Photo 59 Feb 28 2011 Winter Reflection

This photo is of a scene I happened upon and if i hadn't had my "photo-eye" open, I might have missed it. The location is just outside the health club where I go. Unless you knew that there were houses and a busy intersection just beyond the boundaries of this photo, you might believe that the picture was taken in the woods.


I like reflections. I particularly like this one because it represents the gradual shifting of seasons as winter snow and ice melt to reveal scenes like this.

f4.2  1/100 sec  ISO 160  FL: 78mm  Panasonic Lumix

Photo 58 Feb 27 2011 Waiting at Frankfurt Airport

Airline travel is not what it used to be. And large international airports around the world are all the same: one duty-free shop after another. But every one also has a place that is a bit special. There is a great bar, cafe and coffee spot in Terminal B at Frankfurt where I try to people watch and spend some time. Unfortunately my flight to the Chicago was out of Terminal A. 

Happily I found the Illy Cafe as a nice place to have a morning cappuccino and some nice sweet roll, sit and read. This place was not so wonderful for people watching. The way it was set up it was hard to watch the rushing hordes.  But the coffee was wonderful and I got some reading done.

EXIF  f3.3  1/100  ISO 125  FL: 25mm  Panasonic Lumix

Photo 56 25 February 2011 Ayurvedic College Dean

Ayurveda is an ancient healthcare practice in India. It goes back several thousand years (c 1500 BCE) and is based on using leaves of plants for medicinal purposes. The leaves are ground and used alone, in combination with other herbs or ground for their oils.  These herbs and oils are used in combination with other procedures including colonics, emetics, massage and use of leaches to capture "impurities".  

This ancient science is claimed by many to be a much more effective cure for many diseases. They have been doing controlled trials of many of their procedures and herbal approaches with apparently positive outcomes. ( I have not read these studies.)  Of all things, I was asked to give a talk to the faculty of the college, which I did.  I don't think I was nearly as interesting to them as they were to me.

The Principal (Dean to us) of this college, seen in this photo, told me that he specializes in male fertility problems. I elected not to ask him about treatments.

f3.3 1/15sec ISO 1000 (no flash) FL 25mm Panasonic Lumix

Photo 57 of 365 Feb 26 2011 Sunset at the Seawall in Mumbai, India

I was fortunate to have a friend in Mumbai who picked me up at the domestic terminal after my flight from the south. He and his wife cared for me over 7 hours until I had to go to the international terminal to catch my 3:15AM flight to Frankfurt.

Sanjiva and Sumeda took me for a walk along the seawall in a really nice area of Mumbai. It was wonderful to do that walk because I was reminded how much people are alike. This seawall walk is nicely paved in stones and there were people jogging, walking, sitting on benches or on the wall itself. Families, kids, girls in groups, boys in groups, lovers and married couples all there to enjoy the sea, the breeze and the setting sun. I felt very much secure and comfortable.

The colors at sunset were spectacular. I took about 50 shots (I think Sanjiva was surprised) and there were several I could have chosen for this shot from the 26th.  I like this one because of the colors and the couple. 

EFIX: f16 (+0.33) 1/250 sec  ISO 400 FL: 25mm  Time of shot: 6:24pm  Nikon D200

Photo 55 Feb 24 2011 The face of a nation

Traveling as much as I do I have come to understand that to really know a country I have to get to know the people.

Followers of this blog will know that I have already posted several photos of people I have met.

This afternoon, my students were working on the presentations that they will give on the final day, tomorrow. So, I took the opportunity to take a walk along the main road that is out side the gates of the university. To say it is bustling would be to understate the activity. It is more like a mad scene from a bad dream. I was almost run over by 1 bicyclist, several rickshaws, a car, and a couple of motor bikes. Drivers just don't care about pedestrians. It is pedestrian be on the double look-out.  

But I did meet a lot of people. So many that I really had difficulty deciding what to post for today's photo. Finally I compromised with myself and I am posting three. 

