Some Time in Albany

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Last Saturday I went to a concert at the Albany Armory.  We arrived on time, but they were running late, so we had to stand in line for a while.  Rather than just stand there, I started looking around for interesting things to take photos of.  

Obviously I couldn't go too far, and I only had my point and shoot with me, but it was still fun and kept me occupied.  

The concert was given by Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band.  They were really good if not a little raucous.  I had to chuckle because it was the kind of band that obviously didn't over spend on their wardrobes.  No pic, but just imagine torn jeans, scraggly hair, t-shits, etc.  

Gary Sinice and his band travel around the world performing for the military and to benefit injured servicemen.  This particular concert was raising money for the building of a home for a wheel-chair-bound veteran.  Gary was called the "Bob Hope of our time".  

It was very inspiring to be present at such a patriotic event and being able to hear about the good that Gary and his organization, and others like it, are doing for our veterans.

A Random Day

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A few weeks ago a friend asked me if I would do a photo-shoot of her, so we headed out to one of my favorite places and spent some time making a few images.  As I usually do when doing a "job", I made a few images just for me. 

Note to Self:

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American Idol had 6 contestants remaining at the beginning of this week.  Thursday night was the elimination day.  Thursday night was the night I left Hawaii for NY.  Thursday night was the night I needed to be at the airport by 8:30.  American Idol made it's elimination announcement at about 7:55. Could we do it?  Could we see the results and still get to the airport in time?  

Yes we could. And we did.

Note to Self:  When in a rush to get to the airport, put the light on before putting on the slippers. (sandals are referred to as slippers in Hawaii) 

I didn't discover this faux pas until my ride was long gone after leaving me at the terminal and my bags were checked--just before I went through security.  Not much to do about it except get on the plane.  Not much to do about it except laugh, which I did.

So I'm off to the Post Office Saturday morning to send the wayward slipper back to its owner in balmy, sunny, warm Hawaii.  Lucky slipper.

We stopped at a pizza place on the way home from the airport.  Along the way I saw two vanity plates while on the road, and the following two were right in the parking lot.  

I can't quite figure this one out, but it obviously means something to the owner.

BTW:  Elise was eliminated from Idol, which made me sad, and the temperature in NY was 40 when I landed and 38 by the time we arrived home.  Welcome back, huh?

Another Day in Honolulu

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This past Friday a friend and I went to Honolulu.  We had breakfast at the Hale Koa Hotel, then we walked around taking photos.  I was still in the groove of shooting b & w, so I put my camera on that function and practiced some more.  I did quite a bit of architectural photography, but then later in the day I switched to street photography.  My friend was intrigued by what I was doing, so she set her camera on the b & w function too.  I think she's hooked!

There are a lot of images from that session that I really like, but these two are high on the list of favorites.  

There are, however, some subjects that just demand to be shot in color.  I remember the film days when the film in the camera dictated what you were shooting and you were stuck with it unless you wanted to take the film out and put another roll of film in.  There were many times when I would do that.  Then I had to remember what frame I was on and hope I advanced the film far enough when I put it back into the camera, if I didn't misplace/lose the roll in the meantime.  

It was all very doable, but what a bother.  This digital stuff definitely has a few advantages (wink, wink)

Hula

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A friend and I went to Honolulu today to do some street photography.  I set my camera on the b&w function and shot away.  It was a good way to force myself to "see" in black and white again.  Haven't really done that since the film days, which seem like an eternity ago. 

Anyway, after we had lunch, we headed back to Magic Island where my car was parked.  Julie suggested that we take a walk through the park before leaving for home, just in case there might be something to photograph there. 

By golly, SERENDIPITY reared it's wonderful head!  There was a group of Hula dancers making a film for something, with Diamond Head as their background.  It was almost too good to be true.  So I quickly set my camera back on color and "worked" the subject. 

A Few More

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Just a few more images from the family photo shoot.

Portrait Fun

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There's a large family in my church.  The latest prenancy resulted in twin girls, bringing the total of children to 9.  Dad works full-time, mom homeschools AND works two nights a week. God bless them!!  There are special people that God chooses to have lives like that.  I'm, obviously, not one of them.

Anyway, I wanted to make their family portrait for them as a gift because who can afford to go to a studio with circumstances like that?  We waited until now so that the babies would be a little older--they're around 3-months now.  So cute.  What an amazing bunch of happy, mature kids.  It was a hoot photographing them.

A couple of days before the session, I had changed my camera to the b&w function.  The first time I ever really tried that function.  Naturally I forgot to change it back, so the first couple of images I took were in b&w--but you know, I like it. 

Then I switched back to color.  I have a great program on my computer than does amazing b&w conversions, so I can edit any of the color images I want to.  But, really, the b&w function on the camera is such fun!

The Summer House

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Hawaii is a tiny place.  If you haven't looked at a map lately, you might be interested to see the size of the state compared to the states on the mainland--or what's even more funny, compared to Alaska.  Any way, the reason I mentioned this is just to say that because of how tiny Oahu is and how important it is to use every bit of real estate, there are very, very few abandoned or unused structures on the island.

There is, however, the abandoned ruin of King Kamehameha's summer guest house nestled in the back woods of a rural area not very well known to the majority of people.  It's pretty difficult to find and you need very detailed directions.  Getting from the road to the structure is very easy though, just a short walk. 

It reminds me of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"--how the children stepped through the wardrobe and were instantly in another land.  Once you step through the tiny opening leading to the summer house, it feels like you're in another world.

A friend and I went there the other day.  My goal was to shoot specifically for HDR. 

I'm not thrilled with the results, but it was a beautiful day, I enjoyed my time with my friend,

and I'm always happy when photographing anything.

More Plates

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One of My Favorite Places

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I spent some time at one of my favorite places the other day:  Magic Island in Honolulu.  There wasn't much going on, and I had just spent an hour being lost in Waikiki trying to get to the beach there.

I've mentioned before that the streets and traffic in Honolulu are a nightmare.  Well, I even had my GPS on.  It didn't make a difference.  No matter where I turned, it was wrong.  No matter which lane I was in, it was the wrong one.  No matter how I tried to aim for the sun, I never did get to the beach in Wakiki.  Sigh.

So I decided to go home, and miraculously wound up on a street I recognized and that I knew would take me to Magic Island.  So instead of writing the afternoon off as a total loss, I went where I knew I could get.  By then it was late afternoon.  Did I mention that not much was happening?  No outrigger practice, no row boats, too early for the setting sun...

I just hung around for a while, sat on a bench and enjoyed the breeze, and finally decided to get the camera out and make a few images.  Eureka, a lone sailboat...  Okay, no big deal!

Then a bride with her hubby and three flower girls(??) came into view.  They didn't come near where I was, and I didn't get up off my seat--I was    The.     Lazy.     Photographer.     that day.  But I love these trees and am always trying to get THE shot of them.  Yes, yes, I know, they're totally centered in the frame, but honestly, that's exactly what I wanted.  All in all, I'm pretty happy with this image.  And I guess that's what it's all about, right?

Naples, California

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When we disembarked from our cruise last month, we had several hours before I had to be delivered to the airport.  Scott & Sybil decided they wanted to show me Naples, CA.  A section of the town is built on canals, just like in Venice, Italy.  So we parked the car and walked along the canals. 

It was really beautiful.  I have a hard time imagining that people really live like this, though.  Make sure you look closely at the sign in the last image!

Just think.  If it has three bedrooms, we could share this 3 ways--then it would only
be about $1,266,666 a piece.  Anyone want to go in on it with me???