Connected

The Documented Life Project is a challenge I've taken on again this year and so each Saturday in January i have spent hours getting things done in my un-Planner and loving it. Today the technique was one that inspired me to try without constantly referring back to "instructions" I felt comfortable enough to do my take on it from memory without double checking what the artist said. I found myself just going with the flow of everything and getting bits and pieces in order. I've been connected all day to the process and the paints and the inks and the project

In order to get images I have deiced to use my photos in different ways. In the NY Times this morning was an article about parrots- many of which are Australian and the photo of two parrots together made me think of my through word for the year- Embrace. I photographed the image and then uploaded it into the Waterlogue App and saved it then printed it and finally cut it out and pasted it onto my page. I'm not completely happy with the page but this project is all about experimenting and finding one's artistic expression so it works in the realm.

This morning I felt happy with where my hair was going so used Photo Booth to capture and image and have been happy with it... happy enough to use it for my profile photo in a couple of places :).

On

On the phone

Online

On the train

...the daily commute is spent this way by many...myself included. 

Julia said years ago that she caught up on her emails while she was on the train. She'd write them while underground and send them and once she surfaced they send automatically. I have been doing as she had done and now with wifi at many stations along the way the emails don't have to wait until I get above ground they are at their destination before I am.

Cropped

 My favourite process with photos...cropping them...taking that segment of the whole view.

I think that cropping a photo gives you the chance to capture the essence of a scene...one doesn't need to see the whole of the Eiffel Tower to appreciate that that is what is in shot but one can appreciate the beauty of the detail of the structure.



So this prompt was one I loved... however it doesn't work so easily to crop a shot one may want to take when one is using one's iPhone.
The shots I didn't get today included the wonderful view of the moon in the morning sky over the Hispanic church in the Bronx on my way to work.

My DSLR gives me the freedom to take these types of shots within landscapes and situations.

Then on my way home I passed and iPhotographed the bumping in at the Walter Kerr Theatre of The Crucible. A little snapshot of my NYC life... each day on my way to and from work I pass a number of theatres. Wednesday afternoons it's the matinee crowd and often the crowd waiting at the stage door to get the stars photo and/or autograph. In the mornings on weekends there are the queues starting to form for cheap tickets then other days like today there are the lighting or the set pieces bumping in or bumping out.

Curved

The prompt for today brought to mind the subway- this time the above ground part. Is it still a subway then?

Today's curved platform is one I come to often this year and is the above  part of my "under" from the other week. 

And then there are the curved lights 😎

Angle

Finding the right angle to share the snow and its effect on the day to day travels to and from work is reflected in these two photos. Every part of the day has had aspects of either coping with the snow or snow removal.

The trains ran slowly yesterday creeping into the Lexington Ave station and crawling out again. Today they were running at their regular speed. 














The food cart was at the end of the street the school is in in the Bronx. You can see the two stools placed so that customers can sit in comfort. I don't know how comfortable it'd be amidst the great mound of snow.

A favorite

How does one choose a favorite?

I decided on  whim that i should photograph a few of my larger art pieces. Not things i have personally created but things that are special for me.

 This painting was done by Giz James and is the view from our former apartment 37B. Love it :)

Then there is the painting I bought in Santa Fe years ago that reminds me of Australia's wide open plains.

...and then the great poster of Martha's work :)

Finally the poster from an unusual (for me) piece of Rodin's work and exhibition from Paris.

Space

The Times Square Alliance workers have been working long and hard to create this space.
I know it's their job but goodness they have done an amazing job in a very short space of time.







I have never seen so few people in Times Square at this time of day :)

The Sanitation Department have done a great job on some streets now the joy of icy pavements and icicles appearing in all manner of places.

Dappled?

Well finding a shot that enabled a dappled effect was not going to happen.

