View 40: Lost that Lovin’ Feeling

Top Gun Serenade

Weddings are fun to photograph especially when I am only a guest and free to roam without having to worry about what I need to capture for my clients. This past weekend I attended the wedding of my cousin’s son seen here serenading his bride with The Righteous Brothers’ Lost that Lovin’ Feeling a la Top Gun. Since both my cousin and his son are Air Force, it was a fun and fitting song with many of the guys in attendance joining in. Thankfully, the DJ did this karaoke style. Oh, yeah, my cousin, a former F16 fighter jet pilot, is next to his son getting into the song. Way to go guys!

Goodbye to Our Friends

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”

– Anatole France

Over the last 18 months, my family has lost three beloved members. It doesn’t matter these members were not human. A horse, rabbit and cat we called Slick, Bob and Marm (or to some, Freddie) spent years living with or near us.

We got Slick, registered name PF Centari, in 1996, for my youngest daughter to ride and compete in Arabian horse shows. He was 1/2 Arabian, 1/2 National Show Horse and knew it. While he could sometimes give my daughter fits in training and the practice ring, it was in the show ring he shined. He knew he was on stage and let all who watched know it, too. Proudly lifting his feet and changing gaits on command…well, most of the time. Neck positioned in the lovely Arabian curve. My daughter and him made quite a team for years.

A few years later, my eldest daughter (I only have two), and I went to a cat show in Syracuse. She roamed and enjoyed visiting with all the cats but kept going back to this one little orange and white kitten. The breeder let her hold her for a bit and I could see she was in love. The kitten was too young to leave but I made arrangements to bring her home as soon as she was. My daughter named her Mamalade and the breeder’s wife thought Blaze was also a good name because of her very white face and breast. That name stuck as well and she was registered Marmalade Blaze of Big Tree Cattery. She is a Main Coon cat who grew to a large size and liked to crawl on top of you to prove it. For years she was my morning companion as I went about my routine. I’m sure I entertained her as much as she did me.

Bob the Bunny joined us last a year after Marm and lived in our cellar mostly but came up to visit once in awhile and never missed a Christmas opening up his stocking gifts with the help of my daughters. Marm and Bob were a bit leery of each other.

These animals, our pets, gave us love and companionship for years and will always be loved and remembered in our memories. Slick left us in 2007, Bob in June this year and Marmalade just two days ago. May their spirits be free of pain and joyous romps over rainbows bridge.

Mamalade’s owner shares memories of her “Baby Girl”.

View 39: Musical Potential

A circle of clarinets of the Syracuse University Marching Band.

Before each home football game at Syracuse University, the Marching Band puts on a show on the SU Quad. While the drummers where performing, the clarinetists placed their instruments into a circle.

Syracuse University Marching Band Clarinetists wait for their time to perform.

A drummer for the Syracuse University Marching Band enjoying performing for the audience.

The Syracuse University Marching Band in front of Hendricks Chapel.

View 38: The Express

Statue tribute to Ernie Davis was unveiled on the Syracuse University campus on Saturday, September 13, 2008.

I attended the Penn State/Syracuse University football game last Saturday. Got up to the SU Quad early to watch the unveiling of the statue to honor the memory of the great Ernie Davis, the first African-American college player to win the Heisman Trophy as college football’s best player in 1961. Syracuse University’s Chancellor, Nancy Cantor, announced a new student dorm will be called Ernie Davis Hall and have a state-of-the-art recreation center for all students to enjoy.

Another honor to Ernie Davis will be released by Universal Studios in the United States on October 10, 2008, in a movie depicting Ernie Davis’ life called The Express. Other past famous SU players who wore the Number 44 jersey, Jim Brown and Floyd Little, were in Syracuse where the movie premiered last Friday night along with actors, Rob Brown (who played the adult Ernie Davis) and Dennis Quaid (who played SU coach Ben Schwartzwalder). Below are some more images I photographed during the cermony.

The Ernie Davis statue just seconds after it's unveiling.

Dennis Quaid, who plays Coach Ben Schwartzwalder in the movie, The Express, looks back at the Ernie Davis statue while addressing the audience.

Closeup of the Ernie Davis statue by Bruno Lucchesi.

If you have the chance to be up to the Syracuse University campus, the Ernie Davis statue is next to the walkway between The Quad and the Carrier Dome.

