90% chance of it being successful. I will be back writing my blog and hope that you will come back and read it.

I thought that my first blog back would be introspective. I would post twelve of my favorite images (in no specific order) from the past year. Hopefully you enjoyed seeing them and feel the same way as I do.

Before I finish I really want to thank all of you who sent kind thoughts, wishes and concerns for my health. I read them and tried to answer them. Tameka, Melissa, Jim, Nelieta, Corinne, Julie Clements, Alpana, Denise, Aaron and everyone else that left messages, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I apologize for being gone but hope you all accept me back with the love you have always shown me and my images.

Now on to my twelve favorite images from last year. If you disagree and think another image should be in there, please let me know. If one of these twelve is your favorite, I'd love to hear which one and why.

When I saw this Great Blue Heron flying so low to the water I knew I would love the image.

I just love the mixture of sunset colors and the solitude of this one man on the ocean.

The simplicity and beauty of nature in my garden.

I love the red beaks of the ibis but capturing the drop of water
suspended between them was special and lucky!!

The sky at dusk, the ocean, footprints in the sand, two pretty ladies and a ship in the distance all come together to form a favorite of mine.

I found this field on a trip back to New England but I was a few days late and most of the sunflowers were passed their peak. I walked around hoping to find at least one in good shape and was lucky to find this flower standing tall, with a bee in the middle.

This was a model at last year's Art Deco Weekend in Miami, Florida and as you can see she is a beautiful young lady. I processed the original in color and then started playing around with a copy in Photoshop. I really liked the results.

This is my favorite images from last year maybe my favorite from all our romance sessions: a good looking guy and a truly beautiful young lady playing in the ocean with the Miami skyline in the background. But what makes it my favorite is the fun Amanda was having that day and the joy she displayed.

Who doesn't like a grand sunset especially when it has deep red in the sky and reflecting on the ocean, with the setting sun making it so memorable!!

Two egrets not even 24 hours old. How could it not be a favorite??

I love this for the sheer bravado of this Blue Heron chick, leaving the nest and standing out on a branch. Right below it were alligator infested waters. The parent never took its eyes off the chick. It was like watching someone walking the high wire at a circus, it wavered back and forth a few times but never fell off!!!

This image always make me smile, the gentleman looking back at all the physical activity while he relaxes on his chair in the ocean!!

A single tree standing in the ocean is simplicity at its best. I thought it looked best in black and white.

MAGNIFICENT MONDAY'S MUSICAL TOUR !!!

2011-11-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

It's Monday and that means it must be Magnificent, at least it is over at Jim's blog 'Holes in my Soles' at http://networkedblogs.com/qj10L. Make sure after you read my blog you travel over to Jim's and read all the other blogs participating in Magnificent Monday!! After all it is Magnificent!!

I do not photograph concerts. Not that I wouldn't, I just don't go and see many. Once Frank, Dino and Sammy died my options were limited!!! So here is my take on the Musical Tour, dancing!!! We photograph a lot of people dancing. Some are good and some are umm, well I'll let you decide but they're all having fun!!

A VERITABLE CORNUCOPIA OF OUR IMAGES!!

2011-11-18T09:25:00.000-05:00

Being Friday I thought I should start cleaning out my photographic closet. That is where I store images that I have not used on my blog before. I shoot many images for each post and do not use every single one. So today I thought why not post them? There is no rhyme or reason to this collection, just a veritable cornucopia of images. This is just a way for me to clean out my closet and mind!!!! Have a great weekend and enjoy life!!!

PHOTOGRAPHING THE VARIETY OF LIFE: LARGE AND SMALL

2011-11-16T08:45:00.000-05:00

Readers of our blog know that we love photographing pretty much everything. Weddings, engagements, portraits, landscape, wildlife or insects, we enjoy photographing them all!! The other day when I was out in my garden enjoying another great day in Florida, I saw something move quickly on one of the plants. I thought it was one of the chameleons you see all the time here, one of these guys.

But when I looked a little closer I saw it was not a chameleon, it was something smaller!! At first all I saw was a pair of tiny eyes looking up at me.

A very tiny frog was sitting on a leaf. Later I found out they are Florida greenhouse frogs. Naturally I went into my house and grabbed my Nikon D300s and started shooting.

Later as I uploaded them into Lightroom I started thinking about how much there is to photograph and all the different things, large and small we have had the pleasure of shooting!! These frogs are 1/4" to 1 3/4 " small with the ones I saw in the garden being closer to the 1/2" size. I started thinking about the largest subject we have photographed and it didn't take long to think about the Grand Canyon in Arizona. This amazing wonder is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and at some locations it is over a mile deep!!

So different yet the frog and the canyon are both so interesting and beautiful to photograph!! Variety really is the key to life and at least for me variety fuels my photography. I just enjoy photographing all the wonders of nature including humans!!
How could you not be interested in photographing the extremes of these tiny little life forms or the grandeur of the Grand Canyon!

To think that one is better than the other is so unfair to ourselves. We miss the enjoyment of so much if we dismiss parts of our world out of hand. To think one is inherently better than the other is weak minded and limiting. You may not like the taste of Italian food or Soul food but you cannot really call either inferior.

All of nature is worthwhile and equal in importance to a photographer and hopefully to everyone else! All of our world and everything in it needs to be respected and enjoyed.

To give you an idea how small these frogs were I took a picture of some berries on a tree that I found a frog sitting. I measured a berry and it was 1/4" wide.

As you can see the frog is a little larger, not quite a half an inch.

To give some scale as to how large the Grand Canyon is I included this picture. If you look carefully at the bottom left, you will see some hikers on their way down into the canyon!!

If you click on this next image to enlarge it and look on the stairs you will see a person looking very small next to the expanse of the canyon!!

It is a great and beautiful world with much to give us if we take advantage of all that lives in it!! Size, color or place of origin do not make one better than the other. Enjoy it all and partake of it all!!!

From the tiny!!

To the large in all its grandeur!!

PHOTOGRAPHING VINTAGE FOR MAGNIFICENT MONDAY

2011-11-14T10:13:00.000-05:00

When I saw that this week's theme for Magnificent Monday was vintage I had to smile. I am always working on different photographic techniques both while taking the images and in post production. It keeps my creativity growing (I hope) and it's fun!! Lately I have been working on trying to give some of my images a vintage look so this theme worked great for me!

The reason I was trying a vintage look?? I was sent this image recently. It's my brother Pete and myself as children. This image made me think how far we've come in photography from when I was a child. Please forgive the tassels!!!

I started playing around with different techniques to convert these new images to a vintage look. I was mostly pleased with the results. Vintage doesn't just mean black and white. There was color film but the color didn't have the saturation of deep vivid colors and the film, for the most part, was grainy and not as sharp as our digital files. Grainy is now called noise for you younger readers !! Here are some of my 'new' vintage images.

The first images are the originals and the second ones are my vintage look!!

My example of what the color film looked like back then!!

I added grain to this one and because many of the pictures from back then turned a shade of yellow after awhile, I added a yellow tinge. Many times they also had blown out areas along the edges.

On this image I decided to create two different vintage looks.

This simple image taken in Boston on our last trip reminds me of the pictures people would take when going on a trip.

Notice the heavy grain!

This next one is my version of an image taken with the original polaroid cameras. The invention of this camera was so exciting. In its day it was like the Ipod coming on the market! You could snap a picture, a piece of 'film' would come out of the camera, you would peel a cover off of it and while you waited, your picture would appear. Imagine a picture instantly!!! It was not that great of a image but in its day, it was an amazing accomplishment. I remember my father getting one of the first ones and the excitement it created in our house. My brothers and I all wanted to take an instant picture!

If you pulled off the covering too soon the image could be ruined or create a ragged edge and an even worse color cast.

Another 'polaroid'

The polaroid film did become available in color after a few years. They would have this ragged edge to many of them especially if you did pull the cover too early.

These show black and whites with blown out edges and a color cast.

The early color films had very muted colors compared to today's digital 'film'.

No matter what film we use a beautiful woman is still a beautiful woman!!

With this landscape I tried to show what a black and white would look like. It is followed by what color film would have looked like in the early 60s.

It was not just the film that created the look back then. In this example, I tried to show the vignetting that would happened due to the quality of lenses that the average person would be using.

So there is my take on vintage for Magnificent Monday. Head over to Jim McIntosh's web page, Holes in My Soles and check out all the other great web pages contributing to Magnificent Monday.

Thank you for coming by and I hope you enjoyed my take on vintage!

http://networkedblogs.com/pU2FF

PHOTOGRAPHING TRANSPORTATION FOR MAGNIFICENT MONDAY

2011-11-09T11:24:00.000-05:00

I know I'm a few days late but I didn't want to miss another Magnificent Monday.

TRANSPORTATION is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. An interesting choice by Jim over at 'Holes in My Soles' for his magnificent Monday series,
http://holesinmysoles.blogspot.com/2011/11/tramway-nostalgia.html.

I thought I would try and put my own spin on it!!

A bride and groom being transported to the reception!!

A couple of classics!

A unicycle gets the job done!!

Transportation on the water!!!

Once transported but not anymore!!

Two modes of transport at sunset!!

One of my favorite forms of transportation.. a waiter bringing my martini!!!