The photo of the grandfather and grandson was just a wonderful opportunity. They were on the swing set. There were people sitting in this park and kids riding bikes. The grandfather looked at me directly as if beckoning me to take the photo -- so I did.

(Photos taken with Nikon D200)

EXIF f5.3  1/60 sec  ISO 400 FL127mm

Apparently school had let out as I was on my walk because there were a host of kids on the road. These two boys were really interested in me and where I came from. They had very good English for such young boys. Of course I took their photos. They were delighted that I did and loved that they could see the image. You can see the beauty of the Indian people in these boys.

EXIF f20 1/100 ISO 400  FL69mm

Finally, just about as I was returning to the KLE Univ campus I met this man. I argued with myself how old he is. He couldn't speak any English and we were limited to communicating by hand gestures. However old he is, he is old by Indian standards. I just love his face and demeanor.

f20  1/80sec ISO 400 FL 127mm

Photo 53 Feb 22 2011 Students at Work

Here in Belgaum India I am teaching a core course in a master degree program at KLE Health Sciences University.

The students are all physicians, dentists, nurses or basic medical science researchers/teachers.

As part of the course they are required to do a substantial amount of group work. As is shown in this photo.

 f3.9 1/15sec ISO 400 FL 55mm (Flash) Panasonic Lumix 

Photo 52 Feb 21 2011 Using their heads

A couple of days ago I mentioned waiting to catch a photo of a woman carrying a 50 pound bag of cement on her head. I never got that shot, but this afternoon after my class, I wandered into a construction area. 

All of the work except the mixing of the cement for this large project is being done manually. It appears that labor is a very cheap commodity for India.  These women almost form a human chain as they return to the stone pile, wait for their "dish" to be refilled, and carry it 50 yards to the mixer, returning to gather more. I watched for about 5 minutes and was stunned by the enormity of physical labor these people do. 

I've included a couple of shots so you can get a sense of the tasks they carry out.

f4.6 1/125sec ISO 800 210mm Lumix

f4.9 1/60 sec ISO 800 FL 300mm  Lumix

Photo 51 Feb 20 2011 Mother with Ill Child

Taking walks in a place that is so different from where I live is my photographer's dream. So, today being Sunday and the day being fine there were lots of people out walking or sitting and chatting.  I walked around campus and then over to the hospital grounds, where there were many people. Then I walked out of the campus and along the main, quite bustling street where I met a number of people who were quite interested in me, my camera, where I was from, how long I would be here, where I was staying, if I ate the food, and would I take their photo.  Of course! That is what I wanted in the first place.

The photo of the day is of a very young mother and her baby. The mother was sitting on the grass under the shade of a tree . My guess she is between 16 & 17. Speaking with her, through a guy who was shadowing me, I learned that her baby had a congenital heart defect and was going to be operated on. I really did not expect her to agree to have their photo taken, but she agreed immediately. Perhaps it was because I showed interest in her child or perhaps it was the attention. But she brightened immediately, fussed with the baby for a few seconds and then I caught this shot. She was happy to see the result in my camera's screen.

EXIF: f11  1/80sec  ISO 200  FL 52mm  Aperature priority  Nikon D200

Photo of the Day 50 of 365 Feb 19 2011 Work in progress

This photo was taken in Belgaum, India at the campus of the KLE University. Today on my way to give a talk at a pharmacy conference I encountered this scene.

These people are building the wall behind them. The labor is done completely by hand. I waited for the woman worker to carry the 50# bags of cement balanced on her head, but that was not happening as she had just done that and I missed the opportunity. You can see her under the shelter. These guys and woman had finished the wall and were plastering it about 4 hours later. There was absolutely no heavy equipment involved. 

I know this is not the best quality photo, but I really wanted to show the construction team and process. 

EXIF:  f3.9  1/250sec  ISO 125  FL59mm  Panasonic Lumix

Photo of the Day 49 of 365 Feb 18 2011 From my room in Mumbai

Greetings from Belgaum, State of Karnataka, India. 

