In some photography classes it is taught that lens flare is a bad thing and should be avoided at all costs (it’s the effect that happens when the lens reflects light in such a way that spots appear in the photo). People spend tons of money on big shields for their lenses. I like the effect (and I’m cheap), especially for images like this one. Without the spots of light, the photo of this church on 14th Street wouldn’t be as interesting.

She belongs to a girlfriend of mine whom I visited, among others, while I was down south this past weekend. The cheeks on little Rory are one of a kind.

I didn’t really pay attention to this photo when I took it last December, but now, after aging a few months, it looks different for some reason. I like the connection, or lack thereof between Paul’s sister and the painting from Poland on his parent’s wall in New Jersey. (Paul, his sister and folks are currently taking the trip of a lifetime. They started in Poland, where his parents are originally from, then Paris and London.)

All I can say is this girl needs a tan.

Everyone has seen/done the whole window reflection thing so it often seems like a tired study. Yet, I will still take the occasional photo and this one I took yesterday, might be somewhat successful. It’s not deep in meaning or anything, but the buildings, sky and ultimately the guy in the restaurant (I think replacing a light bulb, or something) makes for an interesting enough photo.

I’m taking another portrait class starting tonight, but to get me in the mood…. This photo was taken in the lobby of the International Center of Photography during a lighting workshop I took earlier this year. I used a technique called dragging the shutter, which means flash was used but I kept the shutter on my camera open a bit longer so that the background would be illuminated as well (you can also tell by the blurriness of the nice man sitting behind the desk). Lesson for the day.