A limo transporting the bride and her bridesmaids to the ceremony.

A limo also transports the couple to a well deserved toast.

Sometimes we transport our loved ones!!!

Another form of transportation on the water!!

A decoy acting as transportation!!

A bride and groom being transported during a traditional dance.

A slide provides a brief but fun trip!!

Sometimes we just go in circles!!!

All you need is a kite and a strong wind to be transported!!

Sometimes all you need is a kiss to transport you to happiness and love and that's the best ride of all!!

THE PIER IN NAPLES, FLORIDA

2011-11-07T09:48:00.000-05:00

In October, Phyllis and I drove to Naples, Florida to meet with a young couple who will be getting married in May. We will have the honor of photographing their wedding day and wanted to meet with them and see the venue. We arrived the day before and started exploring the city. I had heard of the Naples pier and thought it would be a great place to check out.

The pier was originally built in 1888 as a freight and passenger dock. In its early days, the pier was lined with narrow gauge train rails that spanned the entire length of the structure and was designed to transport baggage and freight to waiting vessels that would travel across the Atlantic or other points in the Caribbean or along the Eastern seaboard.

It has been rebuilt a number of times during its lifetime. It was first destroyed by a hurricane in 1910 and then again in 1926 and 1960. In 1922, a fire consumed much of the pier and the post office that sat upon it. Throughout the last fifty years, however, it has remained steadfast only experiencing minor damage from the violent summer storms that sometimes touch the southwest Florida coast.

Today the pier no longer serves as a dock for boat traffic but is instead the most popular place in Naples for fishing. From sunrise to sunset, avid anglers line the pier with their rods and buckets of bait hoping to score a good catch for the day. Unlike elsewhere in Naples, fishing from the pier does not require a state fishing license as the city of Naples purchased a bulk license that covers anyone who casts their line off the pier. The pier stretches 1,000 feet out into the Gulf of Mexico and the day we visited, we saw people fishing off every section. It is also a great place for a long, relaxing strolls and the beaches along the pier accommodate those who want to sit a while and enjoy watching the gentle lapping of the waves in the Gulf of Mexico.

You can see that the view is beautiful and people were taking advantage of this beautiful beach.

We walked out to the end of the pier into a covered area which can be welcomed after a few hours in the hot Florida sun!! I shot this image looking back at the shore.

The view from the end of the pier into the Gulf of Mexico is really wonderful.

If you're lucky you might see a dolphin swimming in the gulf.

We saw families taking a walk on the pier and this mother and child were trying to see the small fish swimming around. It was great to see how excited the child was as he looked over the railing into the ocean!

The locals who have experienced fishing in the Florida sun wear plenty of sunscreen and a hat is always a must. This woman also had a cloth tied around her face even with a hat. It's a good idea. This sun reflecting off the water can really burn your face if you're out there for any length of time.

As you can see this angler wore a hat with a covering attached to protect his neck.

The view from the pier shows many people enjoying the cool waters of the gulf.

Others enjoy the sun and basking in its rays.

We will be going back to Naples for the wedding and hopefully will be able to visit the pier for a sunset or sunrise. If you ever visit the area, please make a stop at the pier. If you're into fishing, bring your rod and bait. You might bring home dinner!!

WALKING IT OFF!!!

2011-11-02T09:48:00.000-04:00

Okay where were we before I was so rudely interrupted by a few blood clots. Oh that's right. I had just explained how well the ablation procedure had turned out !!!!!!!!! If you have not read that post you might before going forward. It's at http://jpweddingphotograpy.blogspot.com/2011/10/photographer-living-and-working-with.html

I had the procedure, stayed one night in the hospital and then came home on October 12th. Everything was fine and I was waiting out the six week time period to see if the procedure was successful. I was not worried about anything because I was told that only 1% of the people having the procedure died and no one had developed blood clots ever since they had changed the type catheter they used to perform the procedure. It was almost two weeks later and I was alive so everything was good.

On the night of October 23rd, I was having a breathing problem but I've had asthma since I was a child, nothing real bad and had never limited my activities at all. At around midnight the breathing problems became a large problem. I could barely get air into my lungs, just barely! I told Phyllis I needed to go to the hospital.

We left the house and Phyllis drove me to the hospital. I was given a blood test and when I asked if they were doing the enzyme test for a heart attack, the nurse told me yes but would also check for markers that would point towards a blood clot!! I had a chest X-ray and then they came for me. I was going for a cat scan of my lungs.

After the scan I was brought back to the emergency room and after about twenty minutes I saw the doctor walking toward me. By the look on her face I knew this was not going to be pleasant news. She informed me that I had a blood clot in both sides of my lungs. As you can imagine that was not great to hear. I was admitted and put on a heparin drip plus started on coumadin, a blood thinner.

Six days later I was able to come home and I am feeling really good. My body will dissolve the clots on its own and the coumadin will prevent more clots from forming. I was told that the three clots, two in my lungs and one in my right leg, did not come from the procedure!!! It was a coincidence! Because the clots were in my lungs and leg it was not possible for them to have started in my heart.

I've had a theory for most of my life that coincidences are just excuses for reality. I understand intellectually that the clots could not come from the procedure but I am more of the mind, 'if it talks like a duck and walks like a duck and @@@ like a duck, then it's a damn duck!!" Not that it matters much where they started!!

So now I am home, doing good and trying to mentally deal with all of this. I have decided to follow one of my football coaches advice. Coach's fall back advice for all injuries was to walk it off, even if you could only walk it off on one leg!!! " Come on Brandano! Suck it up and walk it off, you don't need two arms to block!"

Actually, it's not bad advice. Dwelling on it really does no good!!! You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself and move on with your life!! So now I start walking it off!!!

I want to thank all my family and friends for all their kind thoughts and well wishes. You people really helped me start to walk it off!!!

I have not photographed much in the last month but will be getting back to it. While I did not feel up to posting during this time I did check in. Even in the hospital, I read posts on my Iphone. I am still waiting for Ipad3!!!

I saw that Jim over on Magnificent Monday had a 'favorites' theme on one of the Mondays. I thought this might be a good way for me to start my comeback lol, to just show some of my favorite images from the past. So here they are and once again I want to thank all of you for your support and well wishes. They really helped start me on my walking it off phase.

A PHOTOGRAPHER LIVING AND WORKING WITH ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

2011-10-21T14:19:00.000-04:00

I really consider myself an extremely lucky man. I have been blessed in many areas. I have a wonderful family, I am able to work at something I truly love by being a photographer and I am married to my best friend. But there have been times when I did not feel so lucky. In July of 1993 and then again twice in September of that year, I had a heart attack. Not an unusual event for a man in his forties but still not one of those moments you look forward to or enjoy when it happens.

One of the reasons I say I'm a lucky guy is that after those three attacks, I have been able to live a normal life. I have climbed mesas in Arizona, hiked three or four miles in the Alaska tundra and swam in the beaches of Hawaii. I have not had angina ever unless you count those three pesky attacks.

One night a few weeks after my third and last attack, I was sitting in our home after dinner and felt something in my chest. I had no idea what it was and it only happened once but it felt like a small blip of pressure. Once I realized it was not happening again, I went on with the night and forgot about it.

Then early one morning Phyllis and I were driving to an area of Massachusetts for a photo shoot and I started feeling funny, not ha ha funny but unusual funny. I was out of breath and I was feeling that same blip in my chest but this time it was happening over and over again at a very fast rate. When I felt for my pulse, I found that it was racing at a extremely fast rate, about 200 beats a minute

I told Phyllis to drive back home, about an hour's drive. When we arrived at our neighborhood, Phyllis drove straight to our hospital's emergency room. I didn't think I was having another attack but I knew something was wrong. The doctor in the emergency room, after checking my pulse and doing a EKG, informed me that I was in Afib or Atrial Fibrillation. He also told me I was not having a heart attack.

Later I found out that Afib was the most common cardiac arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) and involves the two upper chambers of the heart. The name comes from the fibrillating (quivering) of the heart muscle in the atria, instead of a coordinated contraction. While Afib is not in itself generally considered immediately life threatening, it may result in palpitations, fainting, chest pain or congestive heart failure. People with Afib have an increased risk of stroke (up to seven times that of the general public).

The doctor decided, because of my history, to put me in a room to stay. On the way to the room, I realized the racing had stopped and I was back in normal rhythm. The doctors sent me home and told me to see my cardiologist. When I did, I was told there were different paths we could follow.

One, I dismissed out of hand, was being put on a pacemaker. It just seemed like another step towards being a victim and I could not handle that so soon after my heart attacks. My cardiologist put me on a few new medicines. One was to help my heart from going into afib (not entirely accurate as I would later find out) and the other would be coumadin. That drug is used to prevent blood clots from forming or growing larger in your blood and blood vessels. While very helpful, it carries some risk if the directions are not followed correctly and even if they are. They include going to a lab two to four times a month to have your blood checked and then readjusting the amount of coumadin you take.

In order to keep your blood levels right you really should keep your diet consistent. You can eat whatever you want but it is better if you do not change the amount of greens you eat. They have vitamin K and K helps with blood coagulation. Normally this is great but not if you have Afib. With Afib, you need to thin out your blood to reduce the risk of stroke. Coumadin pretty much takes all the vitamin K out of your system.

