photography – Page 26 – Oh Fair New Mexico

Tripped and Fell into the Zeitgeist

Posted on August 19, 2011August 21, 2011
by Karen Fayeth
8 Comments

I first posted this back in August 2009, but the front page story about the 60th anniversary of the photo “American Girl in Italy” seems to have people stumbling across my old blog. The visit numbers are pretty high today.

So, for fun, I decided to reblog the old post.

This post doesn’t feature the same photo, but it’s along the same lines.

And away we go:

_________________________________________________

Hanging in the ladies room at a restaurant where The Good Man and I eat quite a bit is the below:

It is “Gli Italiani si Voltano – Milano – 1954” by Mario de Biasi.

The title means, according to BabelFish, “The Italians turn themselves”.

Here’s the poster (click for a large version)

I am utterly fascinated by this photograph. I first started looking at it closer, because my best friend and I are talking about a girl’s trip to Italy next year.

We’ve all heard the stories, right? Is this what Italy is all about?

I have no idea the story behind this photograph, but along with being totally can’t-take-my-eyes-off it intrigued, it also scares the hell out of me.

It’s so…visceral. The look on the faces of all the men… You are pretty sure you know what they are thinking. And she, dressed in white, little Red Riding Hood plunges, fearlessly, into the pit of wolves.

The guy to her left, with his bottom lip tucked into his teeth TOTALLY thinks he’s got a chance. I mean, that dude is pretty sure he’s going to score. Which makes me hate him.

The guy to her right on the scooter looks skeptical. Perplexed. Dare I say, scholarly? For that reason, he’s the one I’m into. I’d choose him.

I have no idea who the woman is or what she looks like from the front, but my god, that kind of male attention is both craved and rejected by women.

How can she be so confident walking into that? Does she possess the certainty of a truly beautiful woman? Is she actually terrified but hides it well? Is she an Italian woman and thus used to ignoring this kind of stuff?

It conflicts me. I’m not a feminist. It doesn’t make me angry like “she deserves more respect!”

But I’m also not an old fashioned gal either of the “boys will be boys” fey sort of excuse making.

I can’t quite cipher out what it is that gets to me about this photograph. But oh, it gets to me.

There’s This Tree Out On the Bosque…

Posted on August 11, 2011August 15, 2011
by Karen Fayeth
13 Comments

Today’s Theme Thursday is tree, and since I’m on the road today (doing the vacation thang and all) here’s a photo of one of my favorite trees.

This old friend lives out on the Bosque in that little slice of land between Los Lunas and Belen known as Los Chaves.

My folks used to live out that way and I alternately loved and was afraid of walking in the Bosque. Lots of wonderful stuff and lots of ways to get lost and encounter odd people in that underbrush.

Over time this particular tree became my beacon. I knew I was headed in the right direction as long as I could find this little tree and it’s natural archway to my favorite path.

This photo was taken back in 2005 with my simple Sony point and shoot. I went back a couple years later with my good camera gear and better photographic knowledge, but that wonderful arching branch had been cut back. No doubt trying to control the overgrowth due to annual fire season. I was a bit sad, and that makes this photo all the more dear to me.

Good memories. A little homesick now, actually.
.
.
.
.

Aug 15th Edit: I talked with my mom last night and she told me she knows and loves that tree too. Seems the beautiful tree is a family friend.

Photography at Your Own Risk

Posted on August 10, 2011August 10, 2011
by Karen Fayeth
No Comments

Trying to step up my photographic game a bit. Recent feedback I’ve received says I need to work on light and light balance.

So to work through some of this, I bought a not-super-expensive light tent from the good people over at ThinkGeek.

It’s a nice little kit with a handy carrying bag. In one neat kit there is a light tent, two lights, a desktop tripod and clips.

But in order to get the light tent into this fun little carry bag, they made the tent itself with those flexy bendy wires that they use in some sun shields for cars.

I pulled it out of the bag and it did this:

(double click the box below to get it to play, click again to stop)

Or click here

Holy Crap! I almost peed myself.

Once I did finally sort out the ding dang thing, *someone* decided it was their new house. There was a lot of biting when I tried to remove the object obstructing my photographic progress.

Who knew I needed protective goggles, chain mail gloves and a helmet to take some simple desktop shots! Sheesh!

Unexcused Absence

Posted on August 10, 2011
by Karen Fayeth
3 Comments

And I don’t even have a note from my mom.

Missed blogging yesterday as I had that last day before vacation thing going at work.

Run, run, run.

But I got it all wrapped up and three glorious days of vacation await.

After work, I rewarded myself (and The Good Man) with a San Francisco Giants baseball game.

And they won, thank you very much.

For those who don’t Tweet, I posted this last night.

I call it:

Pre-Game Still Life. With My Beer.

You Want Bridge? I got Bridge.

Today’s Theme Thursday is bridge, and since I have a mild obsession with photographing bridges, this is right in my wheelhouse.

I like to photograph bridges from a car while traversing them (an iPhone camera is perfect for this task), which is both fun, and creates some unique shots. Here are a few of my favorites.

Let’s start with photos of the Golden Gate. It’s so beautiful that honestly, it’s hard to take a bad photo. The challenge is creating something that’s not been done before.

I have a lot of photos of the Golden Gate since I can’t be in the vicinity without snapping a few shots, so there was a lot to choose from.

The most unique of all my Golden Gate photos came from the QuadCam iPhone app. The balance of blue sky and orange bridge knocks me out. This exactly how it looks when The Good Man drives and I hang my head out the window to see the bridge as it goes by.

I never get tired of it.

For years I was so enamored of the Golden Gate that I all but ignored the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. It’s an odd ball bridge, a mash up of two styles. But the more I drive the bridge, the more I appreciate both halves of the Bay Bridge and just how hard this poor bridge works every day.

Here’s the eastern span (soon to be replaced by a new design):

And here’s the western span, a fascinating suspension:

How about the lesser known but still really cool Carquinez Bridge? Like the Bay Bridge, it’s got two looks depending on which direction you are driving.

Heading north, it looks a lot like the eastern span of the Bay Bridge:

Heading south it has a simple but elegant suspension design:

Northern California has so many beautiful bridges to keep me and my lens occupies for years. And then, every now and again, I get a chance to get out of California and photograph other bridges.

I fell head over heels in love with the Brooklyn Bridge the instant I set foot on it. That stone structure is so incredible and powerful. And again, it’s so often photographed that I tried very hard to see something different through the lens.

I’d love to go back and try again since my photography skills have improved a lot since this was taken.

There is a little bridge that crosses a bit of the Bay inlet near where I work. I’ve been thinking about that bridge for several weeks and it’s next on my list to photograph. It’s a short pedestrian bridge but comes with no small amount of charm.

I do love bridges

If you want more of a New Mexico flavor, keep an eye on Jim Baca’s blog, Bridges on the Rio Grande. It’s a project to document every bridge over the sometimes muddy sometimes mighty river from the Head Waters to the Gulf of Mexico.

All photos copyright Karen Fayeth and subject to the Creative Commons license in the far right column of this and every page of this blog.