I arrived here about an hour ago after spending the night in Mumbai. India always fascinates me: the contrast and tensions between modern and traditional, wealth and poverty, between quiet and chaos, among other things make it an ongoing place for examination.

This morning I took the photo of the day from my quite modern and lovely hotel. My room looked out on what you see.  Look closely at the buildings and you may see what I see.

The photo is a panorama stitched together from 5 shots, all with the same EXIF information.

EXIF: f4  1/60 sec  ISO 200  FL 29mm  Panasonic Lumix

Photo of the Day 47/365 Feb 16 2011 Reflections on a hair cut

I had a "style" today. Most of us would think of this as a haircut. However, my "stylist", Giuseppe, gave me hell one time when I answered a call while in the chair and said that I was getting a "haircut".  "NO, NO," he said imperiously. I am a stylist and your are having your hair styled."  OK, Giuseppe. 

Anyway, today I had my hair cut and I thought it would be a nice opportunity for some interesting shots. This is the one that seemed most worthy after taking about 25 different shots during the cutting and "styling" period. That is the Lumix camera in the photo, along with my "stylist" Giuseppe.

f3.3  1/50sec  ISO 800  FL 25mm  Panasonic Lumix.

I will be late posting on Feb 17 and 18 due to travel. 

46/365 Feb 15 2011 "this island" not Britain

I think I am poorly paraphrasing something from Richard III in Shakespeare with the title of this posting. 
The opportunity presented itself when I was actually going to photograph some guys ice-fishing on a small lake in the forest preserve near my home.  I took those photos, but this and some others of these non-traveling geese was far more interesting. We have had so much snow and it is taking so long to dissipate that these birds seem ecstatic to have found a little grass and earth.


The photo has been slightly cropped, as well as adjusted for exposure in Photoshop Camera Raw.

f5.6 1/640sec ISO 80  FL 242mm  Panasonic Lumix

45/365 Feb 14 2011 Low light panorama

I wanted to see what I could do in low level light. No additional light was used -- no flash and none external to the room. The lamp is a florescent bulb. To test my interest, I created a panorama of part of my living room.

This photo is a composite of three photos. I did another with six photos, but it was not nearly as crisp and clear as this.

The photos in the picture are all mine. The lithographs are not.  The pictures were taken using a tripod with a set focal length of 42mm and shot using Aperture priority was f5. ISO 400.

Photo taken with Nikon D200

Shutter Speeds: Left third: 1/13sec, 1/5sec, 1/4sec

44/365 Feb 13 2011 Going to the Dogs

I have no grandchildren. Well, no human grandchildren. But I do have five four-legged grandchildren.
Two are cats and three are dogs. But these are not just average dogs. How could they be? After all they are my children's pets.

Monkey was my daughter-in-law's dog before she met my son. But Dave has so adopted Monkey that now he is her alpha. I asked if Monkey was the alpha for the other dogs. She may be for Wampa, but really Monkey does not care. All she cares about is food, food, food. But she is so sweet.

f3.9 1/30sec ISO 400  FL 59mm  Panasonic Lumix

Wampa was a rescue. She had been abused and was so thin and emaciated when Dave and Becky found her. She was fearful of almost everyone and terribly anxious. Wampa has had several bouts of surgeries to remove malignant growths, some of which were excised from her forehead. You can see the scar in this photo. But what you can also see is a sweet and perfectly loved girl. She is now secure and loving to all. By the way she is likely alpha to Tauntaun. Tauntaun was an unwilling model for these photos. Another time for her. I caught Wampa when she least expected my shot after taking about 8 other shots. This is perfect of her.

f3.7 1/15 sec  ISO 1600  FL 44mm  Panasonic Lumix

43/365 Feb 12 2011 The Face of Dementia

My mother-in-law has dementia. This is a terrible disease. The woman we knew is not there any more. She has some memory, and sometimes her memory surprises us. But mostly she is curtailed by what she can remember and how she can cogitate.  


