photography

New York City Red Lips

This ad with the red Target symbols and red lipstick lips on a building near Times Square next to a red brick building in New York City was just screaming “Use me for Ruby Tuesday, why don’t you?” I’ll let you tell me what you see and what impressions it makes for you.

For more Ruby Tuesday posts, visit:

JPIX Spring 2010

Welcome to JPIX, the Jewish Photo Bloggers Blog Carnival.

  
Ilana-Davita shows us Sanary-sur-Mer, where German refugees stayed in the 1930’s. In the center is the Saint-Tropez synagogue. On the right Ilana-Davita photographed the Verona Synagogue.

  
A Mother in Israel shows off her daughter’s painting on the left. Aviva’s sheep wishes you Shabbat Shalom in the center. On the right is an anemone captured by Quietus Leo.

  
Batya asks you to caption the wedding photo on the left. In the middle she shows us Jerusalem, with the light rail and the string bridge. On the right Batya has beautiful photos of Tel Shiloh.

  
Devo asks you about the sculpture on the left. Rahel of Elms in the Yard shows us a Byzantine ruin (perhaps). Mazel tov to Mottel and his wife on the birth of a baby boy.

Mrs. S. shows a lovely calendar of children’s drawings on the left. On the right she presents photos from Jerusalem in 1967. On the Chossid’s blog I discovered a beautiful photo of Arak.

Robin shows us Jerusalem, Jaffa, the flower Queen Anne’s Lace and a recent dust storm.

On the left is a cyclist from Salute to Israel Parade photographed by Leora (that’s me). In the center are eggs, eaten at the first meal of shiva. On the right is an ice cream sundae, painted by Leora in honor of Shavuot.

The next JPIX hosted by me will be in December 2010.

Update: Toby of I Wish I Were a Photographer will be hosting the next JPIX on August 22. Please send links with your favorite pics.

Skies at the Fair

Sky Watch Friday is a photo meme with photos of sunrises, sunsets, blue skies, gray skies, pink skies, dark skies, bird-filled skies and any other kind of sky posted by bloggers all over the planet.

Here’s the sky when we got to the fair in North Brunswick – will it rain?

Same sky two hours later: no, it didn’t rain.

Snapdragon, Artist Block and WordPress 3.0

I am crazy about snapdragons, so don’t be surprised if every now and then a snapdragon (click to see all snaps) appears on this blog. I really liked the painterly background of this shot. I might have used it for Ruby Tuesday if it weren’t already close to Wednesday.

So, anyone out there using WordPress 3.0 now? So far I’ve updated 5 blogs to WordPress 3.0, and everything went very smoothly. Looking forward to trying out the new default WordPress theme.

I’ve wanted to paint a watercolor, but 1) I’ve been busy like crazy, with work, with family, and unfortunately a young friend needs to have surgery tomorrow. We expect it will go smoothly. And 2) I need inspiration. I am inspired to photograph nature, but not to paint it right now. I like painting Jewish holiday subjects. The next important day on the Jewish calendar is the 17th of Tammuz, which is a fast day when Jerusalem was surrounded many, many years ago. Hmm. Yes, artist block is sort of (or exactly) like writer’s block. I don’t seem to have writer’s block. Probably because on a blog one has permission to ramble. At least on this blog I give myself permission to do so.

So in terms of why I have artist’s block, it’s really more 2) than 1). If I were really motivated, I would be staying up all night working on a watercolor. Or at least spending five minutes on a watercolor.

Today’s Flower: Purple Verbena

I have always admired the low-lying flower verbena, and this year I have it in my front yard, nestled among white alyssum, orange marigold, pink begonia and yellow rudbeckia.

For more flowers, visit:

Review with Nasturtium and Rudbeckia

Busy, crazy week – birthday boom bash for my daughter on Sunday, busy, busy, busy with work, then this morning my daughter wakes up with a fever and a virus! The nerve of her – I hope she gets better soon. She is missing the last two days of school.

On My Blog

Where the Fortress Looms: After discovering the fabled Ruin Rui in Ruins, Patrick finds mutated pins and dead racers everywhere. Bruce is the last rebel left. Or is he?

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Ilana-Davita teaches us about the philosophy questions in France. Here are a few: Can a scientific truth be dangerous? Can art exist without rules? Is the role of a historian to judge?
• Ima2Seven called this post Health Nuts but of course I think the people who are nuts are the ones eating the junk food. It’s been a big struggle for me to get my family to eat healthier. I told my daughter I wanted to bring apples and carrots for a party (not being totally serious), and she told me the other kids would laugh at her (they seriously would).
• Dr. Weil on ADHD Without Drugs
• Jew Wishes reviewed The Story of a Life by Aharon Appelfeld.
• Therapy Doc writes about depression and loss in I’m Not Depressed.

Upcoming on this blog: An interview with someone who has experience managing and helping out with a shiva house

Eggs with Sepia Touch

I photographed the eggs, desaturated the photo, selected just the eggs, then applied a bit of sepia color to them.

Why am I photographing eggs? Perhaps because:

• My mother painted eggs.
• I am studying more about shiva, the Jewish mourning period after a close relative dies, and eggs are the traditional dish eaten by the mourner at the beginning of shiva. Eggs represent the cycle of life.
• Eggs are simple and beautiful.

For more sepia photos, visit:

Girl Marcher – SOOC

I enjoy the little smile on this girl’s face as she marched with her baton down Fifth Avenue in the Salute to Israel Parade in New York City in May.

For more shots Straight Out of the Camera, visit:

Review with Yellow and Pinks

On My Blog

How to Pay a Shiva Call

Millet recipes (I tried the millet cakes – as a pilaf, it was delicious, but it failed to become cakes. Maybe I’ll cheat and add eggs and a binder like matza meal).

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Ilana-Davita reviewed A Year with My Father. We all await the English translation (it’s in French).
• A Mother in Israel wrote about An Alternative to Adler: Parenting Answers from Dr. Gordon Neufeld.
• This broccoli rabe recipe on Simply Recipes looked appealing (if I link to it, will I remember to try it?).
• Are you afraid of Twitter? Try one of these three approaches: Smart, Friendly or Responsive.
• It was D-Day this past week, and I heard very little about it. But Jew Wishes had a commemorative D-Day post.
• Robin is doing the photo meme Summer Stock Sunday again this summer.

Thursday Challenge: Urban

New York City is a great place for viewing contrasting architecture: here’s modern, paned glass with nineteenth century brick and mansard roofs. This is somewhere near 6th or 7th Avenues, in the forties or high thirties.

Thursday’s Challenge is “URBAN” (Buildings, Traffic, Graffiti, Signs, People,…). Next week’s challenge is METALLIC (Metal, Shiny, Mirror, Clothes, Cars, Jewelry,…).