Another drawback is that people tend to bruise easily and if you cut yourself, you may not easily stop bleeding and may need to go to the hospital. This includes bleeding inside your head. You obviously need to worry about any major accidents. Coumadin and myself had an ongoing battle for about ten years. I was working a eight to ten hour day which made getting my blood tested difficult. I like to be out in nature and sometimes in nature cuts happen.

I also like to travel. On two trips, I started bleeding, once through my nose and once through, well I'll let you guess the other area. Both times I ended up in the hospital. The first was in Tennessee which involved a few hours in emergency. The other incident took place in old Quebec and landed me in the hospital for two nights.

About eight years ago, when we moved to New Hampshire, I needed a new cardiologist. After reading my history, that doctor took me off of coumadin. He felt that an aspirin a day would be okay and my risk of bleeding outweighed my risk for a stroke.

Throughout all those eighteen years, I would continue to have episodes of Afib. Phyllis could tell because she would see me taking my pulse or I would tell her in case the worse possible outcome happened. The episodes would last as little as a minute or as long as eight hours. That was until a little over a year ago when I had one that lasted around seventeen hours.

After that time, I started noticing more frequent episodes and realized I needed to do something. It was beginning to intrude on my life. I started seeing a cardiologist in Florida and after some tests to check out the health of my heart (which was in excellent shape), a visit to a specialist was suggested. After speaking with this doctor, we decided to schedule a catheter ablation. This is a procedure that has really evolved over the last half dozen years and has a 90% success rate of stopping Afib.

The procedure involves a surgeon cutting two small holes in your groin and inserting a camera in one and a catheter in the other, both traveling up to your heart. After mapping your heart, the surgeon burns cells in your heart and ultimately creates scar tissue. This scar tissue blocks the abnormal heart electrical impulses from being conducted through your heart and after one procedure, 60 % of patients are cured. In others, a second ablation is performed and then a 90% success rate is reached. At the same time, a probe is put down your throat.

I was really excited about this and not that worried. Well, I wasn't until we scheduled the procedure for seven days later. As the day got closer, I did notice a certain feeling coming over me. I won't say I was scared but the more I thought about what was actually going to be performed on me, I did become a wee bit apprehensive!!!

The day came, the procedure went fine and I was able to go home after one night which I was very happy about. My biggest problem during the next week or so was really, really bad acid reflux which is a fancy word for heartburn!!! I did see the humor that after burning parts of my heart suffering from heartburn seemed perfectly obvious!!! I also had trouble breathing and some leg pain. This was all normal for people going through this procedure.

I stopped writing my blog the day before I went in and took a few weeks after to rest. The first week I was just too tired. The acid reflux prevented me from sleeping more than an hour or two each night and I was frequently waking up to cough. After about ten days the medicines seemed to have helped the reflux and I'm feeling back to normal.

My camera has been close by but I didn't pick it up much. That will be stopping today!!! The day before I was going in, I was having my morning coffee on my patio and saw a rather large bird in a nearby tree. I grabbed my camera and walked onto the golf course to see how the bird looked. This is what I saw!

For those of you who do not know, these birds are vultures!!! Vultures feast on dead animals including humans. lol This is not a bird you need to see hanging around your house when you're heading out for a heart procedure lol.

I am feeling much better now and in the next few weeks, I will find out whether I need to have the procedure a second time. It really makes you appreciate living in a world where the medical procedures have come so far. It is truly amazing to think of what doctors can do with the new technology.

I've just read that Barry Manilow lives with AFIB and is trying to educate people about it on a new website. Check it out at http://www.getbackinrhythm.com/. He also has a video where he talks about AFIB and about a test you can take to see if you might have it.

Afib is not a death sentence, you can live a fairly normal life with it. Phyllis and I have traveled all over the US, Canada and Italy photographing some beautiful sites during which time I had AFIB. Now with new medication, including a coumadin substitute 'Pradaxa' which performs the same task without all the drawbacks of coumadin, it is even easier to deal with AFIB. Plus with strides made in the ablation procedures, it is a whole new world for people with it. If you think you have it, see your doctor. It could save your life!!

After seeing vultures, I needed to photograph something a little nicer so I stopped by my garden and took these images. I hope you enjoy them! I'm sorry I was gone for so long but I'm back now and will be photographing a lot, including an upcoming trip to Miami!!

A COLLABORATION OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND WORDS WITH SULEKHA RAWAT

2011-10-05T07:12:00.000-04:00

I am so happy to have the pleasure of adding Sulekha Rawat to the list of writers we collaborate with each month! Sulekha's blog is simply named Memoirs. Please check it out at; http://sulekkha.blogspot.com/ when you are finished here.

Sulekha writes, "My blog is about relationships, love, life, grief and hope" and in her words; "My life is my muse and my muse is my life. I love reading and writing and greatly enjoy movies and music." Sulekha's poems were some of the first I read when I joined the blogsphere. I really found myself connecting with her thoughts and words. She is really a wonderful writer and always seems to be able to wring all the emotions out of her words! I know you will enjoy reading this work of hers as I did!!

Oh Angels

I saw you in my dream last night,
You were smiling at something I said.
Heard your beloved voice, singing to me,
felt your unconditional love wash over me.

Oh why did I wake up from
my beautiful fantasy?
I don't want to be awake,
let me go back to being with you,
lying satiated in your loving arms.

It's been awhile since I saw you,
haven't heard from you in so long.
Sometimes it feels like an eternity,
that I've breathed on my own.

Memories are not enough to live on,
they don't kiss your tears away.
Can't feel their touch on a fevered brow.
Memories just lay there, cold and distant,
a stark reminder of a lost yesterday.

Your love is all I’ve ever wanted,

You’re the only one I need.

Have waited eons to catch a glimpse,

of your sweet countenance.

Without you, I am a fallen tear drop,

my life has been a penance.

So let me dream, and live,

be it for only a while.

At least in here, we are together,

And finally, I can smile.

Together we walk into the sunset,

holding on to each other.

With you by my side,

I need none other.

So memories go away,

I want to live with him,

who fills my soul with delight.

If I can’t have him with me,

don’t want to see another daylight.

Oh Angels, up there, hear my pleas,

I beg and beseech you.

Either let us be together on Earth,

Or let me come live with you.

Sulekha aka Lucks

We are looking for writers or artist to collaborate with next month. If interested please email us.

PHOTOGRAPHING LOVE IN THE SPRING TIME AND FALL

2011-10-03T09:27:00.000-04:00

Today is Monday which means it's Magnificent Monday. It's hosted by Jim McIntosh over at his blog. Please visit it and read all the great blogs that are participating and feel free to add your posting to the list.

http://holesinmysoles.blogspot.com/2011/10/welcome-to-another-magnificent-monday.html

Alfred Lord Tennyson once wrote, "In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love."

Robin Williams once said, "Spring is nature's way of saying 'let's party'."

Albert Camus wrote, "Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower."

Takayuki Ikkaku wrote, "Fiery colors begin their yearly conquest of the hills propelled by the autumn wind. Fall is the artist."

As a photographer I really enjoy the different seasons. As a photographer who loves photographing people especially people in love, I really love spring and fall.

If asked which month is the most popular for weddings, most people might answer June or July and they would be right. The summer months are still the most popular. In a poll taken in 2011, the top 4 months were; June, August, May and July. What might surprise some people is that September and October are the next two most popular months.

We have found that in the last few years, October and September were two of our busiest months. We were usually booked every weekend. That might be because we lived and photographed most of our weddings in New England. We heard from brides that they didn't want to get married in the heat and humidity of the summer so they picked the autumn for their wedding day! An added bonus was the leaves turning colors. Many of our weddings were held outside and the weather was a major factor for when a couple wanted to get married.

We found ourselves photographing engagement days in the spring and weddings in the fall quite a bit the last few years. I thought that instead of showing images of flowers blooming that I would show love blooming during these two seasons. I hope you enjoy seeing love in spring and fall!!!

To help you get in the mood here is Dino singing about Amore!!!

Springtime Love

An Autumn Wedding

This bride had a really great sense of humor and kept us laughing during the whole wedding!!!

So there is our seasons of love and why we love these seasons!!!!

PHOTOGRAPHING FACES AND PLACES IN KEY WEST

2011-09-30T09:34:00.000-04:00

As you can tell from my blog this week, I really like the Florida Keys and especially Key West. There are interesting places to see and faces filled with interest and fun! As a photographer I am always looking at people. I find it fascinating to see people's expressions and demeanor. When I see a group of people together in one spot, I love to see how different everyone looks, I mean both physically and in their expressions. I am always trying to take candids and sometimes it's easier in a crowd. It's almost like hiding in plain sight!

There were some interesting places around Mallory Square and Duval Street and we tried to capture some of them! Many of the people were looking out at the setting sun!!

As we walked on the boardwalk in Mallory Square we saw this building and the sun was creating a great light on it. As we walked over towards it, I saw something behind some trees that looked interesting!

We saw it was a sculpture and a different type then we were used to seeing!

As I was photographing it I saw this artist working on a painting of the statue.

I thought this was really creative! This sculpture was part of the first one. It was a sculpture of a man painting people dancing and included the picture of the sculpture.

