Art and Photography Blog

Images of Christmas in New Orleans

I was recently in New Orleans during the holiday season. Here are some of the holiday images.

                                 

Images of the Zydeco Cajun Prairie

I recently spent time in Southern Louisiana, dividing my time between New Orleans and the Lafayette and Opelousas area. In both cases I went to hear some great music, eat some wonderful food and be with some very welcoming people. The area is home to two important music traditions, cajun and zydeco. I have always enjoyed them and wanted to go to their site of their origins. 

The St. Landry Parish Visitor Information Center provided a great introduction to the Lafayette Opelousas area. It is located off exit 23 on I-49, just north of Opelousas and should be one of your first stops. I will be writing more about this useful resource on my Portals and KM blog, as well as the great music and food the area offers. In this post I want to simply share images from the beautiful farm country and the some of the towns within it such as Eunice, Church Point, and Crowley. You can click on an image to enlarge it.

I followed a guide provided by the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center that showed the scenic byways.  The last three images are zydeco greats from a mural in Opelousas. I was fortunate enough to see Clifton Chernier and Boozoo Chavis live before they passed. I have a number of music videos with Buckwheat Zydeco and hope to see him live some day.  

                                                   

Images from Nob Hill, San Francisco.

Here are more images from the Nob Hill in San Francisco taken in this month. It includes images of the views from Nob Hill and as those within it. 

                                 

Holiday Images from Nob Hill, San Francisco

Here are winter photos from the Nob Hil neighborhood of San Francisco taken during the recent holiday season. Most of these were taken in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel seen in the top row on the right. There wil be more tomorrow.

    
                       

 

Images from Potrero Hill San Francisco

Here are some images from the Potrero Hill neighborhood in San Francisco. It is one of the sunniest areas in the city with great views looking in all directions. It also has a street just as curvy as Lombard Street

                                           

Images within Paintings at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco.

Here is another in my series on images within paintings as I look up close to see images that are interesting to me within paintings. I am also looking at technique with these images. These images are from the Legion of Honor, San Francisco. 

                                 

Images within Paintings at the Harvard Art Museum

Here is another in my series on images within paintings as I look up close to see images that are interesting to me within paintings. I am also looking at technique with these images. These images are from the Harvard Art Museums. They are from the 20th Century European and American art collection. 

                 

Visions of Earth: Beauty, Majesty and Wonder: A Review

I was very pleased to receive a review copy of National Geographic's beautiful new photography book, "Visions of Earth: Beauty, Majesty and Wonder." The book showcases the beauty in the world around us - from landscapes to people in their tradition of covering the diversity of each in our planet. Each chapter is divided into themes based on the shapes of the photographs inside, including beginnings, curves, surfaces, radiance, parallels, emanation, aggregation, unexpected, perspective, spectrum, interlopers, breaking, endings, flow, and radiance.  What a great menu to choose from. I was torn as to where to start.

I must be a great job to assemble these theme-based books from the vast collection of images from the National Geographic extensive set of images. Each section begins with a brief easy on the theme before going into full-page images with intense colors. I was impressed by the diversity of humans, animals, and locations that they were able to capture and share. It reminds me that the earth can be an exciting place to be, especially if we can get beyond our familiar existence. I have the travel bug looking at this and want to be sure to bring my own camera to be able to later reflect on what I see.

I certainly recommend this book to anyone who wants a rich set of images to better appreciate the beauty within our planet. Here are six images that they allowed me to download.  There are so many more. Here is a nice YouTube video on the book. 

         

Photos of Thirty of My Favorite Dinners

It is now the season of eating so I am featuring a three part series of 30 of my favorite breakfast, lunches, and dinners. They wre served in three continents.