Black and White at 56 - Day Twenty

Day Twenty

The scene - National Aviary. The date - 2000.

The mood - tropical.

Black and White at 56 - Day Nineteen

Day Nineteen

The scene - Annapolis, MD. The date - March, 2009.

The mood - restful.

Black and White at 56 - Day Eighteen

Day Eighteen

The scene - Pittsburgh Field Club. The date - February, 2005.

The mood - foggy.

Black and White at 56 - Day Seventeen

Day Seventeen

The scene - Duquesne. The date - Friday.

The mood - somber.

Black and White at 56 - Day Sixteen

Day Sixteen

The scene - Palm Garden Apartments. The date - today.

The mood - inspirational.

Black and White at 56 - Day Fifteen

Day Fifteen

The scene - Phipps Conservatory. The date - March, 2008.

The mood - oh la la!

Black and White at 56 - Day Fourteen

Day Fourteen

The scene - Potter County. The date - summer.

The mood - supportive.

Black and White at 56 - Day Thirteen

Day Thirteen

The scene - Potter County, PA. The date - April, 2009.

The mood - early spring cool.

Black and White at 56 - Day Twelve

Day Twelve

The scene - South Harpswell, ME. The date - May, 2008.

The mood - copacetic.

Black and White at 56 - Day Eleven

Day Eleven

The scene - late fall garden. The mood - warm and succulent.

Black and White at 56 - Day Ten

Day Ten

The scene - Barn, Ligonier, PA. The date - winter.

The mood - idyllic.

Black and White at 56 - Day Nine

Day Nine

The scene - First Fork, Sinnemahoning Creek. The date - spring.

The mood - moist and fresh.

Black and White at 56 - Day Eight

Day Eight

The scene - Phipps Conservatory. The date - March, 2008.

The mood - nymph-like.

Image of the Day

Laundry Line

Cobblestone Vista

McCandless Avenue in Upper Lawrenceville, a neighborhood of Pittsburgh, offers some wonderful sights. Pittsburgh is in its second, multiple sunny day period of March - a real treat after the February it endured. I found it fun to go exploring on this street that shares the name of my maternal grandmother's family. Probably no relation! More pictures in the flickr photostream.

Black and White at 56 - Day Seven

Day Seven

The scene - Butler County, PA. The date - March, 2008.

The mood - early spring sun!

Black and White at 56 - Day Six

Day Six

The scene - Dover, England. The date - September, 1985.

The mood - sunny with a touch of salt!

Black and White at 56 - Day Five

Day Five

The scene - Phipps Conservatory. The date - March, 2008.

The mood - dry and desert-like.

Black and White at 56 - Day Four

Day Four

The scene - San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The date - November, 2003.

The mood - humid, but joyous!

Black and White at 56 - Day Three

Day Three

The scene - London, England. The date - September, 1985.

The mood - didn't know at the time, but the start of the Women's Series.

Black and White at 56 - Day Two

Day Two

The scene - Ligonier. The date - Winter, 2004.

The mood - dignified.

Black and White at 56 - Day One

Day One

First day of fifty-six days of black and white. The scene - Squaw Valley Park. The date - March, 2009. The mood - quiet and reflective.

Image of the Day

Buds

Receding Tide

Yesterday I walked several of Aspinwall's alleys on our fifth sunny day in a row here in Pittsburgh. Quite a few signs of spring popped out to be photographed - snow drops, crocuses, bulb shoots and tree buds. Residue of winter remained with snow piles, puddles, detritus and lost personal items. I had quite a few conversations with the residents as I passed through. More pictures from my walk can be seen in the flickr photostream.

Today I turned 56 years old. In honor of this milestone, tomorrow I will start a new series both on the blog and in the flickr photostream. Black and white photography has always been a passion. Although I am borrowing the idea from others, I plan to post a black & white photograph every day for the next 56 days. Some of them may be familiar to friends and family as I will be posting old favs as well as new finds. This daily posting will be in addition to any other posting that I make, but will culminate in a 56 image set on flickr entitled "Black and White at 56". I hope you will enjoy them. As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Image of the Day

Sunbath

Ice Shadows

Yesterday I visited the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. It was kind of me and the young mothers with strollers, but we were all enjoying getting out on the fourth sunny day in a row after a long period of snow and gray. Not too many animals were outside, but the environment was conducive to shooting and walking. More of the series in the flickr photostream.

Tomorrow I will post the pictures from today's walk in the Alleys of Aspinwall on this fifth sunny day in a row.

Image of the Day

Icicles

Icicle Screen

These are the last winter images, I promise! The ice has been crashing down for days here as the melting continues. We have had three straight days with sun and temperatures above freezing, which is really doing the trick on the snow and the ice in the gutters. The icicles were unbelievable! The day I shot these pictures was snowy and gray and I like the black and white sense of them. More found in the flickr photostream.

Image of the Day

Blue Door

Last November I took a workshop for phone camera use. It was very enlightening. I love the immediacy and informality of taking pictures with my phone. I have a very basic phone - there is no "i" about it and it has no apps. I was intrigued to buy the micro SD to save the pictures on since it had a bigger capacity than my digital camera SD did then. After the class, we headed out to the streets of the South Side.

I have photographed the South Side on numerous occasions; actually the same doors and sidewalks we walked that day. What was different on this day was the new medium and the surprising quality available with it. I printed the pictures and exhibited them at The Garfield Artworks in January - nothing formal, quickly printed 5x7's thumbtacked to the walls to accompany the framed black and white photographs hung for the show.

The rest of the phone camera exhibit can be viewed in the flickr photostream.

Pictures of Blue Things

Parking Space

Vodka

Lacking motivation recently, I went out to do errands today under a beautiful blue sky. It motivated me to photograph Blue Things. I was surprised to see how many items popped out at me once I had a motive. There are a lot of liquors which are blue, in case you were wondering! More blue items in the flickr photostream.

Image of the Day

Single File

With the heavy snowfall across the Northeast this winter, snowbound residents have worried about their ability to get out and about in cars and other vehicles. As one of the snowbound, it had been easy for me to forget about the mobility of other creatures until I came upon these cattle in Maine. It was an interesting scene to come upon. About 20 cattle were lined up on a narrow path which wound around a field where the snow was two feet deep. Somehow they managed to stay afloat within this narrow barrier. More shots of this scene in the flickr photostream.