20
Dec
2009
Churchill & New York City
What a truly random combination of work, but it’s what I have to discuss right now!
As I prepare to prepare (yes, I’m that far behind) for my trip to Ireland, I’m doing my best to finish editing my NYC photos. It’s a fair bet, however, that while I may post them in my gallery on my website, nothing new is going to make its way to my prints until I’m back.
I encourage you all to take a look at the NYC photos I’ve posted thus far and will likely add to in the next week (so check back).
Mark Tisdale – Sept 2009 in NYC Gallery
There’s already some photos in there of which I’m very proud. And as is often the fact, I look at them and ponder when I might make it back to explore more of what I saw. Not tomorrow by any stretch, but someday I expect.
Lady Liberty Lifts Her Light
Knowing my sometime predictable luck, it should be no surprise that the boat ride on my first day in New York was as close as I ever got to the famous Statue of Liberty. Bad weather the morning I intended on visiting left this my best view, but it was not bad at all. The statue is a true treasure, and my photos that day gave me an excuse to do something a little more artistic, creating this many layered image to resemble an old color postcard.
New York Rhythm
This is one image I was quite taken with. It does require a small amount of explanation, though. I am quite near sighted and have an astigmatism. I would not get far in the world without my glasses. I was on a night tour of the city and took my glasses off for a second and glanced down a side street. This is more or less what I saw. And I loved the view, the city boiled down to its chaotic best. Lights without form! It suddenly occurred to me that I could reproduce this for my camera by putting it out of focus. So, you can see the world as I saw it. I played with this off and on the rest of the evening, and may post more but this first try was my favorite.
And now that you’ve seen some New York City, I can jump to Winston Churchill, because the connection is obvious isn’t it? Maybe you don’t know that the iconic prime minister of the United Kingdom, in fact, had American ties? His mother was born in Rochester, New York, and was raised in Brooklyn and New York City. So yes, there is a connection between New York and the famous British Bulldog. However, truth be told, there’s a different reason I’m posting this one. A couple of days ago, I was contacted by a would be buyer who really liked my photo of the statue of Winston Churchill silhouetted in front of London’s Big Ben. However, she had a special request that I fulfilled.
She wanted me to include the Churchill quotation that I have always included with the description of this piece on the print itself. And I think it was an excellent request! I’m really happy with the result and wanted to share it. I think it definitely helps anchor and explain the image and it was almost as if I left that massive base just for this purpose. I wish I could have been that forward thinking! Anyway, here’s hoping she enjoys it when she receives it!
28
Oct
2009
Harvest Haul
Ah, time for a bit of a catch up post!
First off, my book Egyptian Dreams, which you may recall is available through Blurb, is entered in a contest at Blurb. I would MUCH appreciate if you could take a few moments to go and vote for it if you have not already done so!
For those who have already voted, thank you so much! For those who haven’t yet, there’s less than 2 weeks, what are you waiting for!?
As long as I’m shamelessly self promoting, I felt like I should point out that there’s currently a special running at Zazzle, another online Print on Demand shop where I host some of my work. It runs through 10/31 and is appropriately 10.31% off any purchase. So, a great time to start or finish your Christmas shopping and save some money on the way. To take advantage of this special, enter the code TRICKORTREAT
at checkout. Here’s all the lovely tiny print for the offer.
* 10.31% of the net sale price will be deducted when the coupon code TRICKORTREAT is applied at checkout. For most products, the net sale price is the price of the product (excluding shipping and taxes). For Zazzle Custom Stamps, the net sale price is the difference between the price of the Zazzle Custom Stamps (excluding shipping and taxes) and the face value of the postage. Offer is valid from October 19, 2009 at 12:01am PT through October 31, 2009 at 11:59pm PT. This promotional offer may not combine with any other Zazzle promotional or discount offers.
A little less self-promotion but partially so is reminding everyone that this weekend is Montezuma’s annual Fall Festival, known as the Beaver Creek Festival. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather because I’m told that the 15th annual festival should be a good one! And I will have a booth there – that’s all my self promotion for one post! Here’s a quote from one of the organizers about what to expect this year.
