Top Ten Photos 2011 - #1 A Wrap

It has happened three years in a row. The number one picture is the number one picture the moment I take it. Composition, color, light, subject, detail and beauty – it is all in there. I even had a print made to confirm my screen was not lying to me.

I took over three thousand pictures this past year. All of them while on the hunt for the feeling that comes when you know you got it - perfection. I felt that feeling once and this was the result.

I leave 2011 posting my one moment of perfection.

Top Ten Photos 2011 - #2 Look Again

It is true, the older you get the faster life goes by. But in that blur there are moments of perfect clarity. When this picture surfaced I first passed it over and then I came back to it. I came back to it many times. First, it reminded me of a painting. Next, it made me think of a movie frame. Finally, it made my top ten because the mosaic of messages it delivered. I love looking for what is in focus, the moments of perfect clarity.

Top Ten Photos of 2011 - #3 Smize

This is a picture that makes me want to buy something I already own, that’s why it is a top ten photo. I met a commercial photographer this year and he told me that commercial photography (I wrote this down) “reveals the detail and feel of a product to a customer, while advertising photography usually focuses on status and attractions of the product.” Well….this picture may or may not meet his definition, but my sunglasses look hot sitting on a table. They have more status in this photo then when I wear them. I do believe this is the first object picture ever to make my top ten. Congratulations to one of my favorite accessories.

Top Ten Photos of 2011 - #4 Good Morning

I am a morning person. Not only am I a morning person, but I actually love the morning. The quiet calm of any place before things get moving is my time of day. It is a fresh start, the “Once Upon a Time” time of day when any story can be written.

I have seen many 2011 mornings and many sunrises. Each one has made me pause and appreciate another chance to get life right. Each morning has been a vividly colorful reminder that opportunity does arrive by simply taking the next step.

Out for a run in San Francisco’s Chinatown I remember feeling like I had the city to myself. From the middle of the street I got my own dramatic setting worthy any Chinese Opera. It is the possibility of this type of picturesque pause that makes getting out of bed easier.

The gift morning can deliver.

Top Ten Photos of 2011 - #5 Brimmed

Between the light through hat and the roses I knew this picture would make the finals of 2011 the moment I took it. If she was sipping champagne while wearing a hat among the roses, well then this photo would be number one. Instead, this photo gets the fifth spot. I don’t know if I would enjoy gardening, but any activity taking place in a garden is beautiful. And this lady brought fantastic style to a work hat – gotta love her!

Top Ten Photos of 2011 - #6 In Memory

I admire photojournalists tremendously and Jerome Liebling was one of the greats. This picture made my top ten because it reminded me of his work.

I read an article where he said he takes pictures “to show things that people wouldn’t see unless I was showing them.” That idea speaks to me and inspires what I photograph every time I am looking around. Jerome Liebling died this part year, but he is not forgotten.

Top Ten Photos of 2011 - #7 Smile

This flower is smiling. It is happiness in petal form. The color, the sky, the sunshine beaming this image is pictorial happiness. This flower is the Happy dwarf of nature and when I need a positive boost this picture has been the stevia shot I needed. It made my top ten early in the year because its positive message reinforces the lyric “you'll find that life is still worthwhile-If you just smile.”

Top Ten Photos of 2011 - #8 Romance

The New York Botanical Garden is a romantic place every day, but add mist and the pink blossoms of Spring and it’s downright Jane Austen (Matthew Macfadyen is that you?).

This photo is dreamy and I love that quality. Romance is always picturesque
and this photo made my top ten because accidental romance should be shared.

Top 10 Photos of 2011 - #9 – Display

When in a museum you are part of the art, part of the experience, part of the story being told. Art is not the only show on display. Wondering around the MET one afternoon I first noticed the light in the American wing courtyard, but it was my accidental tableau vivant that made this picture memorable.

I go to museums because I want to think. I go to museums to be surrounded by curiosity. I go to museums to be alone. I go to museums to learn something new. I go to museums to get up close. I go to museums to experience something live. I go to museums to feel. I go to museums to explore. I go to museums to be entertained. I go to museums to get educated. I...look at this picture and I can see people doing all of those things.

