Pralines....

I am going for a walk in about half an hour. My camera will be with me. The walk, how can I have slacked off for almost a year. I used to do this five days a week and felt pretty good. So, once something is working really well, what is my next move...? Why quit doing it, of course.

The motive for returning to an exercise program that I can do during my lunch hour is all about my last visit to the doctor. Blood pressure...way to high....cholesterol...way to high. So, now I am on medication for the BP and cholesterol and the dr. says, "it would be a good idea to get back down to two hundred lbs.". Which means lose fifty lbs. This is all very good and all, but the problem is doing it without thinking too much.

That is only possible if I go about this as my picture taking break. So the photo that may accompany this rambling is the result of a fat, bp, cholesterol reduction program. And may have some artistic merit, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it just yet.

The Palms on Canal

Who hasn't had this advice before, maybe you should try a different perspective. Or, step into the other guy's shoes. If the other guy's shoes happen to be falling with him to the pavement that might not be the best thing to do. But, the shift in vision that makes for a different photo, yes, I can do that. I have been trying to include the palms on Canal St. in my photography and not just as background, but the as the subject. Everything I have tried in the past has been a dismal mess. So, here you have it, my take on the Palms on Canal.

Washing away the Heat.

Newcomers to the city expect the rain to carry away the heat of Summer, surprise it might happen for about a minute or two. Then the extra moisture in the air hits you like a hammer wrapped in a big hot wet towel. Get over it. This is nothing, it isn't August yet. That is still two weeks away. You haven't felt anything yet. It would be cruel to say, "stay cool", but with a snowball, and an air conditioner, you have the basics of summer survival.

Boxes

Boxes are everywhere. I don't see the one I am in. It is my box. I've been in it so long it feels like home. I know that limiting myself to the confines of comfort and conformity, the range of possibilities is small and this knowledge is no comfort at all. Contradictions and community collide with the announcement that I now have seen the limitations and even though it is frightening I speak out and ask....do you have any staples?

Not so Common...

Another photo with no people. I swear I am not trying to emulate that photographer of Parisian neighborhoods, Eugene Atget. It is just working out that way. I wait until the frame is empty of humans and click. In studying Atget's work I am learning that the spaces that make a city unique have to be discovered and then honestly presented.