The trip from Hell

I decided to leave Va a little earlier than planned for a few reasons. I caught the last bus out before the blizzard. The trip was smooth for the first 100 miles or so and then things got bad. We crept along at a snails pace for what turned out to be a 12 hour trip...Yep, 12 hours door to door. Traveling can be such a giant pain in the ass. Yesterday I took a very long walk through Central Park after seeing a photo exhibit at the Met. What a beautiful day. I turned my camera on a setting called "Nostalgic". I think I should just shoot it normally from now on... I was in an experimental mood.
The Sheep Meadow. Camera set on "Retro" to look like an old Polaroid. Perhaps if I want that look I should just use an old Polaroid camera...I still have 27 packs left.
Just inside the park off of 79th street and 5th ave. Though the hills are small the people used all sorts of various ways to slide down them...saucers, sleds, cardboard boxes, toboggans. It was wonderful hearing all the laughter and screaming as people slammed into one another.
Madison park before the blizzard.

Outside my building..buried cars, 2 days after storm.Scary snowman with weird Donald Trump pine needle hair.
I added a pine cone.
Sad little penguin looking snowman with pennies for eyes in Central Park
Traffic signal on Upper West Side falls off pole, firemen show up, stand around for 20 minutes and then wrap it with caution tape... nice.

100 ways

I'm reading this book I picked up at a thrift store called 100 Ways America Is Screwing Up the World. Fascinating. From the moment I picked it up I couldn't put it down. It covers some pretty serious issues including everything from global warming to how fat and gluttonous we are in America. It reminds us that we're still 49th in world literacy and 41st in infant mortality. It also reminds us that it's not "unpatriotic" to criticize your own country, and doing so might actually incite change. The book is a great "slap in the head." People with big homes and SUVs know it's bad for the planet and don't care. They want what they want and don't care if it harms anyone else. Typical American mentality.

Finally, regarding global warming the book states, "The scientific deniers are skeptics about its potential scale of destruction, not the fact that it's occurring."

Topics include:

Altering the Earth's climate

Wars of Choice

Television

Dumping toxins

Blood for oil

Vietnam

The Kyoto Treaty (we didn't sign it, another Bush blunder--157 other countries did, including Russia, Canada and Japan)

Reaganism

SUVs

Big Pharma

Consumerism

McDonaldization

What would Jesus say?

USA, We're #1 (yes, only in weaponry, consumer spending, debt and delusion)

Our Fat Country

Commercialization of Sports

Disney

Celebrity Culture

So, give this book as a Christmas present. Bet they don't get past the third chapter before they put it down. Easier to not read it and spare themselves the guilt. And the cycle of gluttony continues....

Jaded, and not

People come from all over the world to see this sight. The ferry's decks were crowded with enthusiastic tourists snapping photos. And then, there's always the jaded commuter.

Windshield sunset.

Last light in Soho.

Quiet Time

This pretty much sums up what the winter months are like for most freelancers.....

There's always some person taking up too much room on the subway. This fat dope couldn't put his legs together... I wanted to give him a swift kick in the 'nads. The other day some homeless woman was camped out on the downtown A train during rush hour taking up 5 seats with her belongings. And she smelled bad....

The odd chance of meeting Ingrid

A few months ago I was looking for a new model to shoot. I checked some agencies and sites and after looking at literally hundreds of model profiles, I decided to contact a model named Ingrid. Before leaving for my trip to Vancouver I photographed my friend Julie. We had a great time and took some terrific photos. A few days after I gave Julie a disc of her photos she sent me an email saying she loved the shots and a friend of hers wanted to shoot with me. She sent me a picture of the friend and it turned out to be.... Ingrid. How bizarre. What are the chances of that? After a series of emails we did a shoot yesterday and it was great. She has such a 1960s, Bardot-esque look to me.

She was the coolest!

3 views

Yesterday while strolling in the Bronx I saw this elderly woman who is apparently fond of earthy clay-like tones. I'll bet she owns an Irish Setter. Her hair was perfectly coiffed.

Does standing on a park bench while talking on your cell phone provide better reception?

Walking through the West Village, I liked these tree shadows cast on this brownstone.

Ho

I haven't been in the mood to blog. I haven't been in the mood for anything. It's a quiet time. Work is slow, life is slow and I'm not shooting anything other than street photography.

But it's all good... things are fine.

What screams the holiday spirit like a lopsided Christmas tree in an empty lobby? But, it's a real tree, I have to give my super some credit for that.

Standing under this beautiful tree I started to spin around with a slow shutter speed... I'm sure I looked like an idiot. Reminds me of when was a kid when you would do those spin paintings. Lay a piece of paper on a turntable and spin it while dripping paint onto the paper.

Fall leaves on a windshield.

A few snaps of reflections on the Hudson.