Sunday, December 23, 2012

The End of the World

These shots were all taken in the week running up to the end of the world. There would have been more but Mitch filled up the 4gb card before I ran into him again to swap cards.


This guy prays every day, Mitch says.

 Mitch took me aside and let me know every picture he took was for a reason, whether it be a particular hat or a blaze of color or whatever. I had suspected as much but was afraid I was imposing my own values on the shots so it helped knowing I could believe what I was seeing.
























Monday, December 17, 2012

The Benches

What am I doing on The Wall in Fort Lauderdale? 

In New York City I hung out endlessly on these benches mingling happily with good people from every walk of life without very often knowing what those walks were, doing so happily because we did not know.

So here in South Florida I fell easily into another al fresco community of wall stalwarts watching tourist transients stroll by, developing parallel universe friendships rarely taken beyond the beach but nonetheless worthy for that.












Sun Down Up

Heh-heh, I kept talking about Mitch's pictures of sunsets. He was kind enough not to point out that the sun near an ocean horizon on the east shore of anything is a sunrise, which I figured out just now recalling the five consecutive times I said sundown and he said, No, that's sunrise.

We have one sundown, anyway.



Mitch could not figure out the red dots, or the green sky. I am thinking "mother ship" and "scout craft".

I told Mitch a sunset by itself was not art. I told him every picture should tell a story.
You need something in front of the beautiful sunset. The shot above might be his answer.













Fini.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Flight 1

Mitch is on a mission to get good shots of birds in flight. Quite challenging, he says, but clearly he enjoys the challenge. 

The inexpensive camera does not help. The shutter speed is too slow and there is no way to use a tripod. It can zoom OK, but not like a birder's scope and anyway when you zoom more than a little  you need the tripod and shutter speed.

And the birds are not exactly cooperative.



Talk about a sitting target. Mitch has taken a number of these and gotten close a couple of times to getting a good shot. I suggested he keep plugging; we see potential here.


Where's the bird? Look again. The next bird is manifested only by its vapor trail. Mitch liked this picture. I did not, but give the artist his due. 



This is The Wall, and that is David, another well-heeled regular who likes The Wall for the good company of its denizens. No birds, but I thought it time to introduce The Wall properly. David likes to preach and knows his bible. When the evangelicals set upon us he is good to have around -- he has yet to meet his match.


Unfortunately Dave himself reliably goes off on his own proselytizing about two sentences into any conversation one might try to have with him but I have learned he responds well to, "Is this a sermon?" unlike the evangelical who approached me while I was doing tai chi and feigned interest and listened courteously for a minute as I explained it before commencing to save me. Sadly, he refused to stop preaching until I threatened to have him arrested for harassment at which point he stopped on a dime making me think I was not the first. Later Joe told me the guy was another Dave and a regular.


No, I have not forgotten the birds. But if I can be allowed one more digression...

 Is tai chi flying? I stopped by Master William CC Chen's school when I was in New York City for a weekend and took my first private lesson ever. I learned a lot because it has been years since I have taken a class and Master Chen is always finding new ways to convey the art and one of the things he mentioned is that tai chi is swimming in air. Close, but we better get back to the real deal.








Yes, I am easily distracted.


Mitch's persistence paid off when he caught a pelican on the prowl...




 And now for our last groups of aviators.



I look forward to the fruits of Mitch's continuing mission.