There will be GREAT children’s games, yummy food, cool art, excellent musicians, and worthwhile prizes! Don’t forget the Duck Doodle: $300 would come in handy for Christmas Shopping!
Okay, now for a few photos! I completed editing and uploading photos from my brief stop in Savannah last month. I still have to work on the NYC photos, but at least some progress. Savannah was beautiful and I hope you’ll all enjoy some photos!
Savannah River Sunrise
From my first morning in Savannah, Sunrise on the River near Battery Hamilton. It was a bit subdued by the clouds but pretty nonetheless!
Tybee Light at Dawn
Tybee light was beautiful in the morning and I love the cottage that the lighthouse keeper lived in back in the day. It’s been restored inside. All in all a very well kept monument to the history of the area.
East River Street
I didn’t get a lot of photos of the town itself. Spent so much time out on the coast or on the bus that I never really explored like I’d like to, but this photo from East River Street gives you a bit of a feel.
Cathedral of St. John The Baptist
Savannah’s lovely cathedral – simply gorgeous – be sure to check out the gallery for some interior shots as well!
Moon River
The natural beauty near Savannah actually inspired several Panorama shots. It’s hard to pick just one to show here, but this is Moon River near dusk and the colors were very special!
Angels of Bonaventure
In case you’re unaware the statue on the front of the book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, was photographed in Bonaventure. Not the oldest cemetery in Savannah but a lovely one! The statue from the book had to be moved to protect it but there’s still some incredible statuary there!
Sunset Sea
My last evening in Savannah was back out to Tybee Island where I enjoyed strolling the beach. It was a subdued sky with a lot of clouds, but the colors and light was still pretty perfect. The above is a long exposure shot. I’ll pick one more, but I hope you’ll go check them all out. It’s hard for me to pick out my own favorites never mind yours!
Tybee Blue
One of the last from that evening on Tybee, the sun had sunk down and twilight was almost a solid cast of blue from the sky to the reflecting water on the beach.
For more of Savannah, check out the Savannah gallery.
20
Sep
2009
Atlanta Icons – Let’s Eat
Once upon a time, I started a series of photographs of what I thought were Atlanta’s iconic places. I was inspired because I had been traveling and kept coming back with what I though (hoped) were icons of the cities I visited. And until the recent idea of staycations, it wasn’t so common that people took the time to visit the things in their own backyards. My energy for the series eventually waned and unless I move back to Atlanta one day, it may be done, but I’m still proud of the images I did for this series! There’s no doubt that there are iconic places absent, but I think I hit some of the highlights (some more than once).
What'll Ya Have?
Without a doubt, my most popular print from the series is this of the sign for Atlanta’s Varsity Restaurant. This striking sign is visible from the I-75/85 Connector that bisects Atlanta’s downtown. The original Varsity (it’s now a chain) was opened by Frank Gordy in 1928 to serve students at nearby Georgia Tech. It eventually became the world’s largest drive in restaurant at more than two acres in size! If you go inside ot order, the inside is a bit of a madhouse as the cashiers are all yelling “what’ll ya have, what’ll ya have?”
This photo won an award for Best Use Of Color in the 2006 Atlanta Celebrates Photography’s annual competition – the theme for that year was “My Atlanta.” It was a perfect marriage of their theme and the series I had just started.
The Big Chicken
Next on the menu, one of the best known landmarks in Atlanta’s suburb of Marietta is The Big Chicken. Directions around Marietta tend to include the relative location of your destination as compared to the Big Chicken. For instance, turn right at the Big Chicken, or 1 mile north of the Big Chicken, etc. The Big Chicken came into being as the signage above Johnny Reb’s Chick, Chuck and Shake restaurant in 1963. It features a moving beak and rolling eyes. In 1974, it was bought out by KFC and despite one time thoughts of moving it, the public uproar quelled that idea and the Big Chicken seems to be there to stay. This photo was processed to appear like a vintage Polaroid image. I felt the vivid colors from the afternoon sun fit this take on Marietta’s Big Chicken.
