On Safari – Cheetah

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cheetah-1

As far as I can remember this was taken late in 1999. We (myself, my wife, two daughters and my mother in law) were in Kenya for a wedding, but before it took place we went on safari to the Masai Mara. This is where this picture was taken, most likely with a Canon AE-1 and I think a Vivitar 70-210 mm lens.

While there we were able to see most of the wildlife: Giraffes, Elephants, Cheetah (such as the one above); Wildebeast, Buffalo, Antelopes of all kinds, Zebra, Baboons, Hyenas etc. We were also lucky enough to see a rhino, which were told were quite uncommon. The only animal we didn’t see was a leopard, which was for me a shame because I’ve always loved leopards. Apparently they’re quite solitary animals and not easy to spot.

We had a great time. I’d love to go again.

Reclining Woman

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recliningwoman

Taken sometime in the late 1970s to early 1980s. I don’t remember which camera I was using. Nor do I remember what film I used other than that it was some kind of slide film.

And yes, I know that the white balance is way off. I’d seem some pictures in a book which used a daylight balanced film with tungsten lights and I quite liked the effect so I thought I’d try to emulate it. I also recall that I used some kind of technique (possibly a sheer stocking over the lens) to get the soft focus look.

Online portal at George Eastman House

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According to a November 6, 2016 Shutterbug article:

The famous George Eastman Museum has created a new, public portal where you can view over 250,000 images and other objects from their vast collections. The database is searchable by artist, collection, classification and date, and includes a wealth of photography, cinema, and technology related to imaging.

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The 250,000 objects currently on the site are but a mere fraction of the museum’s collections of several million objects, but additional holdings are being added to the portal weekly.

It’s certainly an impressive undertaking. I briefly browsed through it and there’s a lot to see. Unfortunately they seem have started off with the image metadata, to which they are gradually adding images. I imagine it’s faster to add the metadata than it is to scan all the images. So the end result is that many of the entries indicate that the image is “not available”. For example I searched for Ansel Adams and got 18 pages of results. On the first page there were 24 entries. 18 of them indicated that the image was not available. I’m sure that over time these gaps will be filled.

It’s potentially a great resource.

Peekskill – Crossroads Mural

by Posted in Painting, Things Leave a comment
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According to Mariah Fee:

The mural’s historical narrative of Peekskill was designed and painted after almost two years of research and fundraising by myself and another artist. Assistance came from volunteers; and funding from The Westchester Arts Council, MasterCard, local businesses and the city of Peekskill. The marching figures change in time as they move down the street; from the mid 19th century, through the forties and fifties and into the present day of the farmers market in the mural’s foreground.

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Over a period of four months, volunteers from the city of Peekskill and surrounding towns dedicated themselves to the demanding work of painting…(the) 1500 square foot painting. The surface of the wall was a rough stucco and was punishing to many brushes. A Peekskill girl with braids was spotted one day on the sidewalk and took her place along the other towns people in the mural.