A Ride Through the Polish Countryside
I write this currently on a drive through the polish countryside, seeing the snowy ground meld with the bland trees in the landscapes beyond the eye can see. The little green specs left by the fearless pine trees in freezing weather, the rolling hills of the area provide me with a perspective of endlessness. My Minolta camera left to capture the feeling through a window, trying to prevent reflections from obscuring the beautiful views.
The Snow of Last February
Every year I come to ski season with excitement, the joy being knee-deep in a beautiful white fluff gives the body a much needed refresher from the hot summer days and fast paced way of life. So much of my winter is spent in the mountains on a pillow of my favorite thing on earth; Snow. A year ago after the snow had fallen during a tough beginning season for the east coast, it was finally a promising sign. My day started later than usual in Vermont as I recall the traffic to Mount Mansfield being particularly bad. The Nose holds a special place in the hearts of New Englanders, being a playground for recreation in the green mountains. After enjoying the morning, we go back to the car for a late lunch and I switch skis, ready to adventure into the trees. As I shoot down the line of choosing, my skis recoil back with every small hop, the snow packing and springing beneath my feet. With my gear on my back I take it slow down the pitch and then dig in my skis perpendicular to the fall line. As I unpack my gear and set up for the shot my fingers become numb, I work to keep the snow out of my sensor and lens. As I hear the “click” I adjust my shutter speed and point up line. The large peaks of the green mountains barely visible through the stripped winter lumber. My buddy already started his descent, sending dunes of white dust flying through the air and back into the path, his face covered by a black cloth creating a stark contrast of black and white clashing and cause the green reflective coating on his goggles to pop through. As I held the shutter and adjusted the zoom, unable to see through my viewfinder I hoped for no problems. As he approached, it was a large sigh of relief from both sides followed by a yell of excitement that felt as if it went on in eternity. We packed up and pointed downhill to get last chair.
The Great Skyline
As I walk through the streets of what is now my temporary home I am struck by the natural beauty covered by the hodge-pog of architectural styles. While beautiful, the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo was built in a matter of decades. The times wait for no one, developers put up buildings at a soaring rate, creating the megapolis that we have today in Gush Dan. From the lens of my camera we see the beaches colliding with the boardwalk, home to the vast hotels and the center of the tourism industry. Surfers riding overhead waves from the Mediterranean Sea look up at the skyline that seems omnipotent. Stretching further east the hotels give rise to investment firms, banks, American industry, growing taller what seems by the day. The cranes stretch high above, moving the massive legos that create our skyscrapers. Back on street level, photographers always looking for contrasting thoughts, roam the streets searching for their perfect image.
Behind the Aero Collection
I had woken up early on a cool fall day in mid-October, when I got in the car I had wiped off the plentiful maroon leaves that had fallen in droves on my windshield. I got to Bridgeport Sikorsky Airport around 10 o'clock for an inspection, when all was set we made our flight plan for the day and left. as the wings gallantly gave way to flight we turned to the east, aiming for the Harbor town of New London. The Connecticut shoreline had a particular breeze that day, the air was cool, slight wind off the Long Island Sound kept us in towards the bay, following the coastline all the way out to the far side of our state. As the Connecticut River divided East and West we soon reached the River Thames. Circling back to Groton I opened the window flap on the Piper Warrior PA-28-161 we flew that day. Pointing my Minolta Film Camera out the window and rotating it for the shot, as we increased our bank angle I was able to see the twisting of the Groton bay, creating a beautiful abstract only to be described in photo. Passing the Millstone Power Plant from above shows the behemoth in its full beauty, providing power to over 2 million New Englanders. Coming in on approach I left the landing to my copilot, reeling back my film lever to try and match the fast pace of the aircraft. As we smoothly landed on the runway we took the plane back into the skies, heading further east to the Massachusetts islands of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket. Coming back to Bridgeport we shut down, debriefed, and drove home. When i got my film back I was quite surprised on how the colors came out, the Fujifilm 200 Color-Negative I decided to try out captured the fall colors in totality. It provided a wide range even in non-perfect lighting, only needing some desaturation and shadow bumps in the editing. I had only a 50mm lens that day, my go-to for traveling. Seeing things from above always changes my perspectives, gives a sense of scale to objects beyond comprehension.