Dappled light is produced when sunlight is filtered through the leaves of trees. The dapples result not because tree leaves have
elliptical holes in them but rather because the leaves combine to make many tiny pinhole cameras, which then produce multiple images of the sun's surface on nearby projection surfaces. Thus each dapple is an image of the surface of the sun. If there is a large sunspot on the surface on the sun, that spot will appear within each dapple.

A little research later and given I was inside during a major blizzard finding or creating this kind of effect was impossible...

So just kick back and savour the moments and the fact that I am in the warm and dry... I have plenty of craft tasks and plenty of preparation for work..lots of food and water...time throughout the day to capture the amazing effects of snow.

 I ventured down as far as the revolving door to get a couple of photos... venturing out is only going to happen tomorrow.

Artificial light

Just around the corner ... What else could I do?

Backlit

 What is that? Backlit I mean. "The lighting gives the photograph an artistic quality, which makes it stand out from portraiture with flat lighting. The only lightning used is natural light from the sun – no advanced equipment, studio lightning or flash have been used." That's one definition...so I gave it try trying to capture the view that i think is going to become very familiar over the year :)

I tried to capture my lovely present from Santa Fe being backlit but the colour is all wrong however the image is still lovely. Thanks Bernadette and Sue for my lovely gift.

Under

The steps up to the West Farms Square platform number 100 or there about. The street level view places you under the rail line. This is a stop I come to twice a week. 

The rail line crosses over the road and in true NYC style pedestrians take their life in their hands and cross against the lights over three lanes of traffic going in either direction. When going to the school on the other side of the road I am amongst those rushing jay walkers.

Sidelight

When the light source is directly to the side of your subject, you get side lighting. A light source to the side is ideal because it produces tiny shadows that give your subject some texture. Food photographers base their entire business on creating side lit images with barely perceptible shadows. That’s what makes the nooks and crannies in food photography look so delectable.




Side lighting is also perfect for portraits. Many photographers shoot indoor portraits using some kind of side lighting. When they don’t bring their own professional gear, they rely on their camera-mounted flash. Wouldn’t that produce front lighting? It would if you were aiming the flash directly at your subject. The pros, on the other hand, know that you get a much better effect when you point your flash head at the wall behind you and bounce the flash off of it. This not only makes the light less harsh and direct, it also lights your subject more from the side.

Having now done a little research about the photos I have tried to take ones making use of practical and house bound decisions given the light ...

With the sky..

Apartment living is fabulous- the convenience, the feeling of being looked after by the surrounding environment...
Living on the 16th floor is vastly different from living on the 37th floor not just the height and the views but living here I feel cradled by the surrounding buildings...living the the middle of Manhattan skyscrapers.

On the 37th floor there were wonderful reflections but here on the 16th floor they take on different perspectives ...  I am facing north and for a while I thought I wouldn't see the sun directly





The reflections change with the changing light...depending on time of day- I see nothing reflected and then the angle of the sun changes and there is the sky and the clouds and the colour and the reflections....

The variety is endless...except perhaps on a cloudy day...

Light

 Tricky today to take photos that captured light the way I like to when there was really no sunlight. I tried a little self portraiture using the timer setting on my camera-once I found it. I should try using it more often :). 
A fun way to start a Sunday of a long weekend.

Late in the afternoon it began to snow and so the change in the plan was to find light and photos.

How the water tanks work:
- A water tower is a simple device that uses gravity to provide water pressure.
- They provide water for domestic uses and fire supply.
- Most municipalities have tanks that can hold a day’s worth of water for their population.
- Many New York City buildings exceed the height the infrastructure’s water pressure can handle.
- Most structures taller than six stories need some sort of water tower and pump system of their own.
- Water is fed to buildings through pipes in the basement.
- Electric pumps push the water from the basement to roof.
- It takes 2-3 hours to fill the average 10,000-gallon tank.
- From the roof, gravity sends water to pipes throughout the building.
- As tenants use the water, the level in the tank goes down and, just like in a toilet, a ballcock lets more in.

Then there was the effect of snow and the light in and around the "pencil" building