Top 10 Pictures of 2011 - #10 Identify

Considering how my love life has played out lucky is not usually the word I would pick to describe it, but this year I felt whole heartedly - I am lucky. Lucky, because no one has ever questioned who I love (“why?”…yes…but never who).

This picture made my top 10 because it celebrates the fantastic community of people who saturated my life this year. People, who seek the same privileges I never fully understood I had; the opportunity of marriage; the joy of building a family; the freedom to love in public.

Be who you are – that is easy to type – very hard to do. I am surrounded by people who take the risk to be who they are. Sometimes, it pays off. Often, it does not. No matter, their call for fairness is loud and proud and I am happy to trumpet it.

How do you identify? I never asked myself that question before the Center, but now, I am thankful I ask it every day.

Alan's Alley Video

Thank God, I mean that - thank God. I need to light a candle and do some tithing because there is a higher power. I know this because I discovered Alan's Alley Video today. It may be blasphemes to be rejoicing over a video store, but you wouldn't think that if you were a video junkie, such as myself, who has had to sit by and watch every brick and mortar rental store disappear - one by one - victims of the red envelop.

Don't get me wrong, I am not anti red envelope or streaming. The issue is, I also want the option to brows, in person. I want to wonder around a store judging a book by its cover. I want to discover what I am interested in. I don't always want a formula's suggestions (as correct as they usually are) as to what I might like.

Today, I walked into Alan's and the first thing I noticed was the Bette Davis section. Hello, I am home! There is a wall filled with documentaries and a Benny Hill section, not certain that is necessary, but that's the type of option that would never cross my on-line suggestion list.

The recommendation I got from Kaitlyn, the human I interacted with, was the order I should watch my films in. Yes, she assessed my choices and actually suggested the order I should watch each film (I will take her up on that recommendation). Red envelope is not at that level - yet.

I am thankful that Alan's is alive and when I am in the mood for a movie, but I don't know which movie, I will peruse the shelves and maybe check out the best of Benny Hill.

Double Stuff

What was I really grateful for today? I was grateful for three Double stuff Oreo sandwich cookies. Yes, if I am going to be totally honest about what I was truly, from the tips of my toes, grateful for – the double stuff Oreo sandwich cookie would, oh alright, cookies, would win. Stress eating sometimes feels wonderful. And sometimes, it is worth the trip to the gym to enjoy a classic cookie, at just the moment I needed something to remind me that life is not always moments of mundane stupidity. I would like to be grateful for something lofty, or sophisticated, but….well, I can still taste that chocolate sandwich cookie perfection.

I also need to send a grateful shout-out to the conductor on the Uptown A train at 7:45am. I don’t know his name, but when he wished me, and all my fellow passengers, “a beautiful morning, and a warm and cozy weekend”, he said it with such sincerity that I smiled.

Yes, today I am grateful for three perfectly timed double stuff Oreo sandwich cookies, and the wish for a cozy weekend. Thinking about both – I guess my day wasn’t that bad.

Starbucks Christmas Blend & Tazo Joy

I am going to add a resolution to my rather egotistical resolution list that includes, get a facial every month and always have chilled champagne in my fridge. And, by the way, flat champagne still counts (see current fridge) as having champagne in my fridge.

I am going to add “be grateful” to my list.

Today – I am grateful for Starbucks Christmas Blend and TAZO Joy Tea. It is true that every morning when my alarm goes off I am grateful for any cup of hot, fresh coffee. It is also true that there is holiday spirit in these blends. If Dickens had either, Scrooge would not have needed to be visited by three ghosts. Cratchit could have just brewed him a cup of coffee and the money to get Tiny Tim sprinting would have been his.

It is January and my bag of Christmas blend and box of Joy are almost empty. I will have to wait until the next holiday season to get more (wow – this is a first – I am actually grateful that now means October). Yes, today I am grateful for the taste of Christmas and the reminder, after the season, that the holiday spirit can be found every morning, all year, even in something as simple as a cup of coffee.

Top Ten 2010 #1

Six of the pictures that made my top ten of 2010 I loved the minute I took. I remember knowing they were contenders for a spot on the list as soon as I saw the result, six miracles that perfectly captured what I was feeling and seeing in that exact moment. The other four…well choosing them from the 4,567 images that remained was a bit more of a debate, and only time can tell if I got them correct. What I notice when I scan all the images is my instinct. Every time I reached for my camera I was experiencing a feeling, object, person, place, food or landscape that I loved so much I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home. Exploring a years worth of pictures does underline the cliché fact that time moves faster as I get older. It also gives me a pictorial view of the moments that mattered.

