Tag: Lake Champlain
35 Cherry St – From the Balcony
Photographers have something to say, sometimes. I have to ask myself sometimes, especially when I am looking at something I see all the time, like people walking up the Battery, across the street from my condo, what do I have to say about this. It’s a scene only I see from this height and perspective, a rather selfish view since my neighbors can see the same set, albeit from a different angle. They’d see it, too, the scene, two people walking. Me. I’d see the light. I’d shoot it. And, then I’d wonder, whether the image which I captured on my rectangular sensor would look the same when it went up on a screen or on a piece of ink jet paper. It’s like seeing a beautiful woman and asking her out. Then you take her somewhere and when you look at her in a different light, does she still shine as brightly.
VERMONT Shuts Down For Winter
Just let’s say people still visit the Lake Champlain boardwalk and need to go to the bathroom. But the facility is closed. In Burlington, manners predominate. I never call a “John” a ‘Facility.” Sharon’s Mother used to call it a “pissoire,” which could have been the only french word she spoke. Well, they will just have to use the facility at ECHO if they have to go.
Getting a creamy can also be problematical.
Burlington Rains Again
Out early. Not much movement. The sun didn’t appear. No peek through for the breakwater. Overrun with water, the birds barely have a place to sit, at least from where I stand. Too humid for comfort, air also has some sediment from a fire which burns in my eyes. Cannot drink my coffee. Out of here.
Kids at Camp Gan cannot figure out what to do. Supposed to go on a boat ride. No way to challenge the lightning or rain. What to do?
Kelly sits on Cherry St, moved from Main. People complain she has a place to live and doesn’t need to beg. Its her job. But she sits in the sun, dressed well, courteous to a fault. Not many who don’t know her or can pass her by. Misses Paul.
Richard stays sober until he doesn’t. Hasn’t had to go back to treatment. Hangs out near Lowe’s and Hannafords. Ramp out of order for him. Ruggededly handsome. Lives nearby in the woods, somewhere.
Don’t have his name. He has mine. Struggling. Living in the woods. Hasn’t smoked in a while. Sweet and kind. Has friends.
A musician. Used to play a horn. Lost his teeth. Never saw him before. James Harvey, he calls himself. Been around here longer than I have. Has a brown dog. Looking to pick himself up and play again in the fall.
Ed Larrabee. Met him at the beach. He ventured to North Beach to escape the craziness on Church Street. Has a heritage he can be proud of. No place to live but he knew where he was going to crash tonight. Has a book about the Middle East which he wants to read, but he fears he doesn’t know enough to make it worthwhile. Understands people, but not injustice. Exudes self-confidence and personal strength.
Don’t ask me how any of them arrived in a place where I can picture them. And, they don’t ask me why I am in their midst.
Foggy Morning
Chasing the sun brought great results today. Sometime you work for the shots. Sometime you just point the camera. Looked out the window. Couldn’t see the street. Washed my face, brushed my teeth. By the time I hit the street, the light had come up, but the fog hadn’t lifted. I could feel the wet in my face and smell the morning moisture.
Clouds covered the sun, just enough to rob the scene of its yellow. Birds screamed, unable to see their morning breakfast through the mist. Good day, if you were a fish.
Magic everywhere. Still a there, there. Clouds with nowhere to go. No wind pushing them. No waves or flutter. Water gently lapping up against the pier. It wasn’t cold and it wasn’t hot.
The sailor doesn’t care. He waits and watches. One day his boat will come. Already packed for the sea.
Burlington arises.
Burlington Parks and Recreation
Marty makes these snow blocks so the Penguin Plungers can carve snow sculptures. Rain and 50 degree weather caused the previous ones to melt. Climate change affecting art.
The snow comes from piles removed from the street and dumped near the waterfront. Recycling takes many forms in Vt.
Now for the art.
The Doll and the Guy
So, you got the couple, a doll and a guy. They met at camp. Kept together. Arm in arm, hand in hand, he is here meeting the family for the holiday. Their dreams? May they last forever.
St Mike’s Boys on the Battery
Not a great sunset. But, around here we love them all. Never know What you will see.
Tough night for a picture. No sky. Just some students from St. Mike’s walking around enjoying each other’s company. Happy to be away from campus and their books.
Light faded fast. Colors came up bright. Missed the sun going down.
There stands some true energy. No scars. Lots of ideas. They could do better with the earth than my generation did. Damn. I hope so.
UBC Climbing Championships Taking Form through ne2c productions
So, the other event participants and vendors have started arriving, as the route setters from Vertical Solutions clean up and make sure the Boulders pose enough of a problems for the competitors. The rains came and went. Weather be what it is here in VT. ne2c productions seems t have it under control. Lake Champlain shows pretty for the first week of Autumn, an un predictable time, where for the first time in many, no one speaks about the colors of the leaves or the Sox.
Len Spier Educates “Art in Photography” in Burlington VT
Len Spier shot Burlington before he presented a talk to members of Meet Up, “Art in Photography,” entitled, Watch Your Back. Now 83, he now aims a G10 due to a stroke suffered five years ago. Energetic and poised, he hasn’t lost his love for images or his desire to educate photographers that they are artists whose work is worth protecting, even if they aren’t professionals. Trained as an attorney who made a living at litigating and shooting, he is uniquely qualified to speak on the interstices of art and law.
This being his first visit to Burlintgon, everything attracted his attention. Aware no train service serves the Queen City and hailing from a subway driven metro area, he shot a freight train from in front of the antique store on Flynn Avenue.
Seen here in front of his the Dark Room Gallery where he would deliver his talk, he posed with one of his pictures, Polka Dot Woman, that hung during a recent Photo Space Juried photo competition. Ken Signorello, director of the Gallery and the event coordinator for the lecture stands behind the image.
27 people showed up to hear him, despite snow and sleet. “The copyright law is in the Constitution….Make sure to put your copyright on your works. Your rights accrue when you create the image. Protect them.” He gave examples of clauses to put in contracts when selling rights to the images…. Be aware of all the social networking possibilities.” “You need to get a release if you are going to use the image for trade or commerce.” More time was needed, but he covered a lot in a clear, concise, understandable way.
He had the floor. So, after talking about copyright and the rights of street photographers to shoot, unimpeded in public areas, he showed some of his works. Here, he discusses dueling toilets he discovered in the lavatory at a Court Street Law Office in Brooklyn. “I’d seen toilets next to one another in the army without anything between them; … but here, I picture the lawyer and the secretary facing one another, one talking and the other pen in hand.”
The next morning, Ken and Len share thoughts about the previous nights event. They look happy, because the message was delivered so generously and in good humor. Very well received, if you look at their faces.
A pure tourist, he visited Middlebury, Addison County to experience rural VT. He looked at cows, a covered bridge, an abandoned house (not that all unfamiliar to a New Yorker), and lunched near the angry Otter Creek.
Before returning to the Big Apple, Len examined an old Russian Camera that Dan Scott bought on E-Bay. They discussed film, 120 film.