Saturday, November 30, 2013

Day 334 — Furrowed Brow

It's the last day of November and here I sit plowing my furrowed brow for ideas for the last month of this blog — calling upon my inner Breton or Duchamp. Stay tuned!

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/60, f4, ISO 640


Friday, November 29, 2013

Day 333 — Motley Bouquet

The lilies are finally in the trash, but not before one last shot.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/320, f3.2, ISO 400

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Day 332 — Thanksgiving Snake

Another pot by a member of the Martinez dynasty of potters. It features a serpent. Avanyu is the horned water serpent which is interpreted as the first rush of water coming down an arroyo after a thunderstorm, a symbol of thanksgiving for water and rain. The avanyu became a common motif throughout the Southwest. This pot was made by Maria Martinez's great grandson Marvin and his wife, Frances. This style of black-on-black ware from the pueblo of San Ildefonso is often made by two people; one to coil the pot and burnish it to a high gloss finish and the other to specialize in decorating the piece with a contrasting matt slip before a heavy reduction firing. Happy Thanksgiving!

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/160, f8, ISO 100

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Day 331 — Haute Couture

When I look closely at flowers I'm reminded where fashion designers get their inspiration. This resembles an extravagant collar on a classic dress.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/160, f11, ISO 100


Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Day 330 — Ceci n'est pas un vase

A small homage to our great leader Marcel Duchamp. In my work you'll find many art references, particularly to Dada and Surrealism. Dada was my favorite subject at art college and I produce a website called Exquisite Corpse. It was my first entree to the machinations creating a webpage. Hmm, I just took a look at it and I see it could use some revamping. Nevertheless, it gets hundreds of hits each day from around the globe when young art students search for information about the Dadaists. You can also download a free pdf of André Breton's Manifesto of Surrealism. By the way, I am very pleased with this image today.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/160, f8, ISO 100


Monday, November 25, 2013

Day 329 — Last Gasp!

In the tradition of the flower desiccation series appearing on Days 106, 108, 137, 234 and 271, here is this lily's last gasp.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/500, f8, ISO 100

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Day 328 — Vase de Fleurs

Not entirely sure what produced the glow at the bottom of the vase, but I like the combined effect of the convergence of refractions and shadows in this photo.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/320, f8, ISO 100

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Day 327 — Knuckleheads

Another hand shot with less recognizable reference points. Here the knuckles of both my hands are butted together; head-to-head. I love the abstraction of this shot.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/40, f3.5, ISO 100, + screw on closeup filter

Friday, November 22, 2013

Day 326 — Landscape

Playing with my hands.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/20, f8, ISO 100

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Day 325 — Lily Lily Lily Lily, Stay

The title is a line from the song "Lily" by Pink Martini that was playing as I shot this, so the saga of the long dead lilies continues. We've had rain the past few days so I sat them on the balcony in this shot. Dry dead lilies sapping up drops of moisture.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/200, f4.5, ISO 100

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Day 324 — Float

I am making good use of the perfect division between black and white that I discovered with the sideboard picture I took on Day 314. I laid the mask on it's side for this shot and then rearranged it to vertical for the final image. The extremely shallow depth of field floats this mask high above the background.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/250, f1.4, ISO 400

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Day 323 — Thunder Thighs

I admire the human element that these candle holders project. I found these at Target a few decades ago when famous designers were consigned to make inexpensive unique products for the company. These gems were designed by Michael Graves of Alessi renown. They have opaque glass shades, but I preferred the human-like attributes of their bare bodies for this shot.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/80, f3.2, ISO 400

Monday, November 18, 2013

Day 322 — Dehydration

The slow transformation of these flowers is quite beautiful to witness.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/160, f8, ISO 100



Sunday, November 17, 2013

Day 321 — Playing with the Dead

Two lilies head to head. Coincidentally I am listening to Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/160, f11, ISO 100


Saturday, November 16, 2013

Day 320 — Brother Redland Spots

This wacky hybrid phalaenopsis sports spots that appear out of focus, like ink on a blotter.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/400, f8, ISO 100

