Pin Light to the Darkness

There is a campaign abroad to promote solidarity against the vile racism and violence that is afloat throughout the world by wearing a safety pin. Doing so shows that you are against racism and bigotry. I would like to see this take hold here and also have it mean that we stand against Trump. We need to find ways to counteract evil and darkness.

Pin Light to the Darkness
Pin Light to the Darkness, 11/11/2016

My idea is that the safety pin in the lamp creates lightning bolts to dissipate the darkness. I used photos of Jefferson Library and Washington Square Park taken on 11/6/2016 to create this composite.

It is spreading: “People Are Wearing Safety Pins to Show Their Support for Marginalized Groups After the Election” NYMag.com

Misty Iris

I began with a boring photo of some white iris flowers. Split it into muliple Iris and added a background to create this composite image. Adjustment layers, masks and blending modes in Photoshop refined the image.

Misty Iris, 11/6/2016
Misty Iris, 11/6/2016

Not so Darling Starlings

These rascals, who strut around like little Mafioso, converge on diners at the Boat House in Central Park and the minute a person isn’t looking they steal their food.
@BHEventSpace #BHPortDev

Common Starling, Central Park 10/28/2016
Common Starling, Central Park 10/28/2016
Common Starling, Central Park 10/28/2016
Common Starling, Central Park 10/28/2016

Starlings are very smart and are mimics. I read a charming little book about one called Arnie, the Darling Starling: Margarete Sigl Corbo, Diane Marie Barras, Leslie Morrill: Amazon Books:

“The true story of a talking starling and the grandmother who raised him is as heartwarming a book as you will ever read. When Margarete first came upon Arnie, he was just a familiar springtime sight: a baby bird lying helpless in the daisy patch. After unsuccessfully trying to return him to his nest, she took him into her Texas home and raised him as carefully as she had raised her own child, teaching him to perch, to fly, even to talk. Arnie resisted all attempts to restore him to the wild, preferring steak and canned corn to worms, which frightened him, and even developing a taste for wine. Arnie is full of life, laughter, and love. It is a completely irresistible book.”

The spectacular aerial feat that a murmuration of starlings performs (Video by Dylan Winter):

Eugene Schiefelin, a member of The Acclimatization Society, wanted to introduce all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare. He released about a hundred starlings in New York City’s Central Park in 1890 and 1891. By 1950 starlings could be found coast to coast, north past Hudson Bay and south into Mexico. Today their North American numbers are over 200 million. (Source: “Call of the Reviled” Scientific American).

October Dawn

Photographed at 7:30 am by Turtle Pond in Central Park, New York City.

Central Park 10/28/2016
Central Park 10/28/2016
Central Park 10/28/2016
Central Park 10/28/2016
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Turtle Pond, Central Park 10/28/2016
Belvedere Castle, Turtle Pond, Central Park 10/28/2016
Belvedere Castle, Turtle Pond, Central Park 10/28/2016
20161028_central-pk_16
Belvedere Castle, Turtle Pond, Central Park 10/28/2016

Rose – November 1 Photo Focus

My interpretation of the rose still life by Julie Powell was created using Photoshop and onOne. I eliminated the dark triangle in the upper left and cloned out the canvas. I added a bit more cloth using cloning on a new layer and masks. Then I used a photo of mine of roses as an overlay on the cloth. Finally a bit of web.

Created for Stacy Fischer’s November – One Photo Focus

Rose Stil Life. Original by Julie Powell edited by Sherry Felix
Rose Still Life. Original by Julie Powell edited by Sherry Felix
Rose Still Life by Julie Powell
Rose Still Life by Julie Powell
Roses GV, May 29, 2016
Roses, May 29 2016