Bob Nease

Now days with all the music streaming services, a song is only a few moments away from being played and can become your very own personal concert. I prefer when I can, the magic of a live performance. The social experiences of the crowd connecting with the artists and the musicians playing off the crowd’s reaction, and not the exact same performance every time. This night did not disappoint. I was privileged to be invited to a live performance by “Radio Project One” at The House of Blues. The place was very dark, basically only the gelled spot lights from the stage gave any kind of illumination, which just added to the ambiance. I enjoy the contrast of the saturated color that the spots provided to the dark minimal detail in the crowd’s silhouette. Marcus, the lead guitarist and the rest of the boys sounded tight that night and the energy was high…and the music was loud….just perfect ! A few captures to record the moment. Not a lot of post processing on this one…not needed. This image is very close to how it felt to be there that night. A great performance…. a fun memory.

As of late it seems I’ve been spending a considerable amount of time sitting and waiting in doctor’s offices. I figure it’s not really the years… It’s the mileage. I pass the time by texting or viewing images on my phone. Most of the waiting rooms are in high rise buildings, lit with some variant of fluorescent lighting. This particular waiting room however has huge west facing windows and large glass doors, definitely my favorite place to wait. If I have a morning appointment the light is soft and enveloping, but late in the afternoon on clear days the sunlight streams in and never disappoints. I am always finding different ways to create images within this large space. On this day the sun was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds after a rain. I found the light drawing shadows and cutting across several planes creating abstract shapes. Playing only slightly with the sliders in processing and taking out almost all the color I achieved my goal of line, tone and shadow.

After a local concert the grandkids were the first out the door. Seeing the silhouette of the two scampering far ahead of me I immediately tried to pull out my iPhone and was able to make only two captures before they had made it to the lobby. The problem was my phone had gotten stuck in my back pocket and I was also rushing to make an image before all the rest of the audience started filling the walkway, changing my original concept of the image I had in mind. I was first intrigued by the feeling of light in the image and the proportional relationship between the size of the hallway and the children. I’m a sucker for silhouettes and especially creating images of my grandkids. Note to self….get a new holster for my iPhone.

My perspective was from inside, viewing out a window with an awning. Just the right position gave me these proportions garnering me this abstract graphic image. The scene was very dark and I needed to raise the ISO to accommodate hand holding the camera and to get everything to line up to my liking. The tight weave of the blinds added the wave pattern that caught my attention in the first place. Increasing the saturation slightly was my only major adjustment.

To be able to relax, to sleep with reckless abandon…this is one of the strong personality traits of a Husky. Catching this one in repose is another story. Since she is a rescue dog we’re not sure of the history behind why she is so camera shy, never liking the sound of the shutter, or even when you point the camera in her direction, one must sneak up on her or in this case find her asleep in an acrobatic position, the sleep of the innocent.  I was only able to capture one frame and Luna became aware of me, she immediately got up and left the room. I enjoyed creating this photograph because it captures her personality and speaks to her quirkiness. I just had to make this image.

After the rain the other day I went out for a quick bite. Walking from the parking lot behind the restaurant I looked up and the rain had created some abstract patterns on the exterior of the building. I enjoyed how the warm colors of the wall contrasted against the blue sky and the clouds, so back to the car for my camera. Fast food has never made me feel as good as being able to create images.

Afternoon light from an open garage door fell on a portion of the auto body. I enjoyed how the tight crop, the chrome and stainless cut across the B pillar of the body color creating intriguing shapes. In 1956 Chevrolet built 7,886 two door Bel Air wagons called the Nomad. The front slanting B pillar design along with the seven chrome strips called “Bananas” on the tailgate and the nine ribs on the roof make these cars unique and separate them from all the other wagons that Chevrolet built 1955 through 1957.  This barn find happens to be a 1956. The Matador red paint has held up pretty well even though it is almost 70 years old. I chose not to include any badging in the frame and work only with the shapes and color. Making captures of other angles proved futile. I kept coming back to this area working tighter and tighter until I was satisfied with the angle and framing.

Long ago this was an entrance to a “Club House” sort of place, a piece of concrete walkway. A hang out for some of the neighborhood kids, friends all of them characters and rogues in one form or another. “Friends For Life” we all thought. Memories and a piece of concrete are the only things left of the formative years of growing up and all the shenanigans that took place in the now leveled structure. Many memories created my need to capture this piece of history in an effort to keep the stories alive. Names written in wet concrete…. at the time having no idea what the future held for us. I have lost tract of most of the people, some are still with us, some are not. The passage of time is a peculiar thing….almost everything decays over time. This is my attempt to counteract that effect.

After a morning of playing “Ballerina” with Luna, an impromptu afternoon nap ensued. This little girl has grown up with many furry friends. Animals and children have an interesting bond, especially between these two, and it is beautiful to watch. Dancing and chasing, they seemed to have their own language of motion. I left the room for a while and noticed upon my return how quiet it had become. I was only able to create two captures before they stirred. Over the years I have learned the need to move fast with animals and children. Light was coming from a large window giving me just enough contrast for the light to draw the figures and separate them from the black leather couch. If I had tried to plan this scenario, I don’t feel this image would hold as big a place in my heart. I see this as a treasured moment in time, and I am very grateful to have both experienced and captured it.

After a morning rain everything felt washed clean. I had taken a different route on my way to the studio which put me in an older industrial area. I decided to go around the block for a second time after I spotted the light on these metal panels. I’m a sucker for a cloudless sky and the clean light after a rain. There was no signage whatsoever to lend a clue to what was going on behind these walls. Noticing a plastic pipe sticking out of a rough cut hole, one can only imagine to be used as an exit for liquids or fumes…..but what really caught my attention was the wonderful texture and how the light played on the panels. It just felt right to center the pipe establishing symmetry within my frame. Enjoying the soft color saturation of the image the decision in post was made to keep the subtle color and not process to pure black & white.