These sculptures, by J. Seward Johnson, are located in the back of the Key West Museum of Art and History. There are some really fun sculptures here and a place to visit if you're down there.

We went back to the boardwalk where many people were enjoying the ambiance, the entertainers and the setting sun.

As always there were many people with cameras.

As the sun set couples were sitting or standing together watching a beautiful sunset.

One of the strangest sights we saw were chickens running free in the streets of Key West. We first saw them in front of a breakfast spot and later that night in Mallory Square. We found out that they have been there for over 175 years but really grew in numbers during the 1950s. Thousands of Cubans fled the revolution and came to Key West and brought their chickens with them.

Over time these chickens escaped or were let go by their owners when eggs and poultry were easily available in supermarkets. There are not many predators (hawks and feral cats) and the chickens thrive on a diet of native insects and lizards. Several generations later the chickens still roam free throughout the island.

If you're in Key West and looking for a local bar that serves pretty good food and over 100 different rums, this is the place. It's called the Rum Barrel.

Key West has its own unique character and it can be seen on almost every street.

This was the last image we saw before going into our hotel.

This was the sunrise we saw the next morning as we left for home. We really enjoyed our visit and will be coming back soon!!
If you plan a vacation in Florida, I would suggest staying a few days in the Keys and especially Key West!

PHOTOGRAPHING SUNSETS AT KEY WEST

2011-09-28T08:00:00.001-04:00

As a photographer I love sunsets. Something about the finality of it plus the saturated colors just grabs my heart and eye!! You really never know for sure how colorful a sunset is going to be. Depending on atmospheric conditions some are wonderfully colorful events while others are just the sun going down!! A great sunset is lyrical, its nature's own rapture, a combination of saturated reds, oranges and yellows combined with dramatic cloud cover. They sing out to be documented, to be gazed at in wonder.

Through the years as we see the sun, beautifully, set we hear the sounds of people appreciating what they are witnessing; awes, ohs and a few "oh my god". To see a dramatic sunset is like looking into the soul of nature, it is hard to forget.

In Key West there is a place called Mallory Square known for having some of the best sunsets in Florida, some would say in all of the USA. When we were visiting there recently we found all of those claims to be true! So here are a group of sunset images I took from Mallory Square in Key West, Florida, While viewing them listen to Dino Crocetti sing Red Sails in The Sunset. You may know Dino by the name Dean Martin, my favorite singer.

All of these images were taken over a few different nights.

When I saw this schooner passing by I just kept shooting looking for the best composition. I think I like the third image best, the one where the schooner has passed the island.

One night as the sunset, the sky went from orange to deep red and I just kept shooting till the sun actually set!!

The island that you see in some of these images is Sunset Key, formally known as Tank Island. This island was converted from a fuel depot to some of the most prestigious real estate in the country, with no homes worth less than a million dollars. Owners include Madonna, Julia Roberts and Oprah Winfrey!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing these Key West sunsets and that someday you to will stand in Mallory Square with the one you love looking out at a really dramatic sunset! It can be very romantic!!!!!!! I know!!!!!

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS PLEASE STUMBLE IT, THANK YOU!!

PHOTOGRAPHING STREET ENTERTAINERS

2011-09-26T10:31:00.000-04:00

I am participating in Jim's Magnificent Monday http://jpweddingphotograpy.blogspot.com/ and this week the theme is Street Entertainers. After you read my blog, drop by Jim's and check out all the other bloggers participating. It should be an interesting and fun theme!

Performances can be just about anything that people find entertaining. Performers can do animal tricks, acrobatics, comedy, escapes, dancing, singing, fortune telling, juggling, mime variations (where the artist performs as a statue) plus many other forms of entertainment.

Street performers, buskers, minstrels or troubadours are all names for the same profession: entertainers who perform in the streets for gratuities. This art form, which can be found in virtually every culture, was the most common means for people to bring their talent to the public before the invention of recording devices and mediums like TV or radio. Prior to that, a person who wanted to produce music would carry an organ, music box, and a piano on wheels.

I remember as a very young child seeing organ grinders with their performing monkeys at parades and fairs. The person would play the organ and the monkey would have a cup and would collect coins from an appreciative audience.

In the early 1980s in a small Charlevoix village near Quebec City, Canada there was a band of colorful street entertainers who would juggle, dance, play music, breathe fire and walk on stilts. The troupe was founded by Gilles Ste-Crois. In 1984 member Guy Laiberte proposed a show called Cirque du Soleil (Circus of the Sun) for Quebec City's celebration of the 450th anniversary of Canada's discovery by Jacques Cartier. That small troupe of street performers has evolved into ten shows in North and South America, Asia and Europe.

In the United States there has been a rebirth of this art form. Street entertainers are found at many locations throughout the country in places like New Orleans, in New York around Central Park, Washington Park, in Venice Beach, Los Angeles and Mallory Square in Key West.

We have just come back from a visit to Key West and can attest that the street performers are many and most are excellent. Some are singers who play a guitar, like this gentlemen. Notice the red pail in front of him. That is where the gratuities are placed in appreciation for his singing.

A singer with a steel drum found his own spot away from most of the other entertainers.

This performer was what I will generously call 'different'. His act seemed to consist of him trying to get his cats to perform. Trying is the key word here. When I first stopped by, he attempted to take a cat out of it's cage. The cat had other ideas and after a few attempts, he moved on to another cat.

This was a cute cat whose only talent seemed to be that he had no tail (which was pointed out two or three times by the gentleman) and he would climb up on the entertainer's shoulder.

We have two cats and if we decide to stop our photography, I think I can top this act.

I moved on after this so maybe I missed his big finish!!

We all have seen jugglers before and even jugglers who work with fire.

But this young guy also balanced his twelve foot cycle on his chin.

And balancing the fire while riding the cycle, this young man also had a really good sense of humor that drew people into seeing him and away from his competition.

This gentlemen started out juggling fire sticks then moved on to other items.

He took out this conch shell and used it as a horn to grab the
attention of passers bye.

He then picked up a crystal ball and started juggling it. Against the setting sun it was really impressive.

When I took this fortune teller's picture the first time, I thought it was an accident that his hand was in front of his face. Then I realized he did not want his face photographed. I'm not sure why, maybe he was shy or he 'saw' the law in his future if his face was on the internet!!

We saw this mime acting like a statue and going as far as to paint himself with a grey metallic looking paint.

When Phyllis put a gratuity into his pail, he called her back and posed with her!!

Of all the singers there, this gentleman had the best voice, in my opinion. He sang many hits from the fifties and sixties.

While not a street entertainer, this bar out on the boardwalk helped people enjoy the performers !!! I'm not sure how many drinks you would need to be entertained by the cat man?????

She was not a street entertainer but this young woman on a balcony was yelling to people passing by. She did provide some entertainment with her yelling and dancing around!!!

The next few images were taken during the Art Deco weekend on South Beach in Miami, Florida earlier this year. This performer was a fire eater!!

His son was a part of the act as an escape artist. He was in a straight jacket and had two members of the audience tie a rope around the jacket. He was pretty good!!!

A stilt walker was very popular.

He would pose with people while their friends would take pictures. Some of the poses were umm awkward!!! A lesson to be learned: when posing with a stilt walker, be aware of where your head is!!

WC Fields and May West were represented!!

The real piano man. Billy Joel eat your heart out!!!

I really enjoy street entertainers! Most of them put on a good show for a small gratuity!! Many of them really work hard in uncomforatble weather to put on a show and entertain us. What more could you ask for??

PHOTOGRAPHING OUR ROAD TRIP TO KEY WEST (Part One)

2011-09-23T09:43:00.000-04:00

We planned a longer trip to Key West after we had visited the Keys on a day trip a few months ago. I wrote about it and we decided that we wanted to spend more time in the Keys. (you can read about that trip here http://jpweddingphotograpy.blogspot.com/2011/06/from-revere-beach-to-florida-keys.html

We went down for a few nights last week and really enjoyed it, although being new to Florida, we didn't realize that September would still be so humid!! It was about a six hour car ride from our house but then, throw in lunch and stopping along the way to enjoy the scenery, it became more like eight hours!

Key West is an island in the straits of Florida and is the home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States. The island is about 90 miles from Cuba. Key West is also a city and encompasses the island of Key West and is a seaport destination for many passenger cruise ships.

Cayo Hueso is the original Spanish name for the island and literally means 'bone key'. It is said that the island is littered with the remains (bones) of prior native inhabitants, who used the island as a communal graveyard!!! I want to report that the only bones we saw were the ones left in our platter of chicken wings that we ate with a cold adult beverage.

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms living above a showroom of a Key West Ford dealership while waiting delivery of a Ford roadster purchased by the uncle of his wife, Pauline in 1928. He was introduced to deep sea fishing in Key West and among the small group that he fished with was Joe Russell. Russell was reportedly the model for Freddy in his novel, To Have and Have Not. Portions of the original manuscript were found at Joe's Bar after his death.

The group had nicknames for each other and Hemingway wound up with 'Papa'. During his time in the Keys, he also wrote Death in The Afternoon, For Whom The Bell Tolls and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. He used the depression era in Key West as the setting for To Have and Have Not, his only novel set in the United States. His presence is still felt in Key West and we found this bust of the writer in the Key West Historical Memorial Sculpture Garden located in Mallory Square.

