A Lesson on the Back Roads

On Wisconsin's Back Roads

It takes discipline to take photographs, and a certain confidence. I don’t score high on life’s quiz when measuring discipline or confidence. But I’m learning – in little ways.

Take, for example, this photo of the two barns. To me, it represents progress. So you might ask, “Progress in photographic skills?” Nope, not what I’m talking about here. Progress in discipline, progress in confidence. If that sounds far-fetched, I’ll explain.

I drive Wisconsin roads at least three times a week for the sole purpose of seeing what there is to see. I routinely have my camera gear with me – that’s habit – so I’m always looking for opportunities to shoot a photograph or two. But here is the sticking point that stops me from even trying to capture many of the photographic opportunities I imagine.

I’m not driving the car. To clarify, here’s a typical scenario:

Bo (craning head as the car zooms down the road): That would make a great shot.
Sherpa (concentrating on driving and catching the Packers’ game on the radio): Do you want me to turn around?
Bo (still looking back in the distance): Uh, no. Never mind.
Sherpa (still zooming down the road): OK.
Bo (thinking silently): That could have been a great shot!

After I repeated this scene more times than I care to admit, I realized the situation was a not an example of great communication skills. And it wasn’t working. I would be a bit miffed that Sherpa hadn’t responded to my comment by stopping the car with squealing brakes and burning rubber. Sherpa had no clue. And truthfully, if he had stopped the car every time I said “that would be a great shot,” we’d be fortunate to travel a mile in an hour.

So I explained this predicament to Sherpa, who truly had no idea I’d really wanted to stop. And we made an agreement. I could say “that would be a great shot” a million times an hour if I wanted. That’s a good plan, because I say those words before I even realize I’ve said them. But, and here’s the simple solution that is my big step of progress, I now ask him to turn around some of the time.

You’d think that wouldn’t have been such a big revelation. Well, it was.

I had to come to terms with a couple of basic facts. Even after 33 years of marriage, the guy still cannot read my mind. He will never be able to read my mind, so if I want to take a photograph, and I don’t want to stick my camera out the car window for a drive-by shooting, then I need to say those magic words.

“Yes. Please turn around.”

It works.

Ah, such a simple solution. (You think?)

Bryant Park

A Green Space in Manhattan

A Green Space in Manhattan

Bryant Park is located on the same block as the New York Public Library in Manhattan. It has a lot of diversity for its size, sporting several cafes and eating spots, a football field-sized lawn where weekly movies are shown during the summer, sculptures of famous New Yorkers, a carousel, and hundreds of chairs, tables, and benches for sitting and relaxing.

Gertrude Stein

in Bryant Park, New York City

in Bryant Park, New York City

Gertrude Stein, sitting cross-legged rather like a Buddha, is one of 5 statues in Bryant Park. It’s prominently located on the terrace, on the park side of the New York Public Library. The cast was done by Jo Davidson in 1923, long before Stein had become famous as a literary figure and supporter, and was installed in the park in 1992. Amazing to me, this was the first public statue of an American woman placed in the whole of New York City, and that was done only 17 years ago.

New York Cityscape

reflections of a summers day

reflections of a summer's day

I walked to the New York Public Library, one of 150 buildings on the favorites list of the American Institute of Architects, but it is undergoing extensive renovation and was cloaked in plastic and canvas. Not able to see except for the pair of lion statues at the massive front entrance.

So I wandered around Bryant Park and finally found a rocking chair–yes, a rocker, solid wood, comfy, on a patio in the park–where I spent an hour or two  observing all the activity, writing in my journal, and dozing a bit. As I was leaving the park, I photographed this city and cloud reflection on the building on 42nd Street and 6th Avenue — the merging of city and nature.

According to an informational sign in the park on the architecture on the square, this is the Home Box Office Building designed in 1985 by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

Nine Windows

Walking the Sidewalks of New York

Walking the Sidewalks of New York

I had big plans when I decided to go to New York City. See the museums. See a Broadway show. Visit a few restaurants. I did go to a museum, The Guggenheim, to see the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the museum and celebrating the many works of Wright. We squeezed in more restaurant stops than originally planned. We happened to be visiting the city during Restaurant Week, and participating restaurants offered a three course dinner for $35.00, a fraction of the regular price. One night we splurged (calorie-wise) on sushi, cold lobster and chocolate, a second night the menu included tamales wrapped in plantain leaves, tequila-marinated steak and caramel flan. We nixed the theatre. Tickets to a couple of the shows I’d considered – Billy Elliott, Blithe Spirit, or The 39 Steps – were way too expensive to rationalize. So while my husband attended a conference, I spent the better part of each of the five days we were there strolling the streets with my camera.

I photographed a few of the more famous buildings – architectural standards like the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building, newer gems like Time-Warner Center and Hearst Tower, and buildings adjoining Central Park – the Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Dakota Apartments. I walked past a few of the classic hotels, (The Regis, Waldorf-Astoria, The Plaza) and ornate cathedrals (St. Patrick and St. John the Divine) and I even studied the lines of the glass Apple Store on 5th Avenue. Lots of photo opportunities. And as usual, it will take me a while to get everything sorted and a few posted.

But most especially I enjoyed wandering the neighborhoods, seeing older brick apartments, the brownstones, the tiny shops only a doorway or so wide. The above photo is of a brick and stone building on Columbus Avenue that caught my eye. I like how the windows on the different floors all present a different style – flower pots, blinds, shutters. And even the lamp post surrounded by the blown background intrigued me.

Now if only the hours of walking each day had balanced the offerings from the restaurants, all would have been quite splendid, indeed. Wishful thinking on my part, that.