I Call Her Bunny

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Alaska, Boston, Photography, Playboy Bunny, Washington D.C.

A talented, young, aspiring photographer recently asked me, “Jamie, what is your camera’s name?” I smiled and responded, “Her name is Bunny — as in Playboy Bunny because I can’t keep my hands off her.” Since he is only fourteen years old, I don’t think he got the joke. However, his mother, a long-time friend, saw the humor in it.

Of course, she isn’t the first Bunny. Yes, I am a pig because when Bunny gets too old and slow, I trade her in for a new one. The new Bunny even gets the old Bunny’s stuff. No shame.

When I was nineteen years old and living in the Boston area, I purchased my first camera. While serving in the Navy, I owned two other cameras. Unfortunately, I put my photography on the back burner for a few years. However, a few years ago, my passion was reignited.

Yesterday, I read a wonderful post (Photo by Holly) which reminded me of the therapeutic power of photography. It is an escape, it awakens me to the beauty in anything and everything, and it requires me to focus. In order to capture the world around me at a moment’s notice, I usually have my camera with me. When I was younger, I took pictures of everything!

I kept the 35mm negatives and slides from those days, and I have been slowly digitally scanning them.  In an earlier post, Nature is the Art of God, I share some of those early photographs of my youth.

In this post, I thought I would just share an eclectic blend of photographs which I have “snapped” over the years. To see a larger version of the photograph, just click on it.

NOTE: Please, don’t steal my work — see my copyright notice below. If you’d like to use any of my images, send me a message. If you’re a charitable organization or an educational institution, my answer will probably be “yes.” But please, ask me first. Thank you.

Sydney Australia (1992)

Boston Public Garden (1989)

Pennsylvania Corn Field (2010)

Union Station Washington D.C. (2011)

No!!! You can't be closed! Herndon, Virginia (2009)

End of a long day.... My glasses and stirrer must match. I also have Playboy Bunny ice-cube trays.

Sydney Australia (1992)

USS (CV 61) Ranger's last cruise: December 1992. She was decommissioned on 10 July 1993. I took this picture from the USS Independence (CV-62) in the Persian Gulf.

F-14A Tomcat on the USS (CV 62) Independence.

Elms by the Tidal Basin inlet (2011)

West Potomac Park (2011)

Arctic Shithouse, Adak, Alaska (1990). Yes, the winds were so strong you had to tie down any outhouse on the tundra.

Near George Washington University (2011)

Simple Pleasures -- Matching shot glass. 😉

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Nature is the Art of God

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Alaska

When I was 19 years old, I arrived on the tiny island of Adak, Alaska. It was a cold and windy day in December. I remember it took a couple of attempts to land because the wind shears were so strong.

The first few weeks I was overwhelmed by the procedures I had to follow to survive in this harsh environment. I eventually settled into a routine, and work became enjoyable and challenging.

On the other side of the island, small homes were provided to those personnel with families. I befriended a co-worker who routinely invited me into his home. His lovely wife and two children were a pleasant change from life in the barracks, and I spent a lot of time with them. His two-year-old daughter and one-year-old son were so delightful.

Prior to Adak, I was stationed near Boston — this is when I purchased my first camera. While Boston was amazing, Adak was a nature photographer’s dream.

I recently reconnected with my friends and I was amazed to learn their daughter is now 23, and their son is 21 years old. They also have a second son whom I’ve never met. Time sure flies!

Fortunately, I kept my negatives from those days and I scanned in some pictures of the kids and of Adak. I was blessed to have befriended such a lovely family and to have had the opportunity to photograph Adak. In those days of analog cameras, I preferred 35mm slide film in my Canon EOS 620. I eventually replaced my Canon with a Nikon FM2.  Now days, I am a Canon owner again.

It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places on earth. I wanted to share a few quotes and poems which best articulate my feelings about this magnificent place.

Nature is the art of God.
~ Dante Alighieri

To the dull mind nature is leaden; To the illumined mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nature

O Nature! I do not aspire
To be the highest in thy choir, –
To be a meteor in thy sky,
Or comet that may range on high;
Only a zephyr that may blow
Among the reeds by the river low;
Give me thy most privy place
Where to run my airy race.

In some withdrawn, unpublic mead
Let me sigh upon a reed,
Or in the woods, with leafy din,
Whisper the still evening in:
Some still work give me to do, –
Only – be it near to you!

For I’d rather be thy child
And pupil, in the forest wild,
Than be the king of men elsewhere,
And most sovereign slave of care;
To have one moment of thy dawn,
Than share the city’s year forlorn.

~ Henry David Thoreau

Click on the pictures to see a larger version

Low Key Black and White

First of all, I am honored for my previous post “A Black and White World” to have been selected for Freshly Pressed on November 21, 2011. I especially want to thank all of the readers for their kind words and encouragement — it is a wonderful feeling.

I never set out to be “Freshly Pressed” and sadly, I didn’t even know I had been selected. I have been so busy with my day job that I have been neglecting this blog. When I logged in, I was shocked by the number of views and pending comments!

A couple of comments really got me thinking about this passion of mine. Many people noticed that I  identify with patterns and symmetry. That’s probably the engineer in me seeking some comfort in a chaotic world. I was pleased that people could identify with my ideas of tone and contrast.

I prefer low key black and white photography — there is something mysterious about it. A couple of readers mentioned Film Noir. This genre is quite intriguing and “…emphasize[s] cynical attitudes and sexual motivations.”

Before I “show-off” some of my low key black and white creations, I think it is important to distinguish between high key and low key black and white. Here is an example of a high key black and white photograph:

Canon Rebel T1i, 50mm, ISO 100, f/7.1 at 1/400 second. (November 2010)

Here is an example of low key black and white:

Sunrise in Adak Alaska (1990) - Canon EOS 650 on Fuji 400 35mm, digitally scanned negative and blue toner "applied" with Silver Efex Pro.

I have been (slowly) digitizing my creations from the early days. I realized that my taste for black and white, especially low key, is evident.

I was and still am fascinated by silhouettes because they, in my opinion, invoke a sort of mystery. Here is a picture I took aboard the USS Independence (CV 62) from inside the hangar bay during an underway replenishment:

As my skills improved, I noticed I could take photographs more intentionally. In other words, my ability to pre-visualize an image and then take the photograph has improved — instead of just taking a picture and crossing my fingers during post processing. I must admit that it is an iterative process. I usually take several pictures with different settings from different angles.

Here is a picture I took early morning in 2010 of The Sainte Claire in San Jose, California:

And later that morning, this one of St. Joseph’s Cathedral:

However, don’t get me wrong, sometimes something just grabs my eye and I start taking pictures. I often carry my camera when I walk my dog. On this day, a beautiful Harley-Davidson Road King caught my eye. The symmetrical design, tone, and contrast of the engine is simply mesmerizing.