Out in the Rain

“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining,
is to let it rain.”

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American poet, 1807-1882)

Rain on Leaf

It was raining last Saturday. It wasn’t supposed to. The Friday night weather guy said we’d be between Hurricane Hanna and a front coming in from the west giving us a dry day. Well, Hanna decided to come a little farther east then expected and central New York was treated with some tropical weather which was wet and very humid.

I was spending the day reading through some WordPress blogs and came upon a fellow photographer who had gone out and taken a picture of a leaf covered in raindrops. Seems it had been raining for days where he lived and decided to get out in the rain instead of waiting for it to stop.

I left him a comment about how I should do the same instead of complaining. So, I did!

I put on my favorite lens, the Nikon 18-200 VR Zoom, which gives me the ability to hand hold the camera at slower shutter speeds and still get sharp images. I even put my camera in manual mode since I was not in any hurry. The results you see here which was taken at 1/125s, f/5.6 and 135mm focal length. As this lens is not a macro, I had to move back a ways to get a good focus. This was taken at midday and the overcast sky acted like a huge softbox giving off very even lighting on this leaf. Using the lens wide open at f/5.6 for this focal length gave nice bokeh (the out of focus background).

The randomness of the raindrops is juxtaposed onto the symmetry of the leaf’s veins which gather the food the leaf’s cells make from the sun’s energy. Powering life here on Earth.

View 37: Celtic Rock

Enjoyed an evening of Celtic music at the annual Syracuse Irish Festival over the weekend. There was traditional Irish food, beer, dance and vendors on the grounds and traditional stage. On the Main Stage, they featured some Celtic rock bands which update traditional Celtic and Irish songs and their own compositions using bagpipes, flutes, drums and violins and mix in keyboards, bass and electric guitars. The sound is something that needs to be experienced. I first came in contact with this music at Walt Disney World where a group called Off Kilter performs many shows a week in Epcot.

Rathkeltair was first artist to perform in the evening. They liked to mix in some old rock songs with their compositions.

Members of Rathkeltair; Peter Kimosh, Trevor Tanner, Neil Anderson & Ashley Macleod

Click here for a video of Rathkeltair in concert!

The Elders performed a little later in the evening giving the crowd some time to enjoy more good food and beverages. They put on a great show. Though older in age, they were full of energy lead by their lead vocal and percussionists, Ian Byrne, a true Irishman in spirit and song.

Members of The Elders; Steve Phillips, Ian Byrne & Brent Hoad

Click here for a video of The Elders in concert!

I encourage you to check out the band’s websites and sample their performances on youTube. All their music is available on iTunes and CDs on Amazon.

View 36: Fair People

Some Interesting People at the New York State Fair

I’d like to introduce you to some of the people I came across during this year’s New York State Fair. Starting from the upper left and going clockwise…

Fred posing with his likeness, Flapjack Freddy, at the Grange Restaurant. I’ve been going to this restaurant for breakfast at the Fair for years now. I was taking photos of Flapjack Freddy when one of the workers asked if I’d like Fred in the picture. I enthusiastically said, “Yes!”. Fred has a great smile, doesn’t he?

I watched a presentation in the Iroquois Village one evening where they explain and demonstrate their traditional dances on the Turtle Mound stage. The 4-year-old girl is doing the “Smoke Dance” and is last’s years champion in her age group.

There was a new Live Horror House at the Fair this year. It was located outside the Cow Barn and had a crowd around it with it’s huge monster animated figure and a living robot I call The Count. HIs makeup and movements were eerie. He looked familiar though. Like an English Chap living robot I’ve seen at another Fair restaurant over the last couple of years.

Hey, ever wanted to be in the audience of an Infomercial? At the Center of Progress building there’s people selling stuff from super mops to remote controlled toy flying helicopters. The super chamois you see this women demonstrating was a big seller this year. Saw many Fair goers with bags containing three of the chamois’.

At the Raptor Project tent, people can have their picture taken with one of the hawks, owls or falcons. This little girl was having hers with the American Kestrel.

I took in the Wheelchair Baskteball game between the Syracuse Flyers and the Sitrin S.T.A.R.S at the court in front of the Coliseum. Jimmy Joesph played the entire game and had a great time. Always smiling and laughing while playing hard. It helped that his team won by three points!