Tennessee Williams first became a regular visitor to Key West in 1941 and is said to have written the first draft of Streetcar Named Desire while staying there in 1947! The Academy Award winning film version of his play, 'The Rose Tattoo' was shot on the island in 1956. The Tennessee Williams Theater is located in the Keys.

The city was also the winter White House for President Harry S. Truman.

As we started getting closer to Key West, the seascapes grew more beautiful, although I have to admit that most of the seascapes in the the Keys are stunning. The Keys, being a series of islands, are connected by bridges. In some places the bridges that you travel on are only within a few feet of the original bridges, now in decay and not used. This is one of those bridges not used but shows a great memory of days past.

I just love seascapes and on the Keys you see plenty of them. I also really like seeing a tree in the ocean. If it's right next to the ocean that's good. But if it's actually in the ocean, it just tugs at me and I can spend a lot of time photographing it. As we were driving, we came upon a familiar spot. We had photographed this area on our last trip and it was in the Kokomo post.

When we parked, the first thing we noticed was the difference in the tide from the last time; high tide this trip, low tide the last trip. This is why you always go back to an area you enjoyed photographing. Things change especially the light and in this case, the tides. It makes for a completely different image.

As we drove on we came to more little 'beaches' with trees near the ocean.

For me, it's even better if they're in the ocean.

When we arrived at Key West we first saw the historical area. This was and still remains a little seaport town with older small hotels and restaurants mixed with souvenir shops. We really enjoyed our few days in Key West and are planning a return trip, just not until the winter!!

Part two of our trip will be about the street entertainers and other people we saw in Mallory Square. It will be part of Jim Mcintosh's Magnificent Monday.

COLLABORATION WITH TAMEKA MULLINS

2011-09-21T12:36:00.000-04:00

Today I have the great pleasure of collaborating with a truly gifted poetess, Tameka Mullins. If you have not visited her webpage Lyric Fire (where Tameka's pen always burns the page)

http://lyricfire.typepad.com/lyric-fire/ please do yourself a favor and jump over to it after you read her very sensual poem right here. This is what Tameka has to say about Tameka!!!!

Tameka is a native Detroiter who loves writing, networking and cultivating great relationships. Her professional background includes work as a public relations professional, radio segment producer, project manager and consultant for publishing and non-profit organizations. She wrote her first poem when she was 5-years-old and it consisted of just two words: "I dream." She believes that with persistence and passion dreams can be transformed into goals which become reality. Her novel Letters to Chyna, which delves into the emotionally charged issues

of adoption is currently being reviewed and considered for publication.

Tameka's poems are always meaningful and filled with her passion for writing and life!! I have been a big fan for awhile now and it was challenging but fun finding photos that are worthy of her wonderfully charged words! I hope you enjoy my images. I know you will enjoy Tameka's words!

I am looking for other great artists to collaborate with me. Please contact me if you are interested.

River Of Love

By: Chyna Rose (Tameka Mullins)

You came to me in a dream, awakening me

from the storms of my life

I want to reach out to you

let your sweet love surround me

but I can't stop holding on to my pride

I never knew love could be like a river

Flowing sweetly down the banks of time

I wish my love could flow as freely as wine

(Flow sweet like wine, ooooh....)

(chorus)

I wish you could read my heart thoughts

I want you to teach me the ways of love

Take me baby in your arms and calm my storm

Tell me the secrets that flow in your river of love

Just like a miracle, the hurt

And the heartaches I've been through

Slowly dissipates into oblivion,

when ever I think of you

I never knew love could be like a river

Washing me clean and leaving my soul satisfied

As sure as there is a God above

I need to know the secrets that

flow in your river of love

( Chorus 2)

River of love- you flow so sweet

You make my heart skip two beats yeah

River of love you're tantalizing me

Making me fall, I don't know how to be

Your aura, your presence is magnificent

You make me feel like I've never felt

You make me melt

I could go all night with you

I never knew love could be like a river

Taking me places I've never been

Bringing into view things I've never seen

I feel as helpless as a dove

I'd like to drown in your river of love.

PHOTOGRAPHING THE COLOR BLUE..MAGNIFICENT MONDAY

2011-09-19T10:12:00.000-04:00

I'm back just in time for Magnificent Monday. This week's theme is colors!! I'll take the color blue!!!

" She wore blue velvet. Bluer than velvet was the night. Softer then satin was light. From the stars."
(Blue Velvet, Bobby Vinton 1950)

"Like him, I am doubtful that your love is true. But if you decide to call on me, ask for Mr Blue."
( Mr Blue, The Fleetwoods 1959)

There have been many songs written about blue. Blue velvet, Blue Bayou and Mr. Blue are just a few examples. Elvis alone had 21 songs with blue in the title. We speak about feeling blue, singing the blues or that we love blueberries. Frank Sinatra was called Old Blue Eyes. Do you know anyone called Old Hazel Eyes? It just doesn't have the same ring to it!!! What would song writers do without the word blue?

Photographers, especially ones that work with colors, would be lost without blue. It is such a great color and it has so many shades: azure, baby blue, cobalt, cyan, indigo and sapphire are just a few of them. Sometimes colors create a physical reaction. For example 'red' has been shown to raise blood pressure. But colors also have a cultural reaction. In the U.S., white is for wedding dresses while in some Eastern cultures white is the color for mourning and funerals.

Some colors are classified as warm colors: red, pink, yellow, gold and orange. Others are cool colors: blue, green, turquoise and silver. The warm colors are thought to be exciting and the cools are thought to have a calming, nurturing effect on people. In nature, blue is the color of water and green is plant life, a natural, life sustaining duo.

I really love having a mixture of warm and cool colors in images. Think of sunsets and sunrises. The cool blue sky and the warm red/orange sunlight blend together to create a wonderful expanse of colors. I think that is why people love them. That combination of warm and cool excites people and calms them all in one image.

Here is an example; the mixture of the warm orange color in the sky and the cool silver, blue of the ocean give a great backdrop for these two different ships!!

I love photographing a beautiful woman in a blue dress. It is almost as if all I see is the blue dress!!

But in nature is where I think I love the color blue the most!!!
A Great Blue Heron with its silver blue feathers is an amazing example of nature's palette being put to work better than any artist could ever think of doing!! Notice the blue water and green plant in this image!!

A beautiful deep blue sky on a clear day is a wonderful feast for the eyes. Add a blue lake and the image is even more awe inspiring!!

White is considered a neutral color! If you add a splash of it to a canvas of blue, as in this image of a solitary egret standing in a blue lake on a early morning in Sanibel Florida, I think you have a great but simple combination of colors.

That same combination can be seen in this photo of a bride and her bridesmaids. They in their blue dresses are helping the bride put her white wedding dress on. The mother's brown dress, which matches with the curtain in the background, adds a sense of balance to the image.

If I am photographing a gathering and you're wearing a blue or red dress, you can be sure I will be photographing you!!

Young or old I love to photograph people in blue!!

But in nature is where I really love photographing blue!! Give me a blue sky, throw in some blue water and I am one happy photographer who is never BLUE!!!

Trip to Key West

2011-09-13T14:07:00.001-04:00

We will be spending a few days in Key West and decided to stop for lunch on the way. We ate at the Islamorada Fish House. For the first time I am using Blogger's new mobile app. I am writing this on my IPhone and the images were taken with the IPhone. If this works I might post some more from down here. Great day down here. Try this again later.

THE FACES OF GROUND ZERO

2011-09-12T07:33:00.000-04:00

This is the second part of a two day blog on 9 - 11. If you have not read the first part you can find it here.
http://jpweddingphotograpy.blogspot.com/2011/09/remembering-9-11-with-images-of.html

When we went to Ground Zero, we were only two of many that were there on September 21st. There were people six across and dozens of rows behind us and in front of us, walking slowly on a warm day inching forward people looking in all directions and yet everyone was polite and even helpful. I commented on this to Phyllis and she had noticed the same thing.

As we reached Ground Zero I was at first mesmerized by the devastation that spread out over the sixteen acres in front of us but slowly started noticing people and posters left by people. I have already mentioned that on that day my professionalism slipped. I had a very hard time concentrating on what was happening all around me. My emotions were making me lose focus. I would see somebody and just stare at them, forgetting about the camera clutched in my hand. This did not occur when I was photographing the rubble but when I turned my attention toward the people around us.

Any photographer reading this will understand when I say there were shots not taken that I still remember so many years later. I remember an image of a simple scene of a barn that I saw as we were driving home after a long weekend photographing in Maine. Phyllis was driving and as we drove by this road, I could see this barn with great light but by the time I truly 'saw' the image, we were past it and since there was heavy traffic coming in both directions, I let it go. That was twenty years and thousands of images ago but I still remember that image not taken. On this day at Ground zero, two such instances happened.

As I was standing within a crowded area looking at the debris, I heard singing. It was faint and there was a lot of noise that day but I heard it. I turned and looked into the crowd behind me and I saw two young civilian guys standing looking at where the towers had stood, singing God Bless America. People started hearing it and like me they looked. Soon, others were singing including me. This was not a loud rousing version but quiet like a hymn. They suddenly stopped and just walked away into the crowd.