#1 - Great Dining

This picture was my number one right after I took it. It is so perfect it shocked me when I first saw it. I’ve never created a cover worthy photo but this table, set to impress, is ready for its moment in the spotlight. I had many great meals in 2010 and I’d like to think that this image represents them all. The simple perfection of great food, great company and adventure feeds the perfect composition for art.

Top Ten 2010 #2

Six of the pictures that made my top ten of 2010 I loved the minute I took. I remember knowing they were contenders for a spot on the list as soon as I saw the result, six miracles that perfectly captured what I was feeling and seeing in that exact moment. The other four…well choosing them from the 4,567 images that remained was a bit more of a debate, and only time can tell if I got them correct. What I notice when I scan all the images is my instinct. Every time I reached for my camera I was experiencing a feeling, object, person, place, food or landscape that I loved so much I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home. Exploring a years worth of pictures does underline the cliché fact that time moves faster as I get older. It also gives me a pictorial view of the moments that mattered.

#2 – Single Source

I remember working at a TV station and a very well known media figure would not come to the set unless her lighting was fixed. She refused to be seen without “her lighting.” Why? Because she does not look in person, the way she looks on TV. On TV she looks younger and it was because of the lighting. That was a big lesson for me and I have never forgotten it – light is power. In the theatre, it is common knowledge that if you can’t afford a set designer and a lighting designer you should always put your money in the light. This year I tried to learn about light – this picture, I love because it tells the story of light. All natural, and from the same source direction, but so many different details are presented. Maybe this picture is a bit too technical to be great, but I was patting myself on the back after I took it. I found an element of technique and I found the light.

Top Ten 2010 #3

Six of the pictures that made my top ten of 2010 I loved the minute I took. I remember knowing they were contenders for a spot on the list as soon as I saw the result, six miracles that perfectly captured what I was feeling and seeing in that exact moment. The other four…well choosing them from the 4,567 images that remained was a bit more of a debate, and only time can tell if I got them correct. What I notice when I scan all the images is my instinct. Every time I reached for my camera I was experiencing a feeling, object, person, place, food or landscape that I loved so much I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home. Exploring a years worth of pictures does underline the cliché fact that time moves faster as I get older. It also gives me a pictorial view of the moments that mattered.

#3 – They were two…

There are so many characters walking around this town if I stopped to photograph every one I would never arrive anyplace. With that in mind, there are also people so utterly fantastic that my destination doesn’t seem so important - these two lead that pack this year. I couldn’t decide if they were more Dickensian or Cohen Brothers, but either way I had to take them with me. Maybe they are a bit Steinbeck – no matter - I think there should be a novel about them and I can’t wait to read it.

Top Ten 2010 #4

Six of the pictures that made my top ten of 2010 I loved the minute I took. I remember knowing they were contenders for a spot on the list as soon as I saw the result, six miracles that perfectly captured what I was feeling and seeing in that exact moment. The other four…well choosing them from the 4,567 images that remained was a bit more of a debate, and only time can tell if I got them correct. What I notice when I scan all the images is my instinct. Every time I reached for my camera I was experiencing a feeling, object, person, place, food or landscape that I loved so much I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home. Exploring a years worth of pictures does underline the cliché fact that time moves faster as I get older. It also gives me a pictorial view of the moments that mattered.

#4 – Like Audrey

Choosing one flower picture for the list was the hardest decision. I have hundreds of pictures of flowers and trees and grass (only a New Yorker would need to capture this much nature on film) but these small white blossoms made the final cut despite American Idol level competition. I like flower pictures that are not too calendar ready. I like them to have a bit of an edge. It needs to be pretty without being cheesy (not an easy task, I have lots of cheesy). Photographing flowers is easy, really easy. They are already beautiful. Or it is almost impossible. Flowers have a personality, as does everything in nature. I find it is very easy to slip into school picture mode and just quickly snap the “pretty” vs. looking for the personality. This photo worked for me because I think it’s beautiful and full of interpreted personality.