Albuquerque Zoo: Chilin Out

Chillin Out

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     The Albuquerque Zoo was a great place to visit and I can't wait to go back. They have a wide assortment of animals in photo friendly environments. If you can make the trip, I totally recommend it. This guy was one of my favorites. It was a hot summer day and he was hanging half in/half out of his pool, just chillin out. Definitely was a lazy day for the polar bear.

     I felt like this was an appropriate Hump Day image. Wednesday is the lazy day of the week. Halfway to the weekend!

Have a great day!

If you want to visit the Albuquerque Zoo or Aquarium click HERE for park information.

Connecticut Fall Foliage: A Trip Into the Litchfield Hills

New England Pond

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                     I love New England, especially in the fall. I went for a drive into the Litchfield hills today and even though it is past "peak" leaf peeping, the colors in the landscape were still amazingly vibrant.

New Mexico's High Plains

Bottomless Lake Road

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              The high plains can be beautiful. It's the type of landscape where the colors are amazing but it's flat, no trees, and a lot of sky. You feel like you can see forever there. Like I have said before that can be an "image killer". I feel like this image should be printed and displayed as large as a wall. So you can really get engrossed in the landscape.  In the foreground you have the natural landscapes flora and off in the distance are the bottomless lakes.  The complementing contrast of the yellow and green shrubbery, to the red clay earth, and the blue sky are harmonious. 

Adirondack Mountain Walkway

Mountain Walkway

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I wanted to share with you a simple image that anyone can put a story too. What would your story be?

Lets Get Bottomless

Bottomless Lakes

Roswell, NM

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            While driving across New Mexico I wanted to stop at the Bottomless Lakes State Park, which is situated outside of Roswell, NM. I know what you are thinking, "OMG the alien place". Yes, it is the alien place. If you have to drive through Roswell there are two places you should definitely stop: 

1.      Pecos Flavors Winery- doesn't look like much from the outside, being in a little strip mall, but it really is fantastic on the inside. They have a beautiful bar where you can either sit and have a glass of New Mexico wine or they also have a variety of New Mexico micro-brewed beers as well. Their staff was very friendly, inviting, and knowledgable. You could have a hole in the wall establishment but if your staff is inviting and knowledgeable that is an A+ for me. They have a beautiful space, good wine, and were knowledgeable. It was really worth the drive through Roswell. 
2.      The original reason I started this post, is the Bottomless Lakes State Park. Just a short drive outside the main city of Roswell, you get to see something really beautiful. The colors there are amazing, striking clear blue water, the land ranging in color from a deep red to a mustard, and the landscape around the lakes has wonderfully colored shrubbery.  The landscapes natural colors were impressive. The colors were so vibrant they seemed almost fake. The clouds that day were surprising and it really was a stroke of luck. I have noticed that the high plains part of New Mexico down to the desert tend to be cloudless often, which in the photography world is an "image killer". Some people have also said that a cloudless sky is like a flowerless garden. My garden was full that day! Believe it or not these lakes are really sinkholes. Yes, sinkholes! Apparently, the New Mexican state parks department feels like they are stable enough for people visit and swim in. So if you are planning a drive through that part of New Mexico, I would encourage you to stop and enjoy the view.

         If you really want to see some "Alien stuff" I believe there a few alien wax museums in Roswell, along with lots of alien stores that you could visit. But honestly while driving through you will see your fare share of Aliens. One of the aliens is the McDonalds that looks like a alien space ship. 

Here's the Pecos Flavors Winery's website, just in case you decide to make a detour. ;)  www.pecosflavorswinery.com/

The Bottomless Lakes website is http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/bottomlesslakesstatepark.html

A Trip to the Mountains

             

Mountain Brook

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          While editing images I took this past summer I came across this one and decided to share it with you. This is a very special place that I have been visiting ever since I was a child. Every time I visit there I am put into a trance at how absolutely serene it is. A professor once told me you never get the same shot twice. You can go to a place a million times over and take a different picture of the same landscape. He was absolutely right. I have photographed that mountain brook hundreds of times and every shot was different. The landscape keeps evolving and changing. Everyday the lighting is slightly different. I feel like we take our surroundings for granted. I try to appreciate it every day.  