I wiped my eyes and realized I never took the picture. I had become part of the image and stopped being a photographer. That was the last time that ever happened but it was not the only image lost that day. As we were leaving and walking up a side street, I walked past a police officer who was talking to a young woman. After I was past them, I heard crying and turned to see the young woman crying pretty hard while the young officer was trying to console her. In her hand was a poster of a missing person.

You saw them all over walls and taped to poles on the streets of New York in those days. Her face was contorted with pain as tears ran down her face. I lifted the camera to my eye, focused, saw the shot, stopped then took the camera from my eye. I could not take the picture. I felt like I was intruding on this woman's grief and violating a human trust. I think it would have been a really touching picture and part of me still wishes I took it. But on this day in our history, I just couldn't.

I did photograph other people that day and here are a few of them plus other sights I saw.

Here was something that I had never seen in the US before that day but not so unusual since then; a truck parked on Broadway.

There were people trying to fix underground electrical and
plumbing problems from 9-11.

Phoenix Arizona Firefighters were being driven to Ground Zero to help in the rescue and cleanup. Look at their faces.

Military personnel were all around. Again their faces reflect all of our feelings in the aftermath.

A soldier was standing next to a light pole that someone had attached flowers and a poster announcing a prayer vigil.

This next image actually made me feel good, some people were getting back to business. This shows a young girl helping her parents sell souvenirs. Even this cute young child had no smiles that day!

The people of New York were battered but not broken. A shout of defiance is written in the dust left by the towers' collapse.

It took too long but finally justice was served !!!!!

Crowds of people were all looking grim. I mentioned to Phyllis that we were all at a large wake and the fallen towers' rubble held the remains!!

These posters could be seen all over Manhattan. Being ten days since the collapse, they stood as a chilling reminder of the loss that day!

The media was there shooting!

The sadness could be seen on everyone's faces.

These firemen take a well deserved rest. The members of the
NYFD lost over 300 of their brothers on 9-11.

Our flag was being shown everywhere. Any other time, this would bring a smile to your face but not that day.

It was not only fire and police personnel
that served during those days!

This is a scene that you could see in any city almost any day; a city worker with a police detail but this day, it included a military guard.

Patriotism from all of our citizens.

Some images of that day!!

Of all the images I took that day, this next one is the most emotional for me. This gentlemen who was working among the rubble, helping with the cleanup and hoping to find survivors, had just come back from a shift and was resting. Look at the haunted look in his eyes! I can't even guess what he had seen in his time out there and how many hours he had been working in the past week.
Look at the message written in the dust!

GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! We will never forget!!

REMEMBERING 9-11 WITH WORD and IMAGES OF THE DESTRUCTION

2011-09-09T07:31:00.002-04:00

E"Jim, a plane hit one of the trade towers in New York". That was the first words I heard about the planes hitting the towers. I was at Brandeis University in Massachusetts performing a routine audit of my staff that worked there. One of the Brandeis employees, a great guy named Joe, was walking by the area I was in. I looked up from some papers that I was writing and the first words I spoke about it were," Was it a small plane or a commercial jet?" I have no idea why I asked that. He answered that he wasn't sure because someone else told him about it. He continued walking by and I went back to writing. I remember thinking I hope it was a small plane if not a lot of people on the plane are going to die. Little did I know!!

A short time later Joe came back and said that now a second plane had hit the other tower and that they were commercial jets. He just stopped and looked at me as if either the implications just hit him or looking for answers from me. I just said, "Terrorist?"- one word but it was said as a question. Joe shook his head and continued on his way. I needed to find out more and walked into the kitchen area. I saw a women who worked there and she asked me the same question Joe had asked. Had I heard? I replied that I had, two planes had hit the towers. She said yes and one hit the Pentagon and the White House. This last one was not true but as in cases like this there are misstatements made and then repeated.

I knew there was a large TV up in the student lounge and started running up the staircase. When I reached the lounge it was packed with students, educators and staff standing, sitting and kneeling watching the screen. I saw that the two towers were smoking. I remember seeing a helicopter circling above the towers and I thought that they might be preparing to land on the roof to rescue some of the people. I had a vague memory of that happening during the bombing of the towers a few years before. Within minutes of watching this is what I saw.

I remember looking around at the other people watching to see if they had witnessed what I just did. In disbelief I looked around the room then back to the screen and then back around the room. What was I looking for? I have no idea. Maybe I just couldn't watch the destruction. Looking around at the faces of these young people, some now crying, some staring at the screen mouths open, eyes wide, I found no relief from the pain and horror. It was both on the screen and in their faces.

Suddenly something hit my knee almost buckling it. I looked down and saw a young boy wearing a Yamaka on his head. I noticed the hat because that is what I could see. He was kneeling with his head touching the floor in front of him. I could hear a low guttural moan coming from him which then broke into a painful cry. His friends ran to him, holding him trying to comfort him in their shared grief.

Then the second tower collapsed and the horror doubled. I remember hearing estimates that as many as 10,000 people were in the towers and no one was sure how many got out!! After awhile I left the room walked outside and called Phyllis at her school. I knew she was safe but I needed to hear her voice. She told me she had watched what was happening on her janitor's TV. You could hear the same tone in her voice that I heard in everyone else's including mine; a mixture of great sadness, shock and fright. What was going on?

I told her that I had heard the Pentagon had been hit and she said she had heard the same. I asked if they were letting the kids go home early and she said she didn't know yet. We said we would speak to each other later that day and that we loved each other and hung up.

Brandeis University is the largest Hebrew school of its type in the US and the people were always worried about possible attacks on it. That thought went through my mind as well, I would imagine, as most others there that day.

When I reached my office, I received a call from a young women who worked for me. She was crying and telling me she had to go home because her aunt worked at the towers and she didn't know what had happened to her. She needed to be with her parents. I was one of the lucky ones because that was as close as my family and I would come to knowing someone at the towers. We found out that the young woman's aunt was lucky. Her shift wouldn't start for a few hours and she was getting out of the subway train just after both towers went down. She was safe!!

When I arrived home I put the TV on and it stayed on all night. As we watched, we heard reports on who was responsible and the estimated deaths. Phyllis went to bed around 10PM. I stayed glued to the TV watching, hoping for news of survivors found and lives saved. It didn't come! I heard that the country was in a no fly zone for the rest of the night. At least that was something.

Around 11:30 PM, I shut the TV and went into our bedroom. In the dark as I started getting into bed, I heard the sound of an airplane above!! I knew it was the military keeping guard over our country as we slept but for a second, I worried. I knew it couldn't be an enemy plane, right?? Then the realization hit home for the first time. Things had changed and would never be quite the same again. For a second, no matter how brief, I had worried that an enemy airplane might be flying over the skies of Melrose (a typical little town America). I slept good that night mostly from exhaustion. I felt like I had worked a 12 hour shift in construction.

The next day on the way to work, you could see changes. US flags were everywhere; the backs of car windows, propped up in the back of pickup trucks and hanging in windows of office buildings. A new era of heightened patriotism was about to begin. You heard patriotic songs everywhere, many old but also some new ones and not just on country western stations but everywhere. I also couldn't help but notice that we were all treating each other with a little more respect, just being nicer to each other! Doors were being held open for other people, no cars horns were blasting away in anger and no one finger salutes were being given. We were healing and we needed each other and we were family; a family of United States citizens, who wanted revenge and to feel safe.

Later that week Phyllis and I decided to go to New York City. We wanted to pay our respects and to see first hand what we were seeing on TV. We drove out early on September 21st and reached New York and our hotel about 11 AM. I remember getting out of our car in front of the hotel and thinking that it was a bad day for photography. Bright sun filtered through hazy skies. There was no blue skies today!!! We went to our room, took out our cameras and left to see how close we could get to ground zero. We thought we would not get too close but we were going to see what we could.

On the way down in the elevator, there was Phyllis, me and a firefighter from our state. No words were said but just before we reached the lobby I said, "Thank you". That's all, just two words. He looked at us and said, "You're welcome but I'm just doing my job." He smiled and as we left the elevator, all I could think was, This was the attitude of over three hundred firefighters who ten days earlier had lost their lives just doing their jobs. Those who went up when others were going down the stairwells.

We went to the subway and found the train that would take us to Broadway. Ordinarily I would not be on a New York Subway with an expensive camera but I felt safe that day in New York and I was! When we arrived and went up to the street, we were greeted by these images hanging on the wall right outside the subway entrance.

A stark reminder of the people lost that day!! By the way, I checked on Google recently for the names of some of the people on these posters. They all died on 9-11. You see that young women in the shadows? See her face? That is the expression we saw all day. No smiles this day and not for awhile would there be smiles.

We started walking down Broadway towards the intersection of Liberty and Broadway. We reached a certain point where we found what we thought we would, the street was blocked off. We saw that people were walking to the left and then were taking the next right heading in the direction we wanted to reach. We followed and after awhile found ourselves back on Broadway, not knowing exactly where we were. There were many people walking with us. We were all on the sidewalk on the right side of the street because the other sidewalk was off limits. There were rows of people 5 or 6 across, blocks long walking slowly. Phyllis and I mentioned how quiet and polite everyone was being. At a certain point we could start seeing signs of the destruction.

We could also see stores with windows blown out, covered in dust; the remains of the towers and the people in those towers.