Friday, November 15, 2013

Day 319 — I Spoke Too Soon

I found another lily to photograph among the bunch of aging stems. I especially love the strong overarching curve featured in this bloom. I find that flowers have varying personalities even within one variety. The soft lighting of this shot is the result of a very cloudy day.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/125, f3.2, ISO 100


Thursday, November 14, 2013

Day 318 — Last of the Lilies

They gave their all for about a week, but now the lilies are beginning to brown on the edges. This is the last one of the bunch in pristine condition.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/125, f3.2, ISO 100


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Day 317 — Elegance

This was taken in the same place as Day 314, I used the sideboard and wall to create a black and white background to 'pop' the lily.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/250, f10, ISO 100


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Day 316 — Bulb Bake

This is how I prepare a garlic bulb for roasting in the oven. After half an hour of roasting the cloves easily squeeze out their buttery goodness for spreading on toast. As I type this the kitchen is filled with the intense aroma of garlic.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/60, f5, ISO 400

Monday, November 11, 2013

Day 315 — Arums

Robust arum lily stems arch elegantly upward in this simple composition.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/160, f8, ISO 400

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Day 314 — Where the Sideboard Meets the Wall

At first glance this shot looks absurdly minimalist but it actually has a lot of detail throughout with the contrasting textures of the woodgrain sideboard and the paint finish on the wall.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/200, f10, ISO 100

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Day 313 — Egg Carton

The right light can make anything look interesting, I guess...

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/500, f6.3, ISO 100

Friday, November 8, 2013

Day 312 — Crystal Ball

This is the sculpture that was used to create the shadow shot yesterday. Bruce Beasley (sculptor) worked in cast acrylic for ten years. In 1974, members of the undersea research community approached Beasley to see if he could adapt his technique to cast transparent bathyspheres for undersea exploration. He succeeded in creating the bathyspheres for Johnson Sea Link submersibles for Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. It was these submersibles that were deployed to locate the crew compartment on the bottom of the ocean after the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated upon liftoff in 1986. — That tidbit courtesy of Wikipedia.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/800, f6.3, ISO 100

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Day 311 — Infinity and Beyond

The news this week is filled with discussion of the UC Berkeley study which claims there are more inhabitable planets in the galaxy that we ever allowed ourselves to believe. This prompted me to grab an unusual sculpture by Bruce Beasley (Californian Abstract Expressionist sculptor) who was fascinated by the esthetics of transparency and acrylic spheres. 

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/250, f4, ISO 100

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Day 310 — Angles and Planes

The African mask plant in shadow with the contrasting plane of the coffee table in the foreground.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/200, f7.1, ISO 100

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Day 309 — Room to View

View with a view. These birds seem to be flying into their frame in this odd arrangement of shadows and forms.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 18-200mm) 1/250, f8, ISO 100, 18mm

Monday, November 4, 2013

Day 308 — Photo Bomb

Originally, I was going to only photograph the shadow of the African mask leaf, but as I pulled back the leaf itself came into view and rather than reposition the plant or camera to negate the intrusion, I allowed the leaf to peek into the composition.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 18-200mm) 1/200, f7.1, ISO 100

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Day 307 — Wrong Side of the Bed

My partner is away at the moment and by chance I literally awoke on the wrong side of the bed this morning and immediately became captivated by the curve and light of the ceiling against the wall. I grabbed the camera and this is the result.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 18-200mm) 1/40, f3.5, ISO 100, 18mm

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Day 306 — Dia de los Muertos

Although this is an inexpensive glass skull (actually a mere tea light candle holder), it evokes the legendary crystal skulls of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. I love the imagery inherent in Day of the Dead celebrations which is evident all across the Mission District in San Francisco today.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 50mm, 1.4) 1/320, f1.8, ISO 100

Friday, November 1, 2013

Day 305 — Tamarind

This striking vase by Jonathan Adler has bold feminine proportions and is called Tamarind.

Nikon D7000 (Nikkor 18-200mm) 1/350, f5.3, ISO 100, 105mm