Today was the first time my wife had seen her mother in a month. She is now on fewer medications and seemed to be aware and able to have some discussions. Yet still, there is a shell of the woman who used to be vital and "right in your face". I miss the other woman.


Here she is with my wife.

f5.3 1/20 sec  ISO 400  FL 117mm  Aperture Priority  Nikon D200

42/365 Feb 11 2011 Art is in the eyes of the beholder

The title for today's posting alludes to one of the early discussions I posted regarding the question of "When is photography art?" Another question, "is photojournalism art?"

So the joke is here in this photograph. I do owe a bit of gratitude to D. Travis North, a photographer whom I've never met. But a photo of his gave me inspiration for this shot. I actually took quite a few versions of this before I selected this one (with the aid of my trusted critic, Pat). Without proper "studio" lighting photos such as this are hard to take. However, I think this shot gets at the main intent, and with the humor I wanted.

The original photo was taken in color, but I converted it to B&W in Photoshop CS5 using the Alien Skin Exposure 2.0 plugin. I wanted a film look so I mimicked Kodak T-Max 125 and made some minor adjustments to it.  I think the final image reminds me of close to what I saw in my mind's eye. I did use T-Max 125 and 400 when I was shooting a lot of  film. It has a nice small grain and give good contrast.

f9  1/15 sec  ISO 400  FL 97mm  Aperture Priority  Vibration Control  Nikon D200

41/365 Feb 10 2011 A different day

Hi Friends-

Today did not turn out as I expected. But perhaps that is the fun of this challenge. 

My plans had been to photograph vegetables at the green grocer as my plans for dinner were to make a Thai chicken dish with Asian eggplant and beans. 

The eggplants were really beautiful

  as were the mushrooms 

 and cabbage (which I did not plan to use, but drooled over anyway) .

However, these pictures went in the pot after I caught a plane not more than 400 feet over me as I exited the grocery.

What a great day for picture taking,

Exif info: All photos taken with Panasonic Lumix

Eggplant: f3.3 1/30 sec ISO 800  FL25mm

Mushrooms: f2.2 1/60 sec ISO 800 FL 25mm

Cabbage: f3.3  1/15 sec  ISO 800  FL 25mm

Airplane: f6.3  1/25 sec ISO 400  FL 586mm (shutter priority)

40/365 Feb 9 2011 Signs of the times

It is difficult for me when I see signs like this.  The signs are on a house that is in a neighborhood quite close to where I live.  I think to myself: "this could be my next door neighbor."   How sad.

f5.6  1/640  ISO 125  FL 127mm  Panasonic Lumix

39/365 Feb 8 2011 Snow

We arrived home to the aftermath of one of the worst winter storms Chicago had experienced, the "Blizzard of 2011".  I had to dig out the front of our garage which sits on an alley. It took me an hour to dig out just one half of the area in order to use one car, and another hour for the other half. 


Here is a photo of the alley. Some of the snow is piled up about 4 feet.  Can you imagine returning to this, and 8 degree Fahrenheit temps after having been in lovely 85 degree weather? Nuf said.

f5.6  1/500 sec  ISO 80  FL 25mm  Panasonic Lumix

28/365 Jan 28 2011

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated in Mexico with iconography of skeletons, demons, masks of horror and masks of humor. The celebration is around the time of Halloween and "all souls day" and "all saints day. The latter on Nov 1 and the former on the 2nd.  However yhou can find these sculptures year-round.  

I shot this image of a paper mache sculpture of a Dia de los Muetos skeleton as I was having espresso along the beach near downtown Zihuatanejo.  It was a fair distance from me, and I am generally pleased with the shot.  Note the bandana on the skeleton.  That's what I mean by humor.

 f6.3  1/15sec  ISO 125  Focal Lenth: 232mm  Nikon D200

27/365 Jan 27, 2011 Floating Boy

Here is a photo taken on the beach that is really interesting. 

At first it appears that this young kid is floating in the water, while in fact he is sitting on the beach.

I guess to continue the discussions from earlier this month, what is a photo after all?  Is it intended to show what really is?  Or is it a depiction of a scene which may or may not be "real"?  And then, to continue, what is reality in this situation?  