I need to say that we were not used to photographing anything like this. We photograph happiness, joy and beautiful things. There was none that, that day. I do not think I did as well as I could have. I could not separate the photographer from the citizen who was hurting like all the other US citizens. I passed up some shots of people that I should have taken and I'll talk about that more in Monday's blog1

As we walked on, we saw more of the rubble as we looked down side streets.

All I could think of was that there were people sitting and standing on this material as the towers collapsed. At one point I looked up and saw these street signs. We had reached Ground Zero or as close as anyone could that day.

In front of us was where the towers had stood proudly until the planes hit. Now neighboring buildings stood with windows blown out and the signs of death and destruction all around. Smoke was still rising from the areas!!

Some more images from that day!!

In the image below, you can see men working on cleaning up and searching for survivors.

In this image you can see a US flag hanging from a beam, placed there by some workers. People who have seen this image and the number two on the ribs have asked if that signifies Tower 2. I really don't know. It could be or it could be a number put there during the construction for some reason.

The US flag was seen in many places that day but the ones at Ground Zero were the most poignant for me. This image of one of the surrounding buildings standing tall with the flag proudly displayed and the next image, just tugged at my heart, making me proud to be an American!!

When I saw this, I smiled and felt very proud of this country and it's people, especially the first responders and the people working at Ground Zero. Amid all this destruction and sadness, there was a salute to the people who were gone but never forgotten.

I am proud of many things; Phyllis, my family, being of Italian descent and fiercely proud of being an American. Those planes killed thousands, hurt our economy and our national psyche but we are Americans and we will come back just like Ground Zero is coming back. As our President said we are bigger then our problems!!
See this link to see the new Tower!

http://www.wtc.com/

With the help of more statesmen and less politicians, we will do it and we will never forget!!
This image was taken in New York the next day!!!

PHOTOGRAPHING NATURE IN OUR YARD

2011-09-07T10:11:00.000-04:00

I want to thank Phyllis for taking over the blog on Monday. I am just getting over my first cold in fifteen years and I was not in any shape to be on the computer!! I have not been out of our house in five days and as much as I love our house, I am going a little stir crazy!!

For today's blog I thought I would keep it close to home. I thought I would see what kind of images I could capture in fifteen minutes in my yard, I love to give myself little challenges lol. I would also use only one lens, my 70-200 Nikon zoom.

I went out my door at about 8 AM and saw these in front of my house on the street. Okay, not strictly my yard but I thought it would be fun to show what we get to see many days in Florida; a couple of cranes resting on our street!!

In our front garden I shot this image. It is a cloud covered morning which is great for photographing flowers.

I then walked toward our backyard and passed our Magnolia tree.

I have really enjoyed seeing this tree with its beautiful flowers. They open up and die all in one day but it is a glorious day!!

I even like this flower before it fully opens! It rained last night and you can see the drops on the flower.

I have taken pictures of these flowers before and posted a complete life cycle of one earlier this year. I thought I would try for a little different look this time.

It's the same idea with this one. I used a little diffusion to give it a dreamy painterly look.

Then it was on to my backyard to see what I could find! These are the leaves from one particular plant that is in my garden. I thought instead of taking a picture of the whole plant, I would look for some abstract images within it!

As I was photographing this plant, something moved to my left and caught my attention!! I love these little creatures and they are all over our property.

I saw this rain drop about to fall off!!

This image shows one of the ground covers I planted this year. I love the texture apparent on this picture!

I was leaving when I saw this shot. I loved the lines and colors!

So there it is my walk around my backyard. I hope you enjoyed seeing it!!

Please drop by Friday, It will be the first part of a two part blog on 9-11. Phyllis and I went there on 9-21 and took some images of the destruction and of the people that were there that day. I think you will find it interesting!

THE FUTURE OF OUR BIRDS: WATER CONSERVATION BY PHYLLIS

2011-09-05T07:20:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Magnificent Monday and let's have a great week with our words and photographs on conservation!!!

Being a nature photographer, I'm constantly reminded of the value of birds. Sometimes when I drive through my neighborhood in the late afternoon, I watch a Great Blue Heron wading by the shore. For those few moments, I am transported from life's petty annoyances into a peaceful calm. At other times, when I see a family of wood storks crossing the greens of the golf course, I marvel at the similarities to human child rearing skills they display.

What compelled me to write this blog today is my concern that humans in their quest for more of everything will sacrifice the one thing that makes the quest worthwhile: the leisure time to enjoy the natural world of which birds are a vital part. Whether it's the land, water or air that we share, humans must continue having those difficult conversations to figure out a way to get what we need (not want) while saving our natural environment. This is my idea of conservation.

According the national statistics, it is predicted that Florida’s human population may double to 36 million in the next fifty years. If that happens, about 7 million acres of land could be converted from rural and natural to urban uses. If we develop—as we have in the past—roads, shopping malls and subdivisions will replace the rich diversity that our landscape currently offers. Development will also impact our coastal waters and coral reefs.

Since birds feed and breed in these environments, their longevity is threatened. Water levels, climate changes and the amount of wetland habitats impact how birds survive and human consumption is the reason. Even though several federal, state and local agencies and conservation commissions are making plans, the average citizen needs to be thinking and acting, as well.

I know what some people say. What can I do? I'm only one person. Well, let's just think about water for a minute. Did you know the average person uses about 124 gallons of water a day? Multiply that by eighteen million people (just in Florida) and that's 2 billion, 232 million gallons of water!!! The number is so high, you can't even picture it in your mind. Just imagine, it's enough to fill every swimming pool, every two seconds, all day, every day.
WOW!!

Just by making a few changes in your home, you can help save water for our environment. Here are some ways:

1) Repairing a dripping faucet, can save 30 gallons a day.
2) Repairing a leaky toilet, can save 100 gallons a day.
3) Well maintained and efficient clothes washers can use 27 gallons
of water a day. Older less maintained washers, use 56.
4) Rinsing fruit and vegetables in a bowl instead of under a running
faucet, saves 250 gallons a month.
5) Turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth and shaving,
saves 1000 gallons a month.
6) Running a hose uses 9 gallons a minute. If you leave it
on for an hour, you use 540 gallons of water.

These are just a few facts to put human water consumption into perspective. But how does conserving our water supply help birds?
Water conserving efforts result in diverting less water from rivers, bays and wetlands which allows more water to remain in its natural setting. Since fish, wildlife and birds depend upon these water resources to nest and make babies, the less we use, the more that's available for future generations.

Well, that's my opinion on one aspect conservation. For now, just remember. When you, your children and your children's children have the time to enjoy your surroundings, make sure there is something to see. Birds are amazing creatures and we should do everything we can to protect them. Enjoy the images!

Check out the others bloggers contributing to Marvelous Mondays;

http://holesinmysoles.blogspot.com/

PHOTOGRAPHING BOSTON'S LITTLE ITALY: THE NORTH END

2011-08-31T10:33:00.000-04:00

When we recently visited our family in Massachusetts we visited the North End with my brother Vinny and his wife Susan. The North End is a neighborhood of Boston which has the distinction of being the city's oldest residential community, where people have lived continuously since it was settled in the 1630s. The streets are narrow and compact and there is history
seemingly around each corner.

The Old North Church, where two lanterns were hung on the night of April 18, 1775, signaled Paul Revere that the British troops were setting out for Lexington and Concord in boats across the Charles River. You may remember Longfellow's words, "One if by land and two if by sea". Paul Revere's house, a two and a half story wood building where he was living that night is still there. There is also a park dedicated to Paul Revere where people enjoy a beautiful day.

On Hanover Street stands St. Stephen's Church built in 1804.

There seems to be a feast celebrating a different saint each week!!

The North End was one of our favorite places to visit even when we lived in Massachusetts. Getting back to see it again was a real treat. This is a place where the past meets the present, where history sometimes collides with traffic, where saints, sinners and everything in between have lived and continue to live.

Historically it is a great place to visit but I have to admit we have gone so many times not for the history but for the people, the ambiance and the food!!!! For a small neighborhood there are over 100 restaurants, mostly Italian!! You can find some of the best Italian food in Massachusetts right here in the North End. Many are located on either Hanover or Salem Streets but by no means all of them. Many are tucked away on little side streets. There are also many small neighborhood grocery stores selling Italian products.

In the summer months some restaurants open their windows to allow street side tables. Here you can eat great food and enjoy great people-watching.

Looking through a window of an Italian grocery store.

An Italian neighborhood needs to have an Italian bakery and one of the best is Mike's Pastry which has been in business since 1943.

This was about 11 AM on a Monday!! They do a terrific business.

Great bread, pastry and gelato.

In the early 20th century the North End was dominated by Italian and Jewish immigrants. But to understand the sheer size of the Italian immigrant population, one must first look back at the groups that preceded them. The Irish, at their peak, numbered roughly 14,000 and the Jews numbered 17,000. The Italians, however, peaked at over 44,000.

This resourceful neighborhood has endured a few disasters in its history. The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918 hit the crowded North End severely; so many children were orphaned that the city created the Home for Italian Children to care for them. The following year in 1919 the Purity Distilling Company's 2.3 million gallon molasses storage tank exploded, causing the Great Molasses Flood. This may seem funny but it was anything but!! A 15 foot wall of molasses flowed down Commercial Street towards the waterfront, sweeping away everything in its path. The wave killed 21 people, injured 150 others and caused damage worth about $100 million in today's money!!