Giving You A Little New Mexico

Santa Fe At Night

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                Over looking the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi on a beautifully cloudy night. I was born and raised in New England. I have traveled to several different countries but haven't had the opportunity to explore our own until the past couple of years. It really is amazing to see how diverse our own country can be from state to state or even within one state. Keep an eye out for more images from my treks around New Mexico. 

Trekking Around

Exploring Santa Fe

I've traveled the world and now I am exploring our country. Santa Fe is an eclectic little community living at a high altitude.

Black Locust Tree

Santa Fe's Peppers

An Ongoing Project

NightScapes

Right Side of the Brook

11" x 14"

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        NightScapes is a series of experimental photographs that was my senior thesis in college.  It is an ongoing series that I believe I will continue experimenting with throughout my entire life.  For me it was about finding a place in nature that hasn't been touched by man.  That the night has a beauty all it's own. The kind of beauty we didn't know was there and that the naked eye cannot see. I have been slowly scanning in all my film images to create a digital library of all my work.  This portfolio is also a work in progress as I continue to scan in my other NightScapes and as I progressively shoot more.  I still want to carry on this series with film but have decided to also experiment in a digital format as well. Click HERE to view my NightScapes Portfolio and to read my artist statement about these experimental photographs.

        

Check Out My Portfolio In Progress

               

Tuna Factory

11" x 14"

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Scopello, Sicily

               
            All my work up until recently was film based.  I love shooting film.  It is how I was taught and there is something amazing about being able to create an image in the darkroom; which is why I fell in love with Photography in the first place.  My love for the darkroom is still there, but times have changed, and I can't always get to a dark room, so I have gone digital.  That doesn't mean I don't shoot film anymore, especially large format, I am just keeping pace with the rest of the world.  Over the past 7 months I have been scanning in all my film prints so I can have a digital portfolio.  But when I got my new computer somehow, someway, my external hard drive ended up being wiped of all information.  So I am slowly starting the process over again. I'm re-scanning all my work again, so as of now I only have a few images up, but there will be more to come! Take a look at the beginnings of my Sicily Portfolio. :)  Click Here to See my SICILY PORTFOLIO

Getting Back to Business

        

Paugussett Rope Swing

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          After some major set backs since my last post, I finally was able to dump some recently shot images.  I shot this while hiking in Paugussett state forest one afternoon. I am particularly drawn to this image for different reasons.  I am drawn to the rich colors, the over all composition, and  how any one that sees this image can find a way to relate to it.  Whether it be a pastime that they enjoyed when they were young or a subliminal message that they may find with in the image itself. There will be more to come shortly now that I am back up and running! 

Rejuvenation

Golden Sunset of Siracusa

11" x 14"

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Siracusa, Sicily

Sometimes life gives you a little nudge at what may seem like the most unexpected times but ends up being when you really need it the most.

I have finally figured out that I may not know exactly where I am going with my art work or my life but to get where I eventually want to be means I have to stop making excuses and just go out and do what I love to do.

Recently I was given the opportunity to participate in a project that was being put together by a professor at the University of Hartford Art School.  They are putting together a published book "10 Years of UMass & Hartford Art School in Sicily".  Myself along with many other HAS Alum's had taken a Travel & Photo/Illustration class during undergrad that gave us the opportunity to travel the island of Sicily for 10 days.  All former students were able to submit a piece of work from Sicily and a current piece of art work. 

This project has rejuvenated me in so many ways.  I am making a digital portfolio of all my past work, which was all film; 35mm and large format.  I have a new camera, a Canon 5D Mark II, and have been going out shooting everything and anything trying to find what my new focus will be.  Plus, I am creating a blog where I will have my different portfolios available.  Being a photographer is who I am.  I'm not interested in traveling to places just to say I traveled there.  I want to show people the world in a way that they have never seen it before.