Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged african violet, artificial light, flowers, Inspiration, nature, Photography, plants on January 6, 2014| 6 Comments »
I have been photographing this African Violet since at least 2010. This past year, the plant grew spectacularly well. Mostly because I tucked it into a corner and let it be. Now at the start of this first full week of 2014, I photograph the plant again. It is an overcast day which is all the inspiration needed to pull out flashlights and let the artificial light play upon iridescent petals and leaves.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Inspiration, light, nature, Photography, snow, winter on January 3, 2014| 6 Comments »
Just a few images from around the house this morning.
As soon as I pull together all of the various layers — and there will be many — out into the snow I will go.
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Music, Nature Notes, tagged art, azul, cello, Inspiration, music, New York Philharmonic, Osvaldo Golijov, Photography, Yo Yo Ma on January 2, 2014| 1 Comment »
On New Year’s Eve, I chanced upon the PBS broadcast of Yo Yo Ma performing Azul with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. I felt frozen listening to the musicians and enraptured by the passion on Yo Yo Ma’s face. Later I learned in this program note of composer Osvaldo Golijov’s desire in developing this recently commissioned work for cello and orchestra to “recapture for the present that ability of the late Baroque composers to suspend time without stopping motion in their music …” A complicated piece to say the least. Time felt suspended for me on occasion. When you have a chance, give a listen and see what you experience. This link will take you to an actual video of the New York Philharmonic performance (Azul can be accessed at 14:33) or you can listen via the following Youtube video.
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Belle Isle Marsh, Happy New Year, Inspiration, landscape, light, nature, nature photography, Photography, Revere on December 31, 2013| 8 Comments »
Thanks for viewing this blog and all of your wonderful comments. Best wishes to you and yours this day, and may you have a Happy New Year filled with brightness.
Posted in Inspiration, tagged Inspiration, life, musings, New York Times, Photography, reflections, storytelling, travels on December 30, 2013| 3 Comments »
Here I am in 1996 standing by a creek in Missoula, Montana. At the time I worked with a Boston-based nonprofit conducting sustainability-themed workshops for universities. For a number of years, I was able to travel around the country interacting with people of all ages and cultures. I was able to view landscapes like this that I’d read about but wasn’t sure I’d ever see in person. Few photographs did I take but I loved to tell stories of the places I’d visited with family and friends, in letters and by phone. In 2014, I hope to do more writing and storytelling about people and places and be more strategic with my photography. Meanwhile, as the year wraps up, here is a link to one of the most moving sets of images on the web — The New York Times 2013 Year in Pictures — and a page of wonderfully orchestrated New York Times Op-Docs.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged fruit, Inspiration, lemons, Photography on December 30, 2013| 2 Comments »
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Belle Isle Marsh, ice, Inspiration, landscape, light, nature, Photography, Revere, water on December 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »
As I post this picture taken yesterday of ice on a Belle Isle trail, I look out the kitchen window and view light dancing upon water. Not river or pond water but water pooling upon asphalt. Heavy rains in New England at the moment, and the light that shines down is street and car lights. Red, gold, green. In this photo, the sun was setting and illuminating wonderful patterns at my feet of water cradling rocks and broken glass and bits of grass.
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged animals, Belle Isle Marsh, birds, Inspiration, kindness, nature, nature photography, owls, Photography, Revere, snowy owls on December 28, 2013| 16 Comments »
It was to be a short walk in the Belle Isle Marsh. I expected to capture sunlight on branches. The snowy owl in a tree was quite the surprise. Thanks to a kind stranger who pointed out the white spot and even let people borrow his binoculars for a better look.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beach, Christmas, Inspiration, landscape, nature, Photography, Revere Beach, walking, winter on December 26, 2013| 4 Comments »
After eating all of that bread mentioned in the previous post, let alone all of the other holiday goodies, a walk was necessary. We chose a favorite spot, Revere Beach. No snow upon the ground, but it was cold as evidenced by the water frozen in shells upon the shore. A bright sun illuminated everything even if it did not warm.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged baking, bread, cheese, cheese bread, cooking, food, food photography, Inspiration, Photography, recipes on December 26, 2013| 4 Comments »
I’ve written about this bread before (please see here). This time I managed to photograph the end result before consuming all the crumbs.
I’ve been asked for his recipe. He says that he simply plays with the basic Cheese Bread recipe found on page 749 of The Joy of Cooking (1997 ed.). He never uses the same selection of cheese or herbs twice. Mostly it all depends on what’s in the refrigerator or around the kitchen on a given day. This particular holiday loaf had a lot of Parmesan, black pepper and rosemary. Maybe some Cheddar and Gruyere? Well, at least, he keeps track of his culinary revisions on an increasingly smudgy index card.
Words + Images 