Tag: #pandemic

Thinking in Black and White

I’m challenging myself with learning a new discipline in photography. The first step is having a digital mirrorless camera converted to capture infared light, and I’m learning about the techniques for capturing and processing these new types of images. But the camera won’t be back in my hands for a few weeks.

In the meantime, I was daydreaming about the places I would love to photograph with the infared camera — like the Florida Everglades and Joshua Tree National Park in southern California. With the limitations on travel during the pandemic, those excursions will come to pass down the road.

The scenery of Joshua Tree is fresh in my mind, since I visited the park in 2018. I decided to process one of my color photographs in black and white, as a first step in my journey to see in black and white. What do you think?

#joshuatree, #jtnp, #joshuatreenationalpark, #blackandwhite, #silverefexpro, #nik, #nikon, #shapes, #texture, #contrast, #california, #landscape, #photography, #nature, #desert, #adobe
I love the bold silhouettes as well as the textures in the Joshua Trees found in the high desert of California. A monochrome image makes the image more about shapes, textures and contrast, as it subtracts color. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw and Nik’s Silver Efex Pro.

Vineyard Nostalgia

Reading “Is it safe to visit a Vineyard?” in the New York Times took my mind back to visits to the beautiful vineyards in Sonoma, California and the South Island of New Zealand. I found this vibrant view of a vineyard near Nelson and Tasman New Zealand in December 2014. My daughter Erin and I dropped in on several wine makers that weekend for a tasting of their Riesling and Chardonnay grapes. Keep in mind that December down under is equivalent to June in the northern hemisphere. We enjoyed mid-summer greenery and comfortable outdoor weather.

#vineyard, #memories, #newzealand, #NZ, #green, #bluesky, #lush, #downunder, #tasting, #tasman, #nelson
Vineyard slopes down to a lake in Nelson/Tasman region of New Zealand, on the South Island.

During this safer-at-home period of the Coronavirus lockdown, we think back on our travels and special experiences and wonder if we appreciate them now more than ever. We are all looking forward to resuming our travels when the pandemic is over.

Creativity in Isolation

Are you finding ways to exercise your creativity during Isolation? I hope I can inspire you to play a little. Of course, first things come first: we pray, we clean, we prepare meals, we help our neighbors, we work remotely, we stay in touch over the Internet, we catch up on our sleep, we read, we exercise and then we do it all over again.

But for the first time in a long time, the rat race has paused. You can actually be patient when driving a car. You can smile and say hello to strangers you pass outside. You can reflect about life and how to live a better life when normalcy returns. And you now have time to be creative. It’s okay to amuse yourself — draw, write, cook — whatever pursuit suits you.

I have been experimenting with my Lensball, which I ordered in December, but have been too busy doing everything else until now. It is a carefully manufactured and polished spherical prism. When you take a photo of it, the image you see is reflected on the back and then the front of the sphere and it appears upside down. Don’t let this stop you. You can always invert the image in photo editing software if you need to. There are endless creative possibilities. (You just have to be very careful to keep the lens ball out of strong direct sunlight, as it heats up in about 2 seconds and can burn your fingers!) You can guess how I discovered this outdoors in southwest Florida.

#lensball, #beach, #sunset, #upsidedown, #prism, #sphere, #sand, #experiment, #play, #isolation, #creativit, #creative, #skylum, #luminar
I took my Lensball to the beach just before sunset to experiment with some images. I use my iPhone 11 Pro Max, because it is complicated enough to position the lens ball and get down on my knees in the sand, and then get up and wipe the sand off myself and the Lensball!
#Lensball, #palms, #experiment, #shoptwithiphone, #nature, #isolation, #howto, #creative, #creativity, #blueandgreen, #bluesky
While supporting the Lensball with a glass vase, I shot this photo with my iPhone 11 pro max out my bedroom window. You can see the lines of the screen as well as the palm tree and lawn and lake. I think it’s cool that the background is larger and out of focus.

A Sturdy Shelter

“A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. “
Book of Sirach, The Bible

Those words defined my father, and they were invoked at his funeral Mass. My father was a sturdy shelter to me and many others.

#pier, #naplespier, #friend, #faithfulfriend, #bible, #bookofsirach, #sirach, #inspiration, #shelter, #sturdyshelter, #foundation, #storm, #treasure, #sunset, #pelican, #nature, #reflection, #meditate, #history,#faithful, #support, #worth
Sunset at Naples Pier with Brown Pelican in flight, February 3, 2020 before the site was closed to stop the spread of the virus.

When I reflected on the sturdy foundation of this pier, the reference to sturdy shelter came to mind. This sturdy pier brought the first settlers to Old Naples, Florida many years ago. In this millennium, it withstands the hurricanes and tropical storms and supports hundreds of individuals who enjoy it.

In these trying times of the Coronavirus pandemic, a faithful friend is a treasure, showing his greatest value in supporting those around him. As the hectic pace of life slows to a pause, meditate on your faithful friends.

“A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth.”
(Book of Sirach)