If I had a tv . . .

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Greg

If I had a tv, I would watch it all the time. I’m watching the US women try to hold on to a victory against Japan, a reprise of the world cup game I watched, alone, on Spanish tv one year ago. I was alone because I’d turned down a family movie outing. Today, I’ve turned down hours of racquetball so that I can watch a tiny live stream on a sixth of my screen. That’s why I simply can’t have a tv. I would drop everything and turn into a couch potato. We can think of my anti-tv policy as step one of my weight loss plan. Plus, watching on the computer let’s me have fun with photos.

This photo is of the Beesley’s Point Bridge, in Great Egg Harbor (near Atlantic city). I took a break from cycling for a few days to go kayaking in and around the salt marshes. I love the way that kayaking forces me to think of a three-dimensional environment, full of conflicting vectors of movement. On the other hand, I also find it intimidating. Structures like this illustrate this best. The bridge is falling to pieces, with hazard signs between every set of supports. The current is racing along perpendicular to the bridge, but the wind is pushing at an angle. This is the only spot boats can pass and I’m awfully slow. I was much more comfortable once I got through to the other side!

Beesley’s Point Bridge from the water

This is a complicated photo. I used RAWtherapee to create two different exposure levels and then enfused them with enfuseGUI. The result was modified slightly in photoshop and then blended with bright and blurred levels aka orton. The frame is from OnOne

street photos.

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Greg

I gathered my courage and took the train in to the city to practice taking street photos. I realized that combining the photography and cycling was probably silly — I want to keep riding when I’m on the bike (or at least pounding for home if I’m tired). Walking through the city with a camera, on the other hand, was surprisingly peaceful. I figured I’d start in the village, near where I used to live. I sat on the stone steps on the southeast corner of Union Square Park and practiced panning on the cyclists as they drifted by. I got better as the morning went on; I fiddled with exposure times and f-stops until I felt reasonably comfortable. Still plenty of room for another practice morning soon. Here’s my favorite.

East 14th street

I realized that I don’t quite have the chutzpah required to simply take pictures of whatever is happening around me, but it was fun to talk myself in to some shots even as I let others go. I crossed a few bike lanes (really just the ineffable idea of a special place, marked off by parked cars on one side and streaming traffic on the other.). I stood on the corner for a bit, but there were too few cyclists!

The sun burned off the clouds and I wandered up into the High Line Park for the first time. It’s frankly amazing. I’ve always loved the ‘little’ parks that dot Manhattan — having falafel on a stone bench by a tree always seemed cool. Adding the Hudson River Park, bikeway, and the High Line have transformed the whole area.

I took these last two shots while strolling North in a beautiful park two stories or so above the roadway. I worked on the first one to get at the gritty feel of watching him working in the shadows while I basked in the sun in a park above. Just as I was wrapping up, he got on the bike and shot off down the street. I quickly snapped a few as he cycled away. I wanted this last shot to emphasize the sense of solitude within a city of 8 million; of working in the interstices of the city. That’s probably a bit too much for the photo to carry but it was fun to work on!

NYC messenger working under the high line.

back to work

shout out to Mary Hayes

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Greg

My lovely sister Mary read my coffee post with dismay. She realized that I was struggling to cover the coffee question for the trip and acted quickly. An oddly wrapped package arrived just a day before the road trip to Delaware and I brought everything to the beach house.

Lo and behold: a slick coffee grinder with storage space for the beans (about four cups worth) seamlessly integrated with a jar for holding the ground coffee. The detachable handle provides leverage and the ceramic insides provide a better grind than my electric machine at home. Mary is my coffee savior.

Even better, I had the wit to fill it with coffee before departing Hastings! Good thing, as my wife, Dad, and I have very different ideas of what makes a good cup. Here you see me grinding away. The joyful results follow.

I enlisted my wife to take photographs but the oddity of the tablet proved too much. My other lovely daughter, Lia, found it all a giggle and assured me that everything would improve with a better picture of her. Thus one whimsical picture of us both, over coffee, and a final one of her. No coffee, no dad. Just shamelessly upgrading the post with a smile.

Thanks, Mary. :-)