Yesterday morning I awoke at 5AM to go photograph a fairly large fundraising event here on Long Island - American Diabetes Association Tour. I got up early so that I could catch some images of the first riders who agreed to go the farthest in the event - 100 miles. Some lessons I learned after I had scouted locations on the route the night before:

1. Plan where you are going to get coffee before the event.
2. Be sure you know where the sun will be at the exact time you plan to shoot at a location.
3. Be sure you’ve thoroughly researched your event. I assumed that the three cycling groups (100 milers, 65 milers, 35 milers) would all take the same course for the first 10 miles. I was incorrect and although got some shots of the leaders, I waited 1 1/2 hours before realizing this fact.

My first food photo shoot resulted in lots of varying colors and contrasts.

Although I’m not thrilled with the cropping in this one, I did like the basic look.

Very excited about the start of our 2008 Garden.

I can’t wait for it to grow up to be a big boy!

Here is our Emma this week enjoying the new Spring temps and sunshine.

Isn’t she the cutest thing since sliced bread? (If you’re into bread)

I can recall being a morning person as early as my mid-teen years. I used to go out to the barn and feed/water the horses. Today I am still a morning person. I like to beat the sun to the horizon and watch it take the wheel of the day. It is so beautiful during it’s first rising. The birds all worship and sing at it’s arrival - all in a symphony of pleasure and appreciation. Today I began a new journey in meditation called Vipassana meditation. I began working on my focused breath under a tree in the backyard. There is nothing as powerful as the stillness that comes with an empty mind and heart. I am taking this practice slow and learning about myself and the world around me as part of the process.

I took this photo in Southampton this holiday weekend.

Photography can never grow up if it imitates some other medium. It has to walk alone; it has to be itself.
Berenice Abbott

I only hope to walk alone when it comes to my photography.

For my photography course we are currently focused on the subject of exposure. They are getting into all the rules of exposure latitude, etc…most of which I am bored with because it is focused around film limitations. I am trying to also utilize the time to learn about the exposure techniques with my digital camera, which has required quite a bit of trial and error with mixed results thus far.

Here was a photo I took last week to demonstrate how not doing an integrated reading can result in dark shadows, but the end result was actually something that I liked based on the detail and color of the sky.

I am still getting familiarized with Wordpress and so I am testing some new plugins to post photos and setup galleries.

Here is a photo of a hottie we saw during our trip to North Carolina.

One of the things that I think makes an artist succesful is that he draws from his own pain and joys to passionately apply them to his craft. I have started trying to think of my photography in the same manner. My joys and pains as of the last several months have been more colorful and brilliant than in recent years. I have been working on journaling those so that I can refer back to them. Of course my emotional state when reading back on those items is quite different with time and so photographing in the moment is something I am going to hone in on. “What is going on with me right now?” “How is my current state of feelings influencing my eye?”

Here was a photo I took last week of my son Zac while visiting with him for the Easter weekend. I was beginning to feel a distance from him as he progresses into his teen years. He is drawing away and becoming more independent. The result in this photo was my identifying and being more drawn to the cat while keeping an unfocused eye on Zac and admiring his recognition and pleasure in being with animals (a trait I hope he never lets go).

It has been at least a year since I last had an SLR in my hands. It has also been that long since I got up early in the morning to catch the new daylight to color the objects in front of me on film. My passion has been re-ignited…hotter than ever. Everywhere I look I see vibrant colors and angles and potential shots. I can recall my passion when it first excited me at about the age of 9. My parents had bought a house that was over 100+ years old. I was playing in the attic after school one day and in one of the rafters I found what looked like a strange metal box with a swinging cover. As it turned out, it was an old TLR camera with leather trim. I took many photos with it during High School and those photos put me into a dark room for the first time. I had found a passion for photography during that phase of my life.

So, what happened to that passion? Life…I let the various elements of life get in the way…career, family, etc…all with a camera in hand, but never with the dedication and passion as I once had many years ago. I now have a new SLR in hand and a desire to take it to the next level. I know that I have a pretty good eye, but my technique and skill set could use some work. As a result I am looking into photography programs in the NY area to improve those areas and to challenge my passion in consistent practice.