Under the Boardwalk

Hmmm, I know that tune...but what are the words? Picture is under the boardwalk at San Clemente, CA. The Drifters "Under the Boardwalk" Season 5 "The Good Fight" Oh when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof. And your shoes get so hot, you wish your tired feet were fire-proof. Under the Boardwalk, down by the sea On a blanket with my baby, is where I'll be. (Under the Boardwalk) Out of the sun. (Under the Boardwalk) Man, we'll be having some fun. (Under the Boardwalk) People walkin' above. (Under the Boardwalk) We'll be falling in love under the Boardwalk, Boardwalk. From the palms you hear the happy sounds of the carousel, and you can almost taste the hot-dogs and french fries they sell. Under the Boardwalk, down by the sea on a blanket with my baby, is where I'll be. (Under the Boardwalk) Out of the sun. (Under the Boardwalk) Man, we'll be having some fun. (Under the Boardwalk) People walkin' above. (Under the Boardwalk) We'll be falling in love under the Boardwalk, Boardwalk. Under the Boardwalk, down by the sea On a blanket with my baby, is where I'll be. Under the Boardwalk, down by the sea On a blanket with my baby, is where I'll be.

NY Times: Gnawa Festival in Essaouira

Photograph © Ed Alcock/NY Times-All Rights Reserved The New York Times brings us a slideshow of photographs (and narrated by photographer Ed Alcok) featuring the Gnawa Festival of Music in Essaouira, which is scheduled for June. The Gnawa are the descendents of slaves originating from Africa who established brotherhoods throughout Morocco. They are made up of master musicians, metal castanet players, clairvoyants, mediums and their followers. They are at the same time musicians, initiators and healers, blending African and Arab-Berber customs. Despite being Muslims, the Gnawa base their rituals on African cults of possession...a sort of sufism merged with voodoo rituals. During the celebration the master musicians and his group call on saints and on supernatural entities to take possession of their followers who eventually go into deep trance. The accompanying article in the NY Times is written by Steve Dougherty. I'll be putting Essaouira and the Gnawa music festival on my list of possible destinations for a 2009 photo expedition. I've been to Essaouira when traveling in Morocco...only as a day trip, so the prospect of a photo expedition scheduled for the festival, with all the visuals and ambient music is irresistible. The NY Times feature seems to me to have been produced half-heartedly, with no background on the Gnawa themselves. Since the festival is an annual event, these photographs and audio must've been available for almost a year and I would've thought that with all that time, the NY Times could've produced a comprehensive multimedia feature. On reflection, I'm too harsh...the NY Times is not the National Geographic and I shouldn't expect much more from what is essentially a travel feature.

Anthony Kurtz: India

Photograph © Anthony Kurtz:-All Rights Reserved

Anthony Kurtz started to photograph in 2003, and went on from there to garner over a dozen photographic awards, and has exhibited his work in numerous galleries in the Bay Area. I've discovered his remarkable work from Px3: Prix De La Photographie in which he won 2nd Place for "India: Beautiful Struggle"in the Book Proposal category. Here's his website, which I encourage you to explore in full. Apart from his work in India, Anthony has lovely (and unusual) photographs of the back streets of Thailand, and of the world of Today and of the Future. It's possible that some may view his photographs are depressing, but his style is certainly distinctive. As he himself says, he finds beauty in the texture and decay of urban landscapes. This is the work of a photographer who will continue to impress us.

John Stanmeyer: Malaria: NG Award

Photograph © John Stanmeyer-All Rights Reserved The National Geographic magazine won three National Magazine awards; the general excellence in a publication with over 2 million circulation (the top honor), as well as the awards for reporting and photojournalism. This was more than any other publication, and the most that the magazine has won in a single year. The awards, presented during a ceremony at New York City's Jazz at Lincoln Center, are the industry's most prestigious honor. The general excellence award is based on NGM's June, August and December issues. The photojournalism award, which honors John Stanmeyer's photographs in the "Bedlam in the Blood: Malaria also names Senior Editor David Griffin, Deputy Director Susan A. Smith, Design Director David C. Whitmore and Senior Photo Editor Sarah Leen. The article ran in the July 2007 NGM. I'm pleased that John's photographs were recognized with this prestigious award. His work is consistently superb, and he is -in my view- among the best photojournalists/photographers in the industry. I chose the above photograph from the many in the Malaria gallery to highlight John's compositional 'eye'. There's also a section Field Notes which shares John's best, quirkiest and worst experiences from the Malaria assignment.

"A Walk In The Park"

"A Walk In The Park" © David A. Ziser

This photograph is probably one of my favorite images of the week. It was late Tuesday when we decided to head up to Ault Park for one last shooting session with the class. The weather had not been the best for the last two days but it seemed to be clearing and warming up a bit. I thought there might be an outside chance for a sunset. Bridal portraits in sunsets especially at Ault Park are gorgeous. We arrived about 30 minutes later and indeed the sky was clearing. Near the end of the shoot, the clouds took on a wonderful design that swept across the sky. I placed Sarah, our bride, in the sweep of the clouds, repositioned the camera in order to position her head in "Nodal point #2" and shot away. Because my exposure necessitated such a fast shutter speed and small aperture to get the density of the sky where I wanted it, my flash had to very close to Sarah to get the dramatic lighting on her . The flash was actually in the shot. A quick hit in Photoshop solved that little compositional aberration resulting in the final image. Camera specs; Canon 40D fitted with 10-22mm lens at 10mm, F 16 @ 1/250 second, ISO 200.