Open Wide
Atlanta’s oldest bohemian neighborhood is Little Five Points where Moreland Avenue meets Euclid. When I moved to Atlanta, it was a place I had to see, and it’s a wonderful place for people watching. One of many colorful restaurants is the Vortex, which makes a mean hamburger and one of the few places I would rarely think of getting a plain jane burger. The main entrance to the Vortex in L5P is the mouth of a giant Skull. It’s truly one of the most unsforgettable sights on Moreland. This ismage captures the feeling of entering the skull.
For more of Atlanta’s Icons and images from around the states, please check out my Urban America Prints.
25
Aug
2009
Stonehenge On The Plains
On my last trip to the UK, there was some repeat stops. Since this was my 5th visit to Britain, this should not be a surprise, however. The truth was, that my last visit to Stonehenge had been over 4 years earlier and before I bought a digital SLR and truly got into photography seriously, so it was time to return.
Ancient Plains
The second time through, I skipped the audio tour. They may well have updated it in the past four years, but I really just wanted to wander around and take photos and enjoy the view in relative silence. Unfortunately, a large road is nearby, which somewhat kills the feeling of those still plains that must have once existed, but it’s still an incredible place to visit. The skies shifted a lot during our time there as clouds rapidly passed by and the light (when there was any light) was special.
Round The Henge
The day we visited, I noticed that a professor I’d seen on the history channel, Mike Parker Pearson, was filming a piece on Stonehenge. The professor has put forth one of the newest theories on the purpose of Stonehenge. He believed that there would be a second site near Stonehenge and discovered a wooden contemporary village down a nearby river. He put forth the idea that the wooden village was occupied primarily at the spring and fall equinoxes and that on those days, the people who built Stonehenge visited it to celebrate and to mourn the fallen whose cremated remains where left behind here. It makes logical sense for a people who were far more tied to the seasons than most of us are today. But you have to wonder if we will ever really know the minds of the people who built this place 5,000 years ago.
Ruins Of The Lost
A last view of this incredible ancient monument to a lost people. I’ve been twice and although I would love to see more of these ancient stone age sites, I would gladly visit Stonehenge again. I’d love to get the chance to visit on an Equinox and see what the ancients saw. Sadly, I’ve heard from more than one person that Stonehenge was a disappointment. It failed to live up to their expectations! I find it hard to believe, but it’s not as large as some people think it is, and for understandable reasons, you are not allowed close to the stones anymore. Still, try to imagine building something like this yourself with nothing but stone tools, creativity and ingenuity! I know I wouldn’t know where to begin designing it never mind erecting it! You absolutely have to put a site like this into context when you visit it.
For more prints from around Great Britain, please check out my Britain Print Gallery.
23
Aug
2009
Red Sea Camp
An amazing part of our trip was two days relaxing on the Red Sea at the Sawa Camp near Nuweiba.
Sinai Sunrise
We literally stayed in straw huts a few steps from the waters. Here you can see an early morning shot of the beach and huts with a mountain range as a backdrop. After over a week of being on the move, this was a great place to just relax. Some in the group went scuba diving and their was a wealth of options like that, but this was my chill place. Just looking at this photos puts me back into that same state relaxed state of mind. Check out the clouds streaking the sky with pinks and blues!
Red Sea Sunset
And this is a colorful photo of the sunset. The mountains you can just see silhouetted on the left side of the photo is Saudi Arabia. This was taken with a neutral density lens so that it was a long exposure – this is what creates that soft feel to the water and really gave the camera time to soak up some of that rich color. If it looks like paradise, it’s because it was the next thing to it. Amazing stark contrast, though, a beach location and yet so dry. There’s very little rainfall and the water to this little community on the beach has to be brought in by truck. Still worth it for a view like this…
For more of my photo prints from Egypt, please check out my Egypt gallery.