In the 1950's the Central Artery was built to relieve Boston's traffic. The artery walled off the North End from downtown Boston, isolating the tiny neighborhood. Ultimately the artery was dismantled as part of another state project. I have to believe that being walled off like that for over 50 years helped build the wonderful sense of community that has helped it survive all these years.

We have found the people to be warm, helpful and family loving. I think they are more receptive to visitors than any other area of Boston I have visited. Now I will admit that I am proudly Italian American but I really think I would feel that way if my name was O'Brandon and not Brandano.

These two gentlemen really were helpful in telling us where and how to park our car!!!

I think the true story of any neighborhood is told in the faces of the people who live there!!

Two 'belle signore'! Actually these two beautiful ladies are Phyllis and our sister-in-law Susan!!

You can see the old and new all over the North End!!

If I'm writing about an Italian neighborhood that has been around starting in the 1600s, I guess I need to mention the Mafia! The Mafia was rumored to be involved there. It is said that the Angiulo family was the leading Italian-American crime group from the North End during the 1950s and 1960s. As made guys they were placed in control of the racketeering throughout Massachusetts.

That is until the Irish mobs such as the Winter Hill Gang decided to run the rackets in their own neighborhoods. During that time one of their members, James 'Whitey' Bulger was informing on their Italian mob colleagues by allowing the FBI to bug their headquarters during the early 1980s. After that the Italians lost power in the area altogether. But they stilled ruled in certain areas including the North End.

I will not spend anymore time on this part because I do not want to take away from what all the law abiding citizens of this great neighborhood have accomplished all these years. Besides I do not get royalties from the renting of the Godfather movies.

People here still use clotheslines and clothespins to dry their clothes.

A little alley way dedicated to all the saints!!

This is a great part of the city to visit, it still has that old world flavor to it: a real flavor not fabricated to make a few dollars. These are real people living here, many of their families have lived here for over 100 years. If you're in Massachusetts, I would recommend you visit the North End and enjoy the atmosphere, the great people and the truly wonderful food!!!!

PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWER POWER FOR MARVELOUS MONDAY!!!

2011-08-29T09:48:00.019-04:00

Flower power, for those of us old enough to remember it, will always remain a reminder of a very complex time to be young in the United States! Nothing exemplified this more for me than the term Flower power!! Flower power was a slogan used by the American counterculture movement during the late1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence ideology.

It was rooted in the opposition movement to what many of us thought was an unjust war, that being the Vietnam War! The expression was coined by the American beat poet, Allen Ginsburg in 1965 as a means of transforming war protest into peaceful, non threatening street theater. Hippies embraced the symbolism by dressing in clothing with embroidered flowers and vibrant colors, wearing flowers in their hair and giving flowers to the public thus becoming known as flower children. The term later became known as a way to represent the hippie movement and a culture of drugs, psychedelic music /art and permissiveness. I feel this demeaned the importance of the movement.

For many of us it was a time of deep cultural divide. Before this time in the US the young people listened and believed what their parents believed in social/political matters. The wars up until Vietnam were generally supported by most of the population. There had been men who would not fight in wars and took the very controversial and some would say brave stand that they would not kill anyone but never before did a generation stand up and shout "Hell no, we won't go".

I remember some very heated conversations with my uncle and dad about the war. When I was called to take my physical for the draft with seven of my buddies it was a scary time. Amazingly six out of eight of us flunked our physicals. The ride back to our town was as confusing as the times. We almost wanted to celebrate, to laugh and shout but two of us would be going to Vietnam. One of those two was completely deaf in one ear but faked the hearing test (I have no idea how) and was drafted.

There was also very mixed feelings. We were all raised in homes that loved this country and we did and still do. We just did not believe in this war, it was not our fathers' or grandfathers' war. We were not attacked and many felt we were there for political reasons.

It was not easy to justify those feelings to ourselves when raised in such a different environment. After all John Wayne never disagreed with his country (he actually made a film about the war that looked as though it was written by the administration).

I know some of us were conflicted about our own thoughts. Before my physical I honestly had thoughts on running off to Canada and that made me feel like a traitor to my country and family. I also thought that I would probably just go off to war and that made me feel like a traitor to myself! As I said it was complex times!

There was so much killing going on inVietnam and in our own country. It seemed like everything was changing; our feelings on the war and our country, our feelings on racial injustice, our feelings on women's rights, our feelings on the 'sexual revolution' and our feelings about the drug culture revolution. It was a strange, interesting time to be young in the US.

Then slide in all the 'normal stuff' hormones and feelings of inadequacy !!!! Did Sally like us, would she go out with us? Scott broke up with you! How would you ever find another love like him? Seems silly now but in those young years it was very important! The Flower Power movement, like most movements died out but it was important. It helped change the public perception of the war and helped end it!

So remember a time when the young people of this country voiced our opposition to a war and using the symbol of the flower helped change how a nation thought!

I took these on our trip back to Massachusetts. We were driving with my brother Vin and his wife Susan when we found a field of sunflowers that my brother Bob told us about.

Vin and I left the car and started walking across a field to get to the flowers. It looked promising from this distance.

But when we came closer it was obvious that the flowers were a week or so past their peak!

I adjusted my thoughts and decided it might be a portrait shoot, a portrait of flowers!!! I started looking for individual flowers that were still in good shape. I had to find flowers that I could backlight or sidelight to get the best images.

As I walked around this large field of flowers I was able to include more of the field in my shots.

I hope you enjoyed this flower power post and will check out some of the other bloggers involved in the Marvelous Mondays at
http://networkedblogs.com/mg0v6

PHOTOGRAPHING CANDID CHILDREN'S PHOTOS

2011-08-26T09:40:00.000-04:00

We had a great time visiting our family and friends last week in Massachusetts. One night, our families met at one of our favorite restaurants for dinner. As always, I had my camera with me! As I was sitting there enjoying the food and mostly the company, I could not help but think of how many times over the years this scene had played out.

As with many families a meal in our family is more than just food. It is a social event especially on those special occasions. I looked around and remembered some members who are no longer with us but are still with us in our hearts enriched by our memories of them. Those memories shine brightly in the faces of their children who now sit before us as adults.

As I looked at my nephews and nieces, I thought of when they were young children and their parents had brought them to our family gatherings. They were so young, brimming with hope and vitality. Their futures were bright with promises of their own successes and their own families. I felt a warm excitement inside of me from the knowledge that they are well on their way to fulfilling those promises. Now as they become adults, they bring wives, future spouses and their children with them to the table. We have young faces at our table once again and it is wonderful to see the new faces of promise.

I picked up my camera and fulfilled the time honored tradition of capturing memories and as I did, I smiled from deep inside: a smile of hope and promise reflecting from their precious faces through my lens into our collective memories!

I photographed little Lillian, whose eyes capture your hearts; her parents Pete and Laura never too far away!

That is our niece, Dayna, Lillian's loving aunt, helping her brother
Pete with Lillian's shoes!

I can tell Lillian is a Brandano because she's talking and socializing while trying to eat!!!

As we were eating our meal Laura began feeding Lillian her dinner. Lillian enjoyed eating and wearing her food!!

I think Lillian was telling her uncle what she thought of me taking her picture while she was eating!!

I just love those blue eyes!!!

I'm not sure what she does better; eat or wear her food but she looks really great doing it!!!

I also took pictures of future Rock Star, Joel!! This young guy is a
lover already.

That is my beautiful niece, Alexis playing with Joel!

Joel's granddad, my brother Vin is helping Joel take show off his shirt!! That writing on the shirt states, 'Lock Up Your Daughters!!'

We can see why his shirt has that written on it!!! Joel was smitten with Lillian. Well, the kid has great taste!!!!

I think Lillian would rather have her food!!!

You just can't help wanting to kiss Lillian. Everyone followed Joel's lead!!

My brother, Rick is giving Lillian a kiss!

AHHH, safe in mom's embrace!!!

Lillian, Joel and their mothers; Laura and Andrea.

Have you noticed how Joel isn't taking his eyes off of Lillian???

You could just tell this was going to happen lol!!!

You might ask if these were all truly candids? Well, maybe not all were, not in the strictest interpretation of candids. When I started with Lillian they were but she caught on to what I was doing and started playing to the camera. To be honest, she was just too damn cute not to include all the images. As for Joel? Did he seem interested in me or the camera? Especially when Lillian came around!!! I don't think so!!!

I know we all wish for lives full of love and prosperity for all the children!! Look at these faces! How could you not???

PHOTOGRAPHING A ROCKING MARVELOUS MONDAY

2011-08-22T06:27:00.001-04:00

It is our second Marvelous Monday and todays subject is Rocks!!!!
I first thought about doing a blog on Sedona's Red Rock landscapes or some macro on what you can find under a rock!! Then I thought lets do something fun !!!!! Like "Rocking The Night Away".
A wild, hot, sexy summer night, music blasting, your lover swaying in your arms, damn what could be a better way to rock the night away!!!

Remember those nights when you were young and in love. Those tender years when you knew you found your rock !!

Okay back to the rocking!!

ROCK ON !!!!!