Poetic Shutterbug

Night Visions Streets, dark, empty musical noir sax hits exotic highs filling the emptiness of broken sidewalks illuminated by the moon. Firecrackers ablaze while street lamps flicker burnt fog lurks through narrow corridors and the stillness speaks a jazz riff. See more of my jazz writings at Jerry Jazz Musician Photo taken by me and digitally enhanced.

First let me say that though I never have been able to relate to Charles Bukowski in any way, shape or form,  this quote was perfect for this particular blog post. There are those of us who have careers, those who work regular jobs to pay bills and put food on the table and those who have no income at all.   I have never been career minded at all.  I have always wanted to write poetry and take photos.  However, I was never able to make a living on these creative pursuits.  I have been paid at times, I have won awards and a trip to Hong Kong for my poetry of which I am very thankful. I work the everyday 9 to 5 as most people, though in my case it's 12 to 8.  It's easy to complain about a job as Bukowski has so bluntly described with the above quote.  We all complain to some extent about our jobs.  I know I do, until I "saw the light" so to speak about what I do each day. My main job is to take photos of products and write descr...

The Lighthouse by Jonathan Heierle I seldom write reviews on this blog unless I find something that catches my eye and leaves me speechless.  Yesterday I was perusing Craigslist under the artist section in order to get an idea of what type of platform I wanted to use to create a small portfolio of my abstract art.  While viewing the ads I came across the photography of Jonathan Heierle who is a high school student in the Bay Area. His lighthouse photo which is displayed above had me simply stunned.  The composition and perspective in this shot is something truly amazing.  It is very difficult, as a photographer to achieve an "in the moment" shot which is exactly what this photo displays.  Had I come across this photo and not known anything about the photographer I would have thought it was shot by a professional who has been in the business for years. Jonathan's black and white photo gallery shows the ordinary captured in an extraordinary way and ...

ORIGINAL PHOTO In Black and White In Blue I took this photo at Metson Lake and decided to play around with it using my photo software program which was already on the computer when I bought my laptop.  I am one who does not like tweaked photos as I always like the true essence of an original photo.  The only thing I do tweak is the focus because I use my zoom lens much of the time. However, I decided to play around with the original on this shot and change the colors.  While I do like the black and white shot, I still enjoy the original much more. So many people use photoshop and tweak their photos to a point where they look fake and for me REAL is what's important in photography. My 2 ?'s this week are: 1.  Do you use any type of photo editing software? 2. Do you prefer tweaked or the original photo? Click the above widget for more Thursday Two Questions Meme fun

The San Francisco Botanical Gardens Alcatraz Island San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden San Francisco The Embarcadero #4 Downtown San Francisco The San Francisco Zoo Train On A San Francisco High by the Sony Holland Duo www.sonyholland.com Click the above widget and travel the world.

Taken at Transamerica Redwood Park in San Francisco Short Video Clip Of The Fountain. Visit Watery Wednesday for more great photography.

With camera in hand, I am always looking for beautiful subjects to post on this blog and bring to you. I enjoy walking the different neighborhoods and photographing people's front yards and decorations. I am however a bit apprehensive in getting too close. I sometimes feel as if I am invading their privacy by conducting a photo shoot. My two questions are: 1. Do you often photograph neighbors flowers, homes and yards? 2. If so, do you feel as if you are invading their privacy? Click the above widget for more Thursday Two ?'s fun. Visit my new blog Collectibles Mercantile

1. What do you do to pass the time on an airplane? I took this shot atop the hill at Seton Medical Center while visiting Carmen. The planes fly very low in that area and with my zoom lens I was really pleased with this shot. For me, I like listening to music for a short flight or sleeping on a long flight. 2. What In The World Caused This? I'll give you a hint, it has to do with photography settings. For more two questions fun, click on the above widget.

Check out the other shadow shots by clicking the above widget

St. Cecilia's Church was where we attended services and where we all went to school for eight years. Growing up we were constantly attending some sort of event within the church. I have to admit I hadn't been there in decades. I was in the neighborhood the other day and decided to stop by and take photos. This church is gorgeous inside. The altar is shrouded in gold leaf and the architecture is stunning. I walked in and there was only one other person there. I focused on the altar and took literally dozens of shots. No matter where I stood, what lens I used or even what setting I used, each photo was so blurry, you could not even make out what I was shooting. I thought for a minute something happened to the camera so I decided to then focus on the stained glass. When I shot the photos initially not only could you see the stained glass windows but the panels and architecture around the windows. The above shot was taken of the inside dome with the choir area around the s...

The staff at Sloat Garden Center in San Francisco were kind enough to allow me to take photos in their nursery. The orchids were wild, exotic and gorgeous so I thought I'd share a few shots with you. Enjoy!

Taken with my new camera

Spring flowers paint my garden with blossoms From my latest photography and haiku book - Petals Unfold A portion of the sales from each book will be donated to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.

Make sure and visit the participants at Mellow Yellow Monday and Macro Monday for some creative entries .

Photos taken around my neighborhood with the Olympus SP-600UZ 12MP Digital Camera with 15x Wide Angle Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD