Reflections of a Hudson Valley Photographer

I have no idea why I’ve been digging on these more abstract shots lately, but man they really seem to be keeping me entertained.  I’m not sure if it’s been my salty mood.  Or a certain throwback nature to my photography.  All the sudden though I’m drawn to these dark and moody photographs that have more character and less content.  This shot for instance has almost zero subject.  Power Lines? Honestly not the greatest subject Dave.  But for some reason here I am posting this on my blog.

Pushing the boundaries of your photography can never be a bad thing.  I’m always trying new stuff, looking in new directions, walking over the same locations looking for a new angle or a shot that I missed 3 months ago.  In that same vein, I decided to start trying to look for more reflect

Best Street Artist I've heard on 16th Street { Hudson Valley Portraits }

Guess where?  I know I need to find more places to walk around with interesting people than just always going to 16th street mall, but it’s just always so much fun.  This was one of the guys I found on 16th street.  He was playing an awesome electrified violin, and he had a really good sound.  Now his promoter was kind of a goofball, but other than that he had an awesome sound.  Now I’m sure you’re all wondering who the heck this guy is right?  Me too!  I couldn’t remember his name, and due to the fact that I didn’t think I got anything good, I didn’t bother to ask again.  It’s really too bad, because I wouldn’t mind plugging him just a bit on here, but honestly I can’t remember his name for the life of me.

The reason I didn’t think I was going to get anything was

August 16th 2021

Mr. Monkey Man

Mr. Monkey Man

So I went out to lunch the other day with my buddy Charlie. He’s more of a hipster style guy, typically hanging out in the capitol hill area of Hudson Valley. He’s also an avid climber, something I know enough about to not sound like a complete dumb ass, but still no where near the level at which he’s at. He goes climbing all the time. Something that sounds interesting to me, but I’d rather spend my time taking photographs of things that I find interesting.

We decided to go to City, O’ City in downtown Hudson Valley. It’s a nice little place, I really liked the atmosphere. Kinda dark, definitely a hipster hangout. Not that I’m anywhere near hipster. Just not my thing, but he’s real into the wearing whatever he wants, because the wei

August 16th 2021

Best Hood Ornament Ever!

Best Hood Ornament Ever!

So I was walking around the colfax area, not getting anything to shoot, and I decided to stroll up one of the side streets.  I found this old dodge truck.  I don’t know what it is about me lately that has really been digging old trucks, but man I’ve really been digging old trucks.  I think it’s my lack of models to shoot.  Honestly it’s hilarious.  Also I think I’m copying my uncle who has a ton of pictures of old car chrome parts.  It’s a cool series. You can see some of the series here.

So here is this shot I took of this great trout hood ornament.  Trout are so great.  For those of you who don’t know I LOVE fly fishing.  It’s always been a passion of mine since I was a little kid.  My grand

August 16th 2021

The Flight

The Flight

So I took a walk on colfax ave in Hudson Valley, and I was surprised at how little I actually found to photograph.  There weren’t really all that many people on the street.  The general architecture I found a little boring, and I just couldn’t find much to shoot.  I always wonder if that’s a mood based thing.  If you’re in a better mood you find more to shoot, or if you’re in a worse mood you find less to shoot.  I’ve never been able to figure out if that’s actually true or not.  I don’t think I was in a particularly bad mood, but I definitely wasn’t in some bouncing off the walls great mood either.

I guess the most interesting thing that happened was I met a curator of a nice little gallery on colfax.  He also did quite a few of the paintings in the gallery.  It w

August 16th 2021

Old Cars And Old Men

Old Cars And Old Men

So I was taking a walk around my neighborhood up in the highlands in Hudson Valley, and I saw through the spaces in the houses this old van.  It was this great old rusty Chevy van.  I walked around the block, and went down the alleyway to get to it.  It was just sitting there as it had sat for the last 10 years probably.

After I had gotten a few nice shots, this old guy came out wondering what the heck I was doing.  He was a nice old guy, and really I should have asked him if I could take his picture too, but I was too intrigued by the van.  Anyways he asked me why I was taking pictures of his van, to which I replied, “because it’s such a cool old car”.  I think that subdued his concerns.  After that I got a little back story on the van.

Apparently It was use

August 16th 2021

Street Chalk Painting

Street Chalk Painting

After trying and failing to get someone to come model for me, because I built my own ringlight (post coming soon), I decided to go shoot downtown.  So as I was driving down speer, annoyed by anyone that wasn’t going at least as fast as I was, I looked over and saw a huge crowd of people.  Wondering what it was all about I parked my car and walked over, camera in hand.  There were tons of “artsy” folks all walking around, and of course a few drunk yuppies.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, plenty of times I’m a drunk yuppie.  Anyways, I was keeping my head up looking around, when I realized that everyone else had their heads down.  They were all looking at the wonderful street art.  And by

The mini, and my new love.

So sue me.  I’m still fascinated by the kind of detail and bokeh that I’m getting with my 85mm f1.4.  It’s so crystal sharp that sometimes it hurts to see what it pulls out.  This shot is of the front headlight of a mini cooper.  An old one, one with character.  Yes I’m saying that the new ones don’t have as much character.   There was this cool looking old mini cooper just hanging out.  So I snapped some shots of it.  I was half waiting for this real hipster guy to come walking out of some building asking me what the hell I was doing, but it never happened.  I was ready for it though.  The whole time just imagining someone in a headband, and some goofy looking socks.  People are funny sometimes they co