The boy is sitting in the water, but maybe we cannot see where the water ends and the beach begins. Hence his appearing to float.

f5.6  1/400sec  ISO 80  FL  25mm  Panasonic Lumix

26/365 Photo of the Day Colors of Zihuatanejo

I am constantly impressed by the colors here. A friend asked me if I was saturating or adjusting these photos. Absolutely not!  They stand on their own. The orange and purples and yellows, blues, reds that make up the walls of houses, walls, even sidewalks are deep and lovely.


Here are two examples, both taken with my Nikon D200. 

f22  1/20sec ISO 100 (aperture priority)  FL 27mm

f14  1/60sec  ISO 100  (aperture priority)  FL  45mm

38/365 Feb 7 2011 Last Shot from Zihuatanejo: Panorama

So, all good things must end. We bid adieu to Zihuatanejo on Monday after watching the Super Bowl at Los Banditos. That was fun, with a lot of somewhat snockered people around, and a few good football fans as well. We were very disappointed with the food but the camaraderie was terrific.

Here is the last photo I took before leaving Zihuat. This is actually a two photo stitch. Taken at 7:36 AM, the bay looks about as peaceful and lovely as it can look with the sun rising over the eastern mountains (Sierra Nevada's I think).  Hopefully we will continue these again next year.

f6.3  1/60 sec ISO 100  FL 27mm  Panasonic Lumix
 (EXIF based on one of the two shots making up this photo)

Meanwhile, I will continue my effort to take a shot per day. Wait until you see the photo for Feb 8: what a ghastly difference.  Thanks for paying attention to this effort.

Mark

25/365 Jan 25 2011 Another sunset

Like I said, I love sunsets.

The sunset on this night was spectacular. I was planning to post a photo that I took earlier in the day, but this one  was just lovely.

I hope that you can see the many layers of colors that perfuse through the clouds.

One of the reasons that I like to photograph sunsets is the color blending. 

f4.1  1/40 sec  ISO 250  Focal Length  67mm  (Lumix)

24/365 Jan 24 2011 Flower

This is a popular flower which populates the hills and flower pots and flower boxes all over this area of Mexico.
I captured this particular one on the property where we were staying.

f4.0  1/125sec  ISO 125  FL 25mm  Lumix

23/365 Jan 23 2011 Early light -- low

This is an early morning shot of the beach. I love this early low light. 

f16  1/180 sec  ISO 250   Focal Length 36mm

22/365 Jan 22 2011 Sunset

I have this thing for sunsets. Have taken hundreds. Always different. Always layers upon layers of colors.
Here is one I took on Jan 22 in Zihuatanejo Mexico. Just look at the color reflection in the bay. Amazing.

f6.3  1/30sec   ISO 125  FL 25mm  Lumix

21/365 Jan 21 2011 Turtles

Preamble: Here is my photoblog of the photo of the day for 365 days of 2011.  The Blog date indicates when I posted on the blog, but I was also posting via email on the date the photo was taken. 

From this date (Jan 21) until Feb 7 I had very bad internet connectivity. 

Blog entry: 

As I indicated earlier, there is a large bandwidth problem at the place where I am staying in Mexico. So I am forced to use my email to send the photo blog.  In have decided that I will enter all these blog submissions to the photo blog when I get home. Meanwhile, please enjoy this via email.

Zihautanejo is a place not just for humans, but for turtles as well. Each year hundreds of sea turtles come here to lay their eggs. This happens in the autumn. Now the turtles have hatched and we were asked to assist them to find their way into the ocean.  What an amazing experience. These tiny turtles new where to go. I walked with it on my hand into the ocean up to my chest in depth, then let the turtle go from my palm. It began swimming immediately out into the depths of the sea. Directly, without a second of hesitation.  I feel that I have done a wonderful thing for nature and the turtles as well.

f2.8 1/1600sec  ISO 80  FL3.9mm  Lumix camera

Mark