Enjoying the Boston Weather

Boston, MA 112011 Today was one of those rare warm November days in New England so I was assigned to look for "weather art." This means find someone or something which visually illustrates the kind of day Bostonians were experiencing. BEHIND THE SCENES: When you've been as a photographer for a while you develop a mental check list of places you can go visit for specific situations. The Esplanade along the Charles River, which divides the cities of Boston and Cambridge, is usually a sure thing. And my instincts didn't fail me this time either. At first I photographed runners, and bicyclists and then people with their dogs called my attention but I finally knew I had it when I saw this woman setting up a "slack line" in between two trees. I've seen these daredevils of the "low-altitude wire" do their thing before and I knew it was only a matter of waiting for moments to start occurring. The woman turned out to be the founder of the Boston Slack Line Club and she was quite adroit at this activity. Then as passersby would stop by to watch she'd asked them if they wanted to try and a great number did try indeed. The girl being guided by her dad and the slack-line expert made for a great moment. I just threw the dog jumping as a way of showing my attempt on how to photograph the mundane in an interesting manner. In this case I used a telephoto, I made sure my subjects were backlit and I waited for a moment: dog jumping. TECH STUFF: 2 cameras: a MarkIII and a MarkIV, two lenses: a 16-35mm 2.8 and a 300mm 2.8 with a 1.4TC. ISO: 200-400, speed 1/250th of a second to 1/3200th of a second. Aperture: 2.8- 22

First of many: A La Carte Photo Journeys/ Cuba 2011

Havana, Cuba 10/27- 10/30/11 I recently had the privilege of accompanying four Canadians to Cuba on a photographic journey. I was their mentor on site. I've never posted so many photos at once but Cuba is Cuba and it deserves these many and more. Keeping to my style of shooting I followed my journalistic compass and simply allowed life to pass in front of my lens as I documented the scenes. I went for the ordinary and not the exceptions. From the beautiful Capitolio building being bathed by the rising sun rays to the man about to step into a puddle after an afternoon thunderstorm. Everywhere you look in Cuba, time seems to have stood still as colors explode, people mill about, and the texture of life beckons the eye. TECH STUFF: two cameras a Nikon D-3 and a Nikon D-3s, two lenses: 70- 200mm 2.8 with a 1